johnjniehaus Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 I'm not sure if this is the proper place for this forum so if not, please do me the favor of moving it to the appropriate place. Having traveled to more parks over the past few seasons and having made some friends in ACE around the country, there has become this unofficial thing amongst my friends of always riding the carousel at a park when we visit it. I had never much cared about the carousels at parks and I don't think any of my friends did either until it sort of became this random thing we have started doing for no reason. So with that, we have taken a greater interest in Carousels and I thought it would be nice to have a forum to highlight any unique or exceptionally beautiful carousels anyone has ridden or wants to experience. Does anyone have a favorite carousel based on ride experience or craftsmanship? Maybe someone would like to rank their top 5 carousels? Hopefully this thread is engaging and fun for all of us to celebrate these beautiful machines that in most cases have and astounding amounts of history behind them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KI Guy Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 The ones where you can still grab the ring are special. I've been on three. 1) Grand Carousel – Knoebel's (Elysburg, PA) – 1913 Kremer's Carousel Works. They also have a carousel museum with horses and other collectibles saved from long-gone carousels. 2) Balboa Park Carousel – Balboa Park (San Diego, CA right next to San Diego Zoo) – 1910 Herschell-Spillman. This one is probably the best, it's a menagerie Carousel (many other animals other than horses). 3) Flying Horses – Martha's Vinyard, MA – c. 1876 Dare. The oldest carousel in the country. It is primitive by modern standards but it is truly a piece of history. It used to be powered by steam when it was first built. * Honorable mention: Cedar Downs – Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH – 1921 Prior & Church Derby Racer. This is one of two left in the country. Put broadly, any carousel built before 1930 if kept up well, is really nice and anything after that pales in comparison. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver2005 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Columbia Carousel at SFGAm- Chef's kiss. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBEW_Sparky Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Grand Carousel at Worlds of Fun, located just past Guest Services on the right side of the entrance pathway. Built in 1918 and relocated from Geauga Lake, its absolutely beautiful! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnjniehaus Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 8 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said: Grand Carousel at Worlds of Fun, located just past Guest Services on the right side of the entrance pathway. Built in 1918 and relocated from Geauga Lake, its absolutely beautiful! I didn't realize WoF had the one from geauga lake. Such a cool piece of history! I hope to visit that park next year. From pictures I found online it is such a beautiful carousel! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnjniehaus Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 My 3 favorites so far are as follows - 1. Knoebels Grand Carousel: such a beautiful ride and still has the brass rings! My sister and I rode this togetheron 2023 and had an absolute blast! She only caught one ring and I got maybe 4-5 rings. Besides the rings actually being real metal, the craftsmanship is impeccable. My only slight complaint with this one is that the outside horses are stationary. 2. The Looff Carousel at Riverfront Park, Spokane WA: I just got to ride this beauty last weekend and it gave Knoebels a run for their money. This carousel while not as gaudy as some others is beautiful in its own way and also still has a ring dispenser! Unfortunately due to the cost of replacing many stolen metal/brass rings, the park decided to switch to plastic rings. The outer row of horses on this carousel are jumpers and provide arguably a better ride than the Knoebels carousel, however the fact Knoebels still uses real metal and brass rings gives them the slightest edge. 3. Bella Musica at Kentucky Kingdom: I'm not sure why but I've always LOVED the way this carousel looks. I've done some research and there's a chance that it was built by guess who? --Chance Rides but the history on it is inconclusive and it sort of remains a mystery as to who built it, when, and where did it operate before opening at KY Kingdom in the 1990s. Fortunately or Unfortunately it has been repainted to a more forest color pattern in the new makeover of that section of the park. I personally prefer the old color scheme but the design still is very beautiful to me. I'm not sure if this one is truly hand carved like the park often claims (some sources suggest the horses are resin). However, still one of the most overlooked beauties to me. ***I will be visiting Santa Cruz Boardwalk on Labor Day in hopes of riding their Looff Carousel which has brass rings as well. Considering that the outside row of horses are jumpers and they supposedly still use metal rings, this one might have the potential to take over my top spot!*** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion-XL200 Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 Conneaut Lake Park's Carousel is a goregous one...well was when they took care of it. This carousel was tragically awful but great at the same time. @XGatorHead 8904 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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