• The oldest stationary carousel in the world can be found in Hanau, Germany. Completed in 1780, it was built as entertainment for Prince Wilhelm IX, and was originally driven by a horse and mule navigating together under the carousel platform. The platform with its 12 horses and 4 chariots is housed in a columned Greek pavilion atop a hill in a spa garden. Although it stopped operating in the 1930s, it has now been restored and reopened in 2016.
• One of the fastest carousels is a 1920 creation located on the shores of Lake Erie near Ohio’s Cedar Point Amusement Park. It’s known as the Cedar Downs Racing Derby and is unusual in the fact that the 64 horses move forward and backward, imitating a horse race. Only two of these racing carousels exist in the United States. It’s one of the fastest carousels in the world, with a maximum speed of 15 mph.
• The oldest galloping carousel in the world had its beginnings in Bressoux, Belgium, where Belgian craftsmen created La Galopant with its 24 jumping horses and two exquisite benches in 1885. It remained there until 1964, when it was brought to New York City for the World’s Fair as part of the Belgian Pavilion. Another World’s Fair, Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada, took ownership in 1967, placing the carousel in the Expo’s amusement park, La Ronde, located on an island in the St. Lawrence River. Strangely enough, the carousel disappeared after the Expo, re-surfacing three years later in a badly damaged condition. After a complete restoration, it was returned to La Ronde. The Six Flags Corporation purchased the ride in 2003, giving it a $1 million refurbishment before placing it in a new landscaped garden in 2007.
• Two different New England carousels claim to be the nation’s oldest, oddly enough, both with the same name. The Flying Horses carousel in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard, is the oldest “platform” carousel, meaning the horses are mounted on a wooden platform. It’s been in operation since 1876, but only in Massachusetts since 1884. This carousel with its 20 hand-carved horses originally sported real horse hair manes and tails was located on Coney Island’s boardwalk. Westerly, Rhode Island, is home to another Flying Horses carousel, also in operation since 1876. It’s the oldest carousel with horses suspended from a center frame. As the carousel rotates, centrifugal force pushes the horses outward, making them truly “flying horses.” It came to Westerly via a traveling carnival in 1879, and remained when the carnival had to leave it behind.
• Walt Disney World’s Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel was built in 1917 for Detroit’s Belle Isle Park and operated under the name Miss Liberty with a red, white, and blue color scheme. When the Park went bankrupt, the attraction was moved to Maplewood, New Jersey’s Olympic Park, one of the most popular amusement parks on the east coast. The park, which had opened in 1887, was severely vandalized in 1964, which created a serious reduction in earnings, forcing the park to close the following year. After repairs and renovation, the carousel was installed at Fantasyland for Disney World’s 1971 opening. It’s the Park’s oldest attraction, pre-dating Disney World’s opening by more than 50 years. No two of the 90 horses are exactly alike.
