Prince Charming Regal Carousel (formerly Cinderella's Golden Carousel) is a

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

in the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...

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. Similar attractions under varying names can be found at two other

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, including

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be ...

and

Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...

. It plays organ-based versions of Disney music during the two-minute ride period. Hand-painted scenes from ''Cinderella'' can be seen on the top; hence the name "Prince Charming".

Magic Kingdom version

The carousel was originally built by The Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1917. It was originally known as "The Liberty Carousel", (PTC #46) and delivered to

Belle Isle Park Belle Isle Park, known simply as Belle Isle (), is a island park in Detroit, Michigan, developed in the late 19th century. It consists of Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, as well as several surrounding islets. The U.S.-Canada border ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Liberty originally had a 60-foot platform, 72 wooden horses, four chariots and sleighs, and seated 99 passengers, five abreast. It was moved to Olympic Park in Irvington, New Jersey, and in 1967 the Walt Disney Company purchased it. Arrow Development, in which Disney had purchased a 1/3 interest in 1960 and which had restored the King Arthur Carousel for Disneyland, produced new engineering drawings for the mechanism and horses. It was shipped to California, where the horses were stripped and each given a unique design. Molds were made of 18 horses to make fiberglass copies for a new Disney carousel being built for Tokyo Disneyland and also to serve as temporary stand-ins when original wood horses are taken down for repairs. Disney also added a 23 karat gold leaf, silver, and bronze to each of the horses and added scenes from Cinderella's story. The carousel was in place when the

in Orlando, Florida, opened in 1971. While it was extensively refurbished and repainted in 1967 to match the Cinderella theme, maidens from the original design can still be seen on the top. All ninety horses are painted white because white horses are typically associated with heroes. All of the original horses were carved from maple. One chariot that was originally installed on "The Liberty" was lost during the refurbishment, but was rediscovered and installed in 1997. While the carousel was being installed at the Magic Kingdom,

Roy Disney Roy Disney may refer to: * Roy O. Disney (1893–1971), partner and elder brother of Walt Disney * Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive f ...

noticed that the placement was off center with the Cinderella Castle breezeway, and it was moved eight inches so it would be center.

Cinderella's Horse

There are conflicting stories regarding whether one of the horses is "Cinderella's Horse". The horse in question is in the second rank, and is the only one that has a golden bow on its tail. Cast Members have referred to it as Cinderella's as well as in various Disney publications. Cinderella has been depicted as riding a horse in various pieces of collectable sculpture and artwork, such as a 2001 Limited Edition lithograph. However, in an interview with Isle Voght, a park employee responsible for restoring the carousel along with

John Hench John Hench (June 29, 1908 – February 5, 2004) was an American artist, designer and director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks. Early life Hench was born on June 2 ...

, she gives her own reasons for doubting the veracity of the Cinderella's Horse story, namely that Cinderella would not have one on an inner row, and that it would be decorated much more elaborately than the others. Also, she states that Cinderella never rode one in the film. The Disney Imagineers did not include the story of Cinderella's horse in the 2010 rewriting of the carousel backstory.

Name change

On June 1, 2010 the name was changed from Cinderella's Golden Carousel to Prince Charming Regal Carrousel. The name change helps tell the rest of the Cinderella story that inspired the carousel. The official story as published on Disney Parks Blog is:

Background music

Tokyo Disneyland version

Hong Kong Disneyland version

The carousel was built by

Chance Rides Chance Rides Manufacturing is a roller coaster and amusement ride manufacturer. The company was formed on May 16, 2002, when the former Chance Industries Inc. emerged from bankruptcy. The main office and manufacturing facility are located in Wic ...

. It came with four rows of Bradley and Kaye horses and Columbia chariots.

In popular culture

*In the ''Mickey Mouse'' episode "Potatoland", Mickey and Donald build a theme park called Potatoland to fulfill Goofy's lifelong dream to go to the park, even though it never existed. One of the attractions featured was a low-budget carousel, similar to the carousels at Disney theme parks, with Mickey playing the organ, while Donald cranked the ride.

Incidents

References

External links

Information about name change at AllEars.Net
*The carousel was incorporated into an original painting and limited edition print offering by

Randy Souders Randy Souders is an American artist and a disability rights advocate. Early life and influences Souders was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Hoping to become an illustrator he attended Trimble Technical High School in Fort Worth where he received ...

entitled "Cinderella's Golden Carrousel" created for the firs
Official Disneyana Convention
held at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

in 1992. {{Disney rides Amusement rides introduced in 1971 Amusement rides introduced in 1985 Amusement rides introduced in 2005 Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Magic Kingdom Tokyo Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland Cinderella (franchise) Fantasyland Amusement rides introduced in 1917 Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters carousels