Columbia Carousel (known as Carousel Columbia at California's Great America) is a pair of double-decker carousels at

Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great America is a amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the ...

Gurnee, Illinois Gurnee ( ) is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within the Chicago metropolitan area. Best known for being t ...

and California's Great America in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

. Both parks were originally built by the

Marriott Marriott may refer to: People *Marriott (surname) Corporations * Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993 * Marriott International, international hote ...

hotel chain as sister properties but they were later sold off and are presently owned by

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...

and

Cedar Fair Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included- ...

, respectively. To this date, Carousel Columbia (the California counterpart) is the world's tallest carousel.

History

The first ''Columbia'' opened in the Santa Clara park in 1976 and the

Gurnee Gurnee ( ) is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within the Chicago metropolitan area. Best known for being th ...

''Columbia'' opened later that year. The carousel is known as ''Carousel Columbia'' at California's Great America and ''Columbia Carousel'' at

. In 1994, Santa Clara's ''Columbia'' received some minor renovations for its appearance in the movie ''

Beverly Hills Cop III ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' is a 1994 American action comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on ''Trading Places'' and ''Coming to America''. It is the third film in the Beverly Hills C ...

'', filmed at the theme park.

Design

The original design of the carousel, then named "The Columbia", was carried out by Randall Duell Associates. Additional scrollwork and decorations were designed by Chris Mueller. Each of the 103 horses and animals on the carousels is a replica of one of the world's most famous carved carousel animals. A large reflecting pond was installed in front of each carousel with historic replicas of

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

s flying along the sides of the pond. Sixteen original oil paintings by George Gibson are installed on each carousel, depicting scenes from American history. Kris Rowberry publicized the fact, originally from the press release, that elements from ''Carousel Columbia'' were originally used on the sets of the films ''Marie Antoinette'' (1938) and ''The Swan'' (1956). At tall, the ''Carousel Columbia'' in Santa Clara is the tallest carousel in the world. The sister ''Columbia Carousel'' in Gurnee stands just one foot shorter at . The two sister carousels may be distinguished by the color of the roof – the Carousel Columbia in California is painted gold, while the Columbia Carousel in Illinois is green – and the flooring – the upper-level of Gurnee's carousel has carpet, while Santa Clara's has a wood floor. The ''Columbia'' is often associated with the ''Carousel Song'', written especially for the Marriott's Great America theme parks by Gene Patrick. The Carousel Song plays at the Santa Clara park periodically throughout the day and plays at the Gurnee park when the park closes.

Animals

Seating on the carousel consists of the following 106 fiberglass replicas: * 88 horses (82 jumping and 6 standing) * 3 chariots * 1 camel * 1 giraffe * 1 lion * 1 tiger * 1 dragon * 1 deer * 1 seahorse * 2 jumping ostriches * 2 jumping pigs * 2 jumping cats * 2 jumping rabbits The horses include cavalry-style horses, Parker horses, Dentzel horses, and the 1928 "Silver Anniversary Horse" originally carved for the 25th anniversary of the

Philadelphia Toboggan Company Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia ...

(found on the Gurnee carousel only). The original 1928 armored horse is displayed in the

Circus Hall of Fame The International Circus Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame which honors important figures in circus history. It is located in Peru, Indiana on the former grounds of the Wallace Circus and American Circus Corporation Winter Quarters, als ...

. The chariots are replicas of chariots originally carved in 1918 by Daniel Carl Muller.

Gallery

File:California's Great America (33927429306).jpg, Carousel Columbia at California's Great America File:Reflecting Pool (3665260832).jpg, Columbia Carousel at

File:Aerial view of Great America.jpg, Carousel Columbia (2014) File:Six Flags Great America 009 (6130502585).jpg, Columbia Carousel (2011) File:California's Great America (27297673251).jpg, Carousel Columbia at night (2016) File:Six Flags Great America (14696877699).jpg, Columbia Carousel at night (2014) File:California's Great America (14341621502).jpg, Jumping horses on Carousel Columbia File:Columbia Carousel Holiday in the Park.jpg, Columbia Carousel during Holiday in the Park (2020)

References

External links

Carousel Columbia at California's Great America

Columbia Carousel at Six Flags Great America
{{California's Great America Carousels in California California's Great America Six Flags Great America Six Flags attractions Amusement rides introduced in 1976 Cedar Fair attractions Amusement rides manufactured by Chance Rides