King Arthur Carrousel

King Arthur Carrousel
King Arthur Carrousel marquee
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Carousel
Manufacturer	Dentzel and others
Designer	WED Enterprises
Theme	Knights of the Round Table
Music	Band organ-style playback of Disney themes
Vehicle type	68 various horses, 1 chariot bench, wheelchair grip
Duration	2:18
Required coupon	A
Horses on opening day	71 + 1 mule
Total horses	68
Wheelchair accessible

Le Carrousel de Lancelot
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Carousel
Theme	Knights of the Round Table

King Arthur Carrousel is a carousel ride at Disneyland. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions that were operational on Disneyland's opening day in 1955.

History

King Arthur succeeded the throne by pulling Excalibur from the Stone. A ceremony is held here to determine who in the realm shall reign as king for the day.

Inspired by the Griffith Park carousel, Walt Disney wanted something similar for his new theme park: a carousel consisting of all jumpers. A park model Menagerie Carousel was purchased and moved to Disneyland in 1954. The carousel was built by William Dentzel in 1875 and had been operated at Sunnyside Beach Park in Toronto, Ontario, since 1922; it had three courses of horses and other animals on a platform 22 meters in diameter.

King Arthur Carrousel is a Fantasyland attraction at Disneyland.

Preparation

The attraction was refurbished and significantly altered in preparation for opening day. It was widened to four courses to increase guest capacity. Of the carousel's 71 horses and one mule, most were carved in the Dentzel factory in the late 19th and early 20th century. To add the outermost course, several carved wooden horses were acquired from a Stein and Goldstein carousel, others from Coney Island's Looff carousel, and more carved horses from various other carousels from around North America. Many horses arrived with crude repairs, such as newspaper-stuffed papier-mâché legs. Standers on the original three rows were converted to jumpers by removing the legs and carving new ones. Custom-built crankshafts were installed overhead to operate each horse as a jumper in motion. The original, ornately hand-carved, wooden chariot benches were removed, and the chariot woodwork was repurposed to decorate the "calliope" tenders and passenger cars of Casey Jr. Circus Train. A Wurlitzer #157 Band Organ face decorates the carousel, but does not operate. Motifs from Sleeping Beauty were added to the carousel and the princess and the jester head motifs have been refinished in 18k gold leaf.

Refurbishment

In preparation for the Happiest Homecoming on Earth (Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration), King Arthur Carrousel was closed for extensive renovations and reopened in February 2003. These renovations included an entirely rebuilt turntable platform, a new computerized operating console and system which halts the carousel each time at the same spot, removal of a row of four horses to accomodate a four-course-wide bench and wheelchair clamps with an access ramp for ADA compliance, which reduced the count of horses to 68. In January 2010, the stirrups of each outer-course horse were replaced to include additional lower loops, increasing accessibility.

Horses

Jingles with her commemorative rider..

Because of the overwhelming popularity of the carousel's single white horse, since 1975 all horses have been painted white. Each horse on the carousel has a name; a complete list is available at City Hall on Main Street USA. "Jingles" is the lead horse, and Walt's favorite, named for its very ornate carvings which include beautiful straps of jingle bells hanging from her saddle and cantle. For Disneyland's 50th anniversary in 2005, Jingles was repainted gold from nose to tail and set apart as a photo opportunity near the Dumbo Flying Elephants queue. When Jingles was reinstalled as lead horse after the Year of a Million Dreams campaign, major portions of Jingles were painted over, except where the gold bells and trim are showing through. Decoration detail was painted on the saddle blanket, representing the talking parrot-handled umbrella from Mary Poppins, and in four quarters as a crest upon the kneepad - the monogram "JA", a robin perched upon high button shoes, the silhouette of Mary in flight and a number 50 representing the 50 Magical Years anniversary of this original Disneyland attraction featured on opening day - all showing through in gold with blue outline. Jingles was then ceremoniously dedicated on April 8, 2008 to Julie Andrews.

External links

• Disneyland.com - King Arthur Carrousel | Fantasyland Attractions | Disneyland Park
• FindingMickey.com - Information about the King Arthur Carrousel, horse name checklist, names and photos of the King Arthur Carrousel horses