King Arthur Carrousel

King Arthur Carrousel
King Arthur Carrousel marquee
Disneyland
Land	Fantasyland
Designer	WED Enterprises
Attraction type	Carousel
Theme	Knights of the Round Table
Propulsion method	Single electric motor, geared
Opening date	July 17, 1955
Music	A central Fairground organ playing Disney themes and songs.
Vehicle type	68 various horses, 1 chariot bench, wheelchair grip
Vehicle capacity	72+
Ride duration	2:18 minutes
Required coupon	A
Horses on opening day	71 + 1 mule
Total horses	68
Control system	Precision computer control

King Arthur Carrousel is the carousel in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California which was featured in the telecast of Disneyland's 1955 opening day.

History

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.

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 was added to the carousel and the princess and the jester head motifs have been refinished in 18k gold leaf.

Refurbishment

In preparation for Disneyland's 50th-anniversary celebration, the Happiest Homecoming on Earth, 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 accommodate 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

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, U.S.A.

Jingles are 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, trimmed in 18k gold leaf and set apart as a photo opportunity near the Dumbo the Flying Elephant 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, with an exceptionally striking translucent treatment of the rosettes on Jingles' head. 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 were then ceremoniously dedicated on April 8, 2008, to Julie Andrews.

Sword in the Stone ceremony

Main article: Sword in the Stone

Inspired by the legend of Excalibur from The Sword in the Stone, Merlin hosts a ceremony nearby to determine which guest can pull the sword from the stone to become king for a day.

External links

• Official website