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A classic carousel is really the heart and soul of any amusement park.



There is just something magical and poetic about them.  Maybe it is the motion with row after row of horses circling around while going up and down.  Maybe it is the sound of music and laughter.  Maybe it is the hand carved artistry if the horses.  Maybe it is because a carousel is something everyone can enjoy no matter what your age.  Maybe it is because the have created so many positive memories over years, decades, and even a century.  Maybe it is all of these things rolled into one but the Grand Ole Carousel has always been the heart of Six Flags St. Louis.



What has been difficult was seeing how this majestic carousel didn't get the love and care that it deserved.  With corporate neglecting the care that a classic hand carved carousel needs when budgets were made this great carousel suffered.  Instead of looking like a thing of joy year after year it looked sadder.  If you look back at my trip reports through the years, again and again one of the biggest things I have wanted for Six Flags St. Louis is for the Grand Ole Carousel to be restored.

Year after year budget requests would be  made to hire someone to restore this classic and year after year that request was denied.  In 2020 after attempt at attempt to secure the budget to have it restores the decision was made by Six Flags St. Louis to do it by themselves. 



Knowing that I have been a long time fan of this carousel and being a very vocal proponent of its restoration, including a letter to Six Flags CEO a few years back, I was very honored when Park General Manager Danny Snyder asked if I would be interested in seeing the work that has gone into bringing this classic back to life.



The Grand Ole Carousel was hand built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1915.  It has fifty-eight jumpers, ten standing horses, and two chariots.
 


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Copyright 1999 - 2024

Paul B. Drabek