Disneyland -- King Arthur Carrousel (Disney Lies)

The King Arthur Carrousel is more than just an entertaining ride for those under three or over ninety, it's a piece of history. The horses are all from a turn-of-the-twentieth-century Coney Island carrousel, and their hand-carved bodies are held together with glue from dozens of Kentucky Derby losers.

Many changes were made to the carrousel to "Disnify" it. For example, all of the horses are painted white so that when a child says "I want to ride on the brown one" it can be taken for an eye exam. And despite its old-fashioned appearance, the carrousel is actually completely computer controlled. Because of this, it always stops exactly, precisely at the same position at the end of each ride, ensuring that no child on the ride gets to go around more than any other child riding at the same time.

The duration of a ride on the Carrousel varies depending on how crowded the park is. When lines are particularly long, ride speed is increased (with a maximum of 40 mph) and the number of rotations of the Carrousel is reduced. On one particularly crowded day, the carrousel was clocked giving half-a-rotation rides that lasted 1.3 seconds.

Several of the horses have been painted with distinguishing characteristics and given individual names. For example:

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Disneyland

King Arthur Carrousel

July 1955