Prince Charming's Regal Carousel

Prince Charming's Regal Carousel was put in the Magic Kingdom by Uncle Walt himself. Walt spend months creating each of the 90 horses with his own hand and carried them into Fantasyland, putting each piece together with is own hand. He programmed the pipe organ with his favorite show tunes, and spent months painting the murals that are around the top.

OK, maybe Uncle Walt didn't actually build this Carousel, but it was his idea. He loved taking his daughters to ride the merry go round at Griffin Park in LA. He had one installed at Disneyland, and like everything else at Disney World, Uncle Walt had a bigger one built here.

Prince Charming's Regal Carousel in Fantasyland

Cinderella's Golden Carousel in the Magic Kingdom

Photo by JeffB

The Carousel

This beautiful ride was originally built in 1917. Uncle Walt and the boys bought it in 1967 from Olympic Park in Maplewood, NJ when the park closed. They took it and rebuilt the entire ride.

There are 18 scenes from the Cinderella story that are hand painted on the wooden canopy above the horses. The Disney music was added when the ride was rebuilt.

Fun facts

Each of the 90 horses was hand carved and painted by hand. Every horse is unique. They have their own shape and coloring. A number is painted close to the bridle.
There are 18 rows of horses with 5 horses per row.
Cinderella and Prince Charming have their own horses. Cinderella's is in the second line of horses. (It's number 37.) It has a gold ribbon in it's tail. The one next to it is Prince Charming's.

Factoid: Is it a Carousel or a merry go round?

A carousel and a merry go round are different. On a carousel, all of the horses move up and down. On a merry-go-round they don't.

Trust me.

The Ride

The Carousel is an eternal ride that lasts just less than two minutes, according to Disney. For Dad it's two years of sheer terror. (Dad's experience with Prince Charming's Regal Carousel.) For two minutes the horses go round and round and up and down. Disney music plays and everyone has a grand time. (Except Dad.)

The ride is almost always in the shade, so it's a nice place to take a break on a hot day. The best place to take pictures or video is from the wall that surrounds the ride.

Prince Charming's Regal Carousel

Description: A beautiful carousel in the middle of Fantasyland

Height Requirement - none

Fastpass:no

Length of Ride: 2 minutes

Type of ride: Horse ride for younger children

Dad's Ratings

Toddlers	Pre-Teens	Teens	Adults	Grandparents
4	3	1	3	4

Other Information: Due to the shortness of the ride, the lines tend to move pretty quickly. There are 90 horses, which means at least 90 guests board every 2 minutes. A few extra parents go along and stand next to the kids. Lines of 30 minutes or more are not uncommon.

One thing that greatly effects the length of lines is when a Mickey's Philharmagic show ends. If the line is too long, you might check back in 20 minutes and see if it's shorter.

The Best Time to Ride

Mornings and evenings are usually the best times to ride Prince Charming's Regal Carousel. The same is true for most of the rides in Fantasyland. Crowds seem to swell in the afternoons.

Dad's Bottom Line

Dad's not real objective about rides that go round and round. It's a very pretty carousel. The kids tell me that it's fun. But I can't even watch them ride.