Los Angeles just bought itself a piece of history, and for once, it’s not going to end up in a prop warehouse.
The Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round will soon whirl and twirl again after years of sitting shuttered and sad. The city just dropped $1 million to acquire it from private owners and is looking to fundraise around $2 million more to polish every horse, pipe and bit of brass before the 2028 Olympics.
Initially known as the 1926 Spillman Engineering Carousel, the four rows of 68 painted wooden horses is one of the largest carousels in the country. Part of Griffith Park since 1937, it operated almost continuously until a brief COVID-19 closure and then a more permanent closure in 2022 due to mechanical problems.
For the last few years, Angelenos have walked past the locked-up pavilion on the way to the Observatory or the Greek. But this isn’t just a dusty relic of L.A.’s carnival past. This is where Walt Disney realized that grown-ups deserve as much fun as the kids they’re chaperoning. While his daughters spun in delighted circles, Disney sat on a bench and dreamed up a place where he wouldn’t have to sit it out. Maybe you've heard of what it became: Disneyland. Basically, without Griffith Park’s merry-go-round, there’s no Mickey Mouse ears headbands, no churros at midnight and no Epcot margaritas. (And also no Disney adults, but oh well.)
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In fact, if you’ve ever stood in Fantasyland and gazed at the King Arthur Carrousel, you’ve seen the Griffith Park carousel's DNA in action. Disney lifted the idea wholesale, but the paint is fresher, and the calliope doesn’t wheeze in Anaheim. And that bench that Disney spent so much time on has been moved from Griffith Park to Disneyland, where it has pride of place at the pre-show area of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
The timing is perfect. With the 2028 Olympics around the corner, L.A. is polishing every facet of its civic identity, from transit lines to cultural landmarks. What better welcome mat than a restored carousel in the city’s grand backyard? It’s the kind of civic gesture that says: yes, we’ve got movie stars and freeways, but we’ve also got history that inspired billions in joy. Plus, there’s something deliciously L.A. about rescuing a piece of dilapidated whimsy instead of bulldozing it for a parking lot.