Classic parks cannot be without a carousel, and sure enough The Great Escape has one, albeit a modern, fiberglass one, but nonetheless it’s a carousel. Located towards the front of the park in Storyland, the Grand Carousel looks superb and is arguably one of the best looking modern carousels I’ve come across, rivaling Palace Playland and Quassy’s in terms of their looks. Despite it’s lack of age, the attraction looks much older than it really is from a distance, especially at night when it’s completely illuminated. And as with all carousels, this one is always a walk-on no matter when you ride thanks to its very high capacity.
As I stated earlier, this carousel unfortunately has fiberglass horses, but they are some of the better looking fiberglass horses I’ve come across in my travels and are certainly loved by the park’s younger crowd, the attraction’s primary target audience. The ride itself is no different than that of most carousels, the horses smoothly move up and down to the beat of some nice, cheerful music, and not unexpectedly there is no classic band organ whatsoever, though that’s typical of modern day carousels. But really the major factor that holds this carousel back is the cycle, which seemed a tad on the short side if you ask me. An extra minute or so would have really made the attraction a good deal better in my opinion and just that much more satisfying.
Despite its lack of tradition, The Great Escape’s Carousel really looks much better than it really is. Simply put, this carousel is a beauty for a modern day creation and along with that it gives a fairly decent ride, but it’s just impossible for me to love these newer carousels more than traditional ones since an amusement park buff like me really appreciates classics like the ones found at Lake Compounce, Rye, or Knoebels. Carousel lovers should definitely give this a whirl since it’s clearly one of the better modern ones out there.
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