Under the royal gold and purple canopy at the heart of the celebration in Fantasyland is Cinderella's Golden Carrousel (spelled with two Rs as per the French origin of the word; Disney's Cinderella draws heavily on French author Charles Perrault's version of the tale, after all). Here, Guests are invited to take a ride on one of the elegant white stallions.
On the way in, you may notice little Jaq and Gus standing by, perhaps secretly hoping the Fairy Godmother will come along and transform them into horses once again (at least for a little while).
The carousel itself is a genuine antique, one of the oldest attractions in the Magic Kingdom. Entitled "Liberty," it was built in 1917 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company for Palace Gardens in Detroit, Michigan. The carousel was later moved to Olympic Park in Maplewood, New Jersey, where Disney's Imagineers found it in 1967. Olympic Park was closing, so Disney was able to acquire the classic carousel, restore it and bring it to Walt Disney World.
In the restoration, the eighteen panels around the carousel were replaced with paintings depicting the story of Cinderella, and the original wooden mechanical parts were upgraded to metal. The Italian-crafted band organ and much of the rest of the carousel's artwork and elaborate carvings were maintained.
In the design are depictions of Lady Liberty, golden eagles and a red, white & blue color scheme (made more pastel to be a better match for Fantasyland), all indicative of the period during which the carousel was built, when a wave a post-WWI patriotism swept the nation.
Once the carousel was acquired, several horses were modified and others added in place of previously existing chariots. It was Walt Disney's desire with the King Arthur Carrousel at Disneyland that it be filled with nothing but white horses, all of which are galloping. That same wish was carried out here in the Magic Kingdom (although notably, one of those original chariots was returned to Cinderella's Golden Carrousel a few years ago, in an effort to make the attraction more accessible to all Guests).
Each of the horses on the carousel is hand-crafted and unique, and many have become personal favorites of Disney Guests and Cast Members over the years. One in particular, though, has been designated as Cinderella's horse. She's on the second row from the outside and the only one with a gold ribbon on her tail.
