The majestic carousel Columbia serves as the centerpiece of the grand entrance to both the Gurnee and Santa Clara parks. This ornate, double-decker carousel was recognized by Guinness as the world’s largest carousel. The Carousel Columbia is often associated with the Carousel Song, produced especially for the Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA parks by Gene Patrick.
Today in both Gurnee and Santa Clara, the carousel Columbia sports an updated paint scheme. You can see the use of red and blue in the color scheme in this album of Santa Clara 2004 miscellaneous photos. Fountains were added in recent years to the reflecting pool at Santa Clara.
- Location:
- Carousel Plaza
- Opened:
- 1976
Read more about the history of the Carousel Columbia.
Go to the Carousel Columbia photo album.
An instrumental portion of the Carousel Song is available here. (532 KB mp3 audio file)