The first Columbia opened in the Santa Clara park in 1976 and the GurneeColumbia opened later that year. The carousel is known as Carousel Columbia at California's Great America and Columbia Carousel at Six Flags Great America. In 1994, Santa Clara's Columbia received some minor renovations for its appearance in the movie Beverly Hills Cop III, filmed at the theme park. In the early 2000s both carousels received touches of red and blue paint. The original paint scheme was white with gold trim, however, some of the gold trim still remains. In the 2011/2012 off-season, Carousel Columbia at California's Great America was re-painted. During the 40 seasons celebration at Six Flags Great America, Columbia Carousel was repainted.
Design
The original design of the carousel, then named "The Columbia", was carried out by Randall Duell Associates. Additional scrollwork and decorations were designed by Chris Mueller. Each of the 106 horses, chariots, and animals on the carousels is a replica of one of the world's most famous carved carousel animals. A large reflecting pond was installed in front of each carousel with historic replicas of American flags flying along the sides of the pond. Today, the flags still fly. Sixteen original oil paintings by George Gibson are installed on each carousel, depicting scenes from American history. Kris Rowberry publicized the fact, originally from the press release, that elements from Carousel Columbia were originally used on the sets of the films Marie Antoinette and The Swan. At tall, the Carousel Columbia in Santa Clara is the tallest carousel in the world. The sister Columbia Carousel in Gurnee stands just one foot shorter at. The two sister carousels may be distinguished by the color of the roof – the Carousel Columbia in California is painted gold, while the Columbia Carousel in Illinois is green – and the flooring – Gurnee's carousel has carpet, while Santa Clara's has a wood floor. The Columbia is often associated with the Carousel Song, written especially for the Marriott's Great Americatheme parks by Gene Patrick. The Carousel Song still plays at the Santa Clara park periodically throughout the day while it only plays at the Gurnee park soon before the park closes.
Animals
Seating on the carousel consists of the following 106 fiberglass replicas:
82 jumping horses
6 standing horses
3 chariots
1 camel
1 giraffe
1 lion
1 tiger
1 dragon
1 deer
1 seahorse
2 jumping ostriches
2 jumping pigs
2 jumping cats
2 jumping rabbits
The horses include cavalry-style horses, Parker horses, Dentzel horses, and the 1928 "Silver Anniversary Horse" originally carved for the 25th anniversary of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The original 1928 armored horse is displayed in the Circus Hall of Fame. The chariots are replicas of chariots originally carved in 1918 by Daniel Carl Muller.
