Great Park Carousel

Huh? The website says the carousel opens at 10 am, but when we got there at 1:00 pm the ride was not operating and the animals were missing from the carousel. No signage to explain what was up. Weird. Daughter was bummed.

Very reasonable to pay roughly $ 2 for a full day carousel ride. I know it’s not free, but not too bad at all either.
The area doesn’t have much around the carousel, but it is open and is often not crowded, so you can bring a kids bicycle or something. sometimes kids just love open spaces.
I do worry the price increase means financial issues for the park. So try and get your rides in soon. :)

Update: they changed their prices. $ 3 for unlimited day of riding. woohoo! you can also opt to get 10 one-​day passes for $ 20. fun place for kids.

Best in Conni

This ride takes me back and is very nostalgic. It reminds me the good old carnivals that use to pop up in town and setup for the weekend. Whats better about this one is the quality and detail of the ride which is spectacular. The only thing close to this carousel is probably the one in disneyland.

I liked the Carousel. There was no wait. The wait for the balloon was 4 hours, so we spent time at the Sunday Farmers Market.

Located within the Orange County Great Park, the carousel is FREE to ride. And you can ride it as much as you want. (NOTE: it was free when I first wrote this review but not anymore!)
You have to get a hand stamp at the visitor center and then you can ride the merry-​go-​round ’round and ’round and ’round to your heart’s content. When there isn’t much of a line you don’t even have to get off and get back in line — you just stay on and switch to a different animal. That’s right, they don’t just have the horses. They have a pig, cat, panda, reindeer, zebra and more.
Each ride is about 3 minutes long. Everyone is quite nice and the carousel is kept sparkling clean. It’s fun but I’m running out of friends’ children to babysit so I have an excuse to go ride.

You definitely can’t beat FREE. The carousel is like any other you’ll find at an amusement park, zoo, mall, etc. with plenty of «animal» choices for the young ones. First you’ll have to stop by the visitor center to sign a waiver form (mostly for the balloon ride). Every time we’ve been here, there was virtually no waiting since you can go back in line after getting off.
The staff members are extremely friendly and accommodating, even though working conditions can be a bit harsh (90 degree afternoons during the Summer). There is a «water station,» which is basically a Gatorade jug spewing out lukewarm water into a cheap paper cup. Since there are no concession stands or vending machines within the vicinity of the balloon or carousel, bring your own drinks/​food. I did notice some tables for public use, but shades (i.e. trees) are at a premium.
My daughter rode the carousel 8 times during one visit, and yet, she was still wanting more. A trip here will always be a winner for your young ones.

So you finally made your way to the Great Park in Irvine. Well its about time. But wait a minute what do you mean I have to wait to go on that balloon thingie… ahhhhhhhhhhh… ok the kids are getting anxious what can we do… what is that over there… OHHHHhhhhh YEAH BABY!!! its a Carousel. What kid doesnt wanna go hop on one of those and go spinning around and around and around and around…
Well the munchkin absolutely loved this thing. Literally she rode the Carousel at least 10 times while we waited for the Balloon ride
and this was on a Saturday afternoon in the summer!!! WOW! no lines at all for the Carousel and what parent doesnt love a FREE Carousel? MMMmmm Hmmmm I said the most joyous of all the four letter F words… lets repeat it together
F — R — E — E!!!
Awesome. When they dont have a line your child doesnt even have to get off in between starts and stops, but you are able to switch horses, tigers, penguins, unicorns or whatever is there to ride on. This is awesome and helpful.
My second favorite thing about this Carousel is that it may have been the cleanest one I have ever seen. AND ITS OUTDOORS!!!
This thing made waiting for the balloon ride a total blast… btw did I mention the Balloon Ride is free??? Absolutely awesome adventure for you, your kids, hell even your parents would love this place and make them think back to their childhood riding on something so fun as this ride.
Enjoy this thing my friends… its well worth the cost of admission… oops I forgot there isnt one… because its FREE!!!
(well you did pay taxes and this is what it went to, finally some pork the rest of us can enjoy)