Cw Parker Carousel Museum

This is a great little adventure to get out of the house. It’s really cheap and the kids and adults both like it. They have very limited hours early in the week so always double check. It’s a really cool experience and we take all of our guests there and they love it too. The volunteers that work there are really sweet and helpful too.

I LOVE this Carousel. It runs faster than most carousels and the music is incredible. Your children will love it. Be sure to check the hours as they are not open during the early part of the week.

Looking for something to do with the family, a date or just chase away the blues. Stop in here. You can enjoy a tour ($) or just hop on a horse and enjoy a swirl around the fast carousel (very cheap). The music, the colors, the feeling just erases time. Plenty of free parking outside. Lots of volunteer staff to help with any questions. It is clear they love what they do. Have out of town guests? Stop in here and experience a piece of history. They also have a place for birthday parties.

Wow, I am really impressed with this museum! I didn’t expect to enjoy this museum but I walked away with a new appreciation for CW Parker and the master craftsmen who designed/​built carousels at the turn of the last century.
Jerry, our tour guide, is a true craftsmen and historian. His passion for the innovation, engineering and craft involved in producing 1910-​era carousels greatly enhanced our appreciation of the subject.
I had no idea that Leavenworth was at the center of the carnival industry and CW Parker was an extremely rich man before he turned 30 by controlling the every aspect of the Midwestern carnival industry. Again, Jerry’s ability to convey historical context greatly enhanced our understanding of the magnitude of Parker’s influence.
Of course, the highlight of the tour for my 10-​year old son was the ride on the restored 1913 Carry-​Us-​All Parker carousel. The museum spent 10 years restoring the carousel and it is much, much more fun than a Mall carousel.
We made a day trip from KC stopping in Weston for lunch at a 1870’s era Irish Pub before traveling to Leavenworth to visit a few museums.

Oh… some good old fashioned fun!
This is a museum worked by volunteers. In the main area, there is a giant working carousel, where the center walls are non existent. So, while you go around and around, you can see how all of the machinery works– from the carousel itself to the music. Pretty awesome for kids who are into machinery and engineering.
You pay for the rides via tickets. The rides are very long, so they are well worth the small fees.

Leavenworth’s claim to fame used to be a Carousel factory around the turn of the century. Turn the page a hundred years and the demand is long gone, but the nostalgia remains.
They were having a celebration here with free cake (of a Rice Krispie Treat Horse), ice cream carousel cake, and inexpensive carousel rides. My wife begged me to take her. I think most of the staff were seniors and volunteers and quite friendly. The detail on these carousels is quite amazing. They have some fully restored. We didn’t tour the whole museum, but it was neat. I liked the getup the older man wore that befit someone from the 1920’s carnival.
Don’t forget to check the river park across the street! It’s beautiful.

Riding a carousel never gets old. Even if at first you’re reluctant to go on, you are charmed by the grind of the organ and within seconds of the first spin, you feel carefree, like a kid again. As cliché as that sounds, it’s true! And you leave, an adult again, stomach queasy because somehow you’ve acquired motion sickness over the years.
Anyway, let’s rewind a bit.
When I was a little kid, the highlight of my Friday night would be to go to the local Farmer’s Market. This was on Long Island and was more of a flea market, as I don’t recall it being anything like the Farmer’s Markets I’ve experienced as an adult. I don’t recall the presence of any actual *produce* for example.
The reason it was the highlight of my week was because I’d get to ride the merry-​go-​round. This was an indoor market and, obviously, so was the merry-​go-​round. It’s kind of strange to ride one that is completely indoors, so anytime I do so nowadays, I think back to my experiences at the Farmer’s Market merry-​go-​round. I used to like holding the pole and throwing my head way back so I could gaze up at the tons of dust caught in the hinges.
OK, fast forward to the present…(sort of)
The Cw Parker Carousel Museum is a delight, something truly unexpected in Leavenworth and it has a 100-​year-​old restored working carousel that is completely indoors like the one of my childhood. Cue the joy! (not the «Joi.» You should never cue me).
I’m one of those nerds who has to read every damn sign in a museum (you should have seen me at the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joe!) and there’s a lot to read here.
The 1913 Carousel is irresistible. There are rabbits you can ride! I love that. Each animal has been restored (in 2005) to its former glory. If you look at the website, you’ll notice that each of the animals has a name, and, this is pure speculation on my part, I daresay a soul.
Next to the operating carousel, there is a «primitive» carousel, that is, the oldest operating carousel in the US (possibly from the 1850s) on permanent loan to the Parker from the National Carousel Association (can I join that?). Although it’s too fragile to ride, the museum will have someone give you a demonstration, if you so desire. Apparently the last time it was used was in a Baltimore park in the 1920s.
Before leaving the museum, you’ll want to visit the gift shop (you know you want to buy one of those carousel horse statues, or even a CD of that evocative carousel music) and press a penny.