Statistics
No real statistics have been kept on our carrousel over the years. However,
by making some assumptions based around the number of rides per hour, the number of
riders per ride and the number of months per year and hours per day that the carrousel
was open, the following statistics have been estimated.
How Many Riders?
It's been estimated our carrousel gave rides to about 13 million riders during its days at Nat Park. Since it opened in Riverfront Park in 1975, it has averaged about 275,000 riders per year, for an additional 12,100,000 riders, bringing the total to more than 25 million riders!
How Many Rides?
We estimate that an average ride on our carrousel runs for 3 1/2 minutes with about
20 riders on board. During that
time, the carrousel makes 14 revolutions at a speed of 7mph at the outer row of the platform.
And since it opened in 1909, our carrousel has been operated for more than
1,250,000 rides and more than 17,000,000 revolutions!
How Many Miles?
In its 14 revolutions per ride, the outer rows of our carrousel travel more than four tenths of a mile.
So during their lifetimes, our carousel figures have each travelled
more than 500,000 miles, the distance to the moon and most of the way back!
And if you multiply 500,000 miles times 56 (the number of figures on our carrousel),
that comes to more than 29 million miles, or 1200 times around the equator of the earth!
How Many Lights?
There are 180 lights on our carrousel, and all of them turn with the
carrousel. Each light is a 25 watt clear light bulb.
How Many Mirrors?
There are 14 mirrors on each of the carrousel's 20 rounding boards (the curved section
on the overhead section of the carrousel). Another 40 mirrors turn with the
center section of the carrousel and there are 11 stationary mirrors in the
center section, for a total of 333 mirrors!
How Many Rings?
Our plastic rings are supposed to be returned after each ride is over. However, a few
rings do leave the building. How many? At 11 cents each, the average monthly cost to
replinish the ring supply is $750.00, so there are nearly 7000 rings disappearing each
month.
It's likely that more tan 5,000,000 rings have disappeared from our carousel since 1909!
Occasionally when a concerned mother or father finds out that their children have
borrowed a ring or two, they put the rings into an envelope (with no return address)
and mail them back to the park!
How Many Jewels?
A total of 1056 jewels have been used to decorate our Coney Island style carrousel figures.
They range in size from 1/2 inch to 2 inches. All of them are European stained glass
jewels with the exception of Geri Giraffe. She is estimated to be older than the rest
of the figures on our carousel, and is decorated with mirrored glass jewels.
How Many Tails?
Our carrousel has 54 horses which require real horsehair tails. These taiils are
estimated to require replacement every 10 years. Estimating 10 replacements since 1909 plus the
original tail for each figure,
our carousel has required 594 tails since it was new!
How Many Pipes in the Band Organ?
Our Ruth band organ has over 300 pipes, the equivalent of a 60 piece band!
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