Columbia Carousel is a pair of double-decked carousels at Six Flags Great America and at California's Great America. Both parks were originally built by the Marriott hotel chain as sister properties but they were later sold and are presently owned by Six Flags and Cedar Fair, respectively. To this date they are the world's tallest carousels.HistoryThe first Columbia opened in the Santa Clara park in 1976 and the Gurnee Columbia opened later that year. The carousel is known as Carousel Columbia at California's Great America and Columbia Carousel at Six Flags Great America. They opened as the world's biggest carousel and continue to hold that title to this day.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.DesignThe 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.
