Your wait to ride the restored Joyland carousel at Botanica is over, but expect a line
A little bit of Joyland will come back to life this weekend when its old carousel — now restored, refurbished and ready to spin at Botanica — officially opens to the public.
Wichita has been waiting for five years to step back on board the 1949 antique, whose 36 horses gave rides to generations of Wichita children until the park permanently closed in 2006 and fell into disrepair.
The carousel, which Joyland owner Margaret Nelson Spear donated to Botanica in 2014, is now housed under a glass pavilion and is the centerpiece of a restoration that has cost $2.4 million so far, and the project isn’t even complete.
During opening night of Illuminations on Friday, members of the public will get their first chance to ride the carousel, but there are several things you need to know before you head over to take a ride. Here’s a checklist:
The opening is coinciding with Illuminations: Botanica will open the carousel, which sits west of the Downing Children’s Garden, on the same night that it opens Illuminations, the annual light display that attracts the garden’s biggest crowds each year. Illuminations opens at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and that’s when the carousel will start spinning, too. The carousel area will have Christmas trees set up around it, and on their way there, people will pass by a new Illuminations display set up in the meadow that will feature a 20-foot-tall pixelated LED tree and a display of more than 6,000 RGB LED snowflakes.
It will run special hours through Illuminations: The carousel will run nightly through the end of Illuminations, which is Jan. 4. The hours will be 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. During that period, the staff will also be offering special daytime riding hours: from noon to 4 .m. Mondays through Saturdays
It costs $3 to ride, plus admission: A spin on the carousel is $3. But to get to the carousel, people must first pay for entrance. For Illuminations, it’s $12 for for adults, $8 for members, military and kids age 3-12. To ride during the noon-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday slot, it’s $9 for adults, $8 for military, seniors and kids ages 3 to 12 and free for members.
There will be lines: There’s lots of buzz about the carousel, and the people hoping to ride it will crowd in on top of the 88,000 people who each year attend Illuminations. In short, there will be lines, and Jamee Ross, Botanica’s director of development, asks people to bring their patience. The staff has done the math, and each night, only about 1,200 people will be able to ride the carousel.
“When we’ve got crowds of 3,000 to 5,000, sometimes not everyone’s going to be able to ride the ride,” she said.
People who buy a $3 tokens but don’t get on can bring the tokens back and try again at a later date, she said. Also, those who take advantage of the daytime hours might have better luck. Planning an Illuminations visit for a less busy night, typically Sunday through Wednesday, can also up a rider’s chances of getting a turn.
You can just watch: Don’t want to wait in line but still want to see the carousel? There will be two different lines leading into the carousel area, Ross said. One is for riding, and one is just for watching. Watching is free.
What to eat, where to park: There will be food near the carousel every night of Illuminations. Hot-2-Trot, Wichita’s popular hot dog vendor, will be set up nightly as will The Bavarian Nut Company. The Flying Stove will be there every Tuesday through Saturday, and The Dapper Doughnut will set up Dec. 9-14 and Dec. 16-21. A bar also will be open nightly, and there will always be hot cocoa and s’mores.
Those who can’t find a spot in Botanica’s small main lot during Illuminations hours (and that will be nearly everyone) can park in the south parking lot across from the Wichita Art Museum on Museum Boulevard, where free shuttles will pick people up and drop them off at a Botanica entrance. There’s also parking just west of Cowtown near the south gate.
Carousel hours will be extended when the weather warms up: If you’re the type of person who can wait to check out the hot new attraction, Botanica will be adding longer carousel hours when the weather starts to warm up, likely after spring break, Ross said.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 5:01 AM.
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