Wheaton Regional Park’s new carousel debuts Saturday.
The new carousel features colorful, hand-painted, fiberglass horses and zebras and two bench-like chariots. One of the chariots is ADA accessible. It’s located near the Shorefield Road entrance to Wheaton Regional Park, next to the miniature train station.
It will run April 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $2 for opening day, which is half the regular price. Children under 2 years ride free with a paying adult.
The carousel will be open weekends through October, with expanded operating hours on holidays and during Montgomery County Public Schools’ spring and summer breaks. Full details on the operating hours are available on the carousel and miniature train webpage.
The new carousel replaces the Ovid Hazen Wells Carousel which operated at Wheaton Regional Park from 1985 through October of 2024. That carousel will be reconditioned and relocated to Ovid Hazen Wells Recreational Park in Clarksburg in the future.
That amusement ride was built in 1915 and operated on the National Mall just steps from the Smithsonian Castle from 1967 to 1981. Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission bought the merry go round in 1981 and brought it to Wheaton.
