herschell carrousel factory museum

It amazes me that this wonderful little museum remains a hidden gem. I spoke to people who live in the area before making the trip and they had never heard of it. We live about an hour away and opted to stop there on our way to Niagara Falls. We are so pleased that we did. This museum was a real working factory for the Wurlitzer organs and wooded horses all designed for the carousel. The factory floor is open for wandering and filled with trivia and tidbits surrounding the amusement park days of old. The horses (and other animals) on display show the care and love that were given by this factory. Also the home to concept of "kiddielands" now found all over the world. We spoke with numerous staff who were extremely friendly and filled with knowledge. They have a working carousel that you can ride till your heart's content. Admission fee is only $6 and well worth the few hours it takes to cover this gem.

This is a nice place to show off the old fashioned merry go round.The history of the horses is interesting.

We were so excited to find the original steam gallery ride at the original factory!!! We wandered through the museum reading about the carvers of the animals and the band music from Wurl family. A staff came by to show us where each photo was actually taken THEN he told us he was the person who restored the band music players. He gave us a wonderful tour and played two players for us!! Then we went out to the carousel....and rode!! The gentleman was so friendly he even took a memory photo of us!! We were mesmerized!!!

My husband liked the workshop and the grandchildren enjoyed the rides. Some rides I haven't seen in ages so it was a nice trip down memory lane. The kiddies especially liked the little boats with "real water." The ride operators were friendly and made the whole experience much more fun.

So many choices to eat at but we ended up here while visiting the Reading market. It's a good thing I bumped into this lady while walking around to find the best food around. It's no joke! The pastrami was bursting with flavor. This is now our fav place for pastrami. No need to put the extra stuff. Take it as it is!

We stopped into the Carrousel museum to ride the old carrousel with a Wurlitzer organ - both of us grew up with visits to beach towns on the east coast with old fashioned carrousels. The 6 dollar entry fee includes 1 free ride on the carrousel, with each additional ride 50 cents. The fee also includes a self guided tour of the workshops where the horses and animals were carved, and a display of unique carrousel animals. On certain days, there are several other rides available at the museum from old amusement parks, but we did not visit on one of those days.The carrousel was beautiful and the horses were beautifully maintained. We both enjoyed our ride so much, that we opted to pay for a second round. you can see the organ as you go around, and it is unlike anything I have ever seen - little organ pipes, some sort of brass instrument on the side and a drum on top. The operator of the ride may have been as old as the carrousel and added to the ambiance. We enjoyed the display of older kiddie rides, old bumper cars from the 50s and fighter pilot rides like the one I grew up on. The display of carrousel animals had very unusual animals that I have never seen on any ride. The workshop had great videos that showed the craftsmen at work on the horses at each stage of the carving and painting. They even have a workshop for folks who have some carving experience, and you can see their ongoing projects.This was a fun walk down memory lane, and for that purpose, well worth the entry fee. If you are just looking for a carrousel ride for the kids, it may not be worth it unless the kids are old enough to appreciate the craftsmanship that went into making these works of art and entertainment.

Went here on 7/16/14 because of a newspaper ran add reflecting free admission for kids. Not only were we denied the free admittence, the employees were very quick to treat us as if we were free loaders for even suggesting that free admittence was advertised. We (I say "we" because there was another couple with child there for the same reason) then asked for a manager to contact us back & what we got was a very ignorant man who not only called us liars, but literally dared us to come down to show him proof! Pretty much furthering his accusation that we were liars! As we were highly affended by this so-called-manager we opted not to return, but we have posted the newspaper ad reflecting the TRUTH.Bottom line is this....This landmark is operated by mostly volunteers who treat there customers just like any employee not being paid for there work would, without any care or accountability. To pay any patronage to such a shottedly ran business is doing everyone an injustice as I am sure I am not the 1st person to be treated so terribly without any worry of consequences from the people running this place.

Nice place to when in Buffalo area. See old fashioned carrousel animals and how they're made. Ride on 100 yr. old carrousel included in admission. Several rides for younger kids. INTERESTING!

of course there is a true history here,of the manufacturing of wonderful carrousels...and surprisingly, within blocks of here, also were 5 music manufacturers(Wurlitzer, the biggest)...unreal nice 1916 carousel here to ride(included with admission price) and wonderful exhibits and photos...a small gift shop too,...within a neighborhood in North Tonawanda....don't miss it if in this area....

This beautiful museum is better suited for families with younger kids. My 8 and 10 year olds lasted about 15 minutes.

Please go elsewhere.. Don't go here..they advertised free admission in the paper and did not honor it!!!I will never go back based on how we were spoken to.They need training in customer service!

NOT kid friendly or friendly to anyone..refused us the free ADVERTISED admission....very very rude and horrible customer service all around(except for a women named Amelia) The director, Chuck said he didn't care about social media hurting his business. Well, Chuck, you, sir, are a poor representation of a historical landmark.

Really enjoyed this stop on our Niagara Falls trip! The kids were able to ride carousels as well as other rides. Lots of information about the carousels and their history, as well as the opportunity to watch carvers at work. The kids' activity room was a nice bonus too.

I had never heard of this place until I saw it on the get away guy last year. We finally took then 90 min trip up today and so happy we did. Took my mom and 3 year old son and we all enjoyed it. The carousel was so fun! Hard to believe the horses are as old as they are. (Some are 98 years old!) My son enjoyed the little carousel and the testing park that has 4 kiddie rides. At .50 each ride, you can't beat the price. We found coupon online for buy 1 get 1 free admission as well! The lady who runs the carousels was so sweet and went out of her way to help me figure out where another kiddie park is. She was awesome! Just a great place to visit for a couple hours... Many old horses and even different t animals to see.

We arrived shortly after ten a.m. and waited and waited at the front, right in front of the ticket booth for about fifteen minutes. A woman walked out of the gift shop and said she would be right back, so we waited and she did return, saw us waiting and went back into the gift shop, so we kept waiting. Finally, I said to my friend "lets assume its free today" and we walked in and started our self guided tour. We saw a little less than half of the place and then went into the gift shop. When the worker asked if she could help us, I told her we had not been able to pay. She took our money and we continued on our way. We thoroughly enjoyed every exhibit. We missed out on walking around the "playland" because it was sprinkling. I had the urge to go to an amusement park after we left!