Reviews of New England Carousel Museum (Museum)

Lynn Duprey

Absolutely amazing place! Brings you right back in time!. My granddaughter was in awe!. We will definitely be returning!!.

Sarah Mitchell

Great place for families and children to learn about the history of carousels. They have hands on activities for children. It's a lot of fun.

Maria Buontempo

Such a fun place!! Definitely do the walking tour- You'll learn a lot

Hank Cullinane

Very interesting. The tour guide was very knowledgeable

Len Pytlak

It was very interesting.

sharon laurito

Wonderful array of different styles and carved horses and animals.. Cathy our guide was informative and nice personality. I am a carousel buff and managed to learn more!

Denise Russell

Wonderful! Just go!

Rich Iffland

Amazing place. Was there for a ceremony upstairs a couple times. Just walking thru the place is amazing. From the carousel pieses to the firefighter memorabilia it's a must see for yourself and the kids worth the trip.

Christopher Perkins

Don't miss this.

Robert J Sidell

Great tour, very informative!

CCNAMA Recovery CT Chapter NAMA Recovery

Great place to see some of the most beautiful Carousel

Lathan Gareiss

It was great to step away from work for an hour and admire the past. What a great collection of carousel history.

Sandy Barron-Perrault

We waited in line for 2 hours to see Santa Claus and it was so hot inside. My grandsons had to wait in line for 2 hours to get their face painted and they got to do nothing else because it took the whole time waiting in line. There were far to many people shoved into a place not big enough to hold that many people. They only had one person painting faces and two people making animal balloons. They did not have enough staff for as many people that were there. Some of the staff was snobby and not very friendly which is unexceptable at a childrens event. I am not sure if I will ever go back to another event.

Free Eagle

Carousel was small, but still a nice place.

Dan Harder

Nice place

Melody G

Fun visit

Stanley Tofil

Childhood memories

Dave Pergola

This place is great for people who are interested in the history and mechanics of carousel's, great for smaller children as it contains a working caroseul inside the building (one ride is free with admission) and it shows the history (local and national), of the carosuels as well. On top of that, this building houses a fire history museum, and a Macedonian exhibit. The price of entry is pretty low for three different attractions. Spend a few hours here and enjoy the history.

Susan Valeri

Really enjoyed the history and the beauty of the museum. My mother loved it.

Thomas Bettua

Great little place to take your child to to pass the time away in CT. Went for family birthday party of a family member. All the girls had a great time.

Missy B.

Beautiful wedding!

Ashely Bonertz

What a wonderful wedding venue! Will keep guest if all ages entertained and visually pleasing to the eye! The help here is wonderful. Come to the new england carousel museum, and i promise you won't be disappointed!

Elias Feliciano

Cooo place

Chops MacConnie

Great staff. Fun experience.

Virginia Steinway

Although crowded due to the annual Santa shoot, the museum was quite well prepared for all the families.The parking was nearby and easy, as well as the clean restrooms. We came early and didn't have too long a wait to get a great shot on Santas' lap. Elsa was great too. The crafts were helpful to calm down the littlest ones. We will come again soon to get a better ride on the indoor Carousel as it was overloaded to the max.

Benjamin Muller

Who knew there was so much to learn about carousels? In addition to the carousel information, this museum houses a firehouse museum and some other odds and ends.

jose q

This was a great place to visit. All the beautiful carved horses and other animals were great. Staff was pretty good and informative. And the Carousel ride was fun.

Al Bruzik

Awesome

Ciaoli L

We attended a wedding here. Great venue.

rao nischala

Old world charm! It also has Fire museum and Greek museum!

Dianna Glynn

Awesome displays, they even have a small working carousel.

M. Showers

Nice museum.

Lyn L.

So much to see here. Wonderful.

Rich Goucher

Son having his wedding here.Staff is very accommodating and pleasant to work with. Plenty of interesting distractions for the guests, carousel ride, restoration of horses etc. from carousels across the world. Beautiful facility.

Heli Roy

I went to check out the museum soon after I had moved to the area and was very impressed. The items on display show wonderful craftsmanship. I think it is a wonderful place to bring young children, and adults alike who like carousels and the history related to carousels. You even get a token for a free ride in one of the carousels. It also has an attached Firehouse museum which was very cool. Worth checking it out, definitely.

Nakia Wilson

It was okay, cold in the building.

Janet Serra

The New England Carousel Museum is dedicated to the acquisition, restoration, and preservation of operating carousels and carousel memorabilia and the creation of new carousel material, for the education and pleasure of the general public. The main mission of the New England Carousel Museum, a non-profit organization, is to preserve and protect antique wooden carousels and carousel pieces. Visitors travel back in time when visiting this museum. Now on view, over 100 years of carousel art and history are on view in our Main Gallery and throughout our 33,000 square foot building. See examples from turn of the century carvers like Dentzel, Herschell Spillman and Stein and Goldstein. A sample carving bay, hands on activities for little ones and the Venetian indoor carousel make this the perfect family or group outing.

joe marchetti

Not a place for little kids. Not a hands on place.

Beckett Hamilton

I love it here - the staff are lovely and the exhibits are so pretty and interesting! They also have a fire service history section.

simonb57

When my friends and I go on trips together, we often like to to stop off at quirky & unusual places to break up the ride and make the trip more interesting. On our latest weekend getaway, we deiced to check out the New England Carousel Museum. We were pretty disappointed. While the carousel horses were quite nice, the museum is small, dimly lit, understaffed, and dusty. One of my friends actually had a hard time breathing after a while from the dust. The staff was OK I guess, we had to wait about 10 min to get in because no on was there to sell us tickets. Not a big deal, but a little annoying. We were pretty much done after 25 min, not really worth the 2 hour detour. I suppose if you had a very young child with a short attention span, this would be a good place to check out. There was a birthday party going on while we were there and the kids seemed to really be enjoying themselves. One thing I really want to make clear it that the surrounding area SUCKS. It's very run down, dirty and I wouldn't want to be there after dark, maybe that's why the museum closes at 5!

carolyn checovetes divenere

Fun birthday party!

Lorene Huddleston

The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly and really cared about restoring the carousel horse's. When in Connecticut again I would love to visit the museum again because they are always getting new old horses to restore. This is a very kid friendly place.

C Jones

Awesome tour. Great place to spend a couple hours on a weekend. Look for a groupon

Christopher Scott

Went for a "Princess Tea Party" with my daughter. It was a nice place

Shira Kostika

Whimsical and cute this museum boasts an inclusive carousel ride and a gorgeous second floor event venue.

Will Fergus

This was a fantastic little museum. Great for an afternoon if you're interested in the history of carousels.

Woodz Red

Ment for older kids but had a good time

Jose Cortes

It's a nice and awesome place to visit.

Gerhard Girkinger

Keep your expectations very low.

Jordaan DiYulio

Wow, I've never seen so many old wooden horses in one place before in my life! Plus its really 3 museums in one. Also the event venue upstairs is very nice.

Diana Genotti

Lots of childhood memories. Great tour guide well versed in the history of carousels.

Laura Muller

This museum is delightful. It has displays of a wide variety of antique carousel animals. There's also a working carousel and attached museums about firefighting history and Hellenic history (the later appears to be confined to a replica of a Greek building on the top floor of the carousel museum. There is an elevator, and I believe the museum is handicap accessible.

ChiQi Lynn

Really cool museum and very interesting facts learned. The pieces are incredibly detailed and the Docent was very knowledgeable and delightful. She turned on the music machine and let us ride the indoor carousel!

Craig J. Cusanelli

Great tour!

Frank Peron

Thanks for your free admission and wonderful experience

Diana Taylor

Love it !

Charles Crawford

If you love carousels this is the place to go. But if you don't like merry-go-rounds you better find a different Museum.

Telondia Jones

Kids enjoyed riding the carousel

Edward Nevi

Great place. Had our granddaughter birthday there. Wonderful

jetfanzee

Great stop for a family day trip. The guides are very friendly and knowledgeable, and we're great with the kids. In addition to the beautiful carousel art, there is also a Fire Museum, a Greek Art exhibit and currently a Tattoo history exhibit, though that is a temporary installation. The carousel animals are a reminder of the days when craftsmen were artists who took pride in their work.

Mustafa Hamadah

This museum is a nice trip for the whole family members specially in a cold day in the winter. The museum is small but full of variety of carousels in shapes, colors, dates and how they been carved from simple to sophisticated. Our tour guy Nick was very informative and passionate about carousels. The Carrousel museum is in the 1st floor, where is also a carousel ride. The 2nd floor is the museum of Fire history. All include in the tour.

Karolin Betoush

We had a great time at the masquerade party

steve smith

We held our wedding and reception here over the weekend and it was great. The staff were friendly and extremely helpful from planning right through to the end if the evening.

Talie W

A great display if horses.... Only a little child friendly. Child section is growing.

Charles Carlin

The New England Carousel Museum in Bristol CT is a nice find. A small museum by many standards, a medium sized museum by other standard, however for me it is just right. It is focused on the carousel and the animals that are carved and put on those carousels. With a wonderful sampling of the carousel animals, a working carousel for the children, and a party room to bring a birthday or holiday party to a great setting the Carousel Museum is beautiful. So colorful and playful. Now add to this a master carver who can create new animals, and repair aged animals and you have something really special. It turns out that animals needing repair are shipped here and the craftsmen repair and return them. Wow! There are animals in the process of construction so one can experience the process of creation. So, if in Bristol, make this a stop for sure. Oh es and did I say the staff is so helpful and knowledgeable, well they are! I can hear the tunes now.... Lets go.

Christy Weeks

A hidden gem near the boulevard. This place is magical and informative. Make sure you check their web page for events!

jimmy lamboy

Very good place to visit

Michelle Ganley

Very nice place. Very courteous and friendly staff. The kids loved the carousel ride over and over again.

Algenis morillo

Very quiet place amazing history

James LeGoullon

Very nice and enjoyable. Worth the money just to see haow they are made and the different animals.

Suzanne West

Beautiful place to have an event. We have hosted two parties here and have had great experiences!

Beverly O'Connor

My daughter has always been an avid fan of carousels, so when we found out we were passing this museum, we felt we had to stop. Well, it was a big mistake. In an old warehouse, the building feels more like an abandoned, antiquated living room, than a museum. Musty, smelly, and dirty, it felt like entering a horror movie. The staff member who greeted us was frenzied, frantic, and rude. She corrected my daughter a number of times, and would not even take us on a tour because "she had to go to the bank". As we walked around, we had to wait a long time to even go upstairs, or ride the carousel. The pieces, however, were spectacular... I only wish there was better lighting to see the magnificent pieces of americana. You could see the impact of the buildings on the horses; dusty, cracking, dry. It was very sad. And the gift shop was a disaster. Absolute disaster. Overall, a major disappointment. Oh, and to the older woman with grey hair wearing no shoes and shouting- you are very unprofessional.

Kelsie

Would go back. Tour was great.

Dar-C Coretto

Cute experience for the kids

Heidi Harkenrider

Very nice place to visit. Their collection is amazing

Valerie Ford

Fun for kids of all ages! They have great events too!

Lauren Ijomah

The main attraction, the working carousel, was much smaller than I expected and didn't play any music while operating. If you're looking for a good carousel ride, the one in Buckland mall is much better. That being said, my 3 year old had a great time at the Carousel Museum's carnival the first weekend of December. The balloon animals and face painting were a big hit. The lines were very long but luckily my daughter didn't mind. Without the extra carnival activities we probably would have only stayed 30 mins, but we ended up staying a couple of hours.

Jaki Torres

This place was amazing. I love everything about it it was like a fairytale to rent to get married

Tamara Nieman

The carousel horses are beautiful works of art from a bygone era. There is a small carousel to ride on, too, if you are under a 165 lbs.

Christina Morris

Small but cool place. Room upstairs for events is so unique, nice experience.

Scott Cook

Interesting displays, fun carousel, nice place to hold a meeting, and a very friendly staff!

MrJdrumgoole

beautiful space but some of those horses creepy

Miriam Rogers

Very nice. Good tour guide. Would recommend.

Olga Shulman

We had a lot of fun in the carousel museum. My 7 and 8 years old were very interested.

Roger Saucier

Nice place for kids birthday parties

Laura Gammons

Beautiful and worth it...great carved masterpieces.

Karin Lee

Very cute.

Laura Gauthier

Great place to visit- so many wonderful animals, stories and info! Would have loved to see a catalog for purchase of their collection. Maybe there will be one available in the future- great fundraiser idea!

Sofa King

The staff is very knowledgeable about the history of the carousel

Mario Medici

Wonderful! Traveled from NJ on Sunday, June 24, 2018. My senses were overwhelmed! Thinking I would be there about 15 minutes, I ended up staying almost two hours. Every item had an explanation. There was even an unfinished horse showing how they are may (didn't know they are hollow inside). The staff is friendly and informative. It well worth the 240 mile round-trip drive.

Christopher Cunningham

Fib place to spend an hour or two. Nice collection of beautiful carousel houses and other animals. Also a craft area where the kids have a lot of fun. Fire history museum upstairs is also nice.

Stephen Kriksciun

An amazing place, was there for a wedding and it was incredible!

John Perrier

Great for weddings

Crystal Angle

The staff were very welcoming and accommodating. We went with special needs clients and they were very patient and friendly no matter how many questions were asked.

Miguel Vazquez Jr

A fun experience

Eloise Hazelwood

Great venue for a wedding or really awesome place for a day visit. Brought back many happy childhood memories.

Seth

The history in the building was quite interesting. Bonus fire truck museum as well!

Moira McSweeney

Nice museum. Woman who greeted me and the four children I had with me was great. Older woman inside seemed unhappy and felt she didn't like children. She really sort of ruined the visit.

Benjamin George

Neat, but rustic and definitely an acquired taste.

Wendy Ferraro

While the Carousel horses are absolutely beautiful...The staff was less than helpful. We drove an hour, only to wait ten min at the front desk to pay to walk around one room of horses. We were told that there was an upstairs that we needed a "tour guide" to enter with. I don't know where they were so we just left. Sorry, unless they are with a group, I don't think that the staff is very attentive. Not worth the drive or the money.

Mya Doyle

Our tour guide Jacob p was very disrespectful and used many non appropriate words for 13 year olds. It seemed as if he was flirting with the girls whom where way underage. I will not go here again due to him. You have lost customers because of this rude employee.

Adam Seeger

Comprehensive collection and exhibits of carousel animals from key locations and times in American history. Includes an actual working carousel! Also a firefighter history exhibit upstairs. Which is next to a large quaint banquet hall with chandeliers and lighted columns. Great for birthday parties and weddings!

Kate Siciliano

Attended a birthday party for a 5 year old - the kids all had a fantastic time!

Nathan Hoffer

They have a very nice display of various carousel horses and other animals that were used in other carousels around the world. There is even a carousel that you can ride inside the building.

Kathy Miller

This is a true, hidden gem! You could either view the museum yourself, or go on the guided tour, which I highly recommend! The guide gives you history of the different type of carousel horses. So much information that you probably didn't know! There are detailed write ups about every horse in the museum. Then go upstairs to the Fireman's Museum. Again, so much information and history. I would highly recommend making a special trip here!!

Lisa Martin

This is a Great place for birthday parties especially if your child likes Carousels and/or firefighters/equipment. Love this place.

Dan Sharma

Never knew it was there. Kind of neat for the kds. Not a hole lot to do. It was cool to see but I not something I would do more than once.

Patricia Miller

Love the upstairs room for renting out and having a party ...

Matthew Callis

Get the tour. This place is like a bad trip through grandmas trinket collection without it. The tour gives you a context in which to appreciate the carousel museum. Then it's interesting. The Egyptian museum is one room and very out of place expect little. The firefighter museum is small but interesting in a small museum way.

None

Hidden gem that the kids love and excellent place for birthday parties.

Slim Anetacs

This place is very cool. We had our own guide who explained so many things. We got a lot out of this museum because of our guide. The entire tour took about 1.5 hours.

Joshua Smilowitz

Cool place

Kevin Johnson

Awesome place