Carousel Gardens & Storyland

Lonely Planet review

Kids will love these charmingly dated theme parks. The centerpiece of Carousel Gardens is a restored antique carousel, housed in a 1906 structure with a stained-glass cupola. In the 1980s, residents raised around US$1.2 million to restore the broken animals, fix the squeaky merry-go-round and replace the Wurlitzer organ. The results are naturally spectacular. Other rides on the grounds include a small roller coaster, a tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars and the City Park Rail Rd is boarded here.

Rides at Carousel Gardens cost an additional around US$1 each, and an around US$8 pass will allow you unlimited rides for the day.

Storyland has no rides, but the park's fairytale statuary is plenty of fuel for young imaginations. Children can play among - and climb upon - such larger-than-life figures as the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland, or enter the mouth of the whale from Pinocchio . If these characters seem strangely similar to Mardi Gras floats, it's because they were created by master float-builder Blaine Kern. Storyland is open later on Saturday and Sunday. During the Christmas season, it's lit up like a Christmas tree.