House on the Rock, Spring Green, Wis.

The World’s Largest Carousel is 35-feet-tall, 80 feet wide and equipped with 269 handcrafted carousel beasts—not one of them a horse. You can find this mammoth amusement on the grounds of an odd-looking structure known as The House on the Rock.  Wisconsinite Alex Jordan started building THOTR back in the 1940s to house his many collections. He died in ’89, but you can still check out his obsessions. For instance, the Circus Room houses a one-million-piece miniature circus under a little big top. Braver children will marvel at the 200-foot-long sea monster engaged in battle with a giant octopus, while the more musically inclined will love pumping tokens into the music machines in the “Music of Yesterday” hall, which contains the world’s only machine-operated symphony. When the cacophony gets to be too much, you can ditch the kids in the Cannon Room and enjoy a peaceful moment in the Zen garden.

For more information: The House on the Rock