I just thought I would try to help out any of you that are about to build the LEGO Grand Carousel. I just finished and have found some "tweaks" that might save you some exasperating moments.
First, it is true that the base plate is very finicky and will tend to fall apart, BUT there are some things you can do to remedy this. Mine kept falling apart and sticking whenever I tried to have the Carousel rotate. One of the reasons for this seems to be that as you add things to the top of the carousel (the riding figures, the Jester faceplates, the gold starburst faceplates) it tends to droop and this causes problems in the rotation. The bottom base plate no longer clears the LEGO bricks (the dark gray double curved brick, and the dark gray 4 curved brick - the first sit on dark blue 2 by 2 bases, the latter on a 2 by 4 base) that are meant to help the base plate rotate - they sit at the four sides of the center of the carousel, just inside the baseplate, just outside the central core.
Once I removed all four of these "helpers" the carousel was free to move and has not caused me any problem since.
Second, the large gear wheel that moves the base plate was pressing against the baseplate much too hard when I had it attached to the shock absorber. When I detached it from the shock absorber and just let it rest against the base plate on its own accord - the base plate parts held together and the Carousel still turned just fine.
Now I am happy I purchased the Grand Carousel, as it turns and plays music with very little attention. Yes, occasionally a base plate section will loosen, but it is fairly easy to fix - much easier than having to rebuild an entire section - like I had to do before I did my "tweaks".
