¿Vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel?

In this sentence, vamos is being used as a suggestion: Shall we go...? / Are we going...?

Spanish often uses the present tense for suggestions involving we:

• ¿Vamos al cine? = Shall we go to the cinema?
• ¿Comemos ya? = Shall we eat now?

So ¿Vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel? naturally means something like Shall we go first to the Ferris wheel or to the carousel?

If you said vamos a ir, that would usually sound more explicit or more like we are going to go, which is less natural here.

Because Spanish normally drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

• vamos already means we go / we’re going / shall we go
• so nosotros is unnecessary in most contexts

You could say:

• ¿Nosotros vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel?

But that sounds marked or unnatural unless you are emphasizing we as opposed to someone else.

Because al is the contraction of a + el.

• a + la = a la → no contraction
• a + el = al → contraction required

So:

• a la noria
• al carrusel

This is a very common pattern in Spanish:

• Voy a la playa
• Voy al parque

Because the verb ir normally takes a before a destination.

• ir a un lugar = to go to a place

Examples:

• Voy a casa = I’m going home
• Vamos al museo = We’re going to the museum
• Vamos a la noria = We’re going to the Ferris wheel

Even though a Ferris wheel or a carousel is not exactly a “place” in the same way as a city or a park, Spanish still uses a because they are the destination of the movement.

Primero means first.

In this sentence, it tells you that the speakers are deciding which ride to go to first:

• ¿Vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel?
• Shall we go first to the Ferris wheel or to the carousel?

Its position after vamos is very natural. Spanish adverbs like primero often go after the verb:

• Vamos primero...
• Comemos primero...
• Hablo primero...

You might also hear slightly different word orders depending on emphasis, but this version is standard and natural.

In Spain, la noria commonly means a Ferris wheel.

This is useful because learners may know other terms from other varieties of Spanish, such as:

• rueda de la fortuna
• rueda moscovita in some regions

But in Spain, noria is a very common word for the ride.

Historically, noria can also refer to a kind of water wheel, so the word has more than one meaning, but in this amusement-park context it clearly means Ferris wheel.

Carrusel is perfectly correct and widely understood in Spain.

You may also hear tiovivo in Spain for a merry-go-round / carousel, especially in more traditional or everyday usage.

So depending on the speaker and region, both can appear:

• carrusel
• tiovivo

In your sentence, carrusel is completely natural.

Spanish often uses the definite article with nouns in cases where English may or may not emphasize it.

Here, the rides are treated as specific attractions:

• la noria
• el carrusel

That is very normal in Spanish after ir a when talking about a specific place or attraction.

Compare:

• Vamos al parque
• Vamos a la piscina
• Vamos al carrusel

Leaving out the article would usually sound wrong here.

Spanish uses both an opening and a closing question mark for direct questions:

• ¿ ... ?

So:

• ¿Vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel?

This is standard Spanish punctuation.
English only uses the final question mark, but Spanish marks the question from the start.

The same applies to exclamations:

• ¡Qué bien!

It is grammatically a question, but in real use it often works as a suggestion or proposal.

So depending on tone and context, it can mean:

• Shall we go first to the Ferris wheel or to the carousel?
• Are we going first to the Ferris wheel or to the carousel?

Most likely, it is a cooperative suggestion between people deciding what to do next.

O means or.

It connects the two alternatives:

• a la noria
• al carrusel

So the structure is:

• ¿Vamos primero a X o a Y?

In English:
Shall we go first to X or to Y?

A useful thing to notice is that Spanish does not repeat a before the second option here because it is already understood from the parallel structure:

• a la noria o al carrusel

A Spain Spanish pronunciation would be approximately:

¿Vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel?
BA-mos pri-ME-ro a la NO-ria o al ka-rru-SEL

A few useful points:

• vamos = BA-mos
• primero = stress on me
• noria = NO-ria
• carrusel = stress on the last syllable, -sel

In most of Spain, the c in carrusel is a normal k sound because it comes before a.
The rr is a trilled or strongly rolled r.

Yes. That is also grammatical and natural.

Both of these work:

• ¿Vamos primero a la noria o al carrusel?
• ¿Vamos a la noria primero o al carrusel?

The difference is mostly one of rhythm and emphasis.

• Vamos primero... emphasizes the idea of first
• Vamos a la noria primero... places the first destination earlier

The original sentence is a very natural way to ask the question.