2004
Coaster Trips: 2004: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Sunday July 4th
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was not a planned visit on this trip. However, I received an e-mail from John, who I'd met on past trips, offering transportation out to the park, and I could not refuse an offer like that! John called by to pick me up from my hotel at 9:30am, and generously agreed to bring along Jonathon, also a guest at the same hotel who I'd been talking to the previous evening.
My first impression of the boardwalk - I don't think park is really an appropriate term here - was of a relic from another era. Modern rides are very much in the minority here, with just the modern KMG Fireball sticking out like a sore thumb from among a eclectic collection of classics, such as a Rock-O-Plane, a Round-Up, and of course the Giant Dipper (#294).
Though eighty years old this year, the Giant Dipper has been well maintained. The historian in me was appalled to see that the old manual brakes are no longer in use and have been replaced with modern automatic ones, though I can understand why the decision was made (even if other parks maintain the original systems, such as Bells and Wyandot lake). As for the ride itself, it is a classic double out and back layout with a few twists thrown in for good measure.
The second drop on the Hurricane (#295) took me completely by surprise. It seems impossibly steep and twisted for a coaster of this size, and works very well. The direction change is pretty similar to Mine Train Ulven at Bakken, but other than these two rides I don't recall anything like it elsewhere.
Walking back down the boardwalk for the other coaster, we took a second ride on the Giant Dipper. Although only about twenty minutes after our first ride, it had sped up noticably, and we made a note to ride it again later in the day.
The Sea Serpent (#296) is one of the bigger coasters built by Miler Coaster, and is large enough for adults to ride without feeling embarrassed (unlike certain other examples!). It is surrounded by flowers and a waterfall which make it one of the more scenic coasters I've encountered of late.
The Train Adventure dark ride is a strange example of the genre. Two of the characters were later spotted on board the Sky Glider (see below). Much more normal was the Ghost Blaster, a Sally target shooting dark ride. I managed the worst score of the three of us, but then again I was up against someone who plays Time Crisis (Jonathon) and someone who had ridden before (John).
The one thing I won't miss on returning home is amusement park food. Lunch for me was a Hot Dog. Fortunately a Hot Dog is very difficult to do badly, and the one here tasted just fine. Healthy options in a park? Forget it.
After lunch, we went for a wander through one of the Arcades, which had a treasure trove of classic games. Among other things, I spotted a Tempest, a Q-Bert, a Battlezone, an Outrun, an Operation Thunderbolt, a Pac Man Plus, and a Millipede. There was also a Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, and after watching some people playing on Beginner, Jonathon and I decided to show off a little and played a game on Standard.
The Haunted Castle dark ride wasn't bad at all. The cars had unusually high sides, which I've never seen on a dark ride before. Unfortunately, the effect of a spinning tunnel towards the end of the ride wasn't working properly today, so the finish was a bit of an anti-climax.
We finished the day with final rides on the Giant Dipper and the Hurricane, with a final trip on the Sky Glider to take photographs.