I’m pleased to announce that Weekend Update contributor Marc Ricketts is back with a series of articles from the San Francisco Bay area. Today we’ll visit the venerable Giant Dipper Roller Coaster on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. At 90 years in operation, this is California’s oldest roller coaster! ~~Rick
Iconic Giant Dipper Celebrates 90 Years in Santa Cruz
by Marc Ricketts
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is rather quiet at 8:30 in the morning. With no turnstiles, the few people that freely wander about are outnumbered by security officers and employees going to their work stations while a “Landboni” clears the way for the fun seekers that will soon arrive.
At the entrance to the Boardwalk’s iconic Giant Dipper coaster, a couple from Arizona has been waiting since 6:00 a.m. Seems this is where they became engaged last fall. Why were they here this particular day so early? Because on May 17, 2014, the beloved woodie beside Monterey Bay celebrated its 90 anniversary.
Oh, we can ignore this sign for the day:
At least for an hour, since even the 15 cent opening day price wasn’t needed as rides were free until 11:00 a.m. As the line built, some were interviewed on camera for an upcoming local TV special about the Boardwalk.
Excitement was high when the 1st train was loaded. Your humble narrator generally does the back seat boogie on roller coasters, but for such an occasion I settled into the seat behind the newlyweds-to-be. For this ride, cheers drowned the usual screams as we dropped into the darkness below the station and wound our way to the lift hill.
It was the continuation of a long lifespan, only 4 coasters still operating in the US are older, and it’s the 9th oldest on the globe. It was built in less than two months! Today, of course, it would require that much time for a series of meetings just to pick the ride’s name. Six Giant Dippers could have been built in 1924 for what it cost to paint one in 2014. And make no mistake, one reason the numerous seaside California parks dwindled is because the Pacific coast is a harsh, wet, salty, foggy, windy environment. Staying on top of maintenance is one reason it’s lasted so long.
So, got it, the thing is old. That is interesting. But it doesn’t automatically mean it’s good. But as the unique sound of the chain and ratchet echoed off the wooden beams, I knew from personal experience that I was about to experience a ride that is nearly flawless. Though the simple layout was created with pencils and a slide rule, it is relentless, with no dead zones, lots of airtime and head chopper moments, and a rumble felt throughout the whole station when a train passes overhead.
We exited that first train with claps and whoops. I shook hands with the man that sat next to me for that historic journey, a man I’d never seen. A man I’d never see again. A man that asked if I had any spare change. Yes, Virginia, we are indeed in Santa Cruz. For my next ride I lined up at my normal back seat, but seeing that the person in the row ahead was solo, I joined him to free a row for a couple. Thus I sat next to Tim Jones, a local retiree taking his 184th ride of the year. From now on I will hear Tim in my head saying “here we go” as the train enters the tunnel. As we talked of favorite places to sit, I realized that my subsequent rides would have to be in MY preferred spot in the back row, right side (Tim likes the front of that car for leg room). Although those rides weren’t taken immediately, I found myself behind Tim on both of them. Here’s Tim in his preferred seat photographed from my preferred seat.
But sustenance was needed at that point though, and after fueling myself on a Texas donut it was off to the Boardwalk’s newest coaster, Undertow. This spinning coaster quietly opened last fall after numerous delays during the summer (where have we heard a tale like that?), but has ultimately proven to be a great improvement over the Hurricane coaster that was previously in that spot. Immediately noticeable was a more permanent queue which appears set up to allow a cover to be installed for those rare hot days along the coast.
Even with the trim brakes along the track, Undertow maintains a good pace with some steep drops and curves with extreme angles. Some of these photos were taken during test cycles so remain calm; no one actually fell out of the vehicles.
The band Y & T were scheduled for a free show that evening, and a few dedicated fans were already staking their claim.
After failing to hit the clown’s mouth with a ring on the 103 year old Looff Carousel (built by Charles Looff, whose son Arthur built the Giant Dipper). It was time to return to where the day began. The time for free rides on the Dipper was ending and there was now a much longer line of people wanting to pay for their ride than had arrived early for the free ones.
Wait! What? OK, that may not sound right, but the first 500 paid riders received a 90th anniversary pin.
And the line usually moves fast for the Dipper. In fact, the ride operators deserve special mention because they are consistently the most efficient coaster crew in Northern California.
As it turns out, May 17 was one of those rare warm days on the coast, so I made a trip on the Boardwalk’s Log Ride after two more rides on the Dipper.
Other than some logging theming in the station, it is really just a trough in the sky, but it does give one a great view of Santa Cruz and the tree cloaked hills beyond in one direction, and water stretching to the horizon in the other.
No visit to the Boardwalk is complete without a trip back in time to Cave Rock City on the Cave Train Adventure.
Earlier this year the spinning “time tunnel” (think Universal Tram) was removed, and the new dino paintings on the wall in that part of the ride indicates that this element is now firmly in Yesterland. The Cave Train is technologically closer to Mr. Toad than Forbidden Journey, but has the charm of the former during its tour of prehistoric Santa Cruz where dinosaurs and cavemen (that oddly resembled the Rugrats) coexisted. Not everything was working, most notably the animated coaster inside the ride, but it was still enjoyable. Hopefully problems will be addressed before they get out of hand.
Before moving on to the rest of my day away from the Boardwalk I wanted to take advantage of some more views from altitude, so I started with the Ferris Wheel. There were only 12-15 people in line. Just before they would board, the party in front of me, a dad and two kids, realized they would need two cars, so another young lady came to ride with one of the kids. I would have been cool with her just joining them in those circumstances, but they automatically went back to the end of the line so the newcomer could properly waited her turn—without being told by dad to do so!! There’s a man that’s doing something right.
Finally it was a ride on the Sky Glider to round out my visit.
With the free pins distributed the line for the Dipper was now confined to the inside, but that would change as the afternoon progressed.
Plenty of good spots were still available for Y&T at 1PM.
And, as always, no 45 minute waits for Dole Whip at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
HEY, WHILE YOU’RE IN THE AREA:
For a contrast to the wide beach at the Boardwalk, head north on the Pacific Coast Highway and stop at one of the many state beaches and parks for the more dramatic version of the left side of the country.
I’ll be back soon with another DAY BY THE BAY!
– Marc
You must be logged in to post a comment.