sfmman2000

If this is true, it makes sense that they chose to remove Invertigo. Think about it: they wanted to take out a ride that would be marketable at another park. None of their other big roller coasters fit that criteria. Flight Deck was custom-built for the park's landscape. Demon is just too old. And, I have a feeling CF knows that Vortex and Grizzly are not exactly award-winning rides, and wouldn't do well marketed as a "new" ride at a different park. Invertigo is the only modern roller coaster they have that would look good at another park.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_16986732 --------------------------------------------------------------- 1/1/2011 "SANTA CRUZ -- At 2:40 p.m. Friday, the Boardwalk's Giant Dipper hosted its millionth rider of 2010. "This is the first time we've broken a million since 2002," said Brigid Fuller, publicist for the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk gave all 24 riders on the coaster that held the millionth passenger a commemorative coin, saltwater taffy and a free souvenir photo. In order to reach the million-rider mark by 5 p.m. Friday, Boardwalk officials began offering a special deal last weekend, when they still were 11,000 riders short. For $5, the price of a single ride, visitors could ride the Giant Dipper as many times as they wanted. In all. 58 million riders have braved The Giant Dipper's arches and drops since it first opened in 1924."

Shane, your California's Great America post is incredible! Thanks for posting everything. The first time I went to CGA in the early 90s, Skyhawk was still up and running, but I was scared of upside-down rides so I didn't go on. What a mistake I made! Now I'll probably never get to ride a Flight Trainer. For those like me who are interested in what a Flight Trainer actually did, I found some media footage of Flight Commander at KI: ( ) It is interesting to me that the Triple Wheel wasn't mentioned much in the brochures. It seems like such a photogenic ride! I would have loved to ride it.

For anyone who is available to come to the Boardwalk from December 26th, 2010 through January 2nd, 2011: There is a "Giant" promotion happening that includes purchasing a single ride ($5), and riding the rest of the day for free! See more info here: http://www.beachboardwalk.com/03_press_2010_DipperPromo_html.html GIANT DIPPER APPROACHES 1,000,000 RIDERS IN 2010 SANTA CRUZ, CA (December 21, 2010) -- Ever dream of riding a roller coaster all day long? The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is nearing 1,000,000 Giant Dipper riders in 2010. So just for fun, starting December 26, visitors can ride the Giant Dipper as many times as they want in a day (ride hours are Noon to 5pm) for $5, the price of a single ride. Tickets to ride the Giant Dipper can be purchased at any ticket booth. The Giant Dipper promotion ends at 5pm, December 31, 2010. The last time the Giant Dipper logged 1,000,000 riders in a year was 2002. Total ridership on the Giant Dipper since opening day in 1924 is approximately 58,400,000. The Giant Dipper is a National Historic Landmark. Although the Giant Dipper can operate in the rain, Boardwalk rides may close if weather conditions are poor. To confirm ride status, please call 831-423-5590 the morning of your visit. Season Pass Holders and visitors who purchase an “All-Day Unlimited Ride Wristband” for $19.95 are not affected by the special Giant Dipper promotion. (Those visitors can ride all open rides as often as they want on their ticket plans.) The Boardwalk also expects to reach another milestone before the end of the year - 100,000 Facebook fans. The Boardwalk has stepped up its online presence over the past year, keeping visitors up-to-date on the latest events and entertainment, as well as sharing historical photographs and fun facts. Boardwalk rides are open for limited operation, December 26-31 from Noon to 5pm, weather permitting. During Limited Operation, Unlimited Ride wristbands are $19.95 plus tax. Rides scheduled to open include the Giant Dipper, Carousel, Double Shot, Speed Bumps, as well as kiddie rides – Starfish and Speedway. The Casino Arcade and Neptunes Kingdom are open daily throughout the year.

I would have to go with Giant Dipper at SCBB.

Just thought I would update everyone: The Giant Dipper is scheduled to be OPEN during limited operation whenever the Boardwalk is open this Winter, and into Spring.

Most outdoor rides will shut down in medium to heavy rain. Keep in mind that on a rainy day, some rides may not be scheduled to open at all. The situation really varies from day to day. The best advice I can give is to call Operations the morning of your visit.

I bet the park has plans for a more modern family-style roller coaster in the future.

^^ Saw you as well, Nick! ^ The new Haunted Castle is open during normal operation, and is a permanent ride.

To apparently gain interest, the winner of every Desperados game now receives a medium size plush prize.

I think the weather is a really a big factor in determining the crowds for any given day at SCBB (in addition to events). If you are going to SCBB this upcoming weekend, and there is rain in the weather forecast, I would recommend calling Park Operations (831-423-5590) the morning of your visit to confirm which rides are going to be open and park hours. For example, this past Sunday (10/17/10), the park was scheduled for full operation, but due to the rain, the park went into limited operation only opened covered rides, plus Giant Dipper (which runs in any amount of rain), and hours were cut from 11am-7pm to 11am-5pm. On a busy event day such as this upcoming Saturday (10/23/10), they will have as many rides open as possible if it is raining, but be advised that certain rides do not run in the rain (Hurricane), and there are no refunds on wristbands. P.S. The Giant Dipper is very close to reaching 1,000,000 riders this year alone! Yes, that's ONE MILLION riders! So come on down and ride, before the ride is shut down for the season.

From what I remember, every few years Giant Dipper closes for about this amount of time.

^ An S&S Jr. Suspended Coaster looks like a great fit for any Bay Area park. I like the idea of 4-across seating, but only if there is a grouper helping to fill all the seats. An El Loco would be a *perfect fit* as a Hurricane replacement, at the Boardwalk. Possibly the most thrilling roller coaster I can think of taking up the smallest footprint.

I understand the need for attractions families can enjoy together, but throw us thrill seekers a bone here.. Great America is becoming a history museum, and Discovery Kingdom is not quite there yet, but looking a little dated. At the Boardwalk, we haven't gotten a real spectacular thrill ride since Fireball (installed in 2003, I believe). I refuse to call Double Shot a thrill ride, it's more of a high-speed observation tower. Even look at our water park, Raging Waters: they get a new slide on average of about one every five years. It's got to be the most out-dated water park I've ever seen!

On that note, whats up with the general lack of thrill rides for northern California theme parks lately?

Thanks for the information about the brakes. It will be interesting to hear what exactly went wrong. Is it possible to have anti-rollbacks on a flat section of track? If the train rolled back, it seems like there would be a lot of stress on the train, as well as the riders.

Considering how relatively often launched coasters rollback, having anti-rollback fins on the incline is asking for trouble. Think rider evac in the air, and then pushing the train through the course...

Great pictures! Nice focus on some of the ride artwork/background pictures. The Tornado ride looks really crazy!

^Most of what I said was referring to general procedures, not necessarily this incident. I don't know enough about how friction brakes work, but if they were open, would pressing the E-stop (cutting the ride power) revert them to a closed position? Or would they stay open until power was restored to the ride, and 'electrically' released.

To be technical, an E-stop button on most rides that I have operated, shuts down the ride's main power and is not usually pressed right away after an emergency occurs. The operator should activate the normal method of stopping the ride, and once riders are evacuated, then press the E-stop. Once an E-stop is pressed, restraints may not be easy to open. On another note, For all we know, the launch system had a major problem and launched the train very slowly, but fast enough to send the train somewhat up the hill. Let's say the brakes did not close at all, and on the way down the train had just enough speed to lightly hit the train in the station. And the reason for the brakes not closing, is because the entire train did not clear the launch area. That's my theory.

^ 319,000 sounds about right to me, although I'm sure it is on the high side due to many employees passing through -- and if the ride breaks down, some guests pass through the turnstile to exit. Some days we it close to 5000 guests, and some days we don't get past 3000. It depends mainly on the crew, number of cars on the track (varies from 5-8), and lastly the crowds. Many nights lately and back in August, the queue for HC empties out completely an hour or so before the park closed. It was a great time to ride with minimal waiting (but not so good for our capacity)!

Agreed about the Lazer Maze - there always seems to be a crowd gathered around there, and Desperados is usually empty. BTW, the current price of Desperados is $2.00.

Yes, I believe it is that version. Although many of us may find the gun easy to operate, I think the general public finds it hard to line up their gun with the actions on-screen due having 20 different bullet numbers popping up in roughly the same area of the screen. That being said, I am a big fan of the game!

^Thanks!! I would have loved a chance to ride BBW, having heard about it all my life. Seems like it really rounded out BGW's coaster collection.

When Desperados first opened, I believe the price was set at $3.00 a play. Soon, the price started decreasing. First, set at 2 plays for $5.00. Soon after, only $1.00 or 2 for $1.50. This is the current price, which is really a bargain. The game itself is great. But, there are some things wrong with this version or at least the way it is marketed: 1. I think most of the general public visiting the Boardwalk has no idea what Desperados is. How could the park easily inform guests of what the ride is? Call it a shooting gallery! The park makes no mention of this on any signage. 2. The ride is only fun when a majority of the seats are full. Gives a much better feeling of competition. Due to the [un]popularity of the ride, this rarely happens. 3. Guests sitting in the front row have a great advantage over guests sitting in the back. 4. The shooting mechanics could use a little work. First time guests will probably have a hard time realizing where they are shooting. 5. edit: I almost forgot. The ride is way too short.