Park Review
|
Santa Cruz, California July 17, 2001 I just got back this morning from a small trip to California. I flew in Monday night and came back last night on the red- eye so as to maximize my short time in this wonderful state. (I love California so much and promise all of you that I will live there some day!!!) My sister is teaching a summer program at UC-Santa Cruz, so of course I told her that I'd come visit. On Tuesday night we all went out to the famed Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Monday and Tuesday nights are 60-cent ride nights, so we barely even had to spend any money. The first coaster up was the Hurricane. I could tell just by looking at it that it was going to pack a punch. There is a diving turn midway through that just takes your breath away, literally. It is, in fact, almost a "reverse loop" because after the dive, you just come right back around and twist back up. Anyways, I insisted on riding this in the back and was not disappointed, though we only did it once. Next up was the famed "Giant Dipper." I wasn't sure what to expect, as I'm not necessarily a fan of older woodies. (Yeah, blasphemy to some, I know! Sorry.) Most of them seem to be either too boring, way too rough, or both. And besides, the Giant Dipper really isn't a whole lot to look at. It's a little elevated and the shops and games block a lot of good photo opportunities. Anyways, I will agree that this is one of the fastest dispatched rides out there. They were running two trains and no sooner did we sit down than a ride operator checked our bar, and we were dropped onto the track and on our way. Does anyone know how this system works? It felt like the train was held up off the track and then dropped onto it when released. The first surprise right off the bat was a twisting tunnel in complete darkness! Awesome! And then the train climbs onto the lift hill. I was surprised - this ride is awesome! My first ride was in seat 1-2 (my sister is a front seat rider - she doesn�t know any better) and got some great, if not painful laterals. Many hills make this ride a lot of fun, but only okay in the front. I'll tell about the back seat in a minute. After this, we went and rode some of the carnival rides. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge wuss when is comes to most flat rides. I usually avoid them. But they convinced me to go on this one called "Crazy Surf." It's hard to describe this, but it's a long row of seats where you sit facing outward and it goes through a circular motion. (your body travels sideways.) So they convinced me to ride this and lets just say that I'm glad the operator stopped it when he did, because I was probably only a few more rotations from losing that wonderful dinner the UC-SC dining hall had given me! At this point it was getting close to closing and I needed another ride on the Giant Dipper, this time in the back. After this, my sister was convinced that the back was definitely the place to be. Anyways, I could tell that the back provided a great ride, but I wasn't allowed to fully enjoy it because I was trying like hell not to succumb to my recently obtained case of motion sickness. I know it was a great ride, but unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it and was just hanging on waiting for the ride to be over! AFLAC! -Brian F. (Who knows how the duck feels at the end of that commercial!)
|