One of the last great 1920s classic boardwalk wooden roller coasters! The Santa Cruz Giant Dipper is AWESOME! Filmed & Edited by Robb Alvey - www.themeparkreview.com
Its always great to see people enjoy the ride. I'm from Santa Cruz and i work at the Boardwalk and this roller coaster is considered a historical landmark!!
I was about to get on it like 4 years ago but my dad said I couldn't cause it was A wooden coaster. The one at my home park is really painful so I couldn't get on this
Ahhhh y'all go easy on this old coaster. It is a moderate to high-end thrill, but it is tame enough for the family. appropriate for the whole family (over 10!). Knowing the history of this ride and the perils it survived makes a true coaster enthusiast appreciate this once-classic woody and it's restoration. I actually enjoyed the ride very much.
Absolutely love this ride! Just went on it twice during my visit this month to California and used to ride it often while living there as a kid. For a coaster nearly 100 years old and with very simple technology, it packs quite a wallop - moreso than many of the new steel coasters today that are designed for speed and a rather smooth ride. I think the genius with the Giant Dipper that makes it stand out, especially given its age, is the fact is has both a tunnel and a drop at the very start, which most coasters don't. The banked turn after the first drop and the sharp descending turn after the emergency break run also set it apart. The last three dips at the end, when most coasters tend to peter out. give it a solid finale. It's not the biggest, tallest or fastest, but for a coaster built without computer technology or high-tech equipment way back in 1924, this is one of the very best! Thanks for sharing!
I'd also mention there's lots of air-time, and you get a nice kick back into the station, leaving everyone screaming and hollering. No boring straight-aways or brake-runs here; every foot of track is used for thrills.
Love your take on this classic ride Bruce. Many people give old Arrow loopers a bad reputation for having jerky transitions and rough track, but they forget that before all the amazingly smooth computer designed coasters of today the pieces of track were hand welded and bent by highly skilled craftsmen that put a lot of thought into what they were doing. The Giant Dipper is one of my favorite coasters and is the one I grew up riding as a kid and after riding many more roller coasters in my life this one still stands out to me. This ride along with the Looff Carousel are both absolute classics and I hope they continue to provide immense enjoyment for 100 more years at least.
@@whalebrigade I’ve ridden this coaster over a couple hundred times in my life. Brothers Charles and Arthur Looff built this coaster and the historic carousel along with the original Big Dipper And Looff merry go round that use to operate at Playland at the Beach in San Francisco from 1923-1972
This is a classic coaster and can't, in fairness, be compared to contemporary ones. It's has great momentum, fun twists and its initial plunge into a dark tunnel always makes me laugh. I am biased, though, for my family and I would go to Santa Cruz when I was little and I was obsessed with this particular ride though I was too young to ride it. Didn't matter as I would look at it and endlessly draw it. I loved its shape. Years later I got to ride it and it was worth the wait. Just yesterday, I rode it a couple of times and I felt as if I was ten; I'm almost sixty-four!
This coaster was the first real coaster I went alone on as a kid. Was in the early 80's. Its what made me fall in love with roller coasters. The Giant Dipper will always hold a special place in my heart.
It doesn't break any records, but the Giant Dipper is still loads of fun, right down to the queue (right under the tracks, so you hear the rumbling and screaming) . Echo what the back seat fans say. Line up for those. You won't have the pants scared off of you, but it has a kick, and appeal.
While it doesn't break records, it is a 'benchmark' coaster. Back in the golden era of coasters, Prior and Church designed coasters were those that other coaster designers tried to measure up to. Some succeeding, but most not. Even the world famous Coney Island Cyclone's layout was somewhat copied from the Giant Dipper's layout. What is cool about the Giant Dipper's layout is that it is a double out and back design, but with curving outbound and return runs. So it provides the best of a traditional out and back coaster with that of a twister style coaster. (The Cyclone is a twister). Church made really good use of the small space on the boardwalk here and managed to cram a lot of coaster into a small space. It is amazing that with constant upkeep and maintenance at how good this ride looks, and from what I hear, how it runs. When it comes to coasters, this one is definitely a benchmark which others are measured by and it is also a work of art with it's beautiful curving fan turns.
Even the screams bring me back! We would frequently go to Santa Cruz Beach and Seabright Beach nearby and the frequency of screams on the dips is very unique. You can hear them walking the boardwalk and even while playing the in the waves.
That guy always does that almost on EVERY coaster review. While I like Theme Park Review's coaster reviews, the problem is hearing that "Weeeeeeeee" all the time. Sadly, because of that, I mostly switched to Coaster Force reviews as they don't say anything on the ride. I can understand the occasional "Woahhhhh" or "Ahhhhh!" But everytime....."Weeeeeeee!" It just got on my nerves after a while. Thankfully he only did it once in this video.
This is my favorite ride. I really liked how the end of the ride, the people that are waiting to ride the ride, holds their hand out and you hi-five them until the ride is over.
I've ridden a lot of coasters across this country, but the Giant Dipper is still one of my favorites and one of the few wooden coasters that I'll still ride.
BOY! Watching this I was overwhelmed by fond memories of countless weekends as a kid spent there. And in the 60's and 70's, the Giant Dipper was the main attraction and was the most thrilling coaster around.
The Big Dipper was always my favorite ! As a Kid and as an Adult. I grew up in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. As an adult we would go out to dinner @ The Chart House, Manuel’s, ( mex. food ) Little Tampico’s (mex . food ) don’t know if they are still there, Then go ride The Big Dipper before we went home. I miss Santa Cruz, thanks for the great memories ! I left Santa Cruz 18 years ago and moved to Hawaii. My High School friends still live in the Santa Cruz area. After this COVID 19 virus is over, maybe it’s time to go Home for a visit. Go to dinner then Ride The Big Dipper again as usual !!!!!!! Aloha , 6/2020 COVID 19 Virus days .... Be Safe ! 🎢🎢🎢😊😷😷
You mentioned little Tampico's for Mexican food. Was that the small Mexican restaurant on the main street in front of the boardwalk just up the street from the merry go round building? I remember eating at the restaurant right across the street from the Looff merry go round in the 70's. It was a hole in the wall but the food was great!!!! 👍
Amazing - A Prior and Church coaster. I'd been on the Cyclone at Revere ('25-'69) four times before it burned and expired. It seemed a lot larger than this but I was really psyched to see the P+C supports here to understand the Cyclone better. The unique tunnel approach to the first climb was one of his stamps. More recently on the Yankee Cannonball at Salem NH, half of it sports fresh new wooden supports and they've smoothed it out - no more jerky neck abuse to the riders. It was a marked improvement - hopefully they'll get the neck break out of this one too at some point. These are treasures which should be protected like the endangered species they really are!
Watching the video, my body remembers the airtime and getting thrown around on the turns and feel of when the breaks grab at the end as you ride back into the station smiling. Will always be a favorite, regardless of anything.
One of the neatest rollercoasters... Santa Cruz is one if my favorite beaches. Born in Arizona, i always had a soft spot for Santa Cruz. Lived there for about 3 years, then returned to Az to be with family. Cheers!
This was my first rollercoaster ride ever. :') Amazing memories at this place. Watching the train go into the tunnel I could almost smell the smell. :P
I like the middle, so you start to accelerate as soon as you crest the first (lift) hill. In front, you hang there until at least 50% of the train has crested. In the back, you get whipped over the top, but sometimes you find yourself slowing even before you reach an up-slope track, like at the climb to the second turn. Middle is best!
Ahh yes :) The first coaster I ever rode and the reason I am so obsessed with them to this day! The dark tunnel at the beginning is and always will be my favorite part :)
Love the Classic Wooden Coasters. They are a big thrill to ride just some dips and turns, not trying to defy gravity or take you upside down LOVE IT!!!
This coaster is the max I can handle. Perfect for me and I really enjoy it. Go on it every time we're going by Santa Cruz when my daughter and I travel.
God this brings back so much nostalgia. I know no one cares but wow, I used to go to Santa Cruz every summer with my family from ages 3-7 for two weeks. The last time I went was with a friends family for a day trip was when I was 10 a few years ago.I love Santa Cruz so much and I hope I can go back there soon. Brings back so many good memories. I’ll always regret getting the chance to be in the very front of this ride the last time I went but I got too scared and forced my friend to let us go in the middle lol.
I went on that when I was 8 years old and it scared the hell outta me..Ive been on it a thousand times since..Its a classic fun wooden coaster..one of the best ever !!!
the shaking, rattling and clanking MAKE this coaster tons of fun--and it looks much scarier going up to the top than it appears to in THIS footage. The whole family (those tall enough) can enjoy this one. I would repeat but you have to get at the end of the line; so instead head down to the merry-go-round get on an outside horse, grab a brass ring, and see if you can ring the big bell with a toss! The calliope music alone is worth the price of the ride!
I must have ridden this roller coaster 50 times. I used to live up the street from it, back in the day. The view from the top is spectacular and the ride is smooth. The whole boardwalk is delightful. Try the deep fried artichoke hearts and/or zucchini if they still have them.
This will always be my favorite roller coaster. I first rode it in 1974 when it was 50 years old. Next year will be 100. I hope I get to ride it again someday. The first 500 times weren't enough.
I went out this ride it was super fun and really good for being 100 years old! It’s overall really fun for people who are scared of roller coasters. I am super scared of roller coasters and I actually enjoyed it!
OMG! I loved this ride! I went on it within the last few weeks, I went on 4 times! The best parts are the first initial drop and the part where you're in the dark.
In 1988, my friend, Joanie, and I got to sit in the very front and go time after time for a dozen times in a row because it was Christmas break, the boardwalk was open, but we were the only ones there. Great memory!
TheRealBrook1968, Did you ever ride it when the original trains where still on? Because from what I know, the trains the ride uses today were added in 1988.
Once when I rode the dipper it was its 86th birthday and everyone on my train including myself sang jolly good fellow all the way to the top of the hill. It was amazing.
I can't get over how smooth this looks for a woody. Given it's age you would think that you might get beaten up a bit but not at all. Good thing I'll be moving to California next year! I'll have to take a ride! :D
This is the first rollercoaster i ever rode. Im from Colorado and when my family went to SF for vacation we went here from SF to Monterey. It was fun and at first i said no (im terrified of big rollercoasters) but my family convinced me to ride it. It is still the first one though:P this vid brings back memories of California. Good times.
My mom took me on this ride when I was 5 (back in the 1960s) and they were worried it would scare me to death. We rode it at least 6 more times that day. Every time I go to Santa Cruz, it's my go to ride.
As a teenager I lived three blocks from the beach and this boardwalk, road this every time I got a chance and had the 50 cents to ride. Miss those days!
