Giant Dipper • Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Giant Dipper is an underrated masterpiece, considering its age, location, and airtimes. It has an AMAZING pre-lift section in the dark. Its hills give some Magnum XL-200 magic seat ejector airtime in ...

Giant Dipper is an underrated masterpiece, considering its age, location, and airtimes. It has an AMAZING pre-lift section in the dark. Its hills give some Magnum XL-200 magic seat ejector airtime in the back seat!!! Also the back seat just tosses you so much its insane! It also offers good laterals as well, to top it off. Wow

Incredibly fun and neat ride. Maintained very well, had a nasty pothole at the bottom of the first drop but frankly it ran smoother than a certain much larger and newer norcal wooden coaster about a t...

Incredibly fun and neat ride. Maintained very well, had a nasty pothole at the bottom of the first drop but frankly it ran smoother than a certain much larger and newer norcal wooden coaster about a tenth of its age.

While it's been a bit since I've been on GD, I have to say this one is an all-time favorite. It's a classic boardwalk coaster, with a fun layout, great head chopper moments, some excellent airtime, an...

While it's been a bit since I've been on GD, I have to say this one is an all-time favorite. It's a classic boardwalk coaster, with a fun layout, great head chopper moments, some excellent airtime, and it's simply gorgeous. I will say that the ride eats hats (don't assume that it's completely toothless) and the initial drop into a tunnel before the lift hill is an absolutely GREAT element.

I came into this ride with very high expectations based on what everyone was saying online, but after i rode it i have to admit it is slightly overrated. The airtime is insane, so insane that my thigh...

I came into this ride with very high expectations based on what everyone was saying online, but after i rode it i have to admit it is slightly overrated. The airtime is insane, so insane that my thighs slammed into the lapbar on one of the hills. I dont know if this was because i sat in the back but on some of the turns i was slammed into the side of the train and rattled around in my seat.

Un ancêtre, un monument historique, je me devais bien évidemment de passer à Santa Cruz juste pour tester le papi. Le coaster est placé au bord de la plage, donc le cadre est superbe. En revanche, les...

Un ancêtre, un monument historique, je me devais bien évidemment de passer à Santa Cruz juste pour tester le papi. Le coaster est placé au bord de la plage, donc le cadre est superbe. En revanche, les 10 € par personnes pour monter dedans est déjà plus refroidissant. Le dispatch se fait tous comme cyclone : à l’ancienne, avec un levier à activer. Les opérateurs sont assez mous et le coaster tourne à un train, dommage mais il y a peu de monde donc c’est compréhensible. Les trains sont assez inconfortable : la lat barre n’est pas rembourée comme sur cyclone. La première partie du coaster dans le noir est assez sympa . En revanche, ce qui est moin sympa, c’est les accous pas particulièrement agréable que l’on se mange durant tous le ride. Avis très mitigé mais bon il a 99 ans le Loulou. On ressort déçue quoi qu’il arrive et le coaster est très très en dessous de cyclone. Je vous le conseille pour l’histoire mais n’en attendez rien.

Je suis passé par Santa Cruz et sa fête foraine permanente le 15 juillet au soir je n'ais que pu le rider une fois mais cela suffit pour le mettre dans le haut de mon classement personnel assez pauvre...

Je suis passé par Santa Cruz et sa fête foraine permanente le 15 juillet au soir je n'ais que pu le rider une fois mais cela suffit pour le mettre dans le haut de mon classement personnel assez pauvre, de l'extérieur je ne m'attendais a rien "il a presque 100 ans ce papi" etc, eh bah papi a encore de l'énergie! Certes il a été restauré de nombreuses fois mais cette lap bar a 10 cm de votre corps vous donne une impression d'insécurité assez folle j'ai trouvé enfin bref, les wagons qui reste une vingtaine de seconde en haut du lift tel un coaster mal zoné sur planète coaster m'a fait sourire et ses air Times voir ejector a des moments (ce n'est que mon avis personnel) font que je le garde en moi de tout coeur, certes ça vivre dans les virages mais il a quand même 100 ans ce vieux Marcel faut pas l'oublier. En tout cas validé

After riding its sister coaster in San Diego, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of this one. I was blown away. Lots of ejector airtime. Not the smoothest ride ever but it holds up astonishingly well ...

After riding its sister coaster in San Diego, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of this one. I was blown away. Lots of ejector airtime. Not the smoothest ride ever but it holds up astonishingly well for a nearly-century old coaster

For a wood coaster this old, it's got good laterals and airtime. I also wasn't expecting to have no safety gates on the load platform, you could just walk onto the track if you wanted to. Anyways, gre...

For a wood coaster this old, it's got good laterals and airtime. I also wasn't expecting to have no safety gates on the load platform, you could just walk onto the track if you wanted to. Anyways, great coaster, great setting, fun times had.

100 years old and this ride is still hitting all the right notes. It’s classic, it’s scenic, and it offers great airtimes and headchoppers that still get my adrenaline going every time. The first time...

100 years old and this ride is still hitting all the right notes. It’s classic, it’s scenic, and it offers great airtimes and headchoppers that still get my adrenaline going every time. The first time I went to the Boardwalk I rode it 18 times with my friend, and that’s something I’ll remember forever. A must do if you’re in Santa Cruz.

Almost 100 years old, smooth as glass (slight rattle in even rows but I've ridden worse B&M's) great headchoppers, and some good pops of laterals and airtime? What's not to like? It also looks great w...

Almost 100 years old, smooth as glass (slight rattle in even rows but I've ridden worse B&M's) great headchoppers, and some good pops of laterals and airtime? What's not to like? It also looks great with the paint job and it has buzz bars so you feel free and open over some of the stronger airtime moments, especially that hop into the midcourse.

Great, great coaster. I understand why coasters became so popular in this country because in 1924 they built this thing of beauty. It is far, far better than many, many much younger coasters--especi...

Great, great coaster. I understand why coasters became so popular in this country because in 1924 they built this thing of beauty. It is far, far better than many, many much younger coasters--especially some "old" wooden ones that are decades newer than this. It obviously isn't the tallest or fastest, but it delivers a fantastic ride, even by today's standards. Truly a classic.

Giant Dipper may seem like a boring old woodie, but if you ride it at the right time you'll realize its full potential. I got one ride (a night ride) during my visit here, and I can assure you that ni...

Giant Dipper may seem like a boring old woodie, but if you ride it at the right time you'll realize its full potential. I got one ride (a night ride) during my visit here, and I can assure you that nighttime is the prime time to experience this coaster. Being there on a Summer evening, it was busy and the full crowd set the mood of having fun. You start off the ride by dropping straight into a tunnel, and being nighttime, it was pitch black. The tunnel was definitely the best surprise, as the tunnel is much longer than you expect, going through several turns in darkness which makes it seem twice as fast as it actually is. When you're finally outside again, you reach the bottom of the lift. The layout after the drop is very typical for a coaster of its era, and the hills/drops provide only minor airtime, but the unobtrusive lap bars still make the ride fairly exciting. The ride is also somewhat short, but I was not left unsatisfied. Definitely come here for an evening visit if you have the chance!

Classic wooden coaster. The location is about as good as any coaster on the planet. The ride is a little rough, but not too rough. My favorite part is that tunnel at the beginning. It does provide som...

Classic wooden coaster. The location is about as good as any coaster on the planet. The ride is a little rough, but not too rough. My favorite part is that tunnel at the beginning. It does provide some decent airtime, but it’s scoring most of my points for history and location. I’d happily ride this one over and over. 3.5 stars.