Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

[GoofysGreenHat]

Hey. So I'm probably the only person I know around my area who had never been to the boardwalk (Santa Cruz), and yesterday I finally went! Here's just a few thoughts. I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks of the place as well!

Ok, well, first of all, I expected it to be nice and warm. In all of the commercials, it's sunny and you see kids playing in the water and catching some rays. Well, when we got there, it was cold!! It was overcast or foggy or something. I was only there a short while before breaking out my sweatshirt. My first impression of the place was that it was cute. It seemed so old-fashioned, which I thought was cool. Walking in, we noticed some posters up announcing upcoming concerts. Some of them looked kinda good. And after we walked a little further, I saw where the stage area was. Nice, small stage. I bet you can get a good view of the shows that go on there. Too bad I was there on a Tuesday and not a Friday! Has anyone seen a concert there?
Anyhow, we went to buy some tickets for the rides, which I thought were kind of pricey. BUUUT, they have this deal where after 5 pm, all rides just cost 65 cents. Sounds good, so we bought some tickets and just waited until 5 to start riding stuff, which is okay, because it's not like they have a whole bunch of rides that you couldn't them all into one evening. So to kill time, we decided to walk down to the pier part where they have a lot of restaurants. Unfortunately, I can't eat seafood, so a lot of the places where kind of out of the question. Bummer. We ended up going back down to the boardwalk and grabbing a bite down there. Not bad, but not healthy either though!!! I found the place to have a very fair-like atmosphere, and like the fair, everything seemed to be deep-fried. They had deep fried oreos (what the heck?! that's just going too far) which I just couldn't force myself to try.
So as the day progressed, we ended up ony riding a couple of rides. Of course we had to ride the big wooden rollercoaster. I thought it was fun, but my friend didn't enjoy it was much. At least I can say I have gone on it now. Again, like I said before, it really reminded me of a fair, and so a lot of the rides were similar to those at the county fair, which I'm not a big fan of, so I wasn't worried about not riding a lot of rides. We spend a lot of time playing some of the games (I'm a sucker for those games) which was a lot of fun.
All in all, it was an alright place to go. Both my friend and I noticed and commented on how well we thought DCA portrayed the boardwalk atmosphere. Another note to consider, for those of us living in the Bay Area, driving highway 17 at night is not a whole lotta fun, so for those people who aren't fans of night driving I definately recommend leaving before it gets dark. Me, I couldn't resist seeing the place all light up for the evening!!
Ok, well, that's my two cents on SCBB, I'd love to know what everyone else thinks of it!

[DLRFanatic]

I've only been to the boardwalk during band reviews. The place can be a lot of fun. Did you guys play Fascination?! I was ADDICTED to that the last time I went!

[cinderelly11]

When I think of the boardwalk I think of going there with my family when I was a kid. The Giant Dipper was the first coaster I ever went on. One of my all time favorite memories ever is clinging onto my dads arm as the coaster made its climb and crying. By the time the ride finished I was hooked. ahhhh.... good times, good times. Great memories.

[jonvn]

well, it's not really the fair. This is what these places kind of looked like for many years.

The Long Beach Pike, POP, DCA's Paradise Pier, and the SCBB, all are cut from the sam cloth. POP was really the most elaborately decorated, though.

Here is a web page on POP. My sister used to hang out there on Spring Break, and I went a few times. It was a really nice place, but it just never did well financially.

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/venice/articles/pop.htm

[Maxdad]

I remember going there once as a kid.... although my memories of it are not extensive. I remember standing outside the entrance... a chain link fence. And some mirror maze attraction.

In college I visited the Aforementioned Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It was half opened, but very much like DCA's Paradise Pier.

I was on a choir tour, and stayed the night in a one-armed band leader's house. In the morning, they served us nearly raw poached eggs.

Fond memories. Sort of. I am rambling.

[Alpha]

I like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. The roller coaster is great but you may want to bring your teeth protectors as it is a rough old woody! I like the sky ride up and down the boardwalk. As a kid I remember the umbrella covered bucket ride that swung you out over the ocean. It was scary fun! And of course you had to take home some freshly made salt water taffy. Did you play miniature golf inside? I like the place....I also like the clam chowder on the pier.

Oh WOW......I haven't thought of Pacific Ocean Park in just forever. It always seemed like such a HUGH place. Best use of a pier I have ever seen. It closed before most of the posters on this board were born.

As a kid, my Mom would put me and a couple of my friends in a car an drive from Central Ca to Buena Park and we would get a Motel for 3 nights. In those days we would do Disneyland, Knotts and POP. We would be soooooooooooo tired we would sleep most of the 4 hour drive home.

[PinocchiosNose]

Santa Cruz Rocks. I think it is kinda unappreciated and forgotten. Sure they have commercials and stuff, but I've never seen it too awfully bad crowded, the rides are fun (merry go round with rings you throw in the clowns mouth, I got a ring on my keychain right now). It's a great day thing. Definatly worth a visit but like GGH said, quite pricey for the rides.
Oh and Hwy 17 does suck. I used to drive it every weekend to Santa Cruz for 4 years visiting my girlfriend. I'm so glad she doesn't go to school there anymore. GO BANANA SLUGS!!!

[daveyjones]

When I went there I wasn't that impressed. It's cool for old school, I guess. BUt the one time I was there I was coming down from a three day booze/drug binge, so no matter how great it was/is I had a less than thrilling time.

[MickeyGoof]

Last time i was there there were homeless all over the place spread out on the tables along the Boardwalk.

We went on a couple rides, ate, walked on the beach then inside pee wee golfing till they caught us practising our long game on a short course and kicked us out. Mind you this was probably 5-6 years ago.

Then we kinda hooked up with these gyrls that went to school there went into Santa Cruz and snuck into that George Clooney desert movie (cant think of the name right now) 3 Kings?