travel

Review of an Afternoon at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park

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Arial view of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
View of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk from Sky Glider

On a recent business trip to California I had a free afternoon and decided to check out the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This seaside park opened in 1907 and is California’s oldest surviving park. Walking down certain parts of the boardwalk feels a bit like a trip in a time machine, but most of the rides are now modern with one huge exception, the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster. The Giant Dipper is the signature attraction of the park dominating the skyline and it was the main reason for my visit.

Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
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Review of the Beautiful New “Along the Rails Tavern” at Six Flags Over Georgia

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Six Flags Over Georgia has opened a new food and beverage location called Along the Rails Tavern. It’s described by the park as, “a relaxing outdoor patio located near the picturesque Marthasville Railroad Station”, they couldn’t be more right. With beautiful wood decking, great shade from the surrounding trees, a diverse drink selection and somewhat hidden location, this place is a real gem for the park. It also screams “hold your private event here” for things like corporate gatherings or coaster groups visiting the park. Something like a new bar doesn’t get the buzz of a new coaster, but wow what a great addition for the park!

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How Walt Disney World Monorail Trains Found Their Way to the Las Vegas Strip, a Monster Truck Rally, a House in the Nevada Desert, eBay and Now a Metal Fabrication Shop in Southern California.

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The Walt Disney World Monorail is iconic and the fact that it still looks futuristic being installed over 50 years ago in 1971 is quite the feat. If you’ve been to Las Vegas you’ll know it has a monorail too that looks quite similar to the Disney one and these two systems are indeed related and some old retired Disney World trains even found their way to Vegas! However, that was just the beginning of the journey of these former Disney World trains.

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Construction Walls in Jungala, Does this Mean Long Rumored Busch Gardens Giga is Coming?

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Work walls up at Jungala at Busch Gardens
Work walls in Jungala courtesy of /railfan_andrew
Jungala at Busch Gardens
Tree Top Trail signs removed courtesy of /railfan_andrew
Survey markers near Jungala at Busch Gardens
Survey markers in Jungala courtesy of /railfan_andrew

Update April 2025: So the construction walls ended up being for a new area of the park called Wild Oasis. It is sort of a reincarnation or Jungala complete with a new version of Wild Surge called Tree Top Drop. Is the Giga still coming? Maybe. The future of Kumba is still uncertain and there’s also the area of Scorpion that could be used as a station to have a Giga sprawl all over the park like Goliath does at Six Flags Over Georgia. We’ll have to stay tuned.

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Get a Six Flags Diamond Pass for $100. A Great Deal with Admission to 27 Parks! A SFOG Review.

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Six Flags Diamond Pass

Update March 2025: The Six Flags Diamond pass is essentially no more. It has been replaced with the Prestige pass which does NOT have the “all parks” access. You can still get many of the same “all parks” benefit by buying anything as low as the Gold Pass and then get the All Park Passport which could be $75 to $150 more depending on your park. It is more expensive than the old Diamond pass with all parks for sure, but it’s also a lot more parks including all the legacy Cedar Fair parks and not just the legacy Six Flags parks. The Prestige Pass would also be required to get you into the VIP Lounge. The new price of the Prestige Pass at SFOG is $149 in 2025 instead of $100 in 2024.

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Don’t Take Your Phone on Roller Coasters. You too Mark Rober!

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I saw the above video where YouTube star Mark Rober tested the fastest seat on a coaster, but subsequently got kicked out of a park for having his cell phone out on a ride. As a big fan with a 7 year old son who loves him too it was honestly disappointing to see. The parks though have good reason to take this seriously though as there have been a number of major injuries caused by foreign objects on rides with lawsuits looking to hold the parks responsible.

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