On my recent trip to California with my fiance Tom and his family, one of the spots we hit was the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. I'd never been to a Boardwalk before, and I was kind of excited that we were going to do something fun. We didn't get to go to Knott's Berry Farm or anything, so this was going to be great. I love roller coasters and rides and carnival food... and the beach. Tom and I were looking forward to this, because we pretty much hadn't gotten to do things on our terms since we'd arrived on the left coast. This happened the day after we'd had a slight argument with his mother about the lack of sleep making vacation less fun than it should be - and her coming back with - "Fine, then you and Christina stay at the hotel and sleep all day while I go out with Sean and Kathy." We reached a compromise - we were allowed to sleep an hour later than usual, we actually got to use the hotel's hot tub, and then we were on the road to Santa Cruz.

Advance token to Boardwalk

Just picture my little Monopoly car speeding around the board and coming to a screeching halt at Boardwalk. I felt like a little kid when we got there and parked the car. I could see the roller coasters and the rides. I was wearing my bathing suit underneath my clothes. (This is something I would suggest doing if you plan to hit the beach while you're there. It's easier than trying to find a tiny bathroom stall to change in.) Now we just had to pay to use everything.

Get the most from your money

We decided to get the Unlimited Rides wristband. I believe it was about $26 per person for this thing. But with tickets being 50 cents a piece - and each ride averaged three or four tickets (the good ones were six!) - unlimited rides seemed the best way to go. It was about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, so we figured we'd have plenty of time to do everything we wanted to do.

Things don't always go according to plan

We went on the bumper cars first. That was a lot of fun. When you're with friends, find cars that are close together, or else you'll never catch up to each other. And there's nothing better than ramming into the side of your fiance's car or watching his brother do it for you. Tons of fun.

We hit the roller coasters next. They were really great. Maybe not my all-time favorites, but definitely worth the money and the wait. We also made our way around to some of the other rides before hitting the game room, where most of the games are broken so that you can't win as many tickets as you should be able to win. I wouldn't suggest playing in the game room unless you feel like totally throwing your money away. We were able to get four plastic stencil rulers with the tickets we won.

Tom and I had been wanting to split up from the rest of the group almost since the time we got there. We wanted to go on the beach. He wanted to play in the water and I wanted to lay in the sun. Well, we didn't get our chance for quite a while. We wanted to get hot fudge sundaes from one of the food vendors, but there was only one person actually helping the long line of customers, and after waiting for 5-10 minutes, she announced that there was no more hot fudge. Tom and I headed for the end of the Boardwalk where there was another ice cream sundae place, while his mom, brother, and sister-in-law went in the other direction. This was our "free time" to head to the beach for an hour.

Don't get ice cream and plan to walk around with it. Our sundaes were melting all over the place. They tasted good, but it was hardly worth the hassle. By the time we actually got to the beach (after I had to buy myself a $16 beach towel in one of the shops) the sun was going down. And since the sun was going down, it was getting rather cool with the ocean breeze. I'd hardly stripped down to my new tan-thru bikini for more than two minutes when I started getting goosebumps and had to put my clothes back on. Tom waded in the ocean and motioned for me to come on over. We gathered up our towels, since we weren't going to be able to lay around in the sun, and we took a nice stroll along the beach. It was nice, but we were a little upset that we hadn't been able to go when the sun was actually out and it was hot enough to fully enjoy it.

When we met up with everyone a little after 7:00, we noticed at the ticket booth that the park closed at 8:00. We'd just assumed that it was open until 11:00 or so - at least past dark - because all the rides were all lit up and that's what we figured the Boardwalk was supposed to do. We were wrong.

So we quickly hit a few more rides - just enough to "pay for" our wristbands. (If we'd bought tickets for all the rides we went on, it only came out to about 50 cents more than what we paid for the wristbands. How disappointing.) Tom's sister-in-law Kathy saved a spot for us in line at the Cave Train. She didn't know what it was, but she wanted to go on another ride. We ran all the way there, because the guy at the ride wasn't letting anyone else in line - not even the people who had just bought tickets for the specific purpose of riding that ride. It was closing time, and there were no exceptions. The ride wasn't really worth it anyways. But the moral of the story is not how bad the ride was - it's how strictly they adhere to closing time. By 8:01, practically every ride had stopped and every shop and vendor had packed up and left.

Overall

The rides really are great, and you can really have a lot of fun on the Boardwalk. But it really isn't open late enough. I don't know - we went during the week in early June. Maybe later in the summer and/or on weekends they might stay open later - but I have no idea. My suggestion to you is to get there early in the day - no later than 11:00 a.m. - and get the Unlimited Rides wristband. That way, you'll have plenty of time to get your money's worth, and you won't have to rush around. You'll be able to enjoy it.



Recommended: Yes