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Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - New Spinning Coaster for 2013

BigAl

BigAl

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Opening at a cost of $5.5 million next Summer is an all new Maurer spinner for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in California. It's an existing model and they filmed an existing one to create this promotion video:

UNDERTOW Spinning Coaster! Summer 2013 Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk


From the parks website:

NEW Boardwalk Thrill Ride!
Buckle up for some unexpected thrills on the only spinning coaster in Northern California! Undertow's crazy turns and sudden drops will push you to the edge… and back!

Catch your breath and try it again because Undertow’s unique design ensures that no two rides are ever the same. Start facing forward or start facing backward, depending on the weight and position of riders, your speed and rotation change every time!

Ride Description
The fun begins with the first drop as riders scream downhill in a disorienting sideways position at speeds of up to 40 mph.

In the Immelmann Turn, the track takes a sharp 80° bank as you find yourself staring straight up at the sky or straight down at the ground depending on your position in the car at any given moment.

A 360° carousel spin, a slalom section, and plenty of sharp curves will keep you wondering which way is up!
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A press release:

SANTA CRUZ, CA (August 27, 2012) – The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk unveiled plans for a new $5.5M ride during a presentation for employees and media at the Boardwalk today.

A new spinning roller coaster, named Undertow, will join the Boardwalk’s scream-worthy lineup of rides next summer. Manufactured by German coaster specialist Maurer Sohne, Undertow will be the only spinning coaster in Northern California.

“A spinning coaster is a very unique ride experience, we know our visitors are going to love it,” said Boardwalk community relations director Kris Reyes. “Every ride on Undertow is different, you can definitely expect the unexpected.”

Unlike most roller coasters, which carry an entire trainload of riders, Undertow uses individual cars each holding 4 riders, with each pair of riders facing opposite directions. The ride experience changes every time, depending on the weight and position of riders in the car.

Scheduled to open Summer 2013, Undertow will take over the location currently occupied by the Hurricane roller coaster. The Hurricane’s last day of operation is September 3; the ride has been sold to Western Playland Amusement Park in New Mexico.
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This is what the coaster will look like once it's open:

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Here's Undertow's RCDB page and a few stats for the ride:
Track length: 1410 ft.
Height: 50 ft.
Cars: 4-seater, spinning
Number of cars: 7
Capacity: 900 pph
Base area: 147 x 75 ft.
Speed: 40 mph
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'Undertow' means "A current below the surface of the sea moving in the opposite direction to the surface current, esp. away from the shore." and there's a wikipedia page for anyone that might want to know more about this natural phenomenon from which this new coaster gets its name.


The park is also home to two other coasters, including the Giant Dipper which opened in 1924 at a cost of $50,000:

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Giant Dipper Front Seat on-ride HD POV Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Giant Dipper Wooden Roller Coaster Offride POV Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk



It looks like quite a nice place...

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:)
 
At last, an Undertow update! :p

It's Here! Boardwalk Receives Roller Coaster Shipment

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Normally, at an amusement park, all of the thrills happen on top of a roller coaster. But, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, big excitement is happening on the ground.

German manufacturers shipped giant pieces of the "Undertow" to the boardwalk. The first shipment came in Friday and will continue to arrive through the first part of April.

"We're starting to unpack it and lay all the pieces out and look at the instruction manual. We travel around the country riding rides at other parks to see what we like and what we don't like. It's a really fun ride. Not only does it go up, down, and around, but you spin while you're doing it," said Kris Reyes, SC Beach Boardwalk spokesman.

While crews unload the twisting and turning yellow tracks, another set of hands clean and prep the empty spot where the new coaster will go. It's replacing the historic Hurricane which was recently dismantled.

The boardwalk is jammed pack everyday this week with Spring Break tourists, and come June, they'll have one more ride to choose from.
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Click here to visit the source and to also view a video of construction.
 
It's no Leviathan*, But I think this coaster looks lovely.

*= In terms of Coaster's appearances.
 
Screamscape said:
2014 - Undertow - (10/21/13) I’m told that SCBB finally was able to quietly soft open their new Undertow coaster on Saturday at last. No word on what the delay was, but a few lucky people were able to finally ride the new creation. Officially, the park’s website still has it listed as “Coming Soon” however.
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Well, cool. Still nowhere near 'the best seaside amusement park in the world' though. :)
 
I love how they're acting like 'OMG' when the thing is hardly spinning at the start.

You can tell the USA is devoid of decent spinning coasters. We're really spoilt in Europe.
 
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