Never seen a more lovingly restored and authentic carousel with real horsetail hair on the carousel horses and 3 massive Wurlitzer music machines. It was so amazing to dissect all the different levels of instruments, drums and animated angels playing bells. Everything from the music machines and the carousel itself looked sparkling new. I admire and respect the work that went into restoring and maintaining these working historical artifacts. Of course, simply taking a smiling ride is the pure pleasure of such a carousel. read more

1911 Looff Carousel - Massive music machines and many have moving parts! - Carousels Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Nothing says Santa Cruz to me more than this old fashioned caroused! My love of amusement parks started on this carousel as a toddler and 45 years later, I enjoy it as much now as I did then. Riding the carousel and grabbing the rings to throw in the clown's mouth is one of the boardwalk highlights for me not only because I grew up doing it, but also because I continued the tradition with my son. read more

As a boy, I never went on this ride. I was more interested in that big roller coaster. Come to think of it, I still am. As a young adult, first as a Bethany student and then in my eternal bachelor days, I'd visit the Boardwalk at least once a year, and thought this carousel was cool, but still didn't ride it. I got married, and I was still ho-hum about it. Then we had a baby. The baby became a preschooler. So we took her on this carousel, and others. It was at this point that I appreciated this ride. It's a step above the ones in San Francisco and Berkeley's Tilden Park. It goes fast, but not too fast. The original band organ still plays, the brass rings are still there for the taking and throwing. And everybody is smiling. Now, for my daughter who's now in elementary school, this is as much a must-ride as the Giant Dipper is my must-ride. Going back in time may not be such a good thing, just ask anyone trying to maintain a muscle car. But there are some experiences that are timeless. The 1911 Looff Carousel is one of them, especially for your kids. And as a national historic structure, it's guaranteed to keep running for you and your children for a long time. read more

Have you ever paid attention to the music, if any, accompanying the merry-go-round you were riding? Was it an amplified CD, or was it an antique band organ playing a mix of marching tunes, classical music highlights, and assorted lilts pulled from the Wayback Machine? Now, have you ever ridden on a carousel whose music comes from not one, not two, but three computer-programmed band organs, spaced equidistantly inside the ride's "hippodrome" shelter, that take turns in a clockwise sequence? It might be true that this 1911 Looff Carousel's highlight is the music, however the ride is accentuated by a ring-pull machine matched on the building's far wall with a clown's face whose mouth is the rings' target. Some hot-shot riders are able to grab two rings in a dual, rapid-fire swipe, shaming certain mature riders who once could do that, but now are lucky to grab one measly ring per pass. Riding this carousel as a youngster might have been instrumental in my developing a lifelong affinity with the band organ, an assemblage of air-driven wooden pipes, bells (glockenspiel), drums, cymbals, triangles and castanets. The boardwalk's original Ruth & Sohn 38B (mfd. 1894) is looking marvelous after a 2008 restoration that gave it an animated facade featuring a bandleader conducting angels and cherubs playing in time with the music. Added to the nascent stable of organs in 2007 was a Wurlitzer 165, which at one time provided music for the legendary Looff carousel at San Francisco's Playland-at-the-Beach. The boardwalk describes the third organ, a smaller Wurlitzer 146 added in 2011, as a "backup." Its sound is excellent, but it is less tricked-out than its teammates. No visit to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is complete without a stop at the carousel, if only to rest your blistered dogs and listen to the best tunes played by the most senior music makers in town. (You've gotta see and hear the Ruth & Sohn band organ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=pX-5ko9WO-U (Here's an earlier overview of the ride and the music) http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=YdbLqerfiDY&feature=endscreen read more

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It may be old fashioned. It may be a bit corny to us in this day and age, but the memories will last a life time. It's a ride for anyone from toddler struggling to hold tight to the "beast" on which they ride, while their loved one holds them steady to someone whose hands have now curled with arthritis but still remember grasping the brass ring. round. A Carousel and particularly Looff's with their rings and the toss to the Clown's mouth are a good lesson to us all in simple joys regardless of age. Create memories, share a laugh with friends and loved ones and listen to the timeless music as you go merrily go round and round. read more

Talk about nostalgia. How many carousels still dispense the iron rings for you to toss in the clown's mouth? We get on this ride whenever we come to the boardwalk to show support. Make sure you grab one of the horses on the outside so you can reach. It doesn't give you a roller-coaster thrill but it's just darn cute for all ages. read more

1911 Looff Carousel - Carousels Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

I grew up with this carousel, so I didn't really appreciate how unique and awesome it was till I was older and had left Santa Cruz. It's one thing to know something is cool, it's quite another to realize that it's essentially a one of a kind throwback from a different era, completely amazing and truly deserving of awe and the kind of full attention it rarely gets. The reason it's so cool is the rings. As you turn around the carousel, you grab rings from a slot at the end of a long mechanical arm and then throw them at the clown face just past the ring dispenser. If you manage to throw the ring in the clown's (small) mouth, the eyes light up and a bell rings. So frickin' cool... When my mom was a kid, and I think when I was very young, you had to pay attention to the ring you pulled - occasionally you would get a brass ring, not just the steel ones that commonly come out. If you held on to it, you could turn it in for some sort of prize. Bot sure what - I'll have to check with my mom and see if she remembers and re-post about that. But now they don't do that any more, and you can buy brass rings in the Sun Shops, stamped with "Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk" - a reminder of better times, but somehow I just couldn't buy one, not the same, you know? Anyway, of course you have to sit on the outside lane of horses to get the rings, so you have to be careful when you get in line if it's busy - you might get stuck inside, and that's just a wasted ride. When I was little we would spend time actually analyzing the ride line, figuring out how to insert ourselves in exactly the right place - you can't just get in the outside track, you have to be close enough to the front fo the line to get on the perfect place on the circle, so that you maximize your ring time - the rings start up about 3/4 of the way around on the first turn. You gotta really think these things through when you're a kid, you know? So - aside from the rings, which is really the best part - there is the music. It's not some canned crap, or digital ick you don't want to listen to. It's gorgeous. I wish I could post my videos of it here, but here's a decent YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itfy9rIpW7Q - there are many others. Not quite the same as being there, of course... The music is beautiful, and the three different organs that create it are magnificent. They are automated band organs, and I don't know how to describe them other than to say - phenomenal. I recently took my husband there for the first time, and we spent about an hour there after we rode, just listening, watching and taking it all in. It's so cool, so fun and so awesome - I can't imagine ANYONE who wouldn't completely adore it! You should go - you don't need to share my childhood memories for it to make you feel like a kid again! read more

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