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    1911 Looff Carousel

    5.0 (7 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 5:00 PM

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    Wurlitzer 165
    Friscoco C.

    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

    Allen C.

    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.

    You grab a metal ring and throw it at the clown as you go around. If you get him in the mouth his eyes light up. Awesome!!!

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    1911 Looff Carousel - carousels - Updated May 2026

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