My husband brought us here. We loved our time. So great that…read morethey sold cold water !!! We enjoyed the train ride so nice and we were the only ones since we came in a week day! I'm looking forward to coming back and bringing more family. Great photos and the ride is definitely worth the price.

Came here on a Saturday morning around 11am. Tickets for train and carousel is $5 per person and…read morefree for kids 2 and under. The train ride is less than 10 minutes with no cover so we brought our hats. It's a quick ride and you pass by the parking lot and a park. My girls enjoyed it. After we played by the nearby park. There is a bathroom close to the train ticket booth and lots of tables to enjoy a snack or even lunch. They were just starting the grill to cook the food for lunch but our girls were hungry so we left to get food elsewhere.

Beautiful, charming, affordable. A must do if you're with children in GG park. The only con…read more is that there is really only one spot to take a pic. We will be back! P.S. don't get discouraged by the long line in the area-it's for a coffee/food stand

Old time Beautifully maintained Carousel. $2.50 for adults and $1 for children. Ride is long enough…read moreto enjoy and has traditional music. The attendant was nice and interactive.

Came for the Easter brunch (9-11) on 4/12 one week before Easter. Brunch tables are set up around…read morethe merry-go-round and reserved for your party. Brunch selections included hot food (bacon, eggs, sausage patties, pancakes), pastries, fruit (strawberries, grapes, watermelon), hot coffee and big selection of cold drinks. Easter bunny visits each table for photos. The egg hunt started around 10:15 so there's plenty of time to eat and go on unlimited rides. Each kid gets an Easter basket which includes a plush toy and a few eggs to get started. The eggs have small toys, candy, and merry-go-round tickets (these were rare) for the next visit. There's 2 age groups for the Easter egg hunt so the smaller toddlers age 3 and under can go at their own pace. Lots of other fun activities and decorations are set up in the area as well. Price for adult tickets is not exactly worth it since adults are not participating in the egg hunt, but the overall cost is acceptable because the event was well organized and the kids have a lot of fun.

Sunday, April 6, 2025: The birthday girl (Jenbert Jr. 2 will be three on April 10) and her big…read moresister attended the Breakfast with the Easter Bunny event. For us, the $100 was well-spent on one adult and two children. The event started with the Easter Bunny greeting every attendee and handing children a basket for the egg hunt. Breakfast included pastries, pancakes, bacon, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and nearly every non-alcoholic breakfast/brunch drink under the sun. All attendees got unlimited Merry-go-round rides, which continued even after the event ended at 11am and the Merry-go-round opened to the public. Jenbert Jr. 2 loved the Merry-go-round and didn't want to get off-- and since she was unlimited, she didn't have to! The Easter egg hunt was very well-organized, with lots of eggs for even wobbly toddlers to find. The employees were good about making sure that there were lots of eggs for everyone. Jenbert Jr. 1 & 2 are still raving over the goodies that were in their baskets. Finally, there were a bunch of fun Easter-themed inflatables with bunnies, chicks, and even a Scooby-Doo with Bunny ears and a carrot! And let's not forget about the photo-op with the Easter Bunny! I'd bring back JJ1 & JJ2 next year, it was money well-spent and a very well-put-together event.

Never seen a more lovingly restored and authentic carousel with real horsetail hair on the carousel…read morehorses 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.

Nothing says Santa Cruz to me more than this old fashioned caroused! My love of amusement parks…read morestarted 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.

Always fun, great staff, just an awesome park all the way around. They recently updated the entire…read morekids playground it's nice to see city funds being well spent

Legends use carousels..camp California ..ghost camp..better figure it out ..stay positive ..don't…read moreget dizzy ...no private carousel ..better figure it out ..travel to planet earth by yourself

This is the most thrilling attraction at Gilroy Gardens. We did have to wait almost an hour for it…read more(we went during holiday season), but since we're not locals it was a must to try at least once. It is themed after the mines, and you ride on a mine cart. When you're in the queue you can see pictures and some historical snippets, but not much to look at in general. The ride itself isn't super fast and doesn't go very high so the drops don't feel anything more than someone quickly going down a hill in a car. So when they say thrilling that may mean thrilling for kids, but as someone said, this is a great trainer coaster. Fun, but not something I'd wait over 30 minutes for. It is neat that it goes through the trees here and it's the only ride that has it's own separate check in on Yelp? I know Disney has separate check ins for everything, so maybe it is time to change that LOL.

The website boasts this "thrilling mine coaster speeds you through dips and turns surrounded by…read morenearly 600 trees!" Built in 2001 by DH Morgan Mfg, it's billed as the only "thrill ride" in Gilroy Gardens, although their wobbly Sky Trail Monorail ride makes my adrenaline rush because it feels like it's going to fall. The track is 2,139 feet with a top speed of 32 mph. The highest of the two lift-hills is 38 feet, which is about 7 yawning grandpas end to end. Basically, the smooth dips and turns of this two-lift steel coaster disguised as an abandoned cinnabar (mercury) mine train that is a very basic but enjoyable ride that's thrilling for someone barely reaching the height requirement (42" to ride with an adult, 48" to ride alone). It's a good training coaster. The cool thing is that they'll often let you stand by the exit wall for a chance at a second ride if they anticipate that the next train won't fill up. Think "Big Thunder" but not that big. Think "Small Thunder" but not that thunderous. Think "light rain", or "hummingbirds spitting on you".