Happy 100th, Giant Dipper: The Santa Cruz roller coaster launches into its next century

A CENTURY OF "WHEEE!": We're not sure how many "wheees" the average roller coaster rider squeals during a single ride — there's usually a "wheee" given on the first drop and the biggest turn — but we're fairly certain that the Giant Dipper has enjoyed its "wheee"-filled and wonderful share. After all, the world-famous thrill ride has been around for a century, which means people were "wheee"-ing their way through much of the 1920s and all of the decades to follow. It's a wooden roller coaster, which gives each trip the distinctive tang of an old-timey thrill, and it has been beloved by Californians, beach buffs, and coaster enthusiasts with a fervor that is as intense as that first exciting drop. How best to honor this vintage and vibrant giant of coasterdom during its centennial year, which happens to be 2024? With an ocean-close fireworks show, of course, and a summer brimming with money-saving "Dipper Days."

SPARKLE ABOVE THE SAND: The Giant Dipper 100th Anniversary Fireworks Celebration will get the whole party rolling, or roller-coastering, if you like. That twinkles on May 18, which is the same day to snag a 100th-anniversary button (for sure, that is a "while supplies last" kind of deal). Other Dipper-delightful doings include Dipper Days — you can ride the coaster for a point, which is a dollar, on Wednesdays from May 29 through Aug. 7 — and a fan art contest. Oh yes: National Roller Coaster Day, on Aug. 17, will have a festive touch, with Boardwalk Souvenir Cups going to the first 100 riders. Throughout it all, the focus will be the time-tested, always dazzling dream of Arthur Looff, the amusement icon who built the beach-adjacent behemoth. It's now a National Historic Landmark, and, one has to guess, one of the fastest National Historic Landmarks in the system. For more on the history of the Wooden Wonder of Santa Cruz, which enjoys views of Monterey Bay with each sky-high turn, "wheee" by this site now.