Attractions Expert Q&A: Karl Rice

By Kendall Wolf

Named the world’s Best Seaside Amusement Park, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was one of the first amusement parks in California and is now the only oceanside amusement park operating on the West Coast. It is home to modern and classic thrill rides, restaurants, miniature golf, video game arcades, and two rare attractions: a 1911 Looff Carousel and the 1924 Giant Dipper Roller Coaster, both National Historic Landmarks.

What theme park souvenir might we be surprised to find on your shelf, and what’s its story?

I have a whole odd collection of things that have either shown up or people have given me. But my favorite would be from our 1911 Looff Carousel (built by Charles Looff, a master carver and builder of hand-carved carousels between 1876 and 1916). There are very few of those left in the world. It’s a National Historic Landmark and one of our most popular rides.

The best part of that carousel ride is that if you sit on the outer edge as it goes around, there’s a ring dispenser, and if you’re skilled, you can grab a ring and then try to throw it in a clown’s mouth as you go by. It’s a fun ride, and that ring adds a special element.

For years growing up and then working in the business, I watched people having a great time, grabbing the rings, then trying to throw them in the clown’s mouth. But it bothered me that many people would keep one or two for themselves and take them home as souvenirs.

I stopped caring about the theft when I realized I’d done the same thing many times. So, I keep one of those rings nicely mounted in my office as a reminder not to get mad when I see little kids walking away with brass rings of their own. We want to create happy memories for children and families, and taking a brass ring from our carousel home as a souvenir is certainly part of the experience.

What theme park have you always wanted to visit but have never been to?

There are many on that list. Europa Park in Germany is one at the top. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. I have a great deal of respect for the Mack family who owns and operate that park. I tend to gravitate more towards parks that are family-owned, like ours. Not that there aren’t great non-family-owned parks, but it’s just we share a special bond. Plus, there are only a few family-owned parks left in the world.

Also, Ocean Park in Hong Kong. I’ve never been to Hong Kong, and I’ve heard great things about that park, how it’s laid out, and its setting. So those are the two on the top of my list.

Was there a theme park, ride, or attraction that made you want to be in this industry and how did it inspire you?

I think the answer has to be the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I started coming here as a little kid, just as a visitor, even though my family has owned and operated the park for a long time. The experience – the sights, the sounds, the smells – is all a very fond and vivid memory for me, and as I grew older, I started to understand my family’s connection to the place.

But this amusement park would have inspired me whether my family had anything to do with the park or not. Just the great times I had as a kid are good reminders for me – that’s what we are here to do – to create that same type of experience for everyone who comes here. From an early age, I liked the industry (and certainly loved the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk).

What was your favorite ride or attraction as a child and why?

The Giant Dipper, our most famous ride, which turns 100 next year, was definitely my favorite ride as a kid. First, it was intimidating, and I wasn’t tall enough to go on it. Then, when I was finally big enough, I was a little afraid to try it. But I found the courage and conquered it, and that’s a memory I will have forever. Once I went on it, I didn’t want to get off, and I rode it time and time and time again.

There are bigger, better, fancier roller coasters out there, but there’s such a uniqueness to this particular ride, with its setting right on the beach, on the California coast – I’m not aware of any other coaster that has that type of setting and feel to it. Plus, you have a phenomenal unobstructed view of Monterey Bay. There’s no other ride that offers that.

Was there a ride or attraction that frightened you as a child?

Yes, and it still frightens me. Any Wild Mouse type of coaster. It sounds so innocent and doesn’t look very scary, but then you ride on it – I still to this day think that the car is going to fall off the track as it makes sharp “s” turns, which is how the ride is designed to give you that kind of a thrill.

I remember going on one as a kid, and you’re not expecting that scary turn, or at least I wasn’t, and I genuinely thought that car would flip off the edge and we would crash to the ground. Of course, we didn’t, but the Wild Mouse definitely sticks out.

What was the oddest or coolest job you’ve had at a theme park or your company?

The coolest job for sure would be as a ride operator at the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster. I try to do that a couple of times every summer. I’d done it a few times previously, but during the pandemic, we were closed for a year, and then we reopened with virtually no staff, so all of our management team, myself included, were out working in the park three, four, sometimes five days a week. I stationed myself at the Giant Dipper as a ride operator and loved every minute of it. It gave me a greater appreciation for our employees who stand there all day and work that ride or any ride.

When you put yourself in other people’s shoes like that, you certainly have a better appreciation for what it’s like to work on the front lines in this industry. Also, engaging with people as they get onto the ride, talking with them, and then seeing their faces when they’re coming back into the station – to me, that’s what the amusement park industry is all about. And I got to do that while staring at the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.

What ride or attraction do you think everyone needs to experience and why?

My favorite ride at the moment is Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. I think it’s the best ride I’ve been on – it’s interactive, it’s themed incredibly well, and there are a couple of surprises on the ride that are really unique. The whole Wizarding World of Harry Potter, at any of the Universal parks, is very impressive – the detail, how well it’s done, the entire experience when you walk into one of those lands. And if you’re at that particular park, you’ve got to go on that ride.

By comparison to Universal, we’re a very small amusement park, so to see the skill, size, scale, and scope of what they do just for one part of their park – they set the bar very high. Not that we’ll ever have our own Harry Potter World here, but they certainly motivate us to raise our game.

If you were tasked with creating a new theme park food, what would it be?

I would try to get Universal Studios to allow me to sell Butterbeer at the Boardwalk. I personally love it. It’s my favorite amusement park food. Some version of that at the Boardwalk would be great. I don’t know if it would sell well, but it’s delicious.

You’re a walk-around character for a day; who do you choose?

I think I would be Chewbacca from Star Wars. I’m a big Star Wars fan, and Chewie, as he’s known, has always been one of my favorite characters.

He’s got this really strong presence, yet he doesn’t have to say a word, which seems appealing to me. You’re recognized, everyone knows who you are, and you don’t have to open your mouth.

What types of attractions would you like to see more of and why?

We try to do a lot this at the Boardwalk, which is to add rides where all ages and family members can go on that ride, versus having to be a certain height which automatically rules out smaller kids.

Family-type rides like that – where everybody can ride together – enhance the experience we are trying to create for the people visiting us. We take that seriously here at The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. When we’re putting in a new attraction, it almost always has to be a ride that all family members can go on.

What challenges have you encountered in your career?

In most recent memory, working through the pandemic and trying to stay alive while our amusement park was closed for an entire year. It was the biggest challenge in my career (and one of the biggest challenges the 118-year-old Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has ever faced). We were only open for two days during that time and with limited rides.

But we’ve come out better on the other side and learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way about how to do things (and how not to do things). We changed a lot of ways we operate that I thought would never change and that we didn’t think we had a reason to change, but the pandemic forced that on us.

We modified our hours, promotions, and pricing and added cashless procedures. Without the pandemic, we would have never tinkered with some of these things, so if there’s a silver lining from COVID, and there aren’t many, we could implement policies we otherwise would not have tried.

Can you talk about what you are working on these days?

We are constantly maintaining and also at the same time trying to improve our amusement park. A lot goes into maintenance as our park is over 100 years old, and we’re right on the ocean. That has a lot of benefits, but in terms of maintaining rides and infrastructure – with the salt water, salt air, and the elements – it’s an ongoing process.

But we’re installing new rides next year and working on long-range plans to add different products and change parts of our park over the next 5 –10 years. That kind of long-range planning is challenging but fun and exciting. The goal is to keep our park going, so we continue to invest as stewards of a long legacy. We also have a new Ferris Wheel arriving in a month, which we are very excited about!

You are going to your favorite theme park or attraction; which industry people (dead or alive) are you taking with you?

Two people come to mind. First is my great-grandfather, who passed away when I was two, so I never really knew him. His name was Laurence Canfield, and he was the one who got my family into this business in the 1920s, starting as an investor. By the early 1950s, he was the owner and operator of the amusement park on a day-to-day basis.

He ran it for 30-plus years and was the one who really started the trend of reinvesting back into the Boardwalk to try to improve it. Not just maintain it the way it was but add to it, and my family and all others who know his story credit him with the success that we still have today. Many others have contributed, but his vision set the Boardwalk up for continued growth well into the future.

I would love to meet him, walk through the park with him, and have him see it today relative to what it must have been like in his lifetime. It would be amazing to watch his reaction and hear what he had to say about where we’ve come from and what we’ve achieved.

To that, I would add Walt Disney. For me, meeting someone who has had that much impact on the amusement park industry would be a real privilege. Also, Walt Disney came to the Boardwalk back in 1963 to learn about some of our rides, specifically the Boardwalk’s Autorama.

Disneyland’s new Autopia Ride had cars that occasionally jumped the curb on the roadway. When the Boardwalk’s Autorama ride opened in 1961, in addition to front and rear bumpers, our cars also had a center guide rail to control the cars’ steering range. It was built by Arrow Development Company.

On the morning of Saturday, March 9, 1963, Walt Disney, several of his staff, and reps from Arrow Development came to look at our auto ride. Arrow Development explained the safety design to Walt, and he subsequently took a drive. Walt must have been impressed because Disneyland’s Autopia had a center guide rail two years later.

Having Walt come back and walk the park with me and my great-grandfather would be a fun day.

Writer Kendall Wolf is a long-time consultant in the themed entertainment industry. She has worked with designers, producers, and fabricators to help developers create unique and successful projects around the world. In 2017, she introduced Merlin Entertainments to a development group in Sichuan province for the first Legoland park in China. Kendall continues to consult for the developer to open more themed resorts in China.