Coast Amusement Park Everyone Should Visit at Least Once

🎡🎢🌄Picture it: a highway that bisects the entire United States finally spills onto golden California sand. That’s Santa Monica—where Route 66 ends and countless road-trip dreams begin. Salt air, sunset, Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, buskers, dive-bombing gulls—every frame looks story-boarded for Netflix. 🚇 Getting Here Metro E Line (Expo): ride to Downtown Santa Monica Station; five-minute walk and you hear the surf. Car: two hassle-free parking hacks – Structure 6: first 90 min free, then $2/hr. Two traffic lights to the sand. Address: 431 2nd St, Santa Monica, CA – Beach Lot 1 North: $15 all-day, toes-in-sand in sixty seconds. Address: 1550 Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica, CA 📸 The “Can’t-Miss” Big Four ① Pier Archway Blue-and-white “SANTA MONICA PIER” curve = classic selfie spot. Stand dead-center, ultra-wide lens, let the neon bulbs frame your silhouette. ② Ferris-Wheel Fantasy Pacific Park wheel at dusk = living fairy-tale. LED pods cycle magenta → teal → gold against a sherbet sky. Buy a single ride ($10) just as the sun kisses the horizon; you’ll get 8-10 minutes of rotating golden hour. ③ Sunset Coaster The West Coaster rockets you toward the Pacific sunset at 35 mph. $15 = two laps: first for stealth footage, second for full-throat screaming. Front row queue moves fastest; strap phones tight—officially “no filming,” but hand-steady = cinematic gold. ④ Route 66 “End of the Trail” Sign White placard at the pier’s tip proclaims the highway’s 2,448-mile odyssey complete. Snap, then spin 180° for open-ocean panorama—symbolic and Instagram-ready in one click. 🎒 Shoot & Ride Checklist 👔 Light-colored clothes pop against blue water; pack a wind-breaker—ocean breeze is real. ⌁ Check sunset time online; hit coaster 30 min prior for golden-light laps. 🎫 Buy ride tickets online (PacificPark.org) and skip the kiosk queue. 📷 Hold phone firmly on first coaster run; second lap—pocket it and let your lungs loose. 🌅 Golden-Hour Game Plan #US #CA