Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Roller Coaster Evacuated, Riders Have to Walk Down

Thrill seekers got more than they bargained for at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk ... folks who were riding the classic roller coaster had to be evacuated near the top of the ride!!!

Footage from the beachside theme park shows several riders being led down the Giant Dipper's wooden structure Sunday ... holding on to the railing for dear life as they climb down a huge ramp. They're not quite at the pinnacle of the ride, but they're certainly uphill.

It's pretty scary ... the people being evacuated from the ride had their car stuck at the top of the coaster's lift hill ... so they have a lot of track to cover. In terms of why they had to get out and trek down ... we have an answer, and as it turns out -- it was completely necessary.

A rep for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk tells TMZ … the coaster was evacuated after a guest experienced a medical emergency down in the ride's loading station.

We're told there were no accidents with the coaster cars ... the ride just needed to halt operations temporarily to make sure the guest in need was safe, and riders were evacuated because it was going to take a long time to get everything settled.

SCBB says the videos show their employees leading the evacuations from the front and back of the line ... and the Giant Dipper is back to normal now.