Lagoon Park

[Freak]

So Saturday September 1st, I'm gonna see some family in Colorado that weekend, but thought I would take a detour to Lagoon Park. I'm mainly there for Cannibal (And to get ten credits) but I also want to check out two of their classic dark rides (I'm a sucker for old-school dark rides). I'm going to be staying within a twenty minute walk of the park.

Now being it's Labor Day Weekend, I know that's not the most ideal time to visit an amusement park. I'm gonna be standing there at LEAST an hour early….maybe an hour and a half early to beat the crowds and RUN to Cannibal. From then on I plan to hit all of the rides at the back of the park.

Any of you have ever been there know a better game plan or know things I should know (Single rider, ride to have worst lines, lower capacity, etc.)?

 

[Ryan]

Hey! I was just at Lagoon this summer, what a wonderful park. You're going to absolutely adore it.

Okay, so:
-Do NOT hit Cannibal first. The park does a rope drop and lets guests go wait for TerroRide. This absolutely should be your first thing to do. The ride has just been redone and has an abysmal capacity, and is prone to breakdowns. However, the ride itself is stellar. If you don't want to wait in an hour-plus line, absolutely do this first thing.
-Perogative after that is to then continue on and hit the large swath of credits on the left side of the park. There's a cluster that allows you to hit them very fast, and the crowds that are eating at TerroRide and Cannibal first thing makes this a bunch of easy walk-ons. Wild Mouse, Roller Coaster, Colossus, Spider and Wicked are all in this area. Wicked has a single rider which I recommend, and a note about Roller Coaster: as a single rider you can not sit in the front row or back. As a very old woodie, obviously the front is going to be a much smoother ride, so get as close as possible.
-Dragon Coaster, a kiddie coaster, is there. Not sure what the policy is there because I didn't even try but Lagoon has some very strict rules so I would proceed with caution.
-Pioneer Village is at the back of the park and is very Ghost Town-like and charming. If you want to just take a moment to chill, that's a good time as any to do that.
-Very much recommend the park's rapids ride, Rattlesnake Rapids, it's probably one of the best I've ever ridden in an amusement park. On the flip-side, avoid the log flume. It's pretty awful.
-Cannibal has a single-rider line which goes pretty quick, so anytime of day would be fine to experience it. It's... amazing. Easily one of the craziest roller coasters I've ever ridden.
-Jet Star has an extremely strict "no single riders" policy. Some ride ops are nice and will let you wait for an odd group to flow in, but you have to let that person sit in your lap or vice-versa. It's up to you in regards to earning that credit.
-BomBora is a joy. I know you're going to ride it, but I just had to say that.
-Dracula's Castle, the other Bill Tracy dark ride... is no bueno. But you might as well do it before it gets refreshed. Usually doesn't have long lines but probably for the best to wait til the end of the day.
-If you have time, check out the Wild Kingdom train: it's a zoo... that you can only see on a train. Lagoon is so awesomely quirky.
-There's some fantastic flat rides if you're interested, and the SkyRide is fun to just get a great overview of the park.
-Don't expect much with food. Aside from BeaverTails and maybe a BBQ place at Pioneer Village, it's Lagoon's achilles heel.

That's all I have. If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Lagoon is just, the best.

 

[Freak]

Wow! Thank you for the abundance of info! Super helpful! Several things I want to comment and ask:

-Thanks for the heads up about Cannibal and especially Terror Ride! Didn't know Cannibal had SR and I'm glad to know about the Terror Ride situation. Is that an early entry privilege or do they just have people line up for that first?

-I do want to hit up Dragon because I consider myself a bit of a credit whore, but if they're going to contemplate kicking me out just for wanting to go on a kiddie coaster for """suspicious reasons"", it's not really worth it haha. If you don't mind explaining, what kind of rules are they strict about?

-Watched Justin Scarred's vlog on the place and the Village looks awesome! I may chill there once I get all of my credits and multiple rides on Cannibal done.

-Believe it or not, I hate river rafting rides. I hate the huge risk of getting drenched and dealing with squeaky shoes and crevas rashes all day. If you say it's great, I might take your word for it and do it anyway. I don't expect to go back anytime soon so I might as well. Also, I'm curious to know how the Log Ride is pretty awful.

-I'm still gonna do Dracula's. I know it probably sucks but I still love the old school rides even if they aren't great.

-Love Skyways. I'll probably hit this up several times.

-Do you know if other rides have single rider?

 

[Ryan]

-Thanks for the heads up about Cannibal and especially Terror Ride! Didn't know Cannibal had SR and I'm glad to know about the Terror Ride situation. Is that an early entry privilege or do they just have people line up for that first?

TerroRide is within the rope drop holding area, so guests are encouraged to line up for the ride during that period.

-I do want to hit up Dragon because I consider myself a bit of a credit whore, but if they're going to contemplate kicking me out just for wanting to go on a kiddie coaster for """suspicious reasons"", it's not really worth it haha. If you don't mind explaining, what kind of rules are they strict about?

You may as well try for Dragon, but just ask the TM upfront first.

Lagoon has the usual rules of no line cutting, no rude behavior, etc. But they are tough as nails about these things, especially single riders. It doesn't matter if there's nobody in line, you can not ride single rider on many rides and on coasters that includes various rows. They'll try their best to accomodate however, but it's definitely zero tolerance.

Otherwise the TMs are very, very nice.

-Believe it or not, I hate river rafting rides. I hate the huge risk of getting drenched and dealing with squeaky shoes and crevas rashes all day. If you say it's great, I might take your word for it and do it anyway. I don't expect to go back anytime soon so I might as well. Also, I'm curious to know how the Log Ride is pretty awful.

If you hate rapids rides, then you may just want to sit it out. The layout and length, compared to usual non-theme park rapids rides, is stellar. The Log Ride is very slow loading, and is very short. A calm flume meander, followed by a hill, drop and then it's over. Very basic.

-Do you know if other rides have single rider?

Wicked and Cannibal are the only rides that provide single rider IIRC.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[Freak]

Trip report time! I'm shorten time and have no pre-planned writing style so I'm gonna write highlights the best I can in order. I mainly want to review the two dark rides, Cannibal, and the rest as overall. Here we go.

So I stayed at Hampton Inn down the street. I go the park in just fifteen minutes by foot. Being that it was Labor Day weekend, I expected the absolute worst. I got there an hour and a half early so there was literally nobody there except the slew of employees getting dropped off by their parents. I waited around about an hour until 9:30 (Park opened at 10). I went up to the front and explored the front part of the park before I lined up for Terroride.

So I decided to follow Ryan's advice, and I'm really glad I did. Not even fifteen minutes before all the rides officially opened and I was the second party in line for Terrorride. Glad I did this because the line was slammed right when it opened 'till park closing. Terroride was AWESOME. For a quirky old-school dark ride, it had an excellent mix of old school and modern effects. The overhead ghoul scared the CRAP out of me and made me duck! Awesome little dark ride.

Afterward, I hit up all the credits to the left of the park. Wild Mouse was probably the best Mouse I've ridden, Spider was fun (Though I had to hit that up later being it was closed the first half of the day), Colossus was a great Schkwarzkof, and Wicked was a really fun launch coaster. All of them except Spider which I had to hit up later was a walk-on.

Dracula's Castle was a fun title quirky dark ride the first time, but didn't really hold up the second time. the picture hallway and Frankenstein startled me some, but the rest of the ride…..needed a refresh….badly. I was glad to see this though.

Cannibal is probably my favorite coaster of all time. I was able to hit that up five times thanks to single rider. What incredible coaster. The unique elevator lift, the ridiculous drop, the lagoon roll, the speedy helix…..I would gladly trade Apocolypse, Viper, Riddler's Green Lantern, Scream, and Goliath at SFMM just to have out here. What a blast it was! Number one on my top five (Cannibal, Twisted Colossus, Dragster, Millennium Force, Texas Giant). Excellent. Freaking. Ride.

The rest of the rides were really fun. Did the skyway several times and was a great relief on my feet. I would love SFMM to add that someday as good transportation, but that ain't ever happening. Enterprise (Turn of the Century) is one of my all time favorite flats so I was overjoyed to experience that twice. I got the Puff credit, but didn't get Jet Liner because of the blasted single rider policy (Only one I missed). Oh well. Also, Zamperela air race was fun, but my favorite flat was probably the Enterprise.

Pioneer Village was a joy. So much rich history there I was glad to check out. So many cool artifacts from the late 19th century. I stayed back there for a good two hours at least. So much cool stuff to check out. Skipped Log Ride and Rapids as their lines were too long.

Also, like Ryan mentioned, food wasn't amazing. HAd the tacos, the BBQ, and the Beaver Tail. Tacos weren't terrible but okay, BBQ was a little stale, and Beavertail…..well, I've had better theme park treats.

So yeah, that's my rapid-fire trip report for Lagoon. Absolutely loved this park. I want to go back here with some people just to ride Cannibal again and bring someone with me to hit up that missing credit. Thanks for the tips Ryan as it really maximized my day! HAd a blast staying from opening 'till virtually closing. Crowds weren't that bad throughout the day at all. It don't really get packed until the final two hours of operation.

So go to Lagoon! Hit up Cannibal as many times as possible! It's a great park and a nice hidden gem in the Western US!

 

[JoeCamel]

Trip report time! I'm shorten time and have no pre-planned writing style so I'm gonna write highlights the best I can in order. I mainly want to review the two dark rides, Cannibal, and the rest as overall. Here we go.

So I stayed at Hampton Inn down the street. I go the park in just fifteen minutes by foot. Being that it was Labor Day weekend, I expected the absolute worst. I got there an hour and a half early so there was literally nobody there except the slew of employees getting dropped off by their parents. I waited around about an hour until 9:30 (Park opened at 10). I went up to the front and explored the front part of the park before I lined up for Terroride.

So I decided to follow Ryan's advice, and I'm really glad I did. Not even fifteen minutes before all the rides officially opened and I was the second party in line for Terrorride. Glad I did this because the line was slammed right when it opened 'till park closing. Terroride was AWESOME. For a quirky old-school dark ride, it had an excellent mix of old school and modern effects. The overhead ghoul scared the CRAP out of me and made me duck! Awesome little dark ride.

Afterward, I hit up all the credits to the left of the park. Wild Mouse was probably the best Mouse I've ridden, Spider was fun (Though I had to hit that up later being it was closed the first half of the day), Colossus was a great Schkwarzkof, and Wicked was a really fun launch coaster. All of them except Spider which I had to hit up later was a walk-on.

Dracula's Castle was a fun title quirky dark ride the first time, but didn't really hold up the second time. the picture hallway and Frankenstein startled me some, but the rest of the ride…..needed a refresh….badly. I was glad to see this though.

Cannibal is probably my favorite coaster of all time. I was able to hit that up five times thanks to single rider. What incredible coaster. The unique elevator lift, the ridiculous drop, the lagoon roll, the speedy helix…..I would gladly trade Apocolypse, Viper, Riddler's Green Lantern, Scream, and Goliath at SFMM just to have out here. What a blast it was! Number one on my top five (Cannibal, Twisted Colossus, Dragster, Millennium Force, Texas Giant). Excellent. Freaking. Ride.

The rest of the rides were really fun. Did the skyway several times and was a great relief on my feet. I would love SFMM to add that someday as good transportation, but that ain't ever happening. Enterprise (Turn of the Century) is one of my all time favorite flats so I was overjoyed to experience that twice. I got the Puff credit, but didn't get Jet Liner because of the blasted single rider policy (Only one I missed). Oh well. Also, Zamperela air race was fun, but my favorite flat was probably the Enterprise.

Pioneer Village was a joy. So much rich history there I was glad to check out. So many cool artifacts from the late 19th century. I stayed back there for a good two hours at least. So much cool stuff to check out. Skipped Log Ride and Rapids as their lines were too long.

Also, like Ryan mentioned, food wasn't amazing. HAd the tacos, the BBQ, and the Beaver Tail. Tacos weren't terrible but okay, BBQ was a little stale, and Beavertail…..well, I've had better theme park treats.

So yeah, that's my rapid-fire trip report for Lagoon. Absolutely loved this park. I want to go back here with some people just to ride Cannibal again and bring someone with me to hit up that missing credit. Thanks for the tips Ryan as it really maximized my day! HAd a blast staying from opening 'till virtually closing. Crowds weren't that bad throughout the day at all. It don't really get packed until the final two hours of operation.

So go to Lagoon! Hit up Cannibal as many times as possible! It's a great park and a nice hidden gem in the Western US!

When you said you were going to Colorado and then Lagoon park I thought there were two. I last went to this park in 1985 and it looks like it has changed for the better. When I went (I lived in SLC for 20 years) it was a carnival ride park with a huge picnic area for families to visit. Operated that way for many moons. Thanks for taking me back down memory lane with your TR I may get that way next summer and pop up for a visit.

 

[Freak]

Lagoon is teasing the announcement of the new roller coaster rumored to be titled “Primordial”

 

[Freak]

Lagoon has officially announced Primordial to open this year!

 

[shiekra38]

Lagoon has officially announced Primordial to open this year!

Interactive element? Hmm, I hope this doesn't become another Wonder Mountain Guardian

 

[Freak]

Interactive element? Hmm, I hope this doesn't become another Wonder Mountain Guardian

It's been rumored from the start that this would essentially be an improved version of Wonder Mountain Guardian. It's also rumored to have a drop track.

Eh, it can't be worse than WMG so I think it will be fun. It will at least be super unique and interesting for a regional park. Plus, it will finally bring the drop track element (allegedly) West of the Mississippi so there's that.

 

[JoeCamel]

Lagoon has officially announced Primordial to open this year!

Interactive element? Hmm, I hope this doesn't become another Wonder Mountain Guardian

It's been rumored from the start that this would essentially be an improved version of Wonder Mountain Guardian. It's also rumored to have a drop track.

Eh, it can't be worse than WMG so I think it will be fun. It will at least be super unique and interesting for a regional park. Plus, it will finally bring the drop track element (allegedly) West of the Mississippi so there's that.

They are going to start a satellite operation on the lakeshore? Slop around in that ooze with the brine flies and seagulls for a while. Very primordial.

 

[Freak]

So um….Primordial finally opened. It just happened out of nowhere.



It’s nothing mind blowing, but it’s a little better and has slightly more extensive theming than what I was expecting. It’s basically an improved Wonder Mountain Guardian.

 

[Disneyhead]

So um….Primordial finally opened. It just happened out of nowhere.



It’s nothing mind blowing, but it’s a little better and has slightly more extensive theming than what I was expecting. It’s basically an improved Wonder Mountain Guardian.

That looks awesome for a regional theme park.

 

[Michael S]

So um….Primordial finally opened. It just happened out of nowhere.



It’s nothing mind blowing, but it’s a little better and has slightly more extensive theming than what I was expecting. It’s basically an improved Wonder Mountain Guardian.

It’s a nice addition I suppose. But I’m really not a fan of the “coaster shooter” idea. Idk maybe it’s just me

 

[MikePat]

It’s a nice addition I suppose. But I’m really not a fan of the “coaster shooter” idea. Idk maybe it’s just me

I'm with you on the "shooter coaster," feels a bit like a gimmick over story at least for me. However, this looks like a decent addition for a regional American theme park and a step up from Wonder Mountain's Guardian at Canada's Wonderland. I am curious about the ride's multiple endings, though, as it sounds technically ambitious.

Spoiler: Primordial Ending

It sounds like the track split into two, where you could enter the "dragon-ending" or "owl-ending." Following, you end up "escaping" those scenes by either a drop track or a slide track where you go down a traditional coaster drop backward. It's really impressive that they were able to combine those two elements.

 

[Freak]

Spoiler: Primordial Ending

It sounds like the track split into two, where you could enter the "dragon-ending" or "owl-ending." Following, you end up "escaping" those scenes by either a drop track or a slide track where you go down a traditional coaster drop backward. It's really impressive that they were able to combine those two elements.

Whoa really? I was always under the impression that...

Spoiler: Ride ending spoiler

When the track splits into two at the end, both were drop track. At least of the POVs I've seen they all have the same ending with the dragon and drop track. Is there really an alternate ending with a sideway drop track? If so you got the link to the POV?

I may have to make a Spring trip to Salt Lake City to check this ride out. It's been years since I've been to Lagoon.

 

[DeadSexeh]

Whoa really? I was always under the impression that...

Here is the other side

 

[wutisgood]

Salt lake city is the most boring place with a major airport I have ever been to. I would love to visit Lagoon but it's pretty much the only reason to visit salt lake is to drive to national parks or ski when lagoon isn't open anyways. The is itself is a wasteland lacking museums, attractions, nightlife, sports, events, etc. I do not know if the park burned a ton of money on this but I do think there is something to be encouraged for parks paying people locally to know things and make them work instead of a ton of expensive contractors. My impression was Lagoon like Knoebels was one of the few parks left that paid talented people to maintain and build their rides.

 

[Jake S]

I think that’s a pretty harsh and inaccurate read on Salt Lake City. I was there last fall and found a great number of restaurants, bars and breweries in addition to the nature stuff. I wouldn’t want to move in (mostly because of Politics) but I’d happily go back to add Lagoon to the list.

 

[Freak]

I think that’s a pretty harsh and inaccurate read on Salt Lake City. I was there last fall and found a great number of restaurants, bars and breweries in addition to the nature stuff. I wouldn’t want to move in (mostly because of Politics) but I’d happily go back to add Lagoon to the list.

Don’t want to turn this into a travel to Salt Lake City thread, but they also have a really cool mountain coaster at Park City. There’s more to do than you think there! I think having Lagoon there as a good weekend trip would be cool!