Utah only has one amusement park, but it’s
a most certainly a good one. This park is none other than Lagoon. It’s one of the
country’s largest independently owned theme parks and it also happens to be one of
the most unique. This park has a deep ride lineup including some classic attractions
and some coasters they even built in-house. Not many coaster enthusiasts find their way to
Utah, but this park should be one everyone’s bucket list. It’s one of America’s most underrated
parks. I’ll explain why in this review.
This park is shockingly old. The park’s roots
go back to 1886 and it is the oldest operating theme park west of the Mississippi River.
For the park’s first decade of operation, it was known as Lake Park. It wasn’t much of an
amusement park. It was a scenic lakeside resort.
After the 1895 season, the owner of the
Salt Lake & Ogden Railroad line moved the park 3 miles east to Farmington,
Utah and reopened it as Lagoon. The name was derived from the body of water in the
center of the park and it has stuck ever since.
The park started adding amusement rides in the
1900s. Two of their oldest rides that still remain to this day are the historic Herschell-Spillman
Merry-Go-Round that was added in 1906 and the blandly named Roller Coaster. The latter is
a 1921 wood coaster designed by John Miller.
While the park thrived in the 1920s and 1930s,
the park struggled in the 1940s after World War II forced the park to close for 3 seasons. It became
rundown and the owners nearly demolished the park. But Robert E. Freed formed the Utah Amusement
Corporation and leased the park. A big fire in 1953 almost doomed the park, but Freed
persevered and now the park is better than ever.
His family now owns the park and it’s operated
by his sons. The park now boasts one of the largest ride lineups in the US. You can find 55
rides, including 11 roller coasters. That’s an astounding total for any park, especially
an independent one. And that’s not all. The park also has a water park, an authentic
pioneer village, and picnic groves galore.
The easiest way to access this park is by
car. It’s a 20 minute drive north of Salt Lake City. It’ll cost you $20 to park.
Alternatively, you can get to this park with public transit. It’s a 45 minute bus
ride to and from downtown Salt Lake City. Buses start running as early as 6 am. Buses
drop you off about a 10 minute walk from the park. The last bus typically leaves around 10:30
pm, but check the UTA schedule for full details.
Lagoon makes one heck of a first impression
when you arrive. It has one of the most striking skylines of any amusement park. You have a series
of large coasters extending into the parking lot. Behind them is a mountainous backdrop. It looks
like one of those fake parks you’d make on Planet Coaster, but the place is very real. It’s one
of the best settings of any park in my opinion.
You will have to pay a hefty price to enter
the park though. Day tickets cost $90-$100 per day as of 2023. This makes it one of
the most expensive parks in the country. I think the only parks costing more are the big
ones in southern California and central Florida. Lagoon does offer $10-$20 discounts on day passes
if you stay at their campground next door.
Toddlers under the age of 2 can enter the park for
free, but they will have to pay to ride anything. The park charges 50 cents per ticket and each
ride costs 4 to 10 tickets. The pay-per-ride option is not available for anyone else.
Everyone else must buy the pricey day ticket.
The most economical way to visit this
park is to purchase a season pass. I know I would if I lived anywhere near the park.
They pay for themselves after just 2 visits!
Once inside, it’s hard not to fall in love with
this park. It has such a charm. The front half has that classic amusement park vibe. A few rides
have some light theming. Typically it consists of signage and thematic paint jobs. Their newer
attractions have improved in this department. This includes the newer coasters and even the
flat rides placed in the kiddie area. But this more or less feels like a traditional amusement
park. And that’s fine since it’s in pristine condition. The park is clean and rides sport
fresh coats of paint. The front half of the park crams attractions in every nook and cranny, so
there’s a ton of energy walking down the midway.
The back half has a distinctively different
vibe. It feels a lot more laid back. It’s a nice breather from the hustle and bustle
of the section with all the amusement rides. You have a scenic pathway along the lake and
better views of those aforementioned mountains.
With the removal of the Log Flume, the only
ride back there now is Rattlesnake Rapids. It’s well-worth experiencing, but unless you know
it’s there, it’s extremely easy to miss since you cannot see it until you’re right on top of it.
Then you also have the super unique Pioneer Village back here. This is a recreation
of a western town with all sorts of shops and themed displays. Make sure to save
some time to stroll through this area. The displays are more akin to something you’d
expect at a place like Colonial Williamsburg, not an amusement park smack dab in Utah.
Then many people use this section to have picnics. Lagoon is one of the larger parks to
allow guests to bring in food, so guests take full advantage of this. You have plenty of
picnic tables and grassy areas available.
If you plan to buy food at the park, your go-to
spot should be the Biergarten. This is a German inspired restaurant. The food here is amazing.
It’s so good that the park opens this venue up even when the park is closed. I haven’t been too
impressed with the other food offerings across the park in terms of quality. You have an Arby’s
and Subway plus the usual amusement park fare.
Now let’s talk about this park’s operations. This
is one of the park’s biggest strengths. Few parks can consistently get trains out as quickly
as Lagoon. And it’s not like there’s just one coaster like this. Every single ride sends trains
out faster than their counterparts at other parks. Stacking is a rare occurrence on their coasters.
You’re far more likely to see a train block check on the lift hill because the crew sent a train
out before the prior one clears the final brakes.
There are a few rides that have low throughputs,
but that’s because of the design of the ride, not the fault of the employees. But any
coaster operating with multiple trains will look like a well-oiled machine as
trains are dispatched like clockwork.
The employees aren’t just efficient,
but they’re super friendly too. Lagoon is clearly doing something right training
their employees both from a work and morale perspective. I hope that never changes.
If you’re a single rider, there are three things you need to be aware of.
One, multiple rides ban single riders. The most notable is the Jet Star 2
roller coaster. While you can try and find another single rider, it’s super awkward
since you need to sit in each other’s lap. You also cannot ride alone on Rattlesnake
Rapids or the park’s massive Ferris Wheel, but those ones are easier to get paired up on.
Two, for many years, this park banned single riders in the very front and back rows of any of
their coasters. I believe this traces back to an incident in 1989 where a teenage girl stood
up on Roller Coaster and fell to her death. This policy was thankfully relaxed on all their
coasters post-covid except for Roller Coaster.
Three, Cannibal and Wicked both have single rider
lines. These were far more helpful when I visited the park back in 2018. At that time, you could
access the single rider lines directly from the midway. So these were major timesavers. Now, you
need to wait through a majority of the queue line to reach them. So they maybe save 5-10 minutes
max now. It’s almost better to just wait in the standard line so you can keep your group
together and also pick the seat you want.
There are two other important operational notes.
First, most coasters do not allow loose articles to be stored on the ride platform. But don’t
worry. The park offers complimentary lockers by the ride entrances. This shows the park is doing
this purely to maximize throughput and safety. It’s not a cash grab like some parks.
Second, the queue lines for almost every ride are comically short. Most rides can
accommodate just 10-15 minutes worth of people. So expect to see these filled entirely even
on quiet days. And if you visit on a busy day, the lines will stretch out onto the midway.
For example, last year when I rode Cannibal, the line went all the way around the
corner back to the Paratrooper. Yet, this took just 45ish minutes, which is not bad
for a park’s signature ride on a very busy day.
I’ve heard the park does this to add energy
to the midway, but it does cause two issues.
One, it can be a bit confusing to find the end
of a line when this happens. Especially since you have multiple rides in close proximity.
Two, it can make the midways cramped and difficult to navigate on busy days.
Again, the lines move fast as a whole, but the set-up is a stark contrast
to what you see at other parks.
I have only visited this park on weekends
during Frightmares, the park’s Halloween event. From what I’ve heard, this is one of
their busiest times of year. Yet I’ve had no trouble riding plenty of rides. This is mainly
due to the operations, but you can knock a ton out early in the day with a smart touring plan.
It is worth noting this park does not offer a skip-the-line pass for the rides, so everyone is
on even footing. You absolutely want a full day here though. That’s even with the park having long
hours; they are routinely open until 9 or 10 pm in the summer. You want to have an entire day because
of the quantity and quality of the rides.
I recommend arriving at least a half
hour early. This is for two reasons. One, the park opens the gates a half hour before the
posted opening time and they usually already have the Terroride dark ride open for the day. This
can easily get a 30-45 minute wait on a busy day, so it’s nice knocking this ride out with a minimal
wait during what’s essentially bonus time.
Two, when the park does officially open, you can
head straight to the coasters to beat the crowds.
Where you start depends if you want and need every
credit. If you want to experience all 11 coasters, make a beeline to Bat. This is the park’s
lowest capacity coaster by far. It’s the only non kiddie coaster to run with just
one train and I’ve heard it can get waits approaching an hour. I think it’s a really
bad coaster, but it does draw a crowd.
I usually go right first. You have a cluster
of coasters in close proximity to each other. I recommend hitting Spider and Wild Mouse
first because of their lower capacities. Then you should do Wicked next. These three rides
can all get half hour plus waits on a busy day. I would then hit Colossus and Roller Coaster.
I haven’t had to wait more than 10-20 minutes for either of these rides even on a busy day.
Their capacities and operations are that good.
You’ll probably encounter lines by the
time you reach the other side of the park, but at least this approach allows
you to start your day off strong.
The two other rides that can get 30-45
minute waits on busy days include the Cannibal roller coaster and Rocket drop towers.
I also suspect Primordial will get lengthy waits too. This is the park’s new-for-2023 coaster.
While we don’t know what it’s throughput will be, it may be a smart one to hit early given
the crowds new attractions can draw.
Now let’s move onto the ride lineup.
One unique thing I haven’t touched on yet is that Lagoon now designs
and builds their coasters in-house. Their vice president of engineering is Dal
Freeman, who previously was the Director of Engineering for Arrow Dynamics from 1986
through the 1990s. Freeman previously worked on rides like Cedar Point’s Magnum XL-200,
so he is more than qualified to do so.
The first coaster Lagoon designed themselves was
Wicked, the 2007 vertical launch coaster. The park designed the ride, but outsourced the fabrication
to Zierer. After Wicked was delayed due to 90% of the support columns having defective weldments,
Lagoon decided they’d handle the manufacturing of their next coasters as well.
In 2011, the park designed, sourced, and built Bombora themselves. And it
was a resounding success. It’s a super smooth family coaster with all sorts of bells and
whistles like on-board audio and fancy lighting.
Then in 2015, Lagoon built Cannibal. This would
have been an ambitious project for any full-time manufacturer, let alone a park in Utah. It would
be the tallest and fastest coaster in Utah. It would have hyper heights at 208 feet or 63 meters
tall while reaching speeds of 70 mph or 110 kph. And it opened with the steepest drop in America
at 116 degrees. It still holds the record for the world’s tallest beyond-vertical drop and
it ended up being one of the smoothest and most reridable coasters out there.
Now in 2023, the park is unveiling Primordial. Lagoon hasn’t revealed too
much about this ride, but it appears to be a highly themed family coaster taking place
in and around a giant mountain. It looks like something you’d get at a Disney park. And I
can’t wait to hear how this ride turns out. This will take Lagoon’s coaster lineup to the next
level by giving them a story coaster you typically only get at the larger chain parks.
Of their current 10 roller coasters, the offerings are extremely well balanced.
1/3 of their lineup caters to thrill seekers, 1/3 of their lineup caters more to families,
and 1/3 of their lineup focuses on kids.
Starting with the thrills, Cannibal is the park’s
premier attraction. I already talked about this coaster’s daunting stats, but it’s an incredible
ride too. That first drop is world-class. It starts with powerful ejector airtime before
morphing into floater airtime that seems to last forever. Then the four inversions are great too.
The Immelmann hits you with strong Gs. The dive loop has a powerful pop of airtime. And the Lagoon
roll has some of the best hangtime of any coaster. Then the finale has some theming as you
wrap around these giant rock structures. See my review for more, but this is
the main reason coaster enthusiast will want to get themselves out to Utah.
Wicked is a very unique launch coaster. The ride starts with one of my favorite launches
out there. The vertical LSM launch is a bizarre sensation. You are forcefully pinned to your seat
as the ride works to overcome gravity. Then the first half is equally as awesome. The top hat
has some strong ejector airtime, the speed hill that follows has some floater, and the zero-G roll
floats you out of your seat for several seconds. But the ride has a terrible finale. It’s not
rough or anything, but it’s slow and uneventful. I talk about that more in a separate review.
Colossus the Fire Dragon is a classic Schwarzkopf double looper. This ride started its life on the
German fair circuit, but it has been thrilling guests at Lagoon for 4 decades. As I noted in a
review, the layout is simple but effective. You have a drop, 2 vertical loops, and 2 helixes. That
is it. While this ride doesn’t have any airtime, it does extremely well in the positive G and
lateral department. Those two loops are greyout moments for me. Then the helixes offer some more
sustained Gs, just not nearly as intense. Then the transitions offer abrupt jolts of laterals,
particularly the exit out of the second loop.
Among locals, the most beloved coaster may
be Roller Coaster. This is the 100+ year old wood coaster that juts out into the parking
lot. It’s a basic double out-and-back layout, but it has several spots of airtime.
Most pops are moderate in strength, but the entrances and exits to the turnaround give
shockingly good airtime on the ends of the train. And because of the huge renovation from Great
Coasters International a few years ago, this coaster is running like a dream. I talk about
that more in a separate review as well.
Spider is one of the most well-known Maurer
spinning coasters. This has the highly popular SC2000 layout, but this one is notorious for
spinning more than others. For one, it starts spinning immediately off the lift. Usually these
rides don’t spin until the first turnaround. Two, this one can spin like a top if you
have an off-balanced car. This one does have quite a bit of braking, but it’s a great
option if you’re a fan of spinning rides.
Wild Mouse is another Maurer creation.
This is a standard steel wild mouse plopped down in the same spot where the park
used to have a classic wooden wild mouse. The first half has great laterals. The
second half does have some braking, but you may still get a pop of airtime or two.
And you have a fun themed tunnel towards the end.
Jet Star 2 is the envy of single riders. As I
noted earlier, you need a partner to ride. It’s sort of awkward riding in the lap of another
rider unless you’re a couple, but the layout is fun. The big drops have some good zip to
them. Then the low turns are fast and forceful. The higher sections do meander a bit, but
I think that’s fair for a family coaster.
Bombora is another great family coaster. This one
rides like a Mack Youngstar coaster or a Vekoma roller skater. The helixes have a smidge of force
to them. But the highlights are the glass smooth ride experience and the tropical on-board audio.
The one coaster I genuinely hate at this park is the Bat. This is a Vekoma junior suspended
coaster with bulky over-the-shoulder restraints. I find it to be a very uncomfortable experience
full of headbanging. Not only is this ride pretty bad, but it also tends to have the longest line in
the park. I would advise skipping it, especially since the park has much better family coasters
that you can get on in a fraction of the time.
Puff the Little Fire Dragon is the
kiddie coaster. I think the name is cute, giving it some synergy with
the big Schwarzkopf looper. This Zierer creation has a basic oval
layout, but it’s perfect for kids. And if you’re an adult seeking the credit, go for
it. You’re allowed to ride even without a kid.
On that note, Lagoon is one of the best parks
I have ever seen for kids. They have one of the largest kiddie sections I have ever seen.
You have this long strip of land in the center of the park. It has a ton of shade and it packs
in nearly 2 dozen kiddie and family rides. Some are exclusively for kids while others can
comfortably accommodate adults as well. And some are pretty darn unique. Children could
spend hours here bouncing from ride to ride. When people point out the top kiddie areas, they
usually mention some of the Planet Snoopy areas at the Cedar Fair parks. But this one deserves
more recognition for the sheer size of it.
Moving onto the flat rides for older guests,
this is another area where Lagoon shines. Their offerings are deep. You have all the
standard spinning rides you could ever want, including some classics. Then there are
some standout flats I want to highlight.
The best of the bunch is Flying Aces. This
is a classic set of Bisch-Rocco flying scooters. Everyone talks about how great
the Flyers are at Knoebels, but these are just as amazing. They’re similarly as fast and
the operators are more relaxed about snapping. So you can get some genuinely terrifying rides
as your tub unnaturally jerks through the air. If you do this, it’s the scariest ride in the park.
The most intense flat here is Samurai. This is one of the few Mondial top scans in America. If you’re
unfamiliar with this ride, you have an arm with gondolas in a star pattern. The arm and gondolas
both rotate in a circle, and the latter can flip as well. You get sustained laterals throughout and
some wild inversions. Some are slower and chalk full of hangtime. Others fling you through the
air, giving airtime or more disorienting flips.
There are two other great options if you love
going head-over-heels. One is Air Race. This Zamperla flat ride has a series of slow and
disorienting inversions giving solid hangtime.
Two is Rock-O-Plane. This is an older ride
from Eyerly. It’s basically a Ferris Wheel where riders can rock their vehicle. The key
is to use the clutch. This gives you the power to stall your vehicle upside-down. And you can
strategically release it to get a faster flip. I wish this ride had more comfortable
restraints, but I’m glad Lagoon has kept this ride around despite its lower capacity.
You would also think Cliffhanger would be a good option for inversions. This is a
top spin after all. I’m used to the Huss versions that chain a series of quick flips
in a row. But Cliffhanger was disappointing. This one stalled us upside-down once, but
that was it. The rest of the ride was just some slow and awkward rocking while hearing
these grinding noises. The water effects were off for my rides since it was fall, but
they typically have these on in summer.
One highly underrated flat is Boomerang. You
wouldn’t think it based off the name, but this is the park’s set of bumper cars. These ones are
from Ihle and they have some great power to them. You can cause some jarring collisions
and you have a big arena to do so.
Rocket is a fun S&S drop tower. This one stands
20 stories tall, so it offers some fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. One side
shoots you up and another shoots you down. I’ve only done the latter, but the drop is decent.
Other manufacturers make wilder drop towers, but this one still gives a solid
pop of airtime at the start.
Then you have some upcharge attractions in the
X-Venture Area. You have a sizable Skycoaster, a slingshot named Catapult, and
the Double Thunder Go Karts.
Moving onto the dark rides, Lagoon has
two older ones that are still quite good. Terroride is the better of the
two. The ride got an extensive refurbishment a few years ago and
the scenes are all high quality. You have some creative jump scares coming
from all directions. The only downside is that the ride is extremely short, like a minute in
duration. But it’s about quality over quantity.
Dracula’s Castle is in a much bigger show
building, so you have a longer ride. The animatronics and figures aren’t top tier quality,
but they do move and are timed properly. I would love to see this one get a refresh like
Terroride to unlock its full potential.
This park also has some notable observation
rides. There are three I want to highlight. One is Sky Ride. This is a scenic way to
go from one side of the park to the other.
Two is Sky Scraper. This is an
enormous 15 story Ferris Wheel. This is the best way to take
in the surrounding views.
Three is the Wild Kingdom Train. This is a unique
one. It starts with a scenic loop of the lake, but then it goes past some animal exhibits.
You have some rare animals like camels, zebras, and tigers. Fair warning, the enclosures are super
small and the park has been subject to criticism for this in the past. But if you want to see the
animals, the train is the only way to do so.
With the removal of the Log Flume, the only
water ride left is Rattlesnake Rapids. This is an Intamin rapids ride placed in the very
back of the park. It can be a bit tricky to find since it’s the only ride back there, but
it’s worth the hassle. You have a scenic and well-landscaped course. You go through a cave
and pass some nice rockwork. There are plenty of rapids and most give mild splashes, but there
are two soakers. One by the tunnel and another at the very end. Then if you ride in summer, there’s
a giant waterfall that will get you drenched.
You also have a water park known as
Lagoon-A-Beach. I haven’t been there since it’s only open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.
It seems to be on the smaller side, but there are some older slides. You have some body slides and
tube slides. While admission to the water park is included, the tube slides are essentially upcharge
attractions since you must pay $5 for a tube.
Now let’s talk about Frightmares. This is a
great Halloween event for a regional park. You have 5 haunted walkthroughs. The park
seems to keep the same houses year-to-year, but they tweak the scenery and you
have some variability with the actors. I think Malevolent Mansion and Frightening Frisco
have the best set design. Then Nightwalk and Nightmare Midway have the most effective scares.
These can get sizable waits since they’re included with admission, but the park does offer the
Time Warp skip-the-line pass for $25-$30.
The best attraction at Frightmares is Seance.
This is a unique show. It does cost an extra $15, but it’s well-worth it if you’re into
horror. These go fast, so make sure to stop by the booth early to reserve your spot.
I don’t want to spoil what happens, but I’ll stay the experience has a lot of exposition
but the payoff at the end is well-worth it.
The last thing to note with Frightmares
is that it has a lot to offer for kids. Back in Pioneer Village, they have Treat Street with candy and two tamer walkthroughs.
You have Spook-A-Boo and a straw maze.
So do I recommend Lagoon? Absolutely. This is
one of the most underrated parks in America. I think it would get a lot more attention if it was
in a more frequented state because this really is a park that excels in many areas. It’s scenic and
well-maintained. The customer service is fantastic between the friendly-staff and swift operations.
Then the ride lineup is extremely strong. You have a great headlining coaster in Cannibal and plenty
of fun supporting coasters. Then the non-coasters are well above average too, especially when you
factor in this park’s excellent flat ride lineup. This park needs to be on everyone’s
bucket list. It’s such a unique place and you will not be disappointed if you visit.
So those are my thoughts on Lagoon in Utah. What are your thoughts on this big amusement park?
Do you agree it’s a hidden gem as well? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed
this review, I’d appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered
subscribing since there will be a lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos
here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!
