Lagoon 4-30-17

As a graduate student who is currently writing their dissertation and can pretty much work anywhere, I went with my wife on her business trip to Salt Lake City. She was off Sunday and we thought we would drive the 20 minutes north to Lagoon. Prior to this trip, it had been more than 5 years since I rode my last roller coaster and I was excited to check out the park. Because Lagoon is a bit out of the way, I thought I would share my impressions and thoughts about the park and its roller coasters.

• The park is small and layout is a bit strange, as it is cross or "t" shaped. Two-thirds of the park is wooded and somewhat charming, but the other third is mostly concrete.
• The park is staffed by kids... Apparently the minimum age to work at Lagoon is 14. Nevertheless, everyone was friendly, the park was clean, and the ride operations were great (less than 5 minute waits).
• The selection of rides is fantastic and the park is truly a family park. Most of the rides are not permanent installations (Colossus the Fire Dragon) and it gives the park a strange fair-like vibe.
• Cannibal- (2x) This is a unique and awesome roller coaster. The seats are comfortable, the elevator lift is disorienting, the view from the top is terrifying, the drop is exhilarating, the slow barrel rolls after the mid-course break make you pray the restraints work, and we waited less than 5 minutes each time! If you look up when going up the elevator shaft you can see the other lift coming down, as the dispatches were fast.
• Wicked- (2x) The launch was nice and there was a good pop of air going over the top of the hill. The seats and restraints were comfortable.
• Colossus the Fire Dragon- (1x) Schwarzkopfs always deliver. Not on par with others I have ridden (Shock Wave, Mind Bender), but a solid roller coaster.
• Roller Coaster- (1x) The worlds first parking lot coaster was interesting, historically, and not too painful.
• Jet Star 2 - (1x) This was my first Jet Star and it was more intense and fun than I initially expected.
• Spider was down and we didn't bother to ride Bat, Wild Mouse, Puff the Little Fire Dragon, or Bombora, as these rides either had long lines (the family section was packed) or clones/similar layouts could be ridden elsewhere.

Overall, we spent maybe 2 hours at the park and had a great time. It will be interesting to see how the park expands in the future because it a surprisingly small park and I am not sure how much land is available. I wrote this report in haste and if anyone has any questions about the park I would be happy to attempt to answer them.

Only park left in the US with two operating Schwarzkopf coasters...

Not that anyone's counting... ;~)

My son and I loved our trip last summer. Interesting that Spider was down for us too. Coincidence? Or is it always down? Who knows.

Cannibal shot to what I would consider top 5 or 10 if I ranked them. We were amazed by this ride!

I had no idea the history of Rollercoaster. That it was one of the oldest operating coasters in the world. Maybe I would have been slightly more appreciative, I don't know, but it was entirely forgettable other than "It wasn't as rough and shuffle-y as I thought it would be.

I agree that all of the workers, even though they were very young, were quite friendly. Something that cannot be said about a lot of other parkSF.