Episode 30: Lagoon (Built In-House)

A few months after my summer road trip, I continued my quest to ride new roller coasters by flying northwest to visit three parks for the first time.  Stop number one was Lagoon in Farmington, UT.  It's a family-owned amusement park known for doing things differently.  They've built their last three roller coasters completely in-house, and they're unlike anything else out there.  Join me for my first-time reactions to Cannibal, Wicked, Primordial, and so many more unique attractions at Utah's only amusement park!

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Transcript

Welcome Episode 30 of Coaster Redux.  My name is Erik, and this is the story of my revived roller coaster fandom.  For years, I’d all but forgotten my coaster obsession from high school and college.  Then during the pandemic, I started following the amusement world again, and for the last two years, I’ve been on a mission to ride as many new coasters as I can, and share my experiences through this podcast.

It all started with a week-long road trip back in 2022, and I just completed my longest road trip yet, visiting eight parks over a span of 16 days.  I finished that trip in June, yet like most coaster enthusiasts, I quickly got to work planning my next one shortly upon my return.

Fast forward to October when I hopped a flight heading northwest from Florida to tick off three more parks I’d yet to visit.  My first stop was Lagoon, Utah’s only amusement park located a short 30 minutes from the Salt Lake City airport.  It’s a family-owned park with a super unusual collection of roller coasters, with its three newest being designed and built entirely in-house.  The more coasters I ride, the more I really seek out those unique experiences that are unlike anything else out there.  Lagoon offers exactly that which catapulted this outta-the-way park to the top of my hype list in the U.S.  Next, I’d hop a flight over to the San Francisco Bay Area to finish out my trip at California’s Great America and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.          

I know as a roller coaster fan that one of my favorite parts of the hobby is getting the reaction of somebody coming off of a ride they’ve never ridden before.  That’s what I want to share with you.

And with that, join me for my first impressions of Cannibal, Wicked, Primordial, and many more as I fly into Lagoon on Coaster Redux.

It was September in South Florida.  Labor Day had come and gone, and I was in the midst of the summer doldrums when the weather is hot, you can set your watch to afternoon thunderstorms, and business in the tourism sector is as quiet as it gets.  I kept a vigilant watch on the tropics as hurricane season was in full force, but my corner of the state was spared anything more than a blustery day.  I’d packed so many park visits into my June road trip that I’d satisfied my coaster itch until this time.  But as any enthusiast knows, it always comes back.  

With the summer season over, the parks scaled back to weekend-only operations meaning I could realistically visit two parks in a trip.  I had three options in my head.  Return to eastern Pennsylvania for my first visit to Dorney Park who’d just opened their Iron Menace dive coaster, and go back to Hersheypark to try Skyrush with the new restraints.  Tempting, because Dorney looks fun, and Hershey is one of my all time favorites.  Fun scale would be super high, but I’d only get to one new park.

Then I could fly to San Francisco for California’s Great America and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.  CGA’s supposedly on borrowed time as Cedar Fair sold the property to a developer and is currently leasing the park.  I wanted to get there before it closes for good.  Discovery Kingdom’s got the massive Medusa floorless and the Joker RMC.  Not bad, but between these two parks, there wasn’t anything I was really fired up about.

Option three was Lagoon.  They’ve got Cannibal, the 208 foot mega coaster with a 116 degree beyond vertical drop, Wicked, the only existing coaster with a vertical launch, and the new for 2023 Primordial, a shooting dark ride roller coaster combo said to have near-Disney level theming.  Color me intrigued.  The bummer was, if I chose Lagoon, it would have to be my only destination on this trip.

Conflicted, I posted a poll to my Instagram story asking which one y’all’d like to hear about most.  Pennsylvania won by a long shot, followed by NorCal, then Lagoon.  I started poking around looking at flights, hotels, and checking the park websites for their operating hours.  While perusing Lagoon’s calendar, I noticed an anomaly.  October 17th.  Thursday, October 17th.  For some reason, they’re open on that one random Thursday when the rest of the fall they’re Friday through Sunday only.

That really got my motor running.  I could fly into Salt Lake on Wednesday, visit Lagoon on Thursday, then head to SanFran Friday to hit those two parks on Saturday and Sunday.  This trip could be a three-fer.  It fell into place from there.  Flights and hotels were about as cheap as they get, so about a month out, I made it official.

A few days before my departure, I checked the weather in Salt Lake.  I knew NorCal would be pretty much clear, dry, perfection, but only having visited Utah to ski in the winter, I expected mid-October to be chilly.  Imagine my surprise when I found that temps were in the low 80’s and sunny the entire week before my visit.  I never would have expected that.  Then I looked at Thursday.  65 degrees and rain.  100% chance of rain.  All day long rain.  It looked like I’d be flying halfway across the country to be rained out.

I checked the forecast daily leading up to my departure, and it didn’t change.  There was no rescheduling.  This was my one shot this year to visit these three parks, so I had to roll the dice and hope to get lucky.  I packed track pants with zipper pockets and an extra warm waterproof jacket for Lagoon, and shorts for the rest of the trip.  It was Tuesday night, and my flight was tomorrow.

I Ubered to the airport the next morning to hop the first of four flights on this trip.  Being an aviation geek, I took advantage of flying through multiple cities to book flights on different airlines and aircraft types to compare experiences.  My first ride of the day was a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 which would take me to Denver where I would change planes and connect to Salt Lake.  The flight was on-time, but it was my least-enjoyable of the four on this trip.  I was in the back of the aircraft, and the flight was packed.  Flight time was 4 hours and 22 minutes, and I was able to doze off for the first half, but I spent the second part wiggling around a seat that wasn’t much better than Spirit trying to get comfortable.  

I survived, and we landed in Denver just after noon.  I had 90 minutes before my connection and grabbed a delightful burrito bowl in the airport before my next flight.  It was a short hop over to Salt Lake on United’s Airbus A-319, and the seats and space on this airplane were so much better.  The plane was still full, but I was able to enjoy this flight due to wider seats and improved leg room.  

Wheels down in Salt Lake, I made my way out of the terminal and into the rental garage to pick up my car for the next 48 hours.  As per usual, I reserved a compact, but ended up with a pretty sweet upgrade.  My Hyundai Sonata Limited was decked out with a leather interior, full glass cockpit with heads-up display, and all the bells and whistles.  I left the airport and merged onto I-15 north for the easy 30 minute drive.  I passed Lagoon on the right, and got a spectacular view of Cannibal’s enormous drop and inversions on the way to my hotel, a Marriott Fairfield in Layton, UT, about 10 minutes north of the park.  I just hoped the weather would allow me to ride it.

As I pulled off the exit ramp, my av geek side got another poke as an F-35 from nearby Hill Air Force Base ripped across the sky.  Low passes from military aircraft make me giddy like a child.  The sun was still up, and I was comfortable outside in the shorts I put on this morning in Florida.  I settled in for the evening, and ordered delicious pad thai for delivery before heading to bed.  Tomorrow, I’d be prepared for the worst, but hoped for the best.

I awoke the next morning and dreaded opening the black-out curtains for fear of an all-out deluge.  It was overcast and drizzling, but it didn’t look that bad.  Lagoon opened at 10, and I curiously pulled up the radar.  There was a line of green hovering over the area, but it looked like it would pass within the hour.  Then I looked at the hourly forecast.  70% rain until 11, then less than 20% each hour until after 7pm when the heavy stuff would come in.  This reminded me of my day at Dollywood back in June when I got a pretty darn full day in.  Maybe I’d get lucky again.

I showered and got dressed, leaving the hotel at about 10:30.  The rain had stopped as I walked to my car.  I plugged the park into my GPS, and Google notified me that the park was closed today.  Had management seen the forecast and decided to close, or did the app just not know that Lagoon was open on this random Thursday?  Screw it, I thought.  I’ve got nothing else to do, so I might as well drive the 15 minutes to the park and see what’s what.

The drizzle resumed as I drove south.  Clouds shrouded the tops of the nearby Wasatch Peaks which provide the backdrop for the area.  There’s a convoluted interchange at the exit for the park which blocks much of it from view until I exited onto a surface street.  I merged onto Park Lane, then Lagoon Drive, and as I glanced up, a train full of riders plunged down Cannibal’s first drop.  It’s open!  Now my mission was clear.  Get my car parked and haul my rear end into Lagoon and ride as many roller coasters as I possibly can.  The weather could turn at any time.

Parking was $20 and I made my way to the ticket booth to pay for admission.  And Lagoon is….expensive.  My single day ticket was $117.92 with taxes paid at the gate.  Buying online in advance would have saved me a measly $5, a drop in the bucket at this price point that I didn’t care about given the weather.  I marveled that my dad paid only $50 for his single day admission to Cedar Point, but Lagoon’s got the market cornered.  If you want to go to an amusement park in Utah, this is it.  Heck, the closest major parks to Lagoon are probably the ones I’ll visit next in Cali.

Anyway, I entered the park, and the mainstreet is a narrow thoroughfare that’s decorated for the Frightmares Halloween event.  Gravestones are everywhere, and they’re hilarious in the worst kinda Dad joke way.  Chan Saw.  He cut a little too close for comfort.  Em Fazima.  She finally kicked the habit.  Doug Agrave.  Turned out to be his own.  Anita Shovel.  And hurry!  You get the idea.  

I turned left at the end of Main Street planning to ride Primordial first.  The park is basically shaped like a rectangle with a main midway running north/south close to the entrance, with several layers or blocks behind it.  Primordial is in the far northwest corner, so I passed Cannibal, and walked directly beneath the massive S&S drop tower to find the entrance.  This coaster is the newest in the park, opening just about a year ago, and being family-friendly, it’s known to rack up massive lines.  But it’s a random Thursday and it’s been raining all morning.  I figured my chances of getting onboard quickly were pretty good.  

Turns out my logic was flawed.  A temporary queue extended well past the main entrance, to a sign welcoming guests to the new plaza for the ride.  An employee was stationed there to make sure people weren’t line jumping or saving places for others.  While I was happy to see this, she informed guests walking up that the line was 2 hours from this point.  Given the weather, this was a hard pass for me.  My goal was to get as many rides in as quickly as possible, meaning Primordial would have to wait.

Time to execute Plan B, and head for Cannibal, my most anticipated roller coaster at Lagoon, and probably of the whole trip.  Now this roller coaster has an absolutely commanding presence in the park.  It features an elevator lift hill that’s enclosed in a tower.  The beyond vertical drop tucks beneath itself right against the building, and a maelstrom of red track with tan supports wind and loop above rockwork at the ride’s center, and all around the tower.

The station butts right against the midway, and onlookers watch the three row cars rocket through the dive loop and mid-course brakes way up there.  Support columns are painted to look like wood, and the whole structure is themed to the jungle.  I made my way into the queue, walking up a ramp beside the main station.  I was pleased to find that after just a few minutes, there was a split-off for single riders.  This allowed me to bypass the entire line with only a handful of guests ahead of me.

Cannibal opened in 2015 as Lagoon’s second in-house roller coaster, the first being the Bombora family coaster.  Dal Freeman, the park’s head of engineering previously worked in roller coaster design for the legendary Arrow Dynamics out of nearby Clearfield, UT.  He designed Wicked for Lagoon which opened in 2007 despite delays due to structural failures in the manufacturing by Zierer.  Since that debacle, the park has handled all design, fabrication, and construction of their subsequent three roller coasters in house, tapping A.R.T. Engineering of Germany for consulting as well as building the ride vehicles.  

The station is completely open on the left side, and there’s a massive mural with burning skulls across the way on the exit platform.  The trains are bright orange with three rows of four.  I’m not positive, but I think the ride operates a total of six.  Two are loading, two are waiting to roll onto the load platform, and I presume the other two are on the course somewhere.  Each time a train is dispatched, a battle horn sounds, and a black curtain raises to allow the car into the lift structure.  

The grouper assigned me to the front row center left for my first ride with another single rider on the left wing.  The lap bar is pretty heavy as it ratchets into place.  I’d say it’s a bulkier version of the B&M clamshell, but it’s flatter covering more of my thighs, and it’s also got shin guards.  While it’s comfortable enough, I still felt really exposed given the extreme nature of this ride.  Then there’s that tingling sensation in the back of my head reminding me that this thing was built in house.  And there’s the name.  Cannibal.  It’s oddly dark, and certainly not something I would expect given Utah’s strong religious roots.  Still here we are, so come with me now for my first ride.  The coaster’s tagline is that it will “eat other coasters in their tracks.”  At least the riders aren’t on the menu.

The horn sounds, and the car in front of us disappears through the curtain.  We hold for just a few seconds, then the curtain rises again, and we’re pulled into the abyss.  It’s pitch black as the train turns right.  Before the curtain closes, there’s a quick view of some animal heads and human statues along the wall.  There’s a ferocious pounding of drums echoing through this massive vertical chamber as if we’re marching towards some sacrificial ritual.  The train comes to an abrupt stop, and we’re going up.  Straight up.  At a blistering pace with barely enough light to comprehend what’s happening.  Scary fast doesn’t do it justice.

The elevator reaches the top, and another curtain opens.  Cars rush by on the Interstate just ahead, and the track utterly disappears.  Electric motors spool up and we coast right to the precipice.  Then over the edge we go, as the train dives beneath itself into oblivion.  It’s so abrupt, I instinctively braced by kicking my heels against the seat base to steady myself; a nervous reaction.

We plummet downward with some of the weirdest feeling airtime ever.  Maybe it’s a mix of airtime and hangtime, but I’m not sure.  Gravity resumes control and the positives come on hard as we careen through a tunnel and exit in a snappy Immelman.  We then roll out and level off before hopping up into a dive loop.  I don’t know what Lagoon did here, but there’s extreme ejector airtime at the entry into this element, and you stay outta your seat until the pull out.  That right there is a world-class moment!

You level out briefly, then dip down above the rockwork at the ride’s center, and there’s a decent pop of air in this moment.  There’s a trim in the valley that bleeds off just a touch of speed before you rise up into an overbanked reverse to the left.  You then drop down and bank up and to the left where you level out in a mid-course right above the station.  You brake pretty considerably here, and it’s intentional because the next maneuver is meant to be taken low and slow.

You gently turn left and enter the Lagoon Roll, a one-of-a-kind double inversion in which you perform a heartline roll 270 degrees to the right, and before leveling out, rotate back the opposite direction.  What’s more, you’re dangling just above a water feature atop the ride’s man-made mountain.  It’s the most prolonged hang time I’ve ever experienced and it’s righteous yet demented!  It’s a good thing those lap bars are wide across your thighs.  Cannibal concludes with a descending banked turn to the left, and a 360 degree right helix with a tunnel right next to a waterfall that originated below the Lagoon roll.  It’s all fast and smooth.  After the helix, you rise up slightly and enter the final brakes.  

Adn what an unmitigated rush!  Cannibal combines so many unique moments that you won’t find anywhere!  It’s fast, forceful, and buttery smooth.  I love the scary fast elevator to the top of the tower, the first drop is wild, and what the crap did they do to that dive loop?!  Then the hangtime in the Lagoon roll?  Come on!  I can’t believe such a powerhouse attraction was built in house.  This roller coaster would be a stand-out at pretty much any park out there, yet it was home made by this family-run park in Utah.  Mind. Seriously. Blown.

While I was seriously tempted to ride again due to the short wait, I was still concerned about the weather and wanted to make sure I got on as many rides possible, so I hightailed it to the opposite end of the park to ride more coasters.  While searching for the entrance to Wicked, I happened upon Colossus: The Fire Dragon.  I love this name, it’s so overly dramatic, bringing back memories of Trogdor: The Burninator from the Homestar Runner internet cartoon of the 2000’s.  It opened in 1983, this Schwarzkopf double loop model originally operated on the German fair circuit as a travelling coaster before finding its permanent home at Lagoon.

I walked on and grabbed a seat in the back row, and within minutes, we were headed skyward up the 87 foot lift hill.  At the top, the blue track swoops down to the right and you’re slammed into two back-to-back circular loops.  I love how Schwarzkopf did vertical loops.  The G’s hit you like a ton of bricks and don’t let up.  You scream low past the station and climb up into a helix to the left, then pass between the loops and bank into a double helix to the right before entering the brakes.  

I love how these classics ride, and they’re remarkably smooth compared to similar vintage Arrow coasters.  This one really brought back memories of riding Scorpion at Busch Gardens Tampa on its final day about a month before.  That’s a story I still need to share, but I was glad to ride another Schwarzkopf that’s still running strong.

I navigated back around the corner to find the entrance to Wicked, and this is another super interesting ride.  It’s located pretty much directly behind Colossus, and its vertical tower with green track and fluorescent yellow supports stands out against the grey skies.  Opened in 2007, it was the first Zierer Tower Coaster, the only other being Impulse at Knoebels which I rode last year.  This one is extra special, though, because it’s currently the only roller coaster in the world with a vertical launch.   It’s also the ride that paved the way for Cannibal.  The park designed the ride, tapped Zierer to build it, though Lagoon requested that they use local steel fabricator Intermountain Lift.  Zierer ignored this recommendation, and the ride opening was delayed due to structural issues.  The trains are also two-row versions of the ones found on Cannibal, built by A.R.T. Engineering.

I found myself in the station with only a few minutes to wait.  Wicked has a dual load platform, but only one was operational this day.  They did have five trains on the course though, and I should mention that Lagoon’s operations are some of the best I’ve ever seen.  They have free lockers for most coasters, and they don’t allow loose items onto the platform to speed up boarding.  The lap bar is the same as Cannibal’s, so it’s flat and comfortable.  

For my first ride, I was assigned front row left wing, and with all eight of us aboard, we were dispatched into a dark tunnel.  We turn around and a siren sounds.  Then the LSM’s kick in propelling the train to 55 mph in the blink of an eye.  We pitch straight up the tower and the second set of magnets maintain that 55 mph speed during our climb.  We don’t go any faster during the ascent, merely maintain that 55, but you’d never know that.  The sensation of the vertical boost is wicked, another unique sensation at this park.  

Then you crest the top, and it’s a sharp apex meaning you get a strong pop of ejector airtime and remain out of your seat until you begin to pull out. There’s a quick bunny hop, then you soar into an overbanked turn to the left.  Next comes a Zero-G roll and this element is gnarly.  There’s so much whip and airtime in this moment, and I think Wicked does this maneuver better than any B&M.  Plus, there’s a near miss with tree branches as you level out, and twist up into the mid-course.  After the train kisses the brake, you drop down, and make three banked turnarounds that are pretty bland, dip through a tunnel, and hop up into the final brakes.

So the first half of Wicked is top notch fun.  The launch over the tower is outstanding, and the zero-G roll has a serious kick to it.  Unfortunately, the second half of the ride meanders without doing much.  Still, this ride has some excellent moments and is not to be missed.

I left Wicked and started back tracking.  While it’s still a dreary day, the park is decently busy.  The main midway is well shaded and the vibe is a cross between a fairground and a classic amusement park.  Of the parks I’ve visited, I’d compare it most closely with Knoebels, but it doesn’t have as many meandering dirt or gravel pathways.  The park’s namesake lagoon is a small body of water on the southern end overlooked by a Wave Swinger and a swinging ship.  Interestingly, it isn’t a notable feature of the property.

My next ride would be Roller Coaster, the park’s 1921 wood coaster designed by John Miller.  Everybody still calls it the White Roller Coaster because its structure used to be painted, though it’s all natural wood today.  It’s a true classic double out–and-back layout that received new Millennium Flyer trains from GCI in 2018.  The station stands right against the midway, and the ride extends outward into the parking lot.  The station features retro colored lights illuminating its arched roof.  Again, I walked right onto the platform and selected the third row. The Lagoon crew was crushing dispatches, and we were clear of the station before the second train entered the brakes.  

Roller Coaster is an enjoyable classic.  It’s clearly well maintained as there are no rough moments, but the profiling over some of the hundred year old hills is strange; evidence of a century of carpenters keeping this ride alive.  Views of the adjacent mountains on the return legs of the ride are stunning as the low cloud cover has receded.  

I exited the white Roller Coaster and back tracked to quickly knock off the last two credits in the south end before lunch.  First was Wild Mouse, a typical Mauer coaster with hairpin turns that opened in 1998.  Check.  Next was the Spider, Mauer spinning coaster.  This one is identical to the enclosed Laff Track at Hersheypark, but it’s outdoors.  You have to walk beneath a massive spider with blood-soaked fangs to enter, and this coaster sported the longest wait of the day thus far at 15 minutes.

I watched the cars navigating the course, and saw several with a single occupant spinning uncontrollably throughout the layout and onto the brakes.  I had a similar experience when I rode Pandemonium at Six Flags Fiesta Texas by myself and it was too much.  As we approached the station, I started counting people in front of me, and I lucked out to be paired with two other people, so we had three out of four seats occupied.  This should lead to being off-balance enough to get some good spins without becoming a vomit-inducing tornado.

Turns out the weight distribution was perfect.  I ended up backwards down the 50 foot first drop, and the Spider was serious laugh-out-loud fun.  This layout isn’t just a series of 180 degree turns like a spinning wild mouse, it’s a delightful mix of swooping turns and drops, and it was a complete joy.

Having survived the spinner on an empty stomach, it was time to eat, and Lagoon has a hidden gem in their Biergarten area, nestled right between the white Roller Coaster and Spider.  There’s a security guard to make sure no beer leaves this area, but upon entering, you leave the traditional midway of Lagoon and enter an authentic German hamlet that looks better than anything you’ll find at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  You’re surrounded by Bavarian buildings lining village streets, and I bet come this evening, it’ll be a lively place to be.

The main food hall features stone and brick walls, and natural wood beams supporting a ceiling filled with chandeliers.  My lunch of choice was chicken schnitzel with a side of potato salad for $17, plus a soft drink.  I was handed one of those buzzers which alerted me when to pick up my order from the counter.  It was ready in 5 minutes, and was one of the best theme park meals I’ve had recently.  Tasty, interesting, reasonably priced, and in a great atmosphere.  Lagoon dining?  5 stars.

So the weather continued to cooperate, and while it was a brisk 65 degrees and overcast, I relished in being at a theme park without being drenched in sweat.  At this point, I was just happy with no precipitation.  I began making my way back to the north end of the park to suck up the long line for Primordial, but wanted to nab two more credits on the way.  First was Bombora, the 2011 family coaster that marked Lagoon’s foray into in-house coaster construction.  The line was about ten minutes with stairs winding up and over the track before descending into the station.  The coaster is themed to surfing, and the trains look like a whimsical water flow led by Poseidon with colorful marine life following along.  

Two trains were running and I grabbed a front row ride because why not?  The lap bar is comfortable, and we rolled out of the station to yet another siren and began climbing the tire-drive lift to 45 feet.  The ride experience is a simple series of turns, dips, and helices over 1000 feet of track.  It’s a great family coaster that runs perfectly smoothly, and it features onboard audio.  Wipe Out by the Surfaris played during my ride.  Bombora was solid proof that Lagoon could build a proper roller coaster in house.     

Next I stopped next door at the Bat, a Vekoma family suspended coaster opened in 2005.  While it’s a pretty ride that travels over and through tree cover, it was the worst coaster of the day.  I banged my head on the shoulder harness trying to get onboard, and several more times throughout the ride.  The seats also have an odd bump out that fell right in the middle of my back.  It’s too rough to be a good family ride, and based on the reactions of my fellow passengers, I think they agreed.

Having ridden everything I could except Primordial, I made my way back to that far north corner ready to ensure whatever wait was in front of my for the park’s newest attraction.  While I would love to have ridden Jet Star 2, another Schwarzkopf classic, single riders aren’t permitted because you have to ride straddling the seat with another rider.  It looked like fun, but like Whizzer at Six Flags Great America, I had to skip it.

The line for Primordial was just a hair shorter than it was this morning, starting about halfway up the hill from the temporary queue entrance.  The coaster has its own plaza tucked neatly in that back left corner of the park.  It’s all freshly landscaped with a handful of food and beverage stands on the path leading from the gift shop and ride exit.  Because of the popularity, an extended queue stretches well past all of this on the right hand side.  The massive building housing the ride has a spectacular mountain facade complete with a waterfall, and the coaster’s green track makes a figure-8 maneuver outside.  

The true queue begins as you enter a medieval Gothic stone building, then transition into an outdoor courtyard.  There’s a view of the coaster’s lift heading up the mountain before you enter the pre-show. Here’s where we come face to face with Queen Azdra, a lynx animatronic who explains her kingdom’s current conundrum.  An evil army of creatures has captured Dragnor and Astradir, a dragon and owl, respectively, who are responsible for the rise of the sun and moon each day.  Our mission is to free the mythical owl and dragon and restore prosperity to the kingdom.  

The overall aesthetic of the queue goes well beyond anything you’ll find outside a Disney or Universal park.  Azdra’s animatronic is first class with a moving head, eyes, mouth, and arms.  For reference, I probably listened to the queen’s speech 5 times through the switchbacks in that show room, and this was about 30 minutes into my queue overall.  It’s a slow mover for sure.

A switchback or two later, we emerged back outdoors.  Again, Lagoon offers free lockers here for loose items that will not be permitted aboard, all in the name of fast operations.  Now we’re climbing the final ramp into the station.  It’s located right by where the trains emerge from the station to begin the climb up the lift nestled against the mountain.  Now I gotta talk about these ride vehicles because they look so cool.  Each one consists of two rows of four mounted far enough apart that they can rotate.  They don’t spin freely, but are controlled to specifically point you in the desired direction throughout the ride.  They have the orange eyes of Dragnor on the front, and the deep blue eyes of Astradir on the back, both looking fierce.

At the top of the ramp, I entered the station after about an hour in line.  I’m handed a pair of 3-D glasses and assigned to a spot painted on the floor.  Another minute later, and I’m on the load platform.  It’s almost a dead ringer for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal.  The ride vehicles are sideways, so you step onto a conveyor that moves with the cars.  There are rockwork arches overhead, cobblestone walls, wooden windows, gas lamps for lighting, and an epic soundtrack sets the tone.  In case you forgot, we’re at a family-owned amusement park in Utah.  It’s beyond impressive.

As we glided out, I got familiar with the weapon I’d be using on this mission.  Lagoon contracted Triotech, a leading producer of screen-based dark rides to produce the battle scenes on Primordial.  The custom vehicles were built by A.R.T. Engineering, and the track built by Intermountain Lift.  I knew going in that this coaster has tricks for its grand finale.  Supposedly there are 8 different ending scenarios.  How crazy is that?

As we leave the station, the track turns around 180 degrees to the right, and the cars fluidly rotate to face us straight ahead as we engage the lift.  We’re locked and loaded now, and it’s time to find out what Primordial is all about.

We climb up 83 feet, getting up close and personal with that waterfall on the right.  This mountain is massive, but it’s dwarfed by the Wasatch peaks beyond it.  A few trees poke up from the rocks, and there’s even a bald eagle’s nest.  We continue upward, and the detail on the top of this mountain that’s only visible for a few seconds from the lift hill is amazing.

We crest the top and begin that outdoor figure-8 descent disappearing into the darkness.  There’s fog, flashing lights, and we enter the first battle scene.  I start frantically shooting at all the bad looking things.  They’re all spiders, and creepy crawlers.  The cool thing is that each player’s blasts show on screen as a color so you can see what you’re shooting and when you get a hit.  It’s very well done.

You exit the first room, and rotate to backwards, drop down into an S curve, before spinning back to sideways for the next shooting scene.  We exit that one, again going backwards, and enter the final battle.  The dragon is released, and he flies around the room before the train drops steeply backwards.  Seriously?  What was that?  Is this now the third, fourth, maybe fifth time I’ve experienced a completely unique sensation on a roller coaster at Lagoon today?  It was a stellar surprise.  Spoiler alert, you could get either a drop track, a forwards slide track, or the backwards slide track that I got.  Different on-screen effects add to the number of combinations, as well as adding to re-rideability.

As we made our way back to the station, we were thanked for our service, and got to see our scores.  I got second place in my car, and not by much, which surprised me because I’ve never been good at video games.  I left Primordial with a huge smile on my face.  What an incredibly immersive experience!  It’s so well executed between the storytelling, the interactivity, animatronics, ride vehicles, physical buildings and rock work.  And that ending?  What a blast!  It’s not high thrill, but you’d be hard pressed to find an attraction that beats Primordial on pure fun.  I’d compare my elation on the exit ramp with my first ride on Hagrid’s at Islands of Adventure.  It’s that good. 

I can’t help but commend Lagoon for undertaking this project and executing it so well.  They didn’t have to go to this level, but I’m so glad they did.  It’s been under construction since 2018, and after COVID delays, Lagoon announced that Primordial would open in 2023, and it did.  Barely.  It opened to the public on September 15, with just six weeks left in the season.  Are you listening Six Flags? Lagoon took the time to get the ride right, and when it was ready they opened it, even if only for a few weeks.  Well played.               

Having ridden everything I wanted to at least once, it was now time for re-rides.  I grabbed another ride on Cannibal in the same seat as my first, then hopped on the skyride to the other end of the park.  This is a must-do for the views.  You glide just above the trees along the main midway providing amazing views of the rides below and the flanking mountain peaks.  As I touched down opposite Colossus, the park had gotten noticeably busier, as no doubt people were flooding in late in the day to stay for Frightmares.  I wanted to ride Wicked again, and as I approached,  I found the line extended onto the midway.  

This is a quirk of Lagoon, in that they don’t build lengthy queues for their rides because management thinks having lines on the midway builds energy in the park.  Knowing this, I waited about 15 minutes, then jumped in the single rider line to be on the next train out.  As I hoped, I got a back row ride this time, and I thought the airtime over the tower was slightly better.  

I learned that schools were closed on this day for some reason, and Lagoon relies on high school students for staffing.  You can work as a ride op here as young as 16, and I certainly saw evidence of that during my day.  Given that fact, I have to give their operations team kudos for training because these young kids absolutely hustle trains out while guaranteeing safety.

Next, I headed back to the white Roller Coaster for a back row ride, and I was pleasantly surprised.  There was way more airtime back there.  If you only have time to ride this once, definitely head for the back.

Then, as the sun set and temperatures dropped, I returned to Cannibal to finish my day.  The line was still shockingly short, and rode three more times.  First was in the middle row which was fine, then I got the front left wing.  I concluded my day in the back left wing, and while I really coveted this back row ride, I thought the front wing was the best.  There’s a brake at the top of the first drop to slightly slow the train over the crest which prevents the back row from being whipped as it would on a B&M dive.  This resulted in the back row actually feeling slower than the front.  Combine the better views with the hang over the drop, and Cannibal is a front row ride all day long.          

I made my way towards the exit as the place was getting pretty jammed.  I’m not a big haunt guy, and I’d gotten more than my fill of roller coasters for the day.  I paused in the main gift shop on my way out and got a Lagoon T-shirt, as this was certainly a park I wanted to remember.  It was exactly as advertised by fellow enthusiasts, and while expensive, I found Lagoon’s mix of independently-owned quirkiness and unique attractions to be fully worth the steep price of admission.  Cannibal and Primordial are worth a trip here alone.  The atmosphere is nostalgic perfection.  I didn’t get to ride any of their classic flat rides or dark rides, but the collection probably gives Knoebels a run for its money.  And the food in the Biergarten was amazing.  I also love the names of the roller coasters here.  Wicked, Colossus: the Fire Dragon, Primordial, Cannibal, heck the kiddie coaster is called Puff: the Little Fire Dragon.  At the end of the day, Lagoon oozes charm, prioritizes quality, crushes operations, and takes pride in its history while continuing to innovate.  That’s a recipe for success.

2025 will see the addition of three new flat rides, and a gorgeous looking retail and dining complex known as the District.  As for the next roller coaster, that’s anybody’s guess, but given the success of Cannibal and Primordial, I think we have a lot to look forward to.  If I was in charge, I think the main gap in the line-up is a strong airtime-driven coaster.  I’d love to see what the park’s team could do combined with A.R.T. Engineering to build a mini-hyper.  Maybe say 150 feet tall focused on steep drops and airtime hills?  A modern wood coaster from GCI or the Gravity Group would also be an awesome fit.  But would Lagoon work with an outside manufacturer, or go it themselves?  They know how to maintain the white Roller Coaster, so I don’t think a ground up woodie is too far fetched.  Other parks have done it successfully.

I returned to my hotel and posted my Cannibal reel to Instagram.  Then alas, in early evening, the skies opened up as forecasted and an all-out deluge ensued, and I’m sure the park was forced to close for the remainder of the evening.  I was elated to have gotten a full day in.  I went to bed in preparation for the travel day to come.  Tomorrow, I’d hop a flight to San Francisco and drive southbound in preparation for my next park.

Join me for the next episode for my first, and possibly last visit to a park whose days are numbered.  I’ll be riding Rail Blazer, Gold Striker, Flight Deck and more at California’s Great America.  That’s next time on Coaster Redux.