I’m a little late with writing and posting this, but hopefully you like trip reports here!
Since I have a couple of friends living in the Salt Lake City area, I finally made it out there see them and visit Lagoon for the first time over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, Primordial wasn’t open yet despite my best efforts in going late into the operating season. It was still a great weekend at the park with minimal lines on Sunday. Overall, I was very impressed with how well the park is run. Ops on all rides were really efficient with consistently fast dispatches.
Cannibal (x2) This was the ride I was most excited about, and it was a blast! I rode once just after park opening and once towards the end of my visit (back row both times). The elevator lift and first drop are certainly the highlights of the ride, but I also loved the hang time in the opposing heartline rolls over the water.
Jet Star II (x1) I finally rode a Schwarzkopf Jet Star for the first time, and it’s a great compact coaster. It packs a bigger punch than I expected with some good laterals. The kid in me also likes the old Schwarzkopf spiral lift hills having grown up with Whizzer at Six Flags Great America.
Bat (x1) Not too much to report on this one, but I have always thought Vekoma suspended family coasters are good for broad appeal and this is no exception. It’s a smooth ride that is a great fit for the park.
Rattlesnake Rapids (x1) This one obviously isn’t a roller coaster, but it was a pretty warm day so a splash of cold water felt really nice. I’m always pretty unlucky on rapids rides, so I was drenched for a while after getting off.
Wicked (x1) Like Cannibal, I was excited about riding Wicked as well. The launch was pretty forceful with some solid airtime going off the top hat into the first drop. Unfortunately, the ride really loses a lot of steam after the trims with the second half of the ride really crawling to the final brake run. This one reminds me of Sky Rocket at Kennywood, which I feel has the same problem.
Colossus (x1) Classic Schwarzkopf loopers are always fun, and it was cool to see one at this park alongside Jet Star II. Good positives in the vertical loops and great headchopper moments going through the structure as well.
Spider (x1) This was a fun spinning coaster that is similar to the Gerstlauer spinning coasters. This was my first Mauer spinning coaster, and it’s hard to say which I prefer.
Roller Coaster (x1) Overall a tame ride, but also certainly a historic one (102 years this season!). The station house reminded me of the wooden coasters at Kennywood with the original styling, and the Millennium Flyer trains were interesting given that I’m used to those being on much twistier GCI layouts.
Wild Mouse (x1) This is mostly a standard issue wild mouse with a run drop into a tunnel in the second half of the ride. Not much else to say here, but it was at least refreshing to see 4 cars cycling the layout at once compared to the terrible dispatches I’ve experienced on wild mouse coasters at Cedar Fair parks.
Finally, I ended my visit with a ride on each of the scary dark rides. Pretty good theming in both, and the jump scares got me as well. Afterwards, I left the park mid-afternoon to get some food and drinks outside of the park. I probably will want to go back eventually for Primordial, but for now there are plenty more coasters to ride at other parks.
Was Colossus not open? I absolutely adore Lagoon and went for Cannibal opening season. Gotta say, Wicked was just a little more fun. Maybe it was the crazy fast dispatches and marathon-able nature of it but I think I was at 8 rides by the end of the day. My favorite seat was in the back row, inside.
If/when you go back I strongly suggest utilizing the sky ride to get to the other side of the park. That was my favorite way to pass the time and get to/from the “big kid” rides.
I want to get to this park so bad and you’re just making me want it even more lol… Have you been on Impulse at Knoebels? I’ve always been curious how comparable the two Zierer tower coasters are. I like the new cars on Impulse but I do feel like they’ve created a bad rattle in the time that they’ve been on the ride (and you’ll rarely hear me say anything has a bad rattle).
Glad you enjoyed your visit… Hopefully you’ll get back for Primordial at some point.
It’s definitely worth checking out, and Utah is a gorgeous state for outdoor recreation and some awesome scenic drives too!
Unfortunately, I have not been to Knoebels yet because I’m unlucky with eastern PA. I got rained out on Hersheypark and Knoebels earlier this year and ended up being in Hershey on a day the park was closed years ago. I’m going back in the fall for a redemption visit to Hersheypark that hopefully won’t be 0 for 3. I might try to squeeze Knoebels in, but it would be tight given the operating hours.
I’ve been on both and they are good in different ways. Impulse has a much tighter layout whereas as OP mentioned Wicked really dies off after the midcourse and just sort of meanders back to the station. Wicked’s vertical launch is amazing though and the first drop gives much more intense airtime. Wicked does have a slight rattle at points, but I can’t say I noticed much of a rattle when I rode Impulse either.
PS: Yes you must get out to Lagoon. It is seriously one of the best parks in the country. Best ops I have ever seen by a mile, beautiful grounds and atmosphere, happy employees, and a wonderful varied ride lineup. It’s a perfect version of the traditional amusement park, right up there with Knoebels.
Zierer coasters tend to develop a small rattle that doesn’t really impact the ride (Verbolten has it) but it was honestly this year that Impulse really started feeling extreme - I hadn’t noticed it being bad prior to this year.
Lagoon is a park I really want to get to but it’s also one of the most difficult to justify 😕
Great report, I was there this weekend for the ACE event and I agree with a lot of what you said. It instantly shot to one of my favorite parks just on virtue of the incredible ops alone, and the great ride lineup and atmosphere is a cherry on top. Shame you just missed Primordial, it’s definitely not a top tier ride but it is quite unique and worth checking out once the crowds for it start dying down if you’re ever back.