Lagoon Amusement Park
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- This article is about the amusement park in Utah. For other uses of lagoon, please see Lagoon (disambiguation).
Lagoon is an amusement park in Farmington, Utah, located about seventeen miles (27 km) north of Salt Lake City. It is the largest amusement park between Kansas City and San Francisco. It also is one of few parks today that is still family owned. It has seven roller coasters, two of which are unique; one of these being "Colossus: the Fire Dragon," which is one of only two remaining Schwartzkopf Double Looping coasters still in operation ("Laser" at Dorney Park is the other), and is the longest existing model. The other is the park's newest coaster, "The Bat", a Vekoma junior suspended coaster that opened in 2005.
Lagoon is divided into five main areas: The Midway, containing a majority of the rides, an assortment of carnival type games and food outlets, a Pioneer Village which has several exhibits displaying pioneer buildings and artifacts, Lagoon-A-Beach, a water park which is included in the regular admission price, Kiddie Land with several rides for small children, and the X-Venture Zone featuring more extreme rides that cost extra. Lagoon also offers a full-service RV park, a campground, and a shady walking trail outside the park that stays open all year.
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[edit] History
In 1886, The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad built a resort on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It was called Lake Park, and was one of several resorts that popped up along the vast beaches of the lake throughout the late 1800s. Through the years, the lake level receded drastically until Lake Park was far from the lake and it closed by the end of the 1895 season.
Simon A. Bamberger, who was building his Salt Lake & Ogden Railroad line from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Utah, was vice president of Lake Park and 25% owner. To increase passenger traffic on his line he bought most of the original Lake Park buildings from the D&RGW and moved them about 3 miles (5 km) west near Farmington, Utah. This gave the residents of Salt Lake City (and later, Ogden) a reason to travel over the "Bamberger." The resort was named Lagoon for the small body of water located on the original forty acres (162,000 m²). The original lagoon was used to harvest ice in winter; Bamberger had it englarged to nine acres by clearing some swampland.
Lagoon opened in Farmington, Utah on July 12, 1896, and included "Bowling, Elegant Dancing Pavilion, Fine Music, A Shady Bowery and Good Restaurants." In 1899, Shoot-The-Chutes, the park's first thrill ride, was added. In 1900 guests began row boating and swimming in Lagoon Lake. Over time more rides were added, such as the authentic Herschell-Spillman Carousel and Cagney 12-inch-gauge Miniature Railroad.
One of the most popular rides today was installed in 1921. This is Lagoon's famous wooden roller coaster, designed by John Miller of Coney Island fame. Miller gave Lagoon's coaster plenty of dips and turns. It's hightest height is sixty feet, and the length of track is two thousand five hundred feet. The ride lasts just under two minutes and the coaster train reaches speeds up to forty-five M.P.H..
In 1927 a 1.5 million U.S. gallon (4,000 m³) swimming pool with "water fit to drink" was built north of Lagoon Lake. It was one of the first filtered swimming pools in the west, and was a cleaner alternative than swimming in the briney Great Salt Lake.
The 1920s and 1930s were popular years at Lagoon. There was betting and horse racing there in the 1920s, but the Utah State Legislature put a stop to that only a few years after it began. The first Fun House was built in 1929, along with many other midway shows, rides, and games. During the "Big Band" era Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Glen Miller played Lagoon's stage.
The park closed for three seasons during World War II. By 1946 the park was in bad condition and the Bamberger family considered razing it. However, Ranch S. Kimball and Robert E. Freed, seeing an excellent opportunity, convinced the family to leased the park to their newly-formed Utah Amusement Corporation. Ranch Kimball served as President with Bob Freed serving as Secretary and Assistant Manager. (The Freed Family's Lagoon Corporation bought the resort outright from the Bamberger family in 1983.)
There were many improvements made by the Freeds, including the installation of new dressing rooms and a general overhaul of the pool in 1949, a rebuilt funhouse and the introduction of the "Dodgem Cars" and the "Lakeshore Express" miniature diesel train in 1951, and a new ferris wheel in 1953.
In November 1953 a fire destroyed much of the park, including the fun house, dance pavillion and the front portion of the roller coaster. It was quickly rebuilt to open for the next season and began to surpass the popularity of its main rival, Saltair. Many rides were restored, rebuilt, or replaced, and a few new rides were added. In 1956, Mother Gooseland, Lagoon's first themed area, was opened. It featured rides only for children, was added between the Midway and the swimming pool.
From the mid 1950s into the 1960s Lagoon made may improvements. A brand-new fun house was built, and a showboat was added to the lake. There was also a mini-car ride added in 1960, followed by the "Space Scrambler," spook house, I.Q. Zoo, and shooting gallery in 1961. The first Wild Mouse ride came in 1965. On the Midway, groups like the Beach Boys, the Kingston Trio and Johnny Cash drew the crowds to the bandstand.
The Beach Boys made mention of the park in their song titled "Salt Lake City" on their 1965 Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) album.
The Animaland Train was put in around the I.Q. Zoo in 1967, and authentic Crown-built 4-4-0 steam locomotives were put into operation around the lake in 1975 and the name was changed to the Wild Kingdom Train.
The turn-of-the-century style Opera House Square opened in 1968 and showcased melodramas and musicals. In 1976 Lagoon expanded east by purchasing Pioneer Village, an old west town complete with several historic structures that had been collected and exhibited in Salt Lake City since 1953. The buildings were moved to Lagoon and the Pioneer Village Railroad ("Old Ironsides," a 24-inch-gauge Crown 4-4-0) circled the town. There was also the "Lagoon Miniature Railroad," which looped around the residential area of Pioneer Village using the original miniature steam locomotive acquired in the early 1900s. A log flume ride was brought in from the defunct Pixieland park in Oregon.
One of the most popular rides at Lagoon even today came in in 1976. This is the "Jet Star II" roller Coaster, newly painted for the 2005 season.
The famous swimming pool closed after its fifth decade in 1987. This made way for the $5.5 million Lagoon-A-Beach which was completed in 1989. Its construction spelled the end of the small-scale railroad operations in Pioneer Village, as some of the supports stood in the way of the track.
In the mid-1990s, the Sky Coaster towered over the North Midway and marked the beginning of what would become the X-Venture Zone. Later the Top Eliminator Dragsters, Peak Exposure, Double Thunder Raceway, and The Catapult would all become part of the X-Venture Zone (named in 2000). In 2004, Kiddieland (formerly Mother Gooseland) was redecorated and two new rides were added.
Scores of activities have been available to the Lagoon guest. Since 1896, "Lagoon has offered hot-air balloon rides, boxing and wrestling matches, great names in entertainment, horse racing and pari-mutuel betting, roller-skating, baseball games, dancing, swimming, bicycle racing, a zoo, motion pictures, live theater, blackface minstrel shows, rodeos, a midway, rowboating, marching bands, wild West shows, fireworks, and mechanical rides."
A new roller coaster is slated to be built west of the Colossus for the 2007 season.
[edit] Trivia
A scene from the Disney Channel Original Movie "The Luck of the Irish" was filmed at Lagoon.
[edit] Existing Roller Coasters
Lagoon features seven different roller coaster experiences that date from 1921-2005
[edit] Major
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Design | Year Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colossus: the Fire Dragon | Schwarzkopf | Steel | Sitdown | 1984 |
| Roller Coaster, Official Name: "Screaming Thunder", Locally called: "The White Coaster" or "Old Woodie" | -- | Wooden | Sitdown | 1921 |
| Spider | Maurer Söhne | Steel | Sitdown | 2003 |
| Unnamed | Zierer | Steel | Sitdown | 2007 |
[edit] Minor
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Design | Year Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bat | Vekoma | Steel | Inverted | 2005 |
| Jet Star II | Schwarzkopf | Steel | Sitdown | 1976 |
| Puff: the Little Fire Dragon | Zierer | Steel | Sitdown | 1985 |
| Wild Mouse | Maurer Söhne | Steel | Sitdown | 1998 |
