Did you know:
That "Crazy Mouse" opened at Dinosaur Beach in NJ, in June of 1997?
That "Exterminator" opened at Kennywood in April of 1999?
That "Crazy Mouse" opened at Myrtle Beach Grand Prix in June of 1999?
That the 2 "Primeval Whirls" opened at Animal Kingdom in March of 2002?
That "Spider" didn't open until April of 2003?
Oh. LOL, I guess I know why people don't trust wikipedia, now!
You are somewhat correct, as The Spider was the first Maurer-Sohne spinning coaster built in North America.
Did you know - Lagoon's Wicked originally had a height requirement of 46", which was changed to 50" since anyone under 50" needed a seat insert. As of the 2008 season, the requirement has once again become 46".
- Lagoon's Wicked has a new 20,000 lb (?) flywheel generator system for 2008. Using this, the ride can run under it's own power for 3 hours after the ride has been run for a few hours in the morning. This cuts Wicked's energy use by around 70%.
- Lagoon's Fire Dragon, an original Schwarzkopf Double Looping coaster (with additional trackway curve), is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year, and is so far sporting a newly painted red train, and a brand new PLC safety system which replaced the previous relay system.
- Lagoon's OdySea, new for 2008, is a Zierer Flying Fish that is nearly identical to Nautilus at Tivoli Gardens (?) and One Fish, Two Fish at Islands of Adventure.
- Lagoon's Flying Aces is an original Bisch-Rocco Flying Skooters 10 tub model, which is the only model to operate clockwise. The ride also has a very strict no snapping policy that is not posted, but yelled to you by supervisors.
- The Spider at Lagoon was closed shortly after opening on it's first day, as there was an error in selecting the wheel material which caused the wheels on a car to practically disintegrate during the ride.
- Lagoon's Mack Musik Express supposedly is still run backwards, but only for maintenance checks.
- What you see in Lagoon's Pioneer Village is only a small collection of authentic antiques that Lagoon owns.
- Lagoon's Log Flume was originally located at Pixieland. One of Lagoon's Crown Metals Steam Locomotives was also relocated to Lagoon from Pixieland.
- Lagoon's Roller Coaster (aka "The White Roller Coaster") had skid brakes at one point in the ride's history.
- Lagoon's Top Eliminator Dragsters was the first of it's kind built, but second to open to the public.
- Lagoon's Skycoaster gets new flight suits every 5 years.
More to come soon!