RCF

I really don't get this statement though. . . What makes you think that this launch won't be reliable?? (Aside from the height as you mentioned.) I really don't see how height alone is going to cause the launch to be unreliable. . . And what makes you think this coaster is going to have frequent roll backs?? Aside from the height, and hope?? My best guess would be that it's a vertical launch. Only one other coaster does that, (Wicked at Lagoon,) and even then it launches horizontally first before going up the launch on the tower. Unless I'm mistaken that there is another vertical launch coaster out there.

Definite fanboy here, but I say the last half of Wicked should be refurbished. It's just boring and rough at this point, even with the new wheel bogies added this year. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Actually the 70% is how much of Cannibal was made in the U.S, with 30% outside of the U.S. The trains were actually built by ART Engineering, and I don't think these are the same vehicle designs.

Why does everyone think right as soon as an announcement of Cedar Fair expanding certain parks means it's going to happen immediately? Major investments don't just happen, they take years to plan out. WOF is just getting a flat ride package of rides that are already purchased. Why not put them in as soon as possible? I'm sure we will see Valleyfair's new coaster in the coming five years, give or take. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

I know this seems out of left field for a rumor, but could this possibly be Cedar Fair's first RMC coaster? They at least do three coasters a year, and not many Six Flags parks seem to be jumping for them in the next season, as well as any other park in the U.S, even if it is still extremely early in the season. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Because three other CF parks have Gigas so it's the "trend" and "this park is bound to get another coaster now because dirt has been moved."

Thunderhawk says hi! I would agree, but I believe the big coaster will be coming in at least three or four more years. If you take what they said a few years ago about the three parks to put in capitol investments, Valleyfair would be next once CGA has their fun. Carowinds got Fury 325, major waterpark expansions, and next year a collection of great flat rides. They just announced how they have a major plan for CGA which would take a few years to accomplish with their own water park expansion and whatever else they will get. Valleyfair already got an amazing overhaul of their waterpark, so it might be another few years, but I see them getting a collection of flats in 2018 while CGA gets whatever they get in the next two years, and by that point some kind of major coaster be right around the corner for either park, whoever "claims" it first. I see the only reason many of the paramount parks get the big coasters lately is because of the purchase that was only about ten years ago. CF knew they couldn't let them sit while they looked at their other parks that they have branded for themselves so well at the time. When you make a purchase of five amusement parks, you will expect to put in major additions to show you knew what you were doing and the huge rise in profits spoke for itself to create well rounded parks. At this point, the only park that hasn't been looked at seriously is CGA, with KD getting I305, Carowinds get Intimidator and Fury, CW get Behemoth and Leviathan, and King's Island getting Diamondback and Banshee. After that, I see them looking back at their older parks starting with Valleyfair. Then go towards WOF, Dorney, and (in another 20 years once they go back to the paramount parks, Knott's, and Cedar Point,) MA. The only reason I wouldn't see this happen is if CF bought another park from somewhere. Basically, the PP's got "borrowed" money to create the parks they had the potential to be, and now the rest of the chain I feel will be following suit to get with the times, besides MA. They will get Knott's boomerang before that happens. Wait, was CGA a paramount park or was it under CF before that?

That's somewhat of a mute point when you would have to change back and forth with just a water park and to the car in the first place.

I never meant for it to come out that it isn't safe, I meant to express to add new trains to accommodate smaller riders. Also, I have noticed that the lines are getting smaller for the ride, and the dual loading station isn't used all the time anymore. Might have been great for ten years, and might last for another ten, but it's days are numbered on how much longer it will be around. I am aware how Musik Express looks as well. I wish they would do something in landscaping at least to make these look better, as well as new fences and ground. I would love to see walkways like for Jumping Dragon, Tipsey Tea Cups, Bulgy the Whale, and Red Rock Rally to be made around Space Scrambler, Tilt a Whirl, Sky Coaster, Boomerang, and Sky Ride. That would be plenty for that area that is definitely dated with the wooden benches attached to the trees. New signs, queue, and updated landscaping just there would be awesome. I know TOTC just got a new queue entrance, but no new sign or landscaping. Instead that money went to new wheel bogies for Wicked which I feel didn't need them yet. Wicked is only going to be ten years old next year. Spider is 13/14 with multiple maitenence issues that have been a disaster to maintain. All that was done on Spider was great, but I want to see that kind of TLC to go to the entire South Midway, including an update to Corn Dog Corner that doesn't even sell the foot-long corn dogs. I'm not meaning the small walkway between Wild Mouse and Cliffhanger, I mean with Screamer, Musik Express, Rock-O-Plane, Sky Ride, and Fire Dragon. That also would include the large planter that pushes people into the narrow WM/Cliffhanger walkway and separate the tables for Tepanyaki (if that's what it's called.) It's not good for crowd control to the other side that has all of the games and food stands. Even putting the entrance to Wild Mouse behind the ride instead of on the side of the walkway would help with how crowded that one walkway can get. It's always full of people for no reason when the other side is bare with much more room to walk around. Basically, just modernize the look around the older rides, and it would look many times better. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Aggressive doesn't always mean thrilling. Jet Star 2 is definitely a prize for us enthusiasts for being the last operating model in the US, but to the GP it's an older ride that has lost it's luster. Unless they replace the trains for something safer for smaller riders, (and offer odd numbered groups and single riders to ride it without hassle,) I don't see any prime reason to keep it around. I say have Lagoon make their own "water thrill ride." If any park would be willing to pursue it, it would be Lagoon since they made Cannibal on their own successfully, (besides prototype hiccups.) Also looking at the track record, they also built Bombora, rebuilding Roller Coaster, and the countless custom parts for classic flat rides no longer made. I never mentioned Roller Coaster's trains would have to be from PTC again. They could be from Gravity Group or even made by ART Engineering since them and Lagoon have been working together on many projects. At this point, I could see Lagoon become a catalogue with multiple ART rides if the company starts manufacturing their own line of rides. The difference between Samurai and TOTC/Screamer is that Samurai has some thought out landscaping, design, and theming. The others are still stuck in 1986 and could use a facelift at least. Besides, if park models were to be purchased, I wouldn't put it past Lagoon to elevate the rides like with Air Race to keep that esthetic of the respected rides. They could even keep these rides and just take out the metal floors, steps and such to replace with more permanent platforms, if that is plausible to do. I know there's quite a difference between park and trailer models. To anyone reading this thread wondering why people that have Lagoon as their home park type up long essays for a reply about Lagoon, it's because we're secluded and have nothing else. It's just as difficult to get out of Utah as it is coming in. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

I wouldn't say get rid of all the older rides, just modernise. Screamer could be sold back to Huss and get a park model of the new Enterprises they now make. I don't understand why Wild Mouse would be removed because it doesn't have permanent footers. Spider and Fire Dragon don't either, which I think is because of the land not being stable, as well as price and time period. Lagoon still isn't a huge park with tons of money for additions. My idea for these coasters to make them look better is to paint up the floors. Wild Mouse with grass and flowers, or blocks of cheese, Spider with a Web, and Fire Dragon with swirling Flames. Even Jet Star 2 with stars, if it's not going anywhere. All the other rides are extrmely cheap and can be repainted better colors, as well as be relatively cheap to fix and operate, and have cohesive themes with upgraded signs that wouldn't cost so much. Something like what was done with Skyscraper last year can do wonders for all the other rides. Even upgrades of areas just to make the walkways look better like what the new area of Kiddieland looks like. I applaud Lagoon for that area so much and can't wait to see that kind of immersive area reach all around the park. So I don't say get rid of everything, just upgrade the areas and what's around the rides. Jet Star 2 is just a different issue. It's costly to operate and fix, and doesn't offer as a coaster at Lagoon anymore because if the 50" height requirement. That's taller than even Cannibal, when it's not as big and thrilling as many rides at Lagoon with a lower height requirement. By the time the next generation comes around, they will have ridden everything else and once they are able to ride Jet Star, it's gone be matched up to everything else they have already ridden and realize it's not as good, so they will seldom ride it. Same goes for Cliffhanger with the non-inverting operations it has. They can easily replace that for a lower height requirement ride that does the same thing is it does now, and offer the same water ride. Unless they operate the ride to flip more often, it's not worth the major ride it was when it was added. I look into the idea of Lagoon being a family park and all the ride height requirements. It seems to be a huge deal, being that you can ride most of the rides by the time your age five, and not miss much. I did research a bit ago on how many rides Lagoon and other parks have where kids 38" and under can ride, and we have 35 rides and two coasters! It is more than Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain, (besides having four kids coasters.) The only one I would say has more would be Hersheypark with 40 rides, at least in the States. That is outstanding and I believe Lagoon should look into it more. Adding other family rides, (not kiddie rides, mind you,) re-branding new rides, (like replacing Bat's and Roller Coaster's trains for lower height requirements,) and still making the cohesive theme they have been doing for so long. They could reach this more with other rides and replacing some rides where the height requirements don't make sense for the ride, like Jet Star 2 and Cliffhanger.

Mondial has so many issues with their flat ride designs that I wonder how they will do later on as a company, and what it would call for on all of their rides. Granted, Carowinds will be getting a used Top Scan next year, I still don't see how these continuous issues on their rides still warrant them for more installations. Look at their newest creation, Windseeker for example. With Jet Star 2's minimum ride height being the highest for any coaster, unpopularity on busy days, still a long wait in short lines, and reputation for being rough still, I think it's safe to say the ride doesn't even play in the right market anymore. Whatever more money goes into Jet Star shouldn't, and be saved for it's replacement. Or better, move Wild Mouse there and use Wild Mouse's spot for a new addition/s. I understand the historical significance of Jet Star 2, but at this point it seems like it's used up all it could during it's lifetime. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Man, if you think Samurai is awesome now, you should have seen it when it was new. Unfortunately, Lagoon has had to neuter it for maintenance reasons, especially after the gear box failure of 2007. Back in July of 2000, I was one of the first riders on the first public ride cycle, and it was everything I dreamed a Top Scan would be like. Cycle 6, programmed by one of the Rides Managers, was off the hook. Today, as far as I'm aware, Samurai only uses 1 very weak ride cycle, and I haven't even bothered to ride it in several years, since there's no where near the amount of flipping there once was. I'll be taking more pics around the park on Saturday, when LagoonisFun.com has it's next Potluck. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk Don't be scared to not ride it because of Sid. I have managed to still get some pretty extreme twists out of the ride. It still is a great ride either way. I wonder why both Mondial's in the park had to be dumbed down so much. I know the stories and the reasons, it just seems like they turned into worse investments in the end. Especially since Cliffhanger NEVER flips anymore and is just an extravagant, wet ferris wheel with an extreme ride height.

Honestly, I'm glad their still using Gwazi's wood instead of scrapping it. Great use of good wood.

Loved this trip report, and honestly brought up my issues with Lagoon I wish they would look at. It would help this place get rid of it's reputation with locals. I'm here to help explain some of issues you found with Lagoon for some insight. Lagoon's locker policies. The 75 cent lockers are the ones by Wicked, correct? I don't recall any other lockers costing anything besides the all-day rent lockers and the free lockers put everywhere. Basically, the lockers at Wicked were installed for the ride when they started dabbling into installing lockers everywhere for a place to secure loose items for the policy they have. A lot of stuff was being left at ride entrances at this point then stolen by others. Anyway, Lagoon noticed Wicked's lockers were not a good idea, and never required people to put them in there even though that was the initial plan. Now, you get the current issue of Wicked being stopped constantly for a loose article run. After that, they went with a company that made all of the free lockers you find everywhere, but the company went out of business. That explains why they don't work as well anymore. Why not change Wicked's lockers? I'll get to that later. EDIT: Have to love the filter! The hand stamps being checked are for the issue of people getting into Lagoon without paying. Near the many picnic terraces Lagoon has, there's a section that doesn't exactly have a fence as to where Lagoon's boundaries are because there's a parking lot there that I think is used for the karts staff drive around. Some people found this spot and started entering the park for free, so they check for hand stamps to make sure the people riding are people who paid to get into the park. They used to be to checked to see if someone bought individual tickets or not, but they stopped selling the tickets, or so I thought. I remember one time last year this group of people using individual tickets in the park. I never asked how they got them, but they were a group of special needs people who were being chaperoned by a few caretakers, so I assume they still put up the signs at every ride just for them. That is only a hypothesis as nothing is said anywhere at least publicly that individual tickets can be purchased/used. But they are still around. DISCLAIMER: I did not use 'special needs' to be in a derogatory manner. I used it in the kindest respect to acknowledge who they are. For rides not being specified being closed all day but were, I think Lagoon was having a bad maitenence day. I have never heard of so many issues with rides like how it was that day. Sometimes it just happens, and I assume it has something to do with having been open for only two weekends into the season. Cannibal was still being worked on heavily this off-season as well. Speaking of, Cannibal is one of those projects that I feel was not executed to plan. Is it still a home run for Lagoon? Absolutely, but the delayed opening, continued work on it and surrounding area has been problematic to say the least. Cannibal's name and theme itself was an extensive swing and a miss. In one interview, they said the theme is 'where someone might find a cannibal,' and creates the name. When it was announced, it was named so because 'it would eat other coasters in their tracks,' and thus got it's theme around that peculiar reason. I find naming a ride for a one time use of a tongue-in-cheek line should not have been done, as it's now a confusing name and theme in the long run. I remember hearing at first the ride was going to be named Savage back in 2012, which I think would have been better than Cannibal. I don't get why the lockers for Cannibal are there. They were never needed in the first place with the cubbies, which actually moved from being at the top of the queue ramp to wherever they are now, (I haven't been back to Lagoon yet this season.) Where they were, they required four people to work the system of taking cubbies up and down stairs and to the right people. I guess they now still use the same system where it is. Cannibal's walkway I find to be a mess. Here's how it was supposed to work. The one way rolling gate was for the people waiting for the rest of their group to ride Cannibal. The reason it was one way is so that noone could bypass the gift shop, which is rebranded from the old gift shop that was also used for the old dragsters that took up part of where Cannibal is now. The fence on the other side near the Go Karts was also for the gift shop idea as well as closing off the Go Kart area only for people riding the go karts because it's an upcharge attraction. However, the gift shop didn't open last year, so they opened up part of that fence near the Go Karts so people could get out. For some reason I guess they didn't put back the fence when they opened the gift shop. Maybe it will be by the time this season is done? Either way, I feel the KISS method should have been implemented here instead of a plethora of fences and gates. Most if not all of this coincides with the main issue Lagoon has. With the exception of Rocket and Wicked, they themed and landscaped new rides that have been added since the nineties. All others before that were mostly planted down when Lagoon was much smaller and bought more trailer-mounted rides to place in their park because of the fire in the fifties where they had to build the park back up one ride at a time. Once they did that, they didn't have the funds to build the big rides other parks were putting in at the time, so the cheaper rides were still being bought and plopped down. Since then, they haven't remodeled these areas or rides. They have all stayed virtually untouched since they were put in. Lagoon keeps the idea of classic to an extreme this way. Even the classic food options and stands are dated, only recently allowing cards to be used, however on those handheld card readers that prints your receipts on them. Those are even extremely dated in the first place. Their are many things they still need to replace, but don't. Like the lockers that are now a pain to use, an old gift shop for Cannibal that creates a fenced up walkway, a way for people to easily enter the park without paying, and a water park that hasn't had a new addition since it first opened. Lagoon is a great park that should keep classic rides, games, and food options, as well as adding these new rides and food options, but the problem is they don't know how to refresh what's aged or obsolete. Money is definitely a big factor in all of this, especially now after a $22 million dollar ride. This is where I absolutely love what Hogle Zoo did, however with help. Since the place is so old, they did actually have many of the horribly dated pens that had people back in the nineties in an uproar as bad as how people treat SeaWorld once Blackfish came out. So during that time, they created a huge plan to redo the entire zoo. It started in 1998 with the current entrance and gift shop, and went into phases of themed sections for animals starting with the elephants in either 2003 or 2001, with the latest being the Africa section with the lions and giraffes in 2014. The only things still around from those dark times are all of the primate exhibits, the reptile building, and the closed food restaurant that stands right next to the new one. The thing is Hogle Zoo didn't do this with their own funds. The program called Renew the Zoo was started and helped get grants from the state for all of these projects. I get that zoos are educational so it makes sense they were able to get grants, but the zoo is a profiting business now with over a million guests a year coming through the gates. They don't need the state to pay for their expansions anymore. They are renewed and amazing now. With the roads, just think of Temple Square as the center, and all the numbers grow going away from it. As for the named streets, disregard them unless it's named in your GPS. Do know that outside of the initial valley, the numbers and center points change to their distinct areas. And with the East "number" South, just look at the last direction in the name, (in this case, south.) The first one is more for the people who live here, the second is how far in direction it's from Temple Square or the center point. And yes, Spider was repainted this off-season. It also now freely spins at the first drop instead of at the sharp turn after the first drop. EDIT: This was a lot longer than wanted.

I don't even see a hyper at this place, unless they go for something with a smaller footprint. B&M Dive Coaster, anyone?

I'm going through all my photos of Cannibal from last year to point out all of the new Stabilizing Columns. From memory, Lagoon did a LOT of work welding in new Columns and stuff. It appears they even welded in new connections into the Columns that go through the Waterfalls. I'll try to get a photo of the Trains and the new back panel with the Logo on Saturday, along with more pics. Don't forget the worksite for the new walk-in freezer! It's VERY compelling work.

See the thing is that we've already complained about the name and its spelling a long time ago... we need to find something to complain about. Or just not complain.

Even if this is the last generation, they will be around for at least 30-40 more years, so Blue World will still probably be a good investment to continue the project forward.

This is exactly what amusement parks lately are missing, is rides anyone can enjoy together as a family, instead of rides that are just for kids and rides just for the thrill seekers. You don't see many fun-for-all rides being added anymore, just taken out.

It's a unique name with a back story. That's better than any generic name you can find everywhere at Six Flags.

Do you hear yourself when you talk? You missed the joke...

Good points, though what Six Flags has done with RMC, Sally, and now appears to be doing with S&S begs to differ. I feel all the similar rides have to do with each park being Six Flags. As they are owned by the same corporation, they all most likely trade secrets and have an inner connection with each other concerning new rides. One or two parks will talk about a ride they are putting in, and the others hear about said ride and think they should get one as well since the park would talk about how well they worked with the manufacturer, if it is a good ride. Basically like a group of teenage girls. "Omg, look at this Larson Looper I'm gonna get!" "Why would you get that? Aren't they everywhere?" "But it is SO cheap and is a thrilling ride! Everyone talks about thrill rides these days." "Maybe I should get one too?!" "I'm already asking daddy if I can get one." "At least it's something for the season." "I already ordered one online!" "We are going to be the best parks at the Golden Tickets this year!" Just to clarify, 'daddy' is corporate office.

That is a great idea to see it go to other parks, hopefully the smaller ones too. MA, Dorney, Valleyfair all can benefit from any kind of thrill ride addition.