Look at this roller coaster. It’s tall, fast, and extremely steep. Cannibal at Lagoon amusement park
opened back in 2015 and has been considered one of the world’s top roller coasters ever since.
The park knew its ride would be a hit, claiming it to be a roller coaster that “eats other roller
coasters”. You could call it the apex predator of roller coasters. Wait, no, that tagline is already
taken by a certain Velociraptor-themed roller coaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
How do you produce a roller coaster that beats, or even eats, others? Well,
Lagoon hoped introducing recording-breaking a d world-first elements would do the trick.
Cannibal opened as the steepest roller coaster in North America,
featuring an extraordinary 116-degree drop. This would be scary alone, but Lagoon didn’t
think that was enough. They placed that drop 208ft 63m above the ground, sure to terrify you before
you even board. Cannibal also became the world’s first ride to feature a lagoon roll - a type of
inversion which rolls you one way, suspends you on your side, and then rolls you the other way,
all while floating above a huge waterfall. Yeah, this roller coaster is not for the faint of heart.
The thing is, these aren’t the most impressive or unique aspects of the ride. Cannibal is not your
average roller coaster. You won’t find anything similar at your local theme park anytime soon.
Well, unless you live next to Lagoon amusement park, then you’ll find this exact ride, obviously.
So, what is it that makes Cannibal so special? Well, it all has to do with the park itself…
Lagoon amusement park opened on the 15th July 1886. Except, it wasn’t an amusement park,
nor was it called Lagoon. Lake Park Bathing Resort opened on the 15th July 1886 - featuring a broad
selection of leisure activities. The resort was located on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in
Utah, USA. Visitors could go roller-skating, enjoy water sports, practise their target shooting,
or even experience a mule-powered merry-go-round - all in the vicinity of the largest saltwater lake
in the Western Hemisphere. Who wouldn’t want that? Initially, the resort was successful. See people
did want that! However, in the years following the water level of the Great Salt Lake began to fall.
The edge of the lake started to recede, and with it, the popularity of the resort itself. By 1895,
after less than a decade, Lake Park Bathing Resort had closed its doors for good.
Fortunately, the idea of having an amusement park in Utah didn’t die there. Railroad tycoon
Simon Bamberger, Vice President and part owner of the former Lake Park, was determined to keep
it alive in some manner. He purchased seven acres of land just outside Farmington, Utah,
and relocated most of the original Lake Park buildings. The new park sat along
the banks of a nine-acre lagoon, which inspired a rebrand. Lagoon amusement park,
ah I see what they did there, opened in 1896, right at the end of the Bamberger
Railway commuter line connecting to Salt Lake City. The new park was going swimmingly,
so swimmingly it was time for a new attraction. In 1899, Lagoon debuted its first thrill ride,
Shoot-the-Chutes, a classic boat ride which saw guests slide down a ramp into the water below.
Unfortunately, in 1917, Simon Bamberger gave up his position at the park to become
Governor of Utah - probably an upgrade there. Nevertheless, Lagoon continued to develop. A.C.
Christensen took control of the park and set about adding a new attraction. After riding a
John Miller-designed roller coaster at Kennywood, he knew he needed one for his park. Lagoon set
about constructing Lagoon Dipper in 1921, known now as Roller Coaster, which has since become the
oldest operating roller coaster at the park. In the following years, Lagoon traded hands. In 1928,
Simon Bamberger’s son Julian took over the park - which hung on during the Great Depression of the
1930s. However, by 1942 it was forced to close due to World War 2. Then, four years later,
the park reopened under a partnership between the Freed brothers and the Bamberger family.
After this, Lagoon grew! From restoring it from a devastating fire in 1953,
to eliminating laws in the area banning people of different races from the park, the Freed brothers
paved a new future for Lagoon. By 1976 it was time to install its first steel roller coaster,
Jet Star 2, a Schwarzkopf Jet Star. This was followed by even more investment during
the following decades. Colossus the Fire Dragon, a double-looping Schwarzkopf roller
coaster opened in 1983, while Wicked, a launch coaster, opened in 2007. Throughout this time,
Lagoon didn’t just focus on thrill rides, but also on smaller family additions too.
During the development of Wicked, the parks engineering team worked closely with Zierer,
the roller coaster manufacturer, to develop the ride. Lagoon’s engineering team was headed by
Dal Freeman, a former employee at the iconic former roller coaster firm, Arrow Dynamics.
Wicked was a big success, leading park executives
to quickly think about their next big addition - a new family coaster.
The best way to build a good roller coaster is to ride other roller coasters and buy
similar-style rides. So, park officials rode various family roller coasters
across the United States, looking for the perfect addition. But,
they all weren’t quite right. Lagoon President David Freed, second generation family owner,
found technology to be dated. None of the existing rides matched Lagoon’s specific requirements.
If everything available to you isn’t quite right, what do you do? You do it yourself.
So, engineer Dal Freeman suggested to park president David Freed that they can build
their own family coaster instead. It’s not rocket science after all - just DIY it.
A theme park building its own roller coaster might not sound out of the ordinary,
but it really is. Traditionally, if a theme park wants to build a new roller coaster, they’ll ask
various companies that build roller coasters to come up with some rough ideas. These roller
coaster manufacturing companies will produce designs based on their existing portfolio of rides
and pitch them to the theme park. Eventually, the theme park picks a ride and asks that company to
construct it for them. Other than choosing the colour and location of the new roller coaster,
a theme park might have very little input towards the ride’s actual design. This isn’t
always the case, however. Larger companies, such Disney and Universal, often work closely
with roller coaster manufacturers to fine-tune the ride for their specific theme park needs.
With this in mind, for Lagoon, a smaller regional amusement park, to design its
own roller coaster from scratch is quite rare. Constructing rides in-house is not often done
in the amusement industry. Nevertheless, they got to work. Lagoon reached out to amusement
engineering firm ART Engineering to collaborate on the new ride. Construction began in 2010,
and on the 2nd April 2011 Bombora, the park’s new family ride, opened to guests. The majority
of the roller coaster was manufactured in Utah with only the trains being developed
in Germany. It also features onboard audio, in which surfer-style music plays during the ride.
Lagoon president David Freed quickly realised that if they could successfully build their
own family coaster, what’s stopping them from building their own thrill
coaster next? You’re just constructing a bigger version of the same thing, right?
Well, the park quickly got to work, again. An area for the new mega coaster, as they were calling it,
had already been determined. As had the ride’s designers and fabricators. Lagoon
chose to continue its relationship with ART Engineering and reached out to local
manufacturer Intermountain Lift to fabricate the roller coaster’s track. Originally, the Lagoon
anticipated the ride would be ready for the 2014 season, but, there were a few challenges. It
turns out building your own roller coaster from scratch is not easy - who would have thought?
First, the project had to stretch over an extended period of time to allow the park to
manage its finances better. Secondly, it took 14 months to successfully secure a small loan
for the ride of $22 million USD. Fortunately, Lagoon got the funding it needed and received
permission to build a new roller coaster over 150ft, 46 meters, high. Throughout all of this,
the project was kept a secret. All locals and parkgoers could see was a huge tower being built.
Was it a tower, or was it a ride? No one really knew at the time and Lagoon declined to answer.
Secretly, the park had big intentions. They planned to put as much effort into the theme
and area of the ride, as the roller coaster itself. Lagoon knew they wanted an exotic theme,
which incorporates some large rockwork elements and a 60ft 18m tall waterfall somewhere within
the ride area. To achieve this, the park pulled inspiration from a range of sources. One of these
was Freed’s trip to Cambodia where he visited the 12th century temple complex Angkor and the
jungle temple Angkor Thom. He wished to capture a similar atmosphere to those locations for his
new attraction. Part of this included building a temple-like structure within the centre of the
ride area. Lagoon also purchased three concrete lions from Ebay, because why not? These lions,
which had originally stood outside the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City,
were restored and placed throughout the attraction. Finally, the ride would be finished
with thousands of trees and shrubs planted in the vicinity, to further the exotic feel.
With the scale and theme of the roller coaster planned, Lagoon just needed a name. Simple. They
wanted to ensure the name wasn’t relevant to a particular place or group of people,
but reflected the range of inspirations used for the ride itself. So, what do you call a
monster of a roller coaster? Cannibal - because and I quote Lagoon’s director of
special events here “it will eat other roller coasters”. I mean, sure, makes sense to me.
On the 4th September 2014, Lagoon amusement park announced Cannibal to the public. They
revealed their plans for the ride - including the huge tower structure,
encasing the attraction's massive 208ft 63m ascent. Then, 10 months later,
on the 2nd of July 2015 Cannibal finally opened to guests. Six years of ride development and a
total investment of 26 million USD later, Lagoon’s project was out in the open.
The initial reception? Absolutely fantastic. Guests loved the ride - it was a unique and
thrilling addition to the park. Cannibal quickly became Lagoon's flagship ride,
helping to instantly attract new visitors to the park. But why? What makes this ride
so special? Well, let's imagine you’re there, staring up at Cannibal’s colossal tower. You
decide you’re brave to ride and make your way through the queue. After hopefully a short wait,
you enter the station. There you’re met with an intimidating mural, but it’s too late to back out
now. You board one of the roller coaster’s vehicles, each of which seats 12 riders,
in 3 rows of four. The lap bar restraint comes down and the experience begins.
You roll forwards into the temple, witnessing various artefacts as you go. In total darkness,
the train comes to a stop. Then, you start rising? That’s right, I forgot to mention,
Cannibal doesn’t feature a conventional lift hill, but an elevator lift instead. The ride
vehicles climb vertically through the tower, quickly gaining height,
on the world’s tallest elevator lift hill. At the top, the real experience begins. You slowly
move forwards into the daylight and pause 208ft 63m high into the air. Ahead you see no track,
just miles and miles of ground. The train then creeps forwards, falling further and further,
until it reaches the incredible angle of 116 degrees. Seconds later, you’re at the bottom
of the drop, travelling 70mph, 113kmh whilst flying through the temple structure via a tunnel
20ft 6m below the ground. But there’s no time to think. You’ve now already passed through part of
Cannibal’s first inversion, it’s 140ft 43m tall Immelmann loop. This is quickly followed by the
second inversion, a dive loop over another part of the ride’s track. You then enter a small drop,
pass next to the huge rockwork structure, and enter a cutback element. Okay, time to breathe.
You slow down and begin to enter the ride’s one-of-a-kind element, its Lagoon roll. You roll
270 degrees to the left, hanging briefly above the ride’s towering waterfall, before rolling another
270 degrees back in the opposite direction. The ride then comes to an end with a series
of helices through the rockwork structure, taking the trains back to the final brake run. Throughout
your experience, you’ve travelled 2735ft 834m of track. Most of this takes place within the 50
seconds of actual ride time, measured from the top of the lift hill, to the final brakes.
8 years on and Cannibal continues to pack a punch. It no longer holds the record for North America’s
steepest roller coaster, a title taken by the world’s steepest roller coaster, TMNT Shellraiser
at Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park. Despite this, its impressive scale, unique elevator lift,
and exotic theme ensure Cannibal remains one of the best roller coasters in the United States.
Lagoon’s story doesn’t end there either. Shortly after Cannibal became a resounding success,
the park set to work on its next big thing. In strict secrecy, a sizeable mountain structure
began to appear. Within it, a brand new roller coaster. During late 2022, Lagoon finally began to
acknowledge its development, stating Primordial, a one-of-a-kind interactive roller coaster,
will open sometime in 2023. Much like Lagoon’s previous additions, the ride
is being built in-house, by the park itself, on a plot of land 30% larger than Cannibal’s.
Lagoon’s decision to build Bombora, their own family roller coaster,
was a bold move. Producing a roller coaster in-house is no easy task. Ultimately,
it paid off. Bombora paved the way for the development, construction and debut of Cannibal,
a resounding success of a roller coaster, only made possible by the park’s talented team. As
Lagoon continues to find ways to entice new guests to the park, who knows what unique and incredible
attractions they’ll build in the future. Thank you for watching, and we’ll see you all next time.