Lagoon's new Nutcracker ride set to welcome thrill-seekers starting this weekend

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Lagoon's new ride, the Nutcracker, opens to thrill-seekers this Saturday.
• The 100-foot ride swings at nearly 70 mph, offering stunning park views.
• Lagoon officials tout the ride's smoothness and compare it to Sky Coaster.

FARMINGTON — The sounds of a newly engineered swinging amusement park ride and screams of excitement filled the air at Lagoon Thursday afternoon.

Ahead of the park's opening day on Saturday, dozens of people took turns to be among the first to experience Lagoon's newest screamin' swing ride, the Nutcracker.

"It is so intense but so fun," said Lindsey CarrolI, who works at Lagoon, just moments after getting off the ride. "I'm not really big on thrill rides, but this ride is incredible."

Lagoon invited members of its staff, their families, and the media to see and ride the new attraction.

Engineered by S&S Worldwide of North Logan, the Nutcracker stands over 100 feet tall and propels swinging riders at speeds up to nearly 70 mph.

Talia Woodbury, who also works at Lagoon, said after riding the Nutcracker once that it met her expectations.

"From the ground, you see it looks really intimidating — and it is equally as intimidating, but in a good way," she explained. "Like it's fun when you're up there and you get a good view of the park."

For nearly two minutes, riders will feel the excitement and anticipation of gradually swinging higher and higher in the air, eventually reaching nearly 150 feet above the ground.

'It's a thrilling ride, but it is so smooth," said Julie Freed, Lagoon's director of special events.

According to Freed, the Nutcracker matches the height of Lagoon's Sky Coaster and has almost the same speeds as Cannibal.

At the center of the new attraction stands a 50-foot Nutcracker icon, the large figure; named "Hans" was created by 3dxScenic of Cincinnati.

"We're very proud of him, and the best part is from Wild Mouse, you look directly into his eyes, which is so fun," Freed said.

People who spoke with KSL Thursday after one ride — or multiple — on the Nutcracker ranged from those who get a kick out of high-flying thrill rides, to others who had to work up a bit of courage to give it a try.

"I'm not usually a thrill-seeker myself, but I had so much fun on it," said Sora Nelson, of Riverdale. "It definitely did go higher than I expected, but I had a lot of fun."

Nelson's wife LouLou Nelson also said the ride flew higher than expected but was exciting.

"It was extreme; I loved it," she said.

Shauna Johnson, of Hooper, said the Nutcracker ranks high on her list of high-speed, high-intensity amusement rides.

"We've gone to Six Flags Magic Mountain, and I like the Tatsu and the other extreme coasters there — and I'd say this is every bit as fun," she said.

Lagoon announced plans for the new ride last October, around the same time the park said it was closing the long-standing Jet Star 2 ahead of what would've been the roller coaster's 50th year in Farmington.

Freed said crews were still at the park Thursday morning before they began previewing the ride to ensure it was 100% ready for action.

"We have the most dedicated, loyal team members, and we've had a great winter, which has allowed us to work really hard through nice days and get this done," she said.

Freed said other features added for 2026 include a new fountain and a new courtyard, then later in the season, two new social clubs are set to open.

Lagoon will open on weekends beginning Saturday, weather permitting.

The park will operate from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Lagoon will transition to its normal summer hours starting Memorial Day weekend.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah travel and tourismUtahDavis CountyOutdoors
Curtis Booker

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Curtis Booker is a reporter for KSL.