Skip lines: Hit Lagoon in spring

FARMINGTON — Hate crowds and long lines, but love amusement park rides? Then the preseason is the place for you at Lagoon.

Lagoon, Utah's amusement park, is now open on weekends for its 120th season. The early season is an excellent time to ride until you drop. With the exception of a few rides, like the wooden roller coaster, lines are almost always so short in the spring that you only have to stand in line one cycle of the ride to get on.

This means many times during the early season at Lagoon you can ride as many rides — several dozen in three hours — that would require eight or more hours during the busy summer season to equal. (Lagoon isn't open late at night in April and May, but it doesn't need to be.)

From 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays is usually the shortest line ride time at Lagoon in April and May.

New this year are two children's rides — the Dinosaur Drop and Ladybug Bop.

Essentially, these are scaled-down, kid-friendly versions of Lagoon's Rocket Ride. However, while the Rocket towers are 217-feet high and requires that riders be 50 inches tall or more; these two new attractions are only about 40-feethigh and have a minimum height requirement of just 36 inches. However, kids between 36-42 inches in height need an adult to ride with them.

The Drop and Bop are two separate towers and Lagoon describes them as family rides that may appeal to all ages. Each ride has five double seats attached to a motorized ring driven around each vertical tower. Both towers offer several different ride programs, both vertical and rotational movement can be controlled, providing different ride experiences.

With the addition of the "Bat" ride last year, other rides and special themes in recent years, Lagoon has really beefed up its children's ride area.

Other changes at Lagoon this year include the addition of a Colosimo's Sausages outlet to the park's food services; the total reconstruction of the restrooms in the center of the park; and two new picnic terraces and expanded food catering to replace Lagoon's old Maple picnic terrace.

• Dick Andrew, Lagoon spokesman, confirmed that the park is scheduled to open a major roller-coaster ride for the 2007 season.

"It will surpass anything we have," Andrew promised.

Ground should be broken on the new coaster this summer and it will be located just west of the Fire Dragon ride.