Wicked

Roller coaster in the United States
Watch the on-ride POV
Wicked
Lagoon
Location Farmington, Utah, USA
Status Operating since June 1, 2007
Cost $10,000,000 USD
Height restriction 50 inches (127 cm)
Statistics
Manufacturer Zierer
Product Tower Launch Coaster
Designer / calculations Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH
Type Steel - Launched
Riders per train 8
Hourly capacity 900
Propulsion LSM launch (rolling) and LSM boost
Area 122 feet × 403.6 feet
Height 110 feet
Top speed 55 mph
Length 2051 feet
Inversions 1
Drop angle 90°
Duration 1:46
G-Force 4.8
HELP

Wicked is a steel launched roller coaster located at Lagoon in Farmington, Utah, USA. It opened on June 1, 2007 and was manufactured by Zierer.

The ride is located at the front side of the park and is easily seen from I-15. It is in the South-Midway section of the park.

The attraction has a green track. The supports on the tower are yellow, while the rest are silver.

History

Wicked was built on a former parking lot at a cost of $10 million. Construction of the attraction began in August 2006.[1]

The ride opened on June 1, 2007.

Design

Elements

Ride experience

The ride starts by turning left into a dark tunnel. A siren sounds with a large boom, sending riders shooting straight up the vertical 110 foot tall launch hill at 40 mph, cresting and going down the other side, reaching speeds of 55 mph on the vertical slope. Riders then travel over an airtime hill with a trim brake before going up and quickly flipping around a sharp overbanked turn. The track levels out, and riders are sent through a zero-g roll. The track then descends, sending riders through a slight shallow turn into the mid-course brake run. Riders descend into a double half-pipe, then are twisted to the right, then left into a right downward helix, twisting to the left, then descending into a trench covered by a tunnel. The track then ascends and levels out into the final brake run before returning to the station.

Trains

6 single-car trains. Riders are arranged 4 across in 2 rows for a total of 8 riders per train.

Name

The ride is rumored to have been named by Dal Freeman (a designer/engineer of Magnum XL-200) as "Wicked" after the famous musical and book, or after the fact that the design looked "Wicked" to him.

Early Problems

A welding problem was discovered before the ride's intended opening, and parts of the track had to be rebuilt or replaced. The problem was discovered while checking the structural integrity of the columns using x-ray. Also, on one of its first test runs when the launch was not near full power as it is now, the train did not clear the overbanked turn, rolled back and valleyed between the bottom of the launch hill and the airtime hill.[citation needed]

Images

References

  1. Arave, Lynn (2006-12-01). "Lagoon prepares for 'Wicked' launch-tower coaster". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-11-26.

External links

  • Wicked on the Roller Coaster DataBase.


Articles on Lagoon