Depending on the weather, Lagoon Resort and Pioneer Village will open this weekend and continue on Saturdays and Sundays only until shifting into high gear on Memorial Day weekend.
The park will be open to the public for the first time this summer today (Friday) with a "carload special" admission fee.Only five of the park's entertainment groups are scheduled for the first few weeks - Summer Rhythm, the L.A. Goon novelty band and the Pioneer Posse barbershop quartet on Saturdays; Imagine, a popular group of Beatles imitators, on Sundays; and a number of costumed characters wandering around the Lagoon mid-way both days.
The "carload special" this weekend will permit up to eight people to visit Lagoon for one price ($59.95 plus tax). For further information, call 451-8000. This "cram-the-van" promotion is for April 14-16 only.
According to publicist Dick Andrew, one visual treat for patrons early in the season will be watching the construction of the park's big new attraction for 1995 - the Sky Coaster.
This is being erected in the northeast corner of the parking lot, immediately south of the stadium.
Andrew said the cranes should be arriving this week, and just watching the arch being hoised into place promises to be spectacular.
The attraction itself (technically it's not a "ride") "looks like a thriller," said Andrew. "It provides a sensation that's a kind of combination of bungee jumping and paragliding."
Because it is such a low-volume attraction (the load limit is three people at a time), there will be an added fee for those wanting to book a "flight."
Most of Lagoon's midway rides can accomodate several hundred patrons every hour, but it will take approximately six minutes just to get harnessed in, take the flight, and then get unbuckled.
While it's not a coaster in the usual sense of the word, Lagoon is contractually obligated to use the copyrighted name, "Sky Coaster."
The fee for this attraction (in addition to regular Lagoon tickets) will be $25 for a solo flyer, $20 each for two or $15 each for three.
Lagoon is one of the first parks in the country to add the Sky Coaster to its white-knuckle collection.
The first one was built in Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh. Others are at a park in Florida and Opryland in Nashville.
Entertainment on opening weekend and during the first few weeks will be:
- Summer Rythm: 2:30, 4 and 5:30 p.m. Saturdays on the Carousel Stage, just north of the merry-go-round.
- L.A. Goon Band: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays throughout the midway.
- Costumed characters: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays throughout the midway.
- Pioneer Posse: at varying times between noon and 5 p.m. Saturdays in both Pioneer Village and around the midway.
- Imagine: Beatles imitators at 2:30, 4 and 5:30 p.m. Sundays on the Carousel Stage.
The "Music USA" production for 1995 debuts on May 27 in the amphitheater next to the roller coaster and Lagoon's full lineup of entertainment kicks into high gear on Memorial Day weekend, including the Wild West show, the Little Rascals and the All-Star Marching Band.