They're flying high at Lagoon this season.
You don't believe me?Ask Jack Springer of Bountiful.
Last week the spry 80-year-old, joined by his son, Reg, and grandson, Shaun, flew on Lagoon's newest attraction - the Sky Coaster.
"He was champing at the bit, watching the construction go up," said one of Jack's daughters after he had experienced the park's new addition. "He could hardly wait to try it out."
Springer, who looks about two decades younger than his actual age, has had a season pass to Lagoon for the past 12 years. When the Springers aren't entertaining their grandchildren and other family members at the park, Jack and Myrtle just come by themselves.
His favorite ride is the Colossal Fire Dragon, Lagoon's double-loop roller coaster.
But he had a terrific time on the Sky Coaster last Saturday - the first really decent and mostly sunny day of Lagoon's 1995 season so far.
Seen from the road, the Sky Coaster looks like an unfinished replica of the St. Louis Arch, teamed with a soaring V-shaped tower directly west. It's not really a "coaster" at all - certainly not in the sense of the usual roller coasters with tracks and cars. But Sky Coaster is a copyrighted trademark, and Lagoon can't change it to something else.
To make room for the new attraction (don't call it a mere "ride" because that's not what it is), Lagoon razed the former pool and bleachers where the old "Flippers and Flyers" sea lion and high-diving shows were presented a few seasons back.
The high flying now at the site produces an entirely different kind of thrill.
Essentially, the Sky Coaster puts a new spin on the daring young man (or woman) on the flying trapeze. This would be a very, VERY high trapeze.
Or you could think of it as a high-tech version of an old-fashioned rubber tire swing - if the tire was suspended from the upper limbs of a giant California redwood.
Those courageous enough to take a flight are first strapped into special outfits, then they walk out into the loading zone where they're harnessed onto a pulley.
Once they're securely attached, the cable slowly lifts them off the platform and hoists them into the air . . . 50 feet . . . then 100 feet . . . then 150 feet.
At the count of three, they're unhooked from the pulley (but still firmly attached to another set of cables hanging down from the arch).
Reg Springer, 36, who accompanied his father and son for the three-generation flight, said it's sort of like free-falling.
"About halfway up, I said, `Dad, we're a long way up here.' And he calmly replied `We're not even half way yet!' Then, when we made the first drop, I let out a loud scream, but Dad just put his arms out and enjoyed it," said Reg.
Because the Sky Coaster has such a low-volume capacity, Lagoon is faced with charging extra admission for this particular attraction. It is not included in the regular park passes. The Sky Coaster has a separate box office adjacent to its entrance near the Scrambler (in the vicinity of the Opera House Square fountain).
The additional admission charge for Sky Coaster fliers is $25 if there is just one person flying solo, $20 each if two ride at the same time or $15 each when there are three sharing one ride. Patrons can purchase their tickets in advance and obtain a reserved "flight time," then return to the Sky Coaster during the designated time slot.
Unlike the Fire Dragon and the Giant Coaster, which are designed to handle several hundred passengers per hour, the Sky Coaster can accommodate very few fliers each hour. Just the process of buckling up, being hoisted into place and then lowered back down and unhooked takes approximately six minutes per flight. The attraction does have two side-by-side swings so that one can be loading up while the other is in operation.
- SHOWS, SHOWS, SHOWS - In recent years, Lagoon has placed more and more emphasis on entertainment, and 1995 is no different.
Freelance choreographer Patti Colombo, who has worked on Lagoon's popular Music USA productions the past two seasons, is writing, directing and choreographing the 1995 show, "Class Reunion."
Based in Los Angeles, Colombo arrived this week to work with the 10 cast members and get the show ready for its Memorial Day weekend opening.
"Basically, it's a musical revue with just a little bit of dialogue," she said.
Part of the show features big-band music from the 1940s . . . "just a personal favorite of mine."
"We also have music from the '60s because it's so `retro' now and that's when I was in junior high school," she said.
"There are short `narrative bytes,' if you will, to introduce some of the characters - the class valedictorian, the class jock, the most popular guy on campus, the head cheerleader and others. But it's not a `book' show. We have more than 60 numbers in a show that's 35-40 minutes long."
Colombo was pleased with the casting.
"These kids? Basically everyone is new. There's only one guy who had done the show before. The rest are just babies, between 16 and 22. They're all very excited and very green! For a lot of them, it's their first real show, but they are all very talented," she said.
The Music USA cast includes Melinda Miller, Melinda Smoot, Heidi Johnson, Ronica Symes, Josie Scothern, Joseph Hale, Brent Brown, Dave Kimball, Timothy Shoemaker and Gannon Marriott.
Each performance will have eight performers - four girls and four guys. The entire cast rotates from night to night, so that two of the 10 have time off.
"Music USA: Class Reunion" will premiere Saturday, May 27, after which it will be presented Mondays-Saturdays at 7:30 and 9 p.m. in the amphitheater just south of the roller coaster.
Across the park in Pioneer Village, the Wild West Revue has the same number of players - five girls and five boys, who rotate through a schedule of performances that requires only eight at a time.
The cast members of the Wild West Revue, which emphasizes singing, dancing and comedy this season rather than stuntwork and shoot-'em-up violence, are: Kristina Georgelas, Lindsey Glauque, Adrienne Gunn, Megan Hoskins, Danae Williams, Timothy Goings, Alex Leeman, Brett Manning, Brent Peters and Spencer Rollins.
The Pioneer Village show was arranged, directed and choreographed by former Utahn Mark Huffman, who is now working in the entertainment division at Opryland in Nashville.
Lagoon musical director Mark Robinette has worked on the vocal arrangements and music for both of the main shows as well as Summer Rhythm and other Lagoon productions.
Patti Colombo added that these amusement park shows "are great for young talent. There are very few dinner theaters anymore and fewer venues for these kids to perform in. Theme parks have become a great place for them to hone their skills. (Peter) Freed loves entertainment, and it's great to have that sort of support."
- PETER FREED, president of the Lagoon Corp., is a savvy guy when it comes to entertainment. He knows what clicks with Utah audiences.
"We have an interesting entertainment schedule for 1995. Patti Colombo, who has all the business she needs, approached us about letting her do an entire show. She's directed the Flintstones shows for Universal Studios, but she always wanted to write, direct, cast and choreograph one whole show. I had nothing to lose.
"We had the first rehearsal this afternoon and it's a different show than we've ever had before. It looks like a lot of fun.
"Secondly, we used to have just a stunt show in Pioneer Village. Last year we turned it into more of a singing/dancing show along with some stunts, and it was hugely successful. Mark Huffman came to us after Ron (Van Woerden) died. He had been teaching at BYU, and we showed him the Wild West revue. He made several suggestions and kept in touch with us, then we asked him if he'd like to direct this show.
"It's entirely different from anything we've done here before."
Freed added that Lagoon will also have its popular all-star marching band, the Summer Rhythm band, the roaming Pioneer Posse (a barbershop quartet that strolls throughout the park), the Little Rascals, several roving, costumed characters, jugglers and other entertainment.
"We did the casting in January and had almost 175 auditioners turn out. It looks like an exciting season for the entertainment division," he said. "One of the young women who came to audition looked rather plain. Then she started singing and we were all just awestruck. She had a beautiful voice. We looked through the resumes and discovered that she had been Miss Indian at BYU. She's performing in the Summer Rhythm revue."