Cannibal: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:28, 27 March 2017


Tower Height: 208 Feet
Track Length: 2,735 Feet
Ride Time: 2 ½ minutes
Maximum G Force: 4.2 G’s
Maximum Speed: 70 miles per hour
Maximum Inverted Loop: 140 Feet Tall
Riders Per Car: 12
Rider Capacity Per Hour: 1,200
Minimum Height to Ride: 48 inches
Budget: $22 Million
Manufacturer: Lagoon
Aggressive Thrill

Cannibal is a 208-foot roller coaster, or megacoaster that opened in 2015.

Ride Details

Cannibal is the tallest roller coaster at Lagoon with a height of 208 feet. It is nearly double the height of Lagoon's second tallest roller coaster, Wicked. The ride features single car trains with three rows of four seats. The seats have lap bars similar to those on Wicked, and do not include over the shoulder restraints. The ride's dual elevator lift raises the trains to the top of an enclosed tower with riders seated in an upright orientation. Cannibal's 116° first drop is steeper than Wicked's 90° vertical drop, and is known as a "beyond-vertical" drop. The ride will travel at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.

Records

Cannibal features the tallest beyond-vertical drop in the world and it is the steepest roller coaster in the United States.

Ride Elements

The ride features (in order):

Dual Elevator Lift
Beyond Vertical Drop
Underground Tunnel
Inverted Loop
Diving Loop
Double Down
Highly Overbanked Turn
Lagoon Roll (a 270° Counter-Clockwise Barrel Roll immediately followed by 180+° Clockwise Barrel Roll)
Helix through a tunnel behind a waterfall.

Although Lagoon initially announced that Cannibal would have three inversions, it would be reasonable to say that it actually has four.

Theme elements

Temples

There are "Temples" built above the underground tunnel. They appear as if they are built of stone with domed roofs. One temple features the head of a rhinoceros, one features the head of an elephant, and one features a snake and a unique archway. There are doorways and open windows in the temples, but their purpose is unclear. There is a series of false stone walls, pillars and stairs in front of the temples. A monkey sits atop one of the pillars.

Waterfall

The ride features a waterfall that is approximately fifty feet tall. The final helix of the ride's track travels through a tunnel in the waterfall, and behind the falling water. The barrel roll element of the ride has the riders travel upside down over three pools on top of the waterfall. There is at least one large statue "carved" into the rear of the waterfall. The waterfall is made of concrete sprayed over a steel structure.

End Brake Run

The entrance to the ride's final brake run features a false stone facade built in a style somewhat similar to the temples in the ride. The trains enter under an archway that that that has a snake's head above it, a man holding an axe on the left of it, and a man holding a sword and extending his other hand on the right of it.

Lion statues

Cannibal's theming includes cement lions that previously sat at the steps to the Utah State Capital Building. They were originally sculpted by Gavin Jack in 1915, and were repaired by Ralphael Plescia in 1977. In 2009 the Capitol restoration project concluded that the lions were too deteriorated to repair again. They were auctioned on eBay and replaced with new lion statues made of Italian marble. Lagoon won three of the statues at auction, spending nearly $16,000 but were outbid by a Salt Lake City resident on the fourth, which sold for $8,100. Lagoon has created additional concrete animals for the ride, and the ride's overall theme may have been partially inspired by the lion statues. The lions have been fully restored by Lagoon and sit near Cannibal's entrance. The lions will be 100 years old during Cannibal's first season. It is thought that one of the lions might contain a time capsule.

Control booth

a photo of the ride's control booth has appeared online. The booth is heavily themed and rounded on the bottom. It may represent either a large cooking pot or a bucket for a catapult.

False boulder

There is a small building underneath track piece "S27" that has been disguised as a boulder. The building may house some of the ride's electrical components.

Name

According to Julie Freed, spokesperson for Lagoon, “We have named it Cannibal, because in our collective mind it will eat other roller coasters in their tracks!”

Lagoon insiders have stated that the name "Savage" was also considered for the coaster. The name "Cannibal" may be the result of Lagoon looking for a name that sounded more intense than "Wicked" and also went well with a theme that incorporated the lion statues.

Manufacturer

Cannibal is unusual in that it is not being designed and built by an existing roller coaster manufacturer. It was designed by Lagoon's head engineer Dal Freeman with significant assistance from Lagoon's second engineer Dustin Allen. The ride is being built by Lagoon and its contractors.

Local contractors

Over 75% of contractors and vendors involved in the construction of this coaster are from Utah. Below is a list of these companies as identified by Lagoon.

Automotive & Industrial Supply	Border States Electric	Brundage-Bone
Codale Electric Supply	Colonial Building Supply	Fastenal Company
FOR-SHOR Company	GEM Buildings	Geneva Rock Inc.
H&E Equipment Services	HOJ Engineering & Sales	Intermountain Concrete Specialties
Intermountain Lift	Lakeview Rock Products	Marmon/Keystone, LLC
Marz Precision Manufacturing	Masco, Inc.	Mountain Crane Services, LLC
Pacific Steel	Petersen Incorporated	Pilot Freight Services
Quality Fire Protection	Richards Sheet Metal	T.H.B. Inc.
Wadsworth Brothers Construction	Ward Engineering Group	Wells Fargo Bank
Wells Fargo Equipment Financing	Wilson Brothers Trucking

Other contractors

Additional contractors known to be involved with Cannibal's construction include:

Cloward H20 (Waterfall design)
Cemrock (Waterfall and temple construction)
ART Engineering GmbH (Train manufacturer)
Actemium Controlmatic GmbH (Safety and Control System)

Construction

Cannibal took over two years to build. The ride's footprint includes the site of the former X-Venture Zone ride, Top Eliminator. A viewing area for the ride is being built between Cannibal and Double Thunder Raceway.

Announcement

Lagoon held an event for the media on September 4th, 2014 to officially announce Cannibal. The park had not previously commented on the ride, although ride construction and track were already visible. Lagoon confirmed the name and height of the coaster and a few other details, some of which had already been speculated on the internet. Lagoon showed models of the temple theming and a piece of track to the press. The park released a series of ride renderings that did not show the majority of the coaster and an overhead plan of the waterfall.

*Images provided by Lagoon when Cannibal was announced*

Concept art

The park distributed marketing material featuring an artist's rendition of the ride. It is not a true to life representation of the ride.

Artist's rendition courtesy of Lagoon, via LagoonIsFun.com & Sid Vernon.

Delay

The park had stated that they expected Cannibal to open on Lagoon's opening day 3/28/15^[1], however the ride was not yet ready and did not open on that date. The final track piece was placed on 3/14/15, and the first test run occurred on 3/15/15 at 1:55 PM.

The park did not give any updates as to when the ride would open until its soft opening on 7/2/15. The delay and lack of information about the ride caused a great deal of speculation and rumors about why the ride had not opened yet. The ride's first riders were members of Lagoon's maintenance crew who rode on 6/22/15. The ride was tested with employee riders for several days before it opened to the public.

Opening

The ride began a "limited soft opening" phase at 3:08 PM on Thursday, July 2nd 2015. The ride did not yet utilize both of its loading platforms, and did not have all of its theming in place.

Construction Gallery

Videos

Lagoon began testing Cannibal with employees on the coaster shortly after 12:15pm on June 22, 2015. This video features the second train to ever hold riders

Lagoon employees riding Cannibal

Close-up video of Cannibal testing

Lagoon's Cannibal - Close-up test run footage!

Lagoon created a video showing the coaster under construction in mid-February. This is the first video footage of the coaster released by Lagoon.

Cannibal Progress February 2015