Wicked


Location: South Midway
Opened: June 2007
Manufactured By: Zierer
Ride Model: Launch Tower Coaster
Ground Dimensions: 112 ft x 404 ft
Height: 110 feet
Top Speed: 55 mph
Max G-Force: 4.85 g
Power Consumption: 680 kWh
Ride Duration: 1 min. 36 sec.
Trains: 6
Vehicle Capacity: 8 (2 rows of 4)
Hourly Capacity: 1200 riders an hour
Colors: Green track, gray and yellow supports
Height Restrictions: Riders under 50" in height may not ride.
Aggressive Thrill

Wicked is a steel Tower Launch roller coaster located at Lagoon.

Ride Details

Wicked features single-car trains that seat two rows of four riders. It uses LSMs (Linear Synchronous Motors) to launch riders 90° straight up its 110 foot tower. It actually has two separate LSM launches, one before the tower, and one straight up it. This is immediately followed by a 90° drop straight down the other side of the tower. The ride is launched out of a tunnel. Originally there was a "boom" sound effect played when the train was launched, but it is no longer used. The ride officially has an "Industrial Factory" theme.

The ride travels through an overbanked turn and a heartline roll. The ride is slowed considerably during its safety brake run and travels through a section which consists of two compact vertical turns that simulate the half-pipe movements that snowboarders or skateboarders make. The tunnel at the end of the ride was originally planned to include a water effect as the car entered the tunnel. You can still see the hardware installed that would have provided the effect, but it has never been used.

Wicked does not have over the shoulder style restraints which are found on most launch roller coasters. The ride instead uses a unique "laptray" and leg restraint that locks the lower half of the rider's body in place. This allows the upper half to freely move and adds to the thrill of the overall experience.

Seating

Single riders and groups are separated and loaded onto the train in a way that attempts to fill most or all of the train's seats. Riders between 46' and 50' are allowed to ride using a special seat insert that effectively makes the seat smaller. These inserts can be added or removed from any of the train's seats as necessary.

Rollbacks

On rare occasions, Wicked's trains do not make it all the way over the tower after being launched. When this happens the ride is designed so that the trains will roll backwards into the launch tunnel where they are safely stopped and re-launched after some adjustments.

Construction

Wicked was built in 2007. At the time it was the most expensive ($10 million), fastest (55 mph) and tallest (110 feet) roller coaster at Lagoon. Cannibal has since surpassed Wicked in all of these areas, though Wicked still exerts more G-forces on riders than Cannibal (4.85). The ride was built by Zierer, and was co-designed by Lagoon's head engineer Dal Freeman and was the first roller coaster of its type built. The ride was built on what used to be part of the south parking lot. It was the first steel Roller Coaster to be custom designed for Lagoon.

Welding Problems

After Wicked was completed, some of the welds in its tower were found not to be to code. The tower was dismantled and re-welded by Intermountain Lift leading to a several month delay in the ride's opening.