Lagoon opens for new season Saturday — with no new ride

The venerable Lagoon amusement park opens its 128th season Saturday with no new rides planned this year.

The park's major summer addition this year will be performances of Cirque Innosta Bosque at a reconfigured Davis Pavilion from June 30 through Aug. 16.

"It's a great show with five acts," said Lagoon marketing manager Dick Andrew. "It's not something we are creating ourselves but we are bringing in. We are staging it in the Davis Pavilion, which will have a capacity of many hundreds. We did this a few years back, and it worked out well. We will have bleacher sitting this year and a big stage in there, specifically for the shows."

Lagoon fans can expect what Andrew calls a "handsome addition" in 2015.

"We are trying to save the surprise," he said.

The park will be open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until June 1, when it will be open daily. It will be open on the Monday of Memorial Day weekend.

The basic day pass is $47.95 this year, though Andrew said many local companies and organizations offer discounts. Families of four or more can purchase season passports for $96.95 plus tax for each pass before June, which Andrew said is the most popular method to see the park in the summer months.

The park opened in 1886.

According to Lagoon's website, http://www.lagoonpark.com, the park was one of many recreational resorts that opened along the shores of the Great Salt Lake in the late 1880s. Originally called Lake Park, it featured dancing, summer cottages, roller skating, target shooting, bowling alleys and a mule-drawn merry-go-round. When the lake receded, the park was moved to its present location on the banks of a 9-acre lagoon in 1896.

The park's two oldest rides are the Carousel, which dates to 1906, and the giant coaster, which opened in 1921.

Now privately owned by the Freed family, the park has added a number of roller coasters over the years and now features nine, including the original giant coaster, the Jet Star, Wild Mouse, Fire Dragon, Wicked, Bat, Spider, Bambora and kids' Puff the Little Fire Dragon.

Pioneer Village, with its gun and carriage collections and historic buildings, is a popular attraction, as are Rattlesnake Rapids and the Log Flume ride.

wharton@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribtomwharton