Date Ridden : 7-7-2007 Times Ridden : 1 (Ridiculous Line)
For its location (Utah....basically the middle of nowhere as far as coasters go),Wicked is a great ride. Upon entering the park we walked on three other coasters in the first 15 minutes and worked our way around to Wicked. For some reason there is a very small queuing section so the line was already backed well out on to the midway. We went ahead and got our ride after about a 45 minute wait as the line moves very quickly. I am seriously glad we did. More on that later.
The ride itself offers no preferential seating as the ride ops make sure very seat is filled. This really does not matter as far as this ride goes as the trains are only two rows with four seats per row. You either get a front or a back seat. I do prefer riding on the end seats on all coasters that have 4-across seating. I got the back row far left seat. The ride turns out of the station into an enclosed section and merely slows down before the "launch" instead of completely stopping. The launch itself was weak which is my main gripe with the ride. It was more of a push up the 105 foot hill instead of an actual launch. I think the top speed on this thing is around 40 MPH and that is on the drop following the launch. I enjoyed my ride as there are some wonderful elements including the heartline roll type inversion that is taken at a slow speed and gives some great hang time. The over banked turns are nice but seem weaker in the short stubby cars.
After hitting 5 of the 7 coasters in the park including the Ace Classic woodie Roller Coaster twice we left the park for a bite of lunch. When we returned it was utter chaos!! I did not expect tiny crowds but the number of people there with their ice chests and, get this, BBQ grills was unfathomable. The water park which is included with park admission was filled to capacity and people were in line waiting to get in it. The river rapids ride wait was over 2 hours. We waited 1 hour each for the two kiddie type coasters so we could have the credits and before we left I wanted one more spin on Wicked. When we walked over i could see the line curling around the midway and out of sight. Based on the 45 minute wait from that morning, I would say it was easily 2 to 3 hours. I never really even saw the end of the line. There were so many people there it was difficult to breath. All of the lines for virtually every attraction had spilled out of the queing areas and people were lumped up all over the place. We decided to head on out toward Roswell where the Alien Convention was in full swing (no I don't believe in ETs by the way). However, after my visit to Lagoon I was about ready to "phone home" and let you guys know to stay away from Lagoon on the weekend following the 4th.
In conclusion, Wicked is a good solid ride, hence the 8 rating, but scores lower in my book than the other new rides of 2007. Its popularity is immense in this part of the country but I don't think Id make a special trip out for this ride only.
Overall Rating - 8
Ride Wicked below.
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