originally posted on 10/20/2023
Photo: Vejas Belzinskas. View full-sized image.
There are coasters that take a little longer than anticipated to open. Chalk up Primordial as one of them.
This newest coaster at Lagoon (Farmington, Utah) has been eight years in the making. Park representatives will say that Lagoon started working on this coaster the day the previous one, Cannibal, opened to the public in 2015.
Photo: Joyce Ruff. View full-sized image.
While this article will avoid giving away too many spoilers, anyone who wishes to be completely surprised when riding in the future should probably stop reading — some details are forthcoming.
Lagoon has developed a nice little niche for itself by having park management visualize and design their own coasters. The park has found a good partner in ART Engineering, a company out of Germany that has fabricated the track and vehicles once the park has designed them. This first pairing came in 2011 with the creation of Bombora, a junior coaster. The partnership was really pushed to greater heights when ART Engineering and Lagoon dreamed up Cannibal, which opened in 2015. Both of these rides are highly regarded for their smoothness.
Primordial is a very sophisticated attraction. Julie Freed, third generation of the Freed family who owns the park, explained on an ACE podcast that the inspiration for the ride came from a visit to Canada’s Wonderland (Vaughan, Ontario) and a spin on Wonder Mountain’s Guardian there. Freed also explained to co-host Jessica Gardner that after debating lists and lists of names for the attraction, her father (the late Dave Freed) came up with the name. Once “Primordial” was suggested, all other choices were discarded. The word means “From the beginning of time.” At this point, park officials may feel like it has been that long.
Following years of construction (and fascination among enthusiasts), Primordial opened around the time of the 2023 ACE Fall Conference and expanded Lagoon’s footprint north of the existing park boundaries.
Photo: Raffi Kilejian. View full-sized image.
Adam Leishman, media relations director for Lagoon, told enthusiasts at the 2023 ACE Fall Conference that one of the biggest delays was the global pandemic. Global events as well as workers and supply-chain issues set the project back further. Finally, Primordial opened on September 15.
Like its Canadian counterpart, there is a coaster portion outside and interactive gaming within the mountain. This latest version is a little more involved, however. It has more coaster track inside the mountain, and along with the 3-D screens, there is nice thematic fog and scenery. The media content is provided by Triotech.
Set against the backdrop of stunning mountains east of the park, Primordial’s elaborate rock work conceals from view much of the ride’s elaborate technology.
Photo: Vejas Belzinskas. View full-sized image.
The major difference — mild spoilers here — there are multiple endings. For the final room, the track utilizes a piece of switch track to actually place trains in two different rooms. Nothing further will be said, but the coolest aspect of Primordial to enthusiasts is to try to experience all the various endings.
There is more to note, however. Each train features two vehicles that seat four, making for eight riders on each dispatch. The vehicles rotate, so riders, while stepping onto a conveyor belt, then step directly into the vehicle. The side-by-side arrangement of the two cars transitions to a front car and back car on the approach to the lift.
Primordial features vehicles capable of rotation and utilizes their motions to immerse riders in a story supporting its interactive elements in a positive manner.
Photo: Elizabeth Ringas. View full-sized image.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
There are strengths to Primordial in comparison to the Ontario version. The track length is just shy of 2,000 feet, so it is almost twice in length. The ride lasts more than three and a half minutes. The top speed is 40 mph. For any riders who have never been on an interactive dark ride, the multifaceted experience is sure to be a wow.
Unquestionably a dark ride experience, Primordial features a healthy amount of track and is no doubt a roller coaster.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
The management made conscious decisions on how to tell the story. It would be easy to term them as “guns,” but personnel refer to them as “pointing devices.” In the preshow portion of the queue, an animatronic (Queen Azdra) explains that the goal is not to “get the bad guys” but to “free the good guys,” which are the dragon and owl characters.
The desire to open the ride to the public this season was a big goal. Once the park closes for the season following Halloween, Primordial will continue to be tweaked. A vehicle for those with disabilities will be used to allow people with special needs to board in a separate area, taking all the time they need. Once loaded, the train will emerge from behind a mural and slide into place. After the ride is fine-tuned, the park hopes to increase the capacity to around 900 when all trains are flowing as designed.
Primordial boasts a low height requirement, so the ride is aimed at families. The park offers many high-thrill coasters, so now with 11, Lagoon has a wide portfolio of exciting rides for all ages.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News
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