Wicked

Wicked is a launched steel roller coaster located at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. It opened on June 1, 2007. It is currently the second tallest roller coaster at Lagoon, surpassed only by Cannibal. It is located at the front (west side) of the park and is easily seen from I-15. It has a green track with mostly silver supports, the only exception being the bright yellow supports of the launch tower. Elements: horizontal to vertical launch, launch tower, airtime hill, Immelmann turn, heartline roll, double halfpipe, tunnel. Wicked was designed by Dal Freeman/Lagoon Corporation, manufactured by Zierer, and fabricated by Stakotra Manufacturing. The ride is thrilling because it is launched to high speed vertically without any significant warning, has a 90-degree descent on the tower hill, pulls 4.885 gs, features a unique lap-bar restraint, and features an Immelmann turn and heartline roll. It was rumored to be named by the daughter of Dal Freeman (a designer/engineer of Magnum XL-200) as "Wicked," after the famous musical and book, or after the fact that the design looked "wicked" to her. Wicked was the first LSM (linear synchronous motor) launched roller coaster to utilize a flywheel inverter. The LSMs are not only used for launching the trains, but for also braking the trains. The energy recovered by braking the trains is used to spin the flywheel inverter where potential energy is stored and used to launch the trains. Riders start by turning into a dark tunnel with a siren and a loud boom, before shooting straight up the 110 ft vertical launch hill at 40 MPH, cresting, and then descending vertically down the other side of the tower at speeds reaching 55 MPH. Riders then go up and over a small airtime hill with a trim brake, before going up and quickly flipping around an Immelmann turn. The track levels out before sending riders up into a heartline roll. They then descend and then quickly pass around a small, shallow turn into the trim/safety brake. Riders descend into a double half-pipe, then being twisted to the right, left, then into a right half downward helix, then twisting to the left, then descending into a trench covered by a tunnel, before ascending and leveling out into the reduction brake run as the ride ends. In 2014, a cart was launched but rolled back through the tunnel (the first time in seven years). The cart was re-launched and was able to continue through the coaster. Wicked inversion.