When it did, the kids couldn't wait. Ben had class in the morning, but as soon as he was done, we were ready to go. We left sooner then we were originally planning, but we wanted to be able to drop off a birthday present to Annie. We were even able to surprise her at work. We were just going to leave it on her door, but Ben was decided it would be more fun to surprise her. She drives all over Salt Lake picking up samples for her work and we were able to pin point find her on one of her stops. When she walked out of the building she had a killer surprise waiting for her. She had a huge grin on her face when the kids popped out. She said it was a great surprise and would make her day.
After saying goodbye we got back on the freeway and made our way to Lagoon. When we got there we still had some time to kill before our reservation time, so we pulled out our picnic lunch. We told the kids that it would be a while before we got to eat and that they needed to make sure to eat all of their lunch. Gabbi and William had no problem, but Owen took forever. You'd think that the thought of going in and riding rides would encourage him to eat faster, but that wasn't the case. Once they were all done, we loaded the kids up with sunscreen and walked to the gates. At the gates, we stopped at a booth that was strategically placed. They scanned our tickets and then gave us each a wrist band, which was used to replace the stamps. When we had our bands on, we were able to walk in the gates.
When we first walked in the thought of "Lagoon to yourself" was false. There were so many people right as you walked in. I'm not even sure why they were all just standing there. Once through the crowd we were able to real look as too how many people were there. It was a lot less than when we have gone in the past, but there were still a good number of people everywhere you looked.
Once we got our bearings, we told the kids they needed to go to the bathroom before we rode any rides. It had been a long car ride, driving around to fine Annie. After they were done, the boys automatically ran to get in line at the Scamper. That didn't surprise me at all either. It's one of their favorites. Gabbi wasn't too happy with it, after all she was too tall to ride and had to sit this one out.
After they got off, we pulled the kids aside, we realized that we hadn't told them about the new rules of being at Lagoon. We told them that they were to use the hand sanitizer provided at the beginning and ending of each ride. If they didn't, they couldn't ride. We told them that they had to keep their masks on. The park only required it to be worn while in line, but as long as the ride wasn't a crazy one, we told them they had to have it one while riding the rides. They were slightly annoyed by that, but when we told them that we would go home, they all agreed. Last but not least, we told them about the markers that had been painted all through out the park. They were indicated as to where you could stand while in line. There were circles that said stand here and big bright x's that said no standing. We told them to do their best to social distance from everyone else. We knew it would be hard, but Lagoon as taken the first steps and we would do our best to follow them.
They all agreed to follow the new rules and then asked to go ride another ride. We made our way to ride the Terror Ride. William didn't want to ride it. He was the reason we didn't ride it the last time we were there 2 years ago, but promised he would ride it if he could sit next to me. I told him that wouldn't be a problem and we went to get in line.
We did our best to make sure we followed the signs and markers that were painted on the ground. Hardly anyone did though and that annoyed me. It made it harder to ask our kids to follow the rules when no one else was. After all Lagoon was only open because they promised to take the necessary precautions to keep everyone safe while in the park. People just didn't care.
Some had no masks. They obviously had one on to get into the park, but once inside they shoved it away. Some had there masks on, but weren't wearing them the right way. Each worker for each ride had a sign they could hold up asking everyone to wear there mask while in line, but that didn't work. The worker was either not paying attention to those that were in the line or the people just wouldn't listen to the worker. I felt bad for the worker, I would have a hard time telling them to get their masks on. To top it all off while in line there was crowding instead of people standing on the designated spots. They were there, plain as day, but no one was paying attention to them. If I had been given a quarter for every time I got an annoyed look for staying fast to my designated spot on the ground, I probably could have paid for another tickets to get into the park. Ben could tell that I was annoyed. He told me not to let it bother me or let it hinder me from having fun. Easier said than done, at least we were following the rules. So if Lagoon gets closed because they can't keep people safe, that won't be on us.
That being said, I did my best to make sure we followed the rules, all while having fun riding the rides. Which brings us back to the Terror Ride. Ben took Gabbi and I took the boys. I don't know how Gabbi was, but both of the boys hid their heads through the majority of the ride. I didn't jump until we got to the end of the ride where the lights are flashed and the giant horn sounds.
Once done with the Terror Ride we asked the kids if they wanted to ride the White Roller Coaster. I was surprised we didn't have any taker. However one look at the line and I was okay with not waiting. The line didn't really make since to me. With a thorough look at the line, there weren't a lot of people. I wasn't sure how they were doing the seating. We got to watch a few passes through while we were eating lunch and there were empty seats each time, but not the same empty seats. None of that made sense as to why it had such a long line that wasn't really moving.
With that averted, we walked over to the Merry-go-Round. The Hogle Zoo had one and in between each set of three animals there was a rope making it so you couldn't walk through each individual animal. I was surprised that they hadn't done that here. Even more so, when it was my kids running past others to get to the animals they wanted. So much for trying to instill the importance of social distancing. They finally stopped and mounted their animal. William choose to sit in the rocking seat instead of on an animal that moved up and down. I joined him while Ben and the other two rode the row of animals in front of us. Once it got going, each of the kids had smiles on there faces, although they were hard to see.
When we were done there we were debating where to go next. Ben had a little bit left before having a zoom call with his professor where we needed to find a quite place for him to sit. We decided that we would make our way to Pioneer Village. They had a lot of spots where you could sit down and not be disturbed. On the way there the boys asked if they could ride the Sky Fighter since there wasn't anyone in line. We told them yes, and they ran off. Gabbi again had to sit this one out. She said she didn't care, but I'm not sure that was really the case.
While waiting for the boys to get done, we told Gabbi that we could go and ride the Tidal Wave to make up for her not being able to ride the Sky Fighter. She smiled and waited impatiently for the boys to be done. Once they were she told the boys and the three of them ran to get in line at the Tidal Wave. There was a pretty decent line too, but went surprisingly quick. An even bigger surprise, some actually followed the markers on the ground. Another surprise, they had designated some rows to be left empty, but that didn't really stop people from using them. The worker didn't stop people from sitting there either. It didn't make sense to me taking these precautions and then not using them. It made it even more confusing when William and I were told to sit in one of those designated rows to be left empty because of his height. It was nuts, but at that point I was just glad we were on the ride and not stuck in a crowded line with other who may or may not follow the markers.
When we were done with the Tidal Wave we walked towards Pioneer Village. We passed a lot of people, but were able to finally find a quiet place in a shaded spot where Ben could take his call. The spot just happened to be in the middle of all the History buildings that you could walk through. That meant that the kids could be entertained while waiting for Ben to finish his call. The boys loved the gun shop. They thought some of those really old guns were pretty cool. Owen came out and told me which ones were his favorite. That worried me a little bit, but I smiled and told him that it was cool.
When he was done with his call, we decided that it was time for a wet ride to cool down and since we were so close, we headed to the Log Flume. Once in line the kids were really hesitant. They weren't sure they wanted to get wet anymore. I along with them hate walking around in wet clothes and shoes, but if it meant it could cool me down even a little bit, I was okay going. At least it wasn't Rattle Snake Rapids. I am a firm believer that you get more wet on Rattle Snake Rapids then you do on the Log Flume. I'm a living truth to that, I get drenched every time. On the Log Flume I've only ever been partially wet and that I could handle.
Gabbi and I went in one and the boys went in the other. They battled back and forth as to where to sit in hopes to not get as wet. Sadly for them, it wasn't there choice. They had to sit where they were told. Gabbi and I took one log where she sat up front and I was in the back. The boy's were in there own log with Owen sitting up front and Ben and William in the back with William in front of Ben. Gabbi and I turned out okay. Our butts of course were wet because the seats were wet when we sat down. Our shoes also got wet because there was a lot of water in the Log already. Splashed from the ride though, we didn't get that much, enough to cool us off for a tiny bit. The boys on the other hand, got pretty wet. Some how, I don't know how William, sitting in the middle, got the brunt of it. He was wet from head to tow. He was not happy about it at all. Luckily for him he had on basketball shorts with the same type of material shirt and would have no problem drying off quickly.
Since I was not in the mood to attempt another float down the Rapids we left Pioneer Village. We then walked to the swings on Turn of the Century. It was my favorite ride as a kid, has been for quite a while, sadly its not the case now. The swings turn my stomach in knots now, which made it hard to tell my kids that we could get in line. However, William was now tall enough to ride and I wasn't going to miss that. So we got in line and waited for our turn.
This took forever. The worker was only allowed to let a certain amount of people on the ride. He was counting them as he let them in. This was the best social distancing I had seen all day. When he came to the front of the line to let people through, he even told people who didn't have their masks on, to get them on or they would have to leave the line. He's was the only worker that I saw take initiative so far. I just hoped others would do the same. Sadly everyone is human and can only act in the way that they see fit.
Once it was finally our turn, the kids excitedly ran onto the ride. They had a hard time deciding what color to choose, but as soon as they did, we all sat down. William and I sat in a bench swing while the rest of them had single swings. William was shaky and a little worried, but once the ride started, he was having a blast. He was laughing and smiling and when the ride stopped he didn't want to get off. Unluckily for him, the line was way to long to get back in and ride it again. This was the longest wait we had had so far.
As soon as we got off the swings, William instantly asked if we could finally ride the train. I'm pretty sure that the Wild Kingdom Train is William's favorite ride. I'm not sure if its because he loves trains or if its because he gets to see all the animals. I would have to agree with him either way. It's a nice slow relaxing ride where you get to see some animals that you don't see every day.
When we got off the train, we headed to the south side of the park. We walked past the Cliffhanger and I teased the kids about going. They took one look at the giant sprays of water and the people walking off dowsed in water and they all said no way. I laughed but was secretly okay with that. I wouldn't have gone. That's too wet for my taste, plus the line was ridiculous. I'm pretty sure everyone who was in the park was in that line.
After bypassing the Cliffhanger we looked at the line for the Spider, but since its line was really long as well, we decided to go to the Wild Mouse. We got to the front of the line and they worker told us that we needed to take our hats off. I took that as my cue to excuse myself from the ride. I hate the Wild Mouse, so I told them to go on the ride while I got us something cold to drink. I took all of their hats and headed around the corner to the Zeppe's stand.
I got 3 Tizzati's to be shared between the 5 of us. After paying for the drinks, I walked to the exit of the Wild Mouse and sat down at one of the tables. Right after I sat down, they announced that they were having complications and would be closing it down until they fixed the problem. Within minutes the kids were to the table. We all sat down and drank the Tizzati's. By the time we were done with our drinks, they had reopened the ride and they were the first car to go.
When they were done, they were ready to go again. Ben convinced them that once was enough and we continued to walk through the park. The kids rounded the corner and asked if they could ride the Musik Express. We told them they could go and asked if we wanted to go with them. I told them that I wasn't going to ride, but Dad could if he wanted. He said no as well and told the kids to go ahead and get in line. They happily did so. They did so three times. I have no idea how they rode that ride three times without feeling sick. I am after one.
When they got off the ride, maybe it effected them more than they thought. William had asked to ride the Colossus and now it was time. When Ben asked the other two if they wanted to ride they both said no. That surprised me, but maybe I was right. The Musik Express took too much out of them. With that Ben and William went and got in line. I was so impressed by William. This would be his first time riding the Colossus. He's become fearless with the rides. I love it.
They weren't gone long before we saw them on the ride. I couldn't believe how fast the carts were going through the ride. They were on it in no time and I couldn't wait till he came back and told me all about his first time. When he did get off he ran towards me telling me how much fun it was. I asked him how he liked going upside down and he told me that he loved it while jumping up and down. In his excitement, he was ready to ride the next ride.
The next ride was to the Wicked. The line was surprisingly short and we were all ready to get in line. Then Owen to a final look at the ride and refused to go. I was surprised. He said he didn't like the look of the straight down track and would not go. I told them, it wasn't that big of deal, nothing like the Cannibal, but he still said no. So I sent Ben with the other two while Owen and I stayed back to wait and watch the others.
They got through the line quickly and then because of William just barely being able to ride, they sent him to the special line for shorter passengers. In that line there was only one other person waiting before them, but for some reason the workers didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that anyone was in the special line. They were there forever. Finally after waiting almost 15 minutes, they were showed to their seats. William got one of the special seat inserts. He didn't care, he just looked happy to be on the ride. When they got off Ben said that he was laughing and screaming the entire time. He loved it. It made me sad for Owen who had never ridden the ride before, but still refused to go.
When they were done and off the ride, we then walked by the Spider one last time to see if the line had gone down. No luck. It seemed to be one of the longest lines we had seen all day. It didn't move very fast either. So with that we kept walking. We made our way towards the south side of kiddie land. Gabbi wasn't very excited about that, but we were there and we might as well. They didn't have lines which meant they could ride a lot of rides in a short period of time.
They first rode on the Red Baron. Even though Gabbi was able to ride, she didn't want to. She said it would have been to embarrassing for her. She waited until they were done and then went to get in line at the Puff the Little Fire Dragon ride. Again she said that it was embarrassing for her to ride it, but then I reminded her that adults ride it all the time. She smiled and then reluctantly went with the boys. They were instantly on the ride and going. For how much she talked about not wanting to ride, she was laughing through the whole ride. She even held her arms in the air. She could talk all she wanted about how to cool she was for these ride, but I know she secretly loved to ride them.
When they got off, it was time to eat dinner before it got to late. Ben and I went to order dinner while the kids stayed in kiddie land riding rides. Gabbi didn't want to ride the rides, but she was nice enough to stay with them and keep track of them. They only had enough time to ride the Helicopters before it was time to sit down and eat.
While we were eating we were joined by the Brenchley Family. They bought season passes this year and when I told Melissa that we were thinking about taking advantage of the student special, she told me to let her know when we'd go and they'd do their best to be able to join us. They weren't able to come during the morning or early afternoon because Melissa had to work, but as soon as she got off they were able to meet us in the park. Once we were done eating we all started to make our way through the park.
The first ride we came to was the Dragonfly. The older Brenchley kids didn't want to ride, but everyone else got in line. There weren't many kids in front of them and they were on the ride in no time. It oddly took longer for the worker to start the ride then it did for the kids to get on it. I'm not sure what was up and I didn't care. I was visiting with Melissa while we were waiting.
Once they were off the Dragonfly they just continued down the row of kiddie rides. They rode the Moonraker, Dinosaur Drop, Red Rock Rally, and the Flying Tiger. It varied as to who rode each ride, but it was mainly the younger boys on each. The older kids didn't find these rides as entertaining as they did.
While waiting for them to finish, Gabbi and Ben decided to go off on their own for a little bit. They went and rode the Jumping Dragon and the Ladybug Bop a few times. Gabbi didn't like just standing there and watching. I couldn't blame her either. If I was her age, I wouldn't have just watched.
Once everyone was done with their side rides, we got back together and rode some all together. Our first was Bombora. I was surprised at how well everyone in line was following the distancing markers. It made the line seem much longer than it actually was, but it went by fast. They also had two coasters going which made it go by even faster. The kids didn't care much about the line, they were just happy to be at the front when it was their turn.
While riding on the Bombora you could hear the newest ride at Lagoon, the Fire Chief. It's fire truck the goes around in a circle like the old flying carpet ride. The kids all thought it looked fun enough to ride, so that's where we went next. The only annoying thing about that ride was the noise it made. Its a fire alarm to epic proportions that can be heard from a good distance away. It didn't last long, but the kids really seemed to enjoy it.
When done on the fire truck we headed around the corner and got in line at the Bat. I was surprised that Owen didn't put up a fight about going. I'm grateful he had a riding buddy, I'm pretty sure he's the only reason why Owen agreed to go. We were first in line when it was our turn to board. The girls took the front, then the middle boys, the parents in the middle and our youngest boys sat in the very last row. I was surprised they choose the back instead of with us. They were super excited to be in the back. We blew them kisses and told them to hold on tight.
After getting off the Bat we again walked around the corner, which took us to the Air Race. William was super excited and that was sadly shattered when he walked up to the ruler and was literally only a half an inch off from being able to ride. I was surprised because he's tall enough to ride the Cannibal. Not sure what the dangers levels are that make them off by an inch or two, but that didn't change the fact that he couldn't ride. So the two younger boys, Melissa, myself, and Owen's riding buddy sat this one out. I was surprised that Owen didn't sit out too, but Ben convinced him that he would have a great time and he got in line with them. He may have regretted it once one because you could hear him screaming, but when he got off he actually said that he had a blast on the Air Race.
Our time was shortly coming to a close. With the pandemic Lagoon had to shorten their hours to make sure they could properly sanitize once the park was closed to riders. With what time we had left we had to choose rides that could include everyone. Our first stop was to the Boomerang, the adult version of bumper cars. This time around all of our kids could ride too. William couldn't be in the car by himself, but he was supper excited to be able to drive. He definitely couldn't reach the pedal, so I took care of that while he took us where he wanted to go. Once the ride began he got stuck a few times, but overall, loved being in control.
When we were off the ride, it was sadly brought to our attention that the Brenchley's had to leave sooner than we thought. That meant that they only had one more ride left before having to take off. After walking around and passing a few rides, we narrowed in on the Flying Aces. Once in line we waited for our turn. When it was our turn we sadly weren't all able to ride at the same time. A group in front of us all decided to ride in their own planes, so 4 of us had to stay back. That sadly meant that once the initial ride was over the Brenchley's had to leave and we ended up riding this one alone. So we quickly said goodbye and then got in line to board our own planes.
Now that we were on our own again, we only had an hour left before the park was to close. We debated what to do. Owen said he was done, I was fine with no more rides, William wanted to continue to ride as well as Ben and Gabbi. So we decided that Ben should take Gabbi and ride some of the bigger rides that the boys didn't want or couldn't ride while I could take the boys back to kiddie land.
With Owen being done, that meant William could ride whatever ride he wanted to. That wasn't good for me though because the first ride he choose was the Jumping Dragon and I knew that could possibly push me over the edge too after just getting off the Flying Aces. I did go with him though, I closed my eyes and hoped that it would all be okay. William didn't notice at all. He was just happy to be on more rides.
When done with that he went to the Ruka Safari. When he got there, there wasn't room on the current ride, so he waited patiently. I told him that would be fine because that then meant he could have picks on whatever car he wanted. He smile and gave me a thumbs up.
When it was his turn he was jumping up and down saying that he couldn't wait to get on the tiger because it matched his mask. When it was time for the previous group to get off two of the girls got off and then moved to another car. This annoyed me and the worker could tell. She said that since no one else was in line but William she didn't seem the harm in letting them get on again because they wanted to ride again. It annoyed me even more because my kids have asked that before and they were told to go around and get back in line again like everyone else because someone else was in line. since this particular worker didn't do that, William didn't get the car he wanted. He was so upset, but eventually got into the cheetah car and waited for the ride to begin. He was such a trooper.
When done with the safari, William had time for maybe one more ride before we needed to go meet up with Ben and Gabbi. He choose to ride the Helicopters one last time. He ran in line and luckily for him, he had free choice of whatever helicopter he wanted. This time he choose the Army helicopter. He said it was because his Dad is in the Army. He had fun making it go up and down and once the ride was over we slowly walked to the North side of the park to meet up with Ben and Gabbi.
When we got there I was surprised to see that they were still in line at the Samurai. I thought they were going to do that ride first. It turns out they did a few others first and finished with the Samurai. They first went on the Cannibal. Ben isn't a fan of roller coaster, but of all of them he said this one was a favorite and would ride it as often as he could. That obviously meant that if he had the time, he would do that. Gabbi was just as happy for that as well. She loved the Cannibal too. After getting off they headed over and rode the Centennial Screamer. Once done there they went and got in line at the Samurai and that's where we found them.
It was taking forever for them to get on. The boys and I sat and watched thinking that they would be on soon. Nope that wasn't the case. We watched the ride go through 3 rotations of riders before I finally went up to talk to Ben to see what the hold up was. They were only seating groups together, so if your group only had two people and each row only had five seats, the remaining three seats sat empty. Needless to say, it took forever to get through that line. At least they were taking social distancing seriously on this ride. I was surprised to see that they didn't sanitize in between each ride rotation for how long it took.
When they were finally done, the park had been closed for 10 minutes already. The boys thought that meant they could quickly ride one last ride since no one was in line, but they found out that that wasn't the case. We made our way to the park entrance and out to our Van. It had been two years since we gone and many many years since we spent that much time at Lagoon, but I would have to say the day was a success and that the kids were able to enjoy themselves. I just hope we took enough of the necessary precautions to stay safe while having a little bit of fun.
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