Opened in July of
2015, Cannibal is remarkable not only for being the first coaster in the USA to feature
a beyond-vertical drop but for being built in-house. Although its creation was a collaborative
endeavor involving various individuals and entities, the finished product is
overwhelmingly the work of Utah
contractors and Lagoon.
Cannibal looks
frankly terrifying. Housed in a massive
tower from which the trains emerge before making a precipitous plunge, it
features an Immelmann loop, dive loop, overbanked curve and two consecutive
heartline rolls, the latter of which have been designated by the park as the
“Lagoon Roll.” Cannibal operates with six trains seating four across in three
rows for a total capacity of twelve riders.
The restraint is a lapbar. One
thing that impressed me immediately was the double loading – something I’d
never seen at any park – and consequent speed of dispatch. Upon dispatch the train moves forward onto
an elevator lift which takes the riders up 208 feet, mostly in the dark. At the top the train exits the tower onto a
short section of track that appears to end abruptly, creating the impression
that the riders are about to go off the end of a cliff.
The train comes to a
standstill at the edge of the drop, adding to the considerable suspense, and
without any warning plummets at a 116-degree angle during what is
unquestionably the most hair-raising drop I have ever experienced on any roller
coaster. It is also the most
exhilarating. At the bottom of the drop
the train dives into a tunnel and then
ascends into an Immelmann loop, followed by a dive loop and overbanked curve
before it reaches the block brake. This
comes just before the Lagoon Roll, a slow-motion test of fortitude. The double heartline roll, with the train
rotating in a different direction on each one, is murderously intense. This is followed by a 450-degree helix that
ends with the train passing through another tunnel by the side of a waterfall
before returning to the station. What a
ride!
Cannibal lives up to
its publicity and is well worth the trip to Utah .
It’s thrilling, unique and exceptionally smooth. It’s also exceptionally well-themed. Extreme?
Certainly. Terrifying? Possibly.
It is, in a word, AWESOME! 5 out
of 5 stars. For more information about
rides at Lagoon, visit www.lagoonpark.com/
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