Farmington • One ride on Lagoon’s Jet Star II changed Jimmy Sunlight’s life.

“I came down, and [said], ‘That was the best experience ever,’” he recalled recently.

Sunlight went on to become Lagoon’s director of operations and is now in charge of the park’s 54 rides.

But the Jet Star II — 1,900 feet of winding red and yellow track — is no longer one of them. Sunlight had to say goodbye to the coaster he loved as the park made way for something new.

In some ways, Lagoon, which first opened on July 15, 1886, as a resort on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, has undergone constant change in its 140 years.

It’s moved locations and briefly closed its doors during World War II. A 1953 fire burned through much of the park. And each season since, a new ride or attraction has been added to the grounds.

But there’s a feeling that remains consistent for Sunlight and plenty of others.

“We’ve been coming here for generations,” Sunlight said. “There are photos of me riding the baby boats, of my kids riding the baby boats, and then hopefully in the long run, there’ll be photos of my grandkids.”

That’s just one of the reasons Utahns are still drawn to the coasters cresting on the Davis County skyline each summer.

Lagoon’s hidden history

Originally, Lagoon was called Lake Park Bathing Resort. It was owned by the Bamberger family, which also owned the electric railway. Newspaper advertisements listed train rides to the resort for 25 cents with admission included.

The park moved from the Great Salt Lake to its current location in 1896 and there are pieces of history hidden throughout the grounds.

Julie Freed, whose family has owned the park for three generations, can look up and see remnants of the 1953 fire that destroyed much of Lagoon.

“The only reason our carousel didn’t burn down is because firefighters stood with their hoses on that carousel all night long to make sure it stayed intact,” Freed, Lagoon’s director of special events, said. “In fact, you can still see some burn marks on the ceiling.”

The fire prompted the “New Lagoon” era, when Freed’s family vowed to rebuild the park one ride at a time. The tradition carries on with a new ride unveiled every season.

The park also went on to have a significant musical era in the 1950s and 1960s. Ella Fitzgerald, Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and Jimi Hendrix played the old Patio Gardens (now the Game Time Arcade).

Lagoon’s creative director, Adam Leishman, said a piece of that history still lives on.

“In the ceiling, there are these star shapes. Those were the original light fixtures for Patio Gardens,” he said.

On the north wall, Leishman said you can see a curved portion of the ceiling. It was the wall that separated the stage where music greats performed from the auditorium.

“We’ve really dedicated a lot of time and effort to maintaining a lot of historic and older rides to keep the traditional American amusement park vibe,” he said.

The restoration process for the historic rides is intricate.

For the carousel, each wooden animal is carefully stripped, repaired and then hand-painted. On other rides, crews have had to reverse-engineer and fabricate new components because original manufacturers have closed.

Along for the rides

This year, Lagoon opened Nutcracker, a ride that is 105 feet tall and swings riders up to 150 feet into the air. It was created by S&S Worldwide, a Logan company.

Freed estimates that since 1953, the park has opened about 60 new rides.

Despite the changes over the years, Freed said the park’s commitment to the classic amusement experience is what sets it apart.

“We have something for everybody, even if you’re not a thrill seeker,” Freed said.

Farmington resident Aimee Carver is one of those thrill seekers, a rollercoaster enthusiast, who said having “world-class” rides in her backyard is a “dream come true.”

Carver and her now-husband, TJ, dated long-distance. When she visited him in Utah, Lagoon was one of the first places she asked to see. Carver eventually moved to Farmington and bought season passes.

“Sometimes we would come home from work and just drive over to Lagoon, ride Wicked a couple of times, grab some ice cream, and then come home for dinner,” Carver said.

The family’s attachment to the park has grown since their son Mason was born. He rode his first roller coaster at Lagoon when he was 2.

“It happened to be the same roller coaster that my husband first rode on when he was a little boy,” Carver said.

Now, her family not only loves the historic rides at Lagoon but is often first in line for the new ones. The Carvers were some of the first to ride Primordial when it opened in 2023.

Carver has even written a children’s book, “R is for Roller Coaster.”

Zoo on the move

Last year, Lagoon phased out its controversial zoo after years of criticism from animal rights activists.

Addressing the controversy, Leishman said, “The bottom line is I can say with complete confidence that the animals were treated exceptionally well.”

Freed added that they are planning a new attraction in the space where the zoo was and hope to have it ready by next summer.

“We’re all just really happy to be moving forward and in a different direction,” Freed said.

The prices rise

Before 1980, Lagoon had free admission, instead of charging per ride.

Historic ads show prices as low as $2.50. For the park’s 56th birthday in 1942, there was a deal for 5 and 10 cents for rides and games.

Then the park switched to a fixed-price admission. In 1984, all-day ride passes were $11.95. By 1993, it was $18.75.

Currently, a regular single-day ticket costs $89.95 for adults and $76.95 for kids. Freed said this year the park decided not to raise prices, despite inflation.

“We don’t like to raise prices, but as everyone knows, the cost of everything has gone up — the cost of materials, time, labor,” Freed said. “In order to maintain our business, we do it when it’s necessary.”

Still, the park tries to have deals for families, like Deal of the Decade, where tickets cost $59.95, Freed said. And people are allowed to bring their own food and drink into the park for picnics.

Freed estimates that “over 1 million” visitors come to the park annually.

A place to feel comfortable

For Scott Caldwell, Lagoon became a place of refuge and new beginnings. In 2018, Caldwell was living in Provo and had just come out as gay.

“I remember just thinking, like, well, ‘Where can I go?’” Caldwell said. “I just didn’t know where I felt comfortable, but I knew I loved amusement parks.”

When he saw Lagoon post some ads with a gay couple holding hands, it stuck with him. He posted on Instagram, asking if anyone wanted to come with him. His now-husband, Kacey Spadafora, responded and they went on one of their first dates there.

Caldwell still remembers that October night, wandering around Pioneer Village with Spadafora.

“We were looking at all of the little displays and learning about the past, and I remember just thinking that it felt really cool to be on a date with a man in a pioneer village, different and new,” Caldwell said.

Shortly after that first trip, Spadafora arranged a tour of Cannibal with one of the park’s engineers as a birthday gift for Caldwell.

“It’s just kind of been a date night routine for us ever since,” Caldwell said. Now, with annual passes, the couple visits the park at least a dozen times a year.

From the rickety wooden Roller Coaster to the historic paint of the carousel — Lagoon has adapted to stand the test of time.

Its legacy, like a never-ending ride, continues despite the twists and turns of change.