Tips for Lagoon Amusement Park: Save Time & Money
Lagoon Amusement Park is a staple venue for people who live in and around Utah. As a kid, it was the next best thing to Disneyland. There are roller coasters, water rides, a water park, and around Halloween there are fun and scary haunted houses. Lagoon is a great place to bond as a family, share some laughs with friends and fill that need for speed.
Lagoon Amusement Park in Utah can get expensive. And, if not done right, you can spend more time and money than you want. I’ve collected my years of experience working at Lagoon as a teenager and visiting it with my family as an adult and have compiled several tips for Lagoon Amusement Park below to help you save money and time.
If you have any ideas of ways you save a few dollars on your Lagoon adventures or shave off a few minutes of waiting for the more popular rides, share them below. After all, Lagoon: It’s what fun is. Right?
Find Discounted Tickets or Deals to Lagoon
Tickets to Lagoon can be expensive. A single day at Lagoon for our family of seven adds up quickly. Tickets are $92.95 per adult (anyone over 48″), plus tax. So we avoid going if we don’t have some sort of discounted tickets, and I mean more than the $5 off when you buy your tickets to Lagoon online.
Lagoon Amusement Park in Utah has Deals & Packages page on their website. You’ll want to check their website regularly to see if there are any money-saving deals from the park itself. Otherwise, you’ll want to look at other options.
Costco will sometimes have discounted tickets to Lagoon Amusement Park, so keep an eye out each time you’re in the store. You can also call to see if they have them before you make the trip.
Deseret Book also offers discount passes. You can get them when you make an in-store purchase, saving upwards of $10 per ticket. They do limit the number of tickets you can pick up in a single transaction, but every little discount on Lagoon tickets is money saved.
For many years, Coca Cola has offered Early Bird discounts on Lagoon tickets. Usually you just need to present a can of Coke when purchasing your tickets and you’ll save money on each pass.
There are Utah-based news stations that offer discounted tickets as well. For example, Fox 13 usually has a Tuesday Date Night ticket that’s worth checking out. But KSL and KUTV may also offer promo codes, so keep an eye out for those. Doing a simple Google search will be well worth the time for the money you can save.
Bring Your Own Food and Drink into the Park
Food at Lagoon Amusement Park can be pricey. But I’ll admit… it’s pretty delicious, too. When you’re on a budget, consider bringing in your own food to the park. Outside food and drink are allowed. But they ask that no glass bottles be brought into the park. They can easily break and cause injury.
If you choose to bring a cooler of food and drinks with you, the trick is finding a spot to keep it while you’re off enjoying the rides. While there are pavilions with picnic tables, the pavilions are often reserved for larger groups. But you can claim a picnic spot on the grass with a blanket. You can also bring a small tent, but you aren’t allowed to use any stakes or tie the tent to any trees. I’ve seen others that use large sports umbrellas and put their cooler under those. If it’s a windy day, you may want to think about those un-tied or un-staked options. Yikes.
A few other things about coolers: They aren’t allowed inside Lagoon-A-Beach. Keep in mind that if you leave your cooler unattended, there is a possibility of something being taken. So definitely keep any valuables with you and don’t leave them unattended in your cooler or your claimed picnic area.
If you decide to purchase food inside Lagoon, that’s okay. But chances are it will be unhealthy and cost more than you want to spend. But it will likely be super tasty, to. 😉
Dress for the Weather & Be Prepared for Water Rides
One way to save money is to come to Lagoon prepared. That means you have the right attire for the weather. If you don’t, you may end up purchasing expensive clothes to make up for your mistake.
During the spring and fall seasons, the days (and especially the evenings) can be pretty cold. You’ll want to make sure each member of your group has a sweatshirt or warm jacket. While it may be a pain to carry around with you all day, it’ll make your day much more comfortable.
In the summer, it can get hot. I’m talking 100+ degrees hot! Shorts and a breathable t-shirt or tank top are great – but then you’ll definitely need to bring sunscreen. Wide-brim hats are also great for keeping the sun off your ears, nose and the back of your neck. But be mindful of the hat you choose and the speed of the rides you’re riding. Many people have lost their hats on a roller coaster or other ride.
If rain is the in the forecast, a poncho isn’t a bad idea. It will keep you dry – and rainy days can often be the best days to play at Lagoon because fewer people come on rainy days.
One last recommendation about attire – there are some rides where you will get wet. You may even get soaked. So if you plan to ride Rattlesnake Rapids, HydroLuge or Log Flume to cool off, be ready to get wet. Thus… dress accordingly or bring a poncho with you to help keep the water off your clothes.
Budget Money for Midway Games – and Don’t Go Over Budget
As a kid, I always wanted to win one of the large stuffed animals. What kid doesn’t. But those stuffed animals don’t come easy. It often means winning several smaller stuffed animals or prizes and upgrading to the larger one over time. And that comes at a cost – even more cost if you’re horrible at the games.
If you want to experience some of the games on the midway, allocate a set amount of money. For example, give each child $5, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t become victim to the trap of “just another try.” Because after you spend the $25 to try and “win” the game, you walk away with a prize no bigger than a Shih Tzu – and that’s if you’re lucky.
Buy a Season Pass + Parking Pass if you Want to Visit Twice in a Year
One of the best ways to save money on Lagoon tickets is to get a season passport. If you plan to visit more than twice in a given season, then the season pass is definitely worth it. The best time to buy the season pass is during the Christmas season, because they usually offer them at a discounted rate.
As of today (April 16, 2023), the season passports to Lagoon Amusement Park are $190.95. They usually run $207.95 for a regular season pass. If you’re age 65+ before May 31, 2023, you can buy the Senior Season Passport to Lagoon for $100.95.
If you buy a season passport to Lagoon, you’ll want to pick up the season parking pass, too. Each time you park, it’ll cost you $15. But if you buy the $85 season parking pass to Lagoon and park more than five times, it’ll have paid for itself.
We have season passports for our entire family and even some extended family. We plan to get our fill of Lagoon this summer, including Lagoon-A-Beach!
Go on a Weekday – Avoid Weekends
One of the best tips for Lagoon Amusement Park that will save you time is to visit on a weekday. People tend to flock to Lagoon on the weekends, so the park can approach capacity and the lines for the rides will be long.
You should know that not all weekdays are considered equal. There isn’t one day of the week that’s better to go than another. So it’s impossible to make a recommendation on a weekday that will be best for you. But the fact does remain – avoid Lagoon on a weekend if you want to avoid long lines.
Arrive Early
Similar to my tips for Disneyland, I recommend arriving before the front gates open so you can be one of the first ones into the park. The gates open at 10 a.m., so arrive at 9:30 so you can get parked and to the gates. Once you get through the gates, the roller coasters are what you’ll want to hit up first. They’re the ones that have the longest lines as the day goes on.
The absolute first ride you should experience in Cannibal. That line – even after several years of operation – is among one of the most popular rides. If you can catch that first up on your visit, you’ll spend less time waiting in line and more time riding.
One of the other rides that has a long line is Rattlesnake Rapids in Pioneer Village.
Use the Single Rider Line
Some of the rides at Disneyland have single-rider lines. Well, Cannibal and Wicked at Lagoon have that option as well. If you don’t mind being added into a group of strangers to fill an empty seat, take advantage of the line. It saves a lot of time, but it does depend on whether the people loading the rides are doing their job correctly.
Don’t Avoid the Park on a Rainy Day
If there’s rain in the forecast, that may be the day to plan your visit to Lagoon. People don’t enjoy being outside in the rain, so fewer people will be at the park. If you wear the right clothes – and bring a poncho – you can have an amazing day of fun at Lagoon. But if you, like many others, don’t enjoy getting wet, maybe a rainy day isn’t for you, even if it means shorter lines.
Check Heights Before you Arrive
There’s nothing worse than waiting in a line for 30 minutes just to find out your child is too short to be able to safely ride. It’s a big waste of time. If your child is taller than 50″ (4′ 2″) then you’re good to go on all the rides. Under that, you’ll want to know your child’s height and check each ride before you get in line.
You can check the height requirement of each ride at Lagoon on their website. That way you’ll know in advance of your visit whether or not little Johnny is able to ride Cannibal.
If your child isn’t tall enough, please don’t argue with the employee to try and get your child on the ride. I worked at Lagoon as a teenager and saw it all. But the height requirements are there for their own safety. You wouldn’t want to risk your child getting injured because you thought the height requirements were bogus.
Stay Until the Park Closes
As a teenager, I loved staying at Lagoon until the rides were closing and they were sending people out of the park. The lines are shorter, and sometimes you can get off the ride and right back on. It’s perfect.
As a parent – and a kermudgeon – I want to get my money’s worth. If I paid for my family to enjoy a full day at Lagoon, I want to keep us there for a full day – open to close. I do the same thing with Disneyland. I hate leaving the park at night before the park officially closes. Check out Lagoon’s schedule so you know when the park opens and closes.
Decide YES or NO on Lagoon-A-Beach in Advance
Lagoon-A-Beach is a fun waterpark inside Lagoon. It’s included with an all-day passport. But jumping back and forth between Lagoon-A-Beach and the rest of the park will take up valuable time. If you’ve got a season pass, then you can dedicate days to the waterpark and days to the rides.
If you’re there for a single day, my advice is to skip Lagoon-A-Beach and just enjoy the rides around the park.
Lagoon-A-Beach opens for the season on Saturday, May 27. It closes Labor Day weekend.
Experience the Thrill of Frightmares
If you like haunted houses, then September and October is definitely a time to experience Lagoon. Even though the park is only open on weekends during Frightmares, it’s still worth visiting the park. During the day, the park is your typical, everyday amusement park. But as the sun sets, multiple haunted houses open up for your scary enjoyment.
The lines for the haunted houses can be pretty long. In years’ past, they had a “pay more, skip the line” feature that would help you spend less time in the line. Haven’t heard if that’s an option for this year, but as Frightmares at Lagoon gets closer, I’ll update this article.
Each of the haunted houses have a rating, which helps you know if you should bring your pre-teen through it or not. They also have haunted houses dedicated to young kids, which is really more of a trick-or-treating experience for them than a “Let’s scare the bejeebers out of them.”
If you don’t want to do the haunted houses, then use the evening to ride the rides. Since more people are waiting in line for the haunted houses, the lines tend to be a little shorter.
Other Important Tips (Sunscreen (careful with hats) and hydrate)
Regardless of when you choose to visit Lagoon, here are a few tips to help you in a variety of ways:
- Wear sunscreen. Some of the lines are out in the open. So standing there under the sun can quickly bake your skin. Sunscreen will help protect you.
- Wear a hat. Hats, especially wide-brimmed hats, are great to protect your ears, face and the back of your neck from the sun. But if you get on a ride that goes faster than 5 miles per hour, hold on to your hat – or better yet, sit on it.
- Bring a Ziploc bag for your phone. This tip is more specific to the times you want to experience a water ride. You don’t want your phone to get splashed and then stop working. Put it into a Ziploc baggie before the ride and you’ll have that added layer of protection.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate… with water! The summer months can get pretty toasty. And if you don’t stay hydrated while out the sun, your fun will be replaced with a trip to the hospital. Soda may taste good, and feel refreshing. But water is the best thing to ensure you stay hydrated.
- Drink water. Just to help bring the point home, drink water so you can stay hydrated in the summer sun. You can use a refillable mug to get water – or pay the $2.99 to get a soda refill. But be sure you drink water, too.
- Fanny packs are hip. It’s good to carry a few things with you while you’re in the park. Back in the day, we wore fanny packs. Nowadays there are drawstring backpacks or even something referred to as a neck wallet. Either way, they come in hand.
- Wear comfortable shoes. If you really want to enjoy all the rides at Lagoon Amusement Park, you’re going to be walking a lot, or standing in line. Make sure you have comfy shoes on or your feet will be hating you.
The Details
Address: 375 North Lagoon Dr, Farmington, UT 84025
How long to spend: I recommend spending all day – but if you get a Season Passport, you can come and go as you please.
Cost: Regular park admission passes (for those over 48″) are $92.95 each. Senior citizens park admission passes are $87.95. Children (or those under 48″ tall) admission passes are $74.95. Children under 24 months can enter at no charge. Individual ride tickets are sold 2 for $1.00, rides vary between 4 to 10 tickets per ride. Parking is $15 per visit.
Hours: During summer operations (May 27-Aug 16, 2022) Lagoon Amusement Park is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The park is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Lagoon-A-Beach is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. between May 27 and Labor Day. The park opens for weekends beginning on April 1 for pre-season fun. Between Aug 21-Oct 30, the park is open on weekends only. Visit Lagoon’s complete schedule for specific hours.
Website: http://www.lagoonpark.com/
Phone: (801) 451-8000
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