FARMINGTON n When Lagoon officials go shopping for a new ride, whether it loops, spins or banks passengers around sharp turns, always first and foremost in the selection process is the safety record.

Beyond that, the criteria used for selecting a new ride for the park are appeal, affordability and passenger capacity per hour.

"You try to find something that contains all those elements," said Dick Andrew, Lagoon's vice president of marketing.

And Lagoon officials are confident the park has found such a ride in its newest attraction -- The Bat.

"I think this ride is one that is going to have legs," Andrew said of the $3 million roller coaster which has found success in several parks.

The suspended roller coaster, a Lagoon first, is set to debut April 9 as part of the amusement park's all-day passport.

The Netherlands-manufactured ride is projected to boost the park's attendance of 1.11 million in 2004 by as much as 300,000 to 400,000 visitors a year, Andrew said.

Lagoon park engineer Dal Freeman, a former roller coaster designer for Arrow Dynamics, said he expects The Bat to generate the same bump in park attendance as the spinning roller coaster The Spider did two years ago.

"We can't put a conventional coaster (in the park)," Freeman said. "People want to do something different."

Lagoon has added a new ride to the park every year since 1991 to create excitement and intrigue for those guests who visit the park regularly, said Lagoon marketing manager Trent Brown.

"It's rare when we don't (add a ride)," Brown said.

Ride additions in the past 10 years at Lagoon include Rattlesnake Rapids (1997), Wild Mouse (1998), The Rocket (1999) and Cliffhanger (2001).

But giving park guests something different isn't enough if the time to board the ride serves as a deterrent to seeking the thrill.

That is where the formula for passenger capacity per hour comes in.

The Bat is designed to give riders a fiying sensation, with the track being overhead and passengers' feet dangling beiow.

It has a capacity to haul 650 riders per hour, Andrew said.

That figure ranks the new roller coaster near the top of the list of park rides that keep lines moving quickly and serve a high volume of riders, he said.

A few attractions that serve more riders per hour than The Bat are Cliffhanger and Turn of the Century, according to Lagoon operations manager Jimmy Sunlight. Andrew said rider capacity is important when buying a new park ride because people don't want to stand in line any longer than they have to.

"You want the whole experience out here to be a fun day," he said.

"The worst thing that can happen, outside of a park accident, is for a guest to walk away at the end of the day saying, 'I spent half my day standing in line,' " Andrew said.

On occasion, Lagoon adds low-passenger-capacity rides to the park, but those rides generally aren't included in the park's all-day passport, Andrew said. Park visitors are charged an additional cost for such rides.

Those "X-Venture" attractions, such as Skycoaster, are able to handle about 75 passengers per hour, Andrew said.

"Nobody likes to be standing in lines if they can avoid it," he said.

Kathy Parmley of Farmington, a former professional roller coaster rider, recognizes the importance of keeping lines moving.

Parmley, a member of American Coaster Enthusiasts from 1990 to 2004, said visitors at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, sometime wait in line for up to four hours for a two-minute the park's roller coaster ride.

But at Lagoon, long lines would never work, Parmley said.

"Lagoon could not operate a ride with a four-hour line," she said. "It would kill them."

Parmley said it doesn't make sense to have people standing in long lines when they could be spending money elsewhere in the park.

One reason she joined ACE years ago was the exclusive ride time afforded the group at amusement parks, Parmley said.

"So you don't have to wait in those long lines, " she said.

Parmley said that is why Disneyland themes its rides in such a way to entertain guests while they're waiting in lines. She said Disneyland recently implemented ride appointments for its more popular rides to shorten lines.

FARMINGTON -- Despite the distance separating the amusement parks, Lagoon's stiffest competition is Disneyland.

After that, Lagoon competes for entertainment dollars with other activities, such as Salt Lake Stingers baseball and the new Major League Soccer team, Real Salt Lake.

"Anything that is competing for leisure time and discretionary income is competition," said Dick Andrew, Lagoon's vice president of marketing.

That is why he is glad to have The Bat in his arsenal this year.

Lagoon's new $3 million suspended roller coaster is set to debut April 9.

Many people view the Farmington park as filling a one-of-a-kind niche.

But Andrew said Lagoon still must bring park guests back year after year by offering something new n particularly with the money Disney spends in the Utah market, he said.

"Disney is a competitor, as far away as they are," Andrew said.

Many Utah families are willing to travel to the Anaheim, Calif., theme park, he said.

"(Disneyland is) basically going after the same people we are." That is why the addition of a new attraction each year is so important to Lagoon, which is owned by a Utah family.

"You want to give people a reason to come back," Andrew said.