EXPLORE LAGOON: RIDES: Cliffhanger

 

  

 

Opened: June 2001

Location: South Midway

Manufactured By: Mondial

Ride Model: Splashover

Cost: $2.5 million

Max Height: 59 feet

Number Of Gondolas: 2

Ride Capacity: 40 (2 per gondola)

Hourly Capacity: 700 riders per hour

Height Requirement: 50" minimum. Riders 50"-54" must ride in designated seats.

 

history & info

Cliffhanger is a Mondial Splashover, which is basically the same as their Rollover model with water. It has a few different ride patterns and can be operated manually, so some rides will get you more soaked than others. As the ride turns, each gondola rolls freely but can lock in place at any time to make the riders go upside-down. Sometimes it looks like the "geysers" are going to spray you right in the face, but then they turn off. Other times you're spinning around so much you don't see them coming and get soaked.

      This ride was added in 2001 just north of the Wild Mouse. Cliffhanger and The Spider both sit on the land where Speedway, Sr. was for forty years. During the winter months from 2001-2002, Lagoon had to ship most of the ride back to Mondial because it had parts which were not chlorine proof. Now Lagoon uses electricity instead of chlorine to clean the water (not sure how that works, but that's what my sources say). In 2003, Lagoon started closing Cliffhanger during shows at the nearby Lagoon Music Theatre. But the ride hardly operated at all that season because the parts they needed to fix a different problem took a long time to arrive from Europe. It could have been ready at the end of the season, but they didn't open it since it was the last week of the season. It operated significantly better in 2004.

      Mondial is a Dutch company founded in 1987. They also designed and manufactured Lagoon's Samurai.

 

photos

Riders about to get soaked by the "geysers".

Photo: Rick

 

more photos

 

 

  

 

SOURCES

Lagoon

Website Visitors

 

Title Photo: Rick

Updated 4 Mar 2008