Lagoon, Utah's non-Mormon Amusement Park

Usually when I see a trip report about Lagoon I see a few comments linking the park to Mormonism. It’s a fair assumption that there is a link since the park is located in Utah, and there are indeed some links, but I just wanted to share some of the history that paints a different picture.

My dad grew up in an area where he could pretty much see Lagoon from his house. But as a kid, he never once visited the park. Instead, he had to travel quite some distance to visit the smaller (now defunct) park known as Saratoga. Why? He grew up in an incredibly Mormon family, and at the time many Mormons knew Lagoon as a den of vice. It was open on Sunday, you could smoke, you could drink, you could gamble, you could see a rock concert (The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and the Rolling Stones all played there) and there was a reputation for ‘inappropriate’ mingling between sexes. The park’s fun house was equipped with skirt blowers and rides that caused all manners of ‘unintended’ physical contact.

The simple reason for this is that the Freed family, who has owned Lagoon since 1945, is Catholic. Saltair, which was originally owned by the Mormon church as well as Saratoga, which was owned by a Mormon family both had policies in place that conformed to Mormon teachings, but Lagoon never did. Funnily, Saltair and Saratoga are long gone and Lagoon is thriving.

The park no longer sells alcohol or tobacco. Gambling is out of the question in Utah now. The concert hall was converted to a dark ride and an arcade, and the fun house was removed for insurance reasons, but there are still a couple of signs the park doesn’t conform to Mormon standards. The park’s numerous smoking sections are bright orange with highly visible ‘Sit and Smoke’ signage that makes it look like a pretty fun ride. You can bring in any alcohol you want and drink it freely (no glass bottles though). And the park deliberately markets to the LGBT community to insure they know they are welcome.

If you ever visit Lagoon, and you somehow feel out of place, don’t worry, you’re not. Sunday is a good day to visit.

Lagoon does have a few Mormon links. There’s a Mormon Furniture exhibit and an original pioneer Mormon church in Pioneer village. These arrived when Lagoon purchased Pioneer Village in 1978 and moved it to the park. The park does have ‘ward days’ which are discount days for members of the Mormon church. They have discount days for other religions too. The park’s kiddieland is one of the biggest in the world. Mormon’s have a lot of kids. It makes sense to do it. That’s about it.

That was a cool bit of history and information. Nice.

That was a cool bit of history and information. Nice.

Thanks! I think people are a little put off by the subject and probably by my writing style too, but when you put info out on the internet it clicks in people's minds even if they don't respond. Sometimes people are a actually a bit uneasy about coming to Utah, I just want those people to know they don't need to feel uneasy about visiting Lagoon.

I have never heard an enthusiast planning a trip to Lagoon being concerned about feeling out of place because of Mormons. Probably because I have never of anyone having a bad trip to Lagoon.

I can't decide if this thread is incredibly fascinating or horribly awkward...

I can't decide if this thread is incredibly fascinating or horribly awkward...

Haha, thanks. That's way better than being 100% certain that it's horribly awkward.

Usually when I see a trip report about Lagoon I see a few comments linking the park to Mormonism. It’s a fair assumption that there is a link since the park is located in Utah, and there are indeed some links, but I just wanted to share some of the history that paints a different picture.

 

My dad grew up in an area where he could pretty much see Lagoon from his house. But as a kid, he never once visited the park. Instead, he had to travel quite some distance to visit the smaller (now defunct) park known as Saratoga. Why? He grew up in an incredibly Mormon family, and at the time many Mormons knew Lagoon as a den of vice. It was open on Sunday, you could smoke, you could drink, you could gamble, you could see a rock concert (The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and the Rolling Stones all played there) and there was a reputation for ‘inappropriate’ mingling between sexes. The park’s fun house was equipped with skirt blowers and rides that caused all manners of ‘unintended’ physical contact.

 

The simple reason for this is that the Freed family, who has owned Lagoon since 1945, is Catholic. Saltair, which was originally owned by the Mormon church as well as Saratoga, which was owned by a Mormon family both had policies in place that conformed to Mormon teachings, but Lagoon never did. Funnily, Saltair and Saratoga are long gone and Lagoon is thriving.

 

The park no longer sells alcohol or tobacco. Gambling is out of the question in Utah now. The concert hall was converted to a dark ride and an arcade, and the fun house was removed for insurance reasons, but there are still a couple of signs the park doesn’t conform to Mormon standards. The park’s numerous smoking sections are bright orange with highly visible ‘Sit and Smoke’ signage that makes it look like a pretty fun ride. You can bring in any alcohol you want and drink it freely (no glass bottles though). And the park deliberately markets to the LGBT community to insure they know they are welcome.

 

If you ever visit Lagoon, and you somehow feel out of place, don’t worry, you’re not. Sunday is a good day to visit.

 

[attachment=0]Screen shot 2017-12-29 at 7.39.17 PM.png[/attachment]

 

Lagoon does have a few Mormon links. There’s a Mormon Furniture exhibit and an original pioneer Mormon church in Pioneer village. These arrived when Lagoon purchased Pioneer Village in 1978 and moved it to the park. The park does have ‘ward days’ which are discount days for members of the Mormon church. They have discount days for other religions too. The park’s kiddieland is one of the biggest in the world. Mormon’s have a lot of kids. It makes sense to do it. That’s about it.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk