Wicked

By the mid-2000s, Lagoon's steel coaster lineup was built entirely around family and mid-sized rides — Wild Mouse, The Spider, and the vintage Colossus — with nothing approaching the launch-coaster technology other regional parks had begun installing. Construction on a $10 million answer began in August 2006, designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Zierer specifically for Lagoon's South Midway footprint.

Wicked was meant to open with the rest of the park on its April 2007 season debut, but manufacturing problems with the ride's components forced Lagoon to delay the opening without committing to a firm new date. The wait ended on June 1, 2007, when the tower-launch coaster finally opened to the public — firing trains via twin linear synchronous motor launches up a 110-foot top-hat structure and through a zero-gravity roll inversion.

The ride's unusual restraint system, which secures riders by the ankles and thighs rather than traditional shoulder harnesses or lap bars, drew immediate attention from both riders and reviewers as a genuinely novel design at the time.

Nearly two decades later, Wicked remains Lagoon's most expensive ride investment and one of the more distinctive launch coasters in the region, still delivering the strong g-forces that made it an instant favorite once it finally opened.