Former Games

This list is a work in progress. If you have additions, corrections or photos, please send them using the contact form.

3-Point Challenge

Opened: 2010
Closed: 2023
Location: South Midway, south of Wild Mouse
Racks with five basketballs are placed at three different points around the 3-point line. The goal is to shoot as many 3-point shots as you can from each point. This space was formerly home to games like Boat Tag, Water Wars and Jacob’s Ladder. It was replaced by Pickleball Challenge in 2024.

Balloon Race

Opened: 1951
Closed: 19__?

Baseball Darts

Opened: 1947
Closed: 19__?

Basketball

Opened: 1964
Closed: 2017
Location: South Midway, north of Teriyaki Stix
In this game you would pay for the category of prize you wanted to play for, then you’d have one shot per game to make a basket. The first Basketball game opened in 1964, but it’s unknown where it was first located or if any changes were made to the game since then. It was located south of Guess It in 1989, and when the current Wild Mouse was added in 1998, the game was located where Cliffhanger is now. When Cliffhanger was installed, Basketball then moved around the corner to its last location. It was replaced by Soccer Darts (2018-2019) and is now the location of Hang Time.

Billiard Tables

One of Lagoon’s activities in the very early days. More info will be added when it becomes available.

Bing-O-Reno

Opened: 1965
Closed: 19__?
Possibly part of the new north expansion of the Midway in 1965, which included the Bamberger Fountain and first Wild Mouse.

Boat Tag

Opened: ca. 1991
Closed: ca. 1992
Location: South Midway
Short-lived game that utilized some of the space occupied by the former Wild Mouse. It was replaced by Water Wars.

Bonanza Shooting Gallery

Opened: 1976
Closed: 2003
Location: Pioneer Village, west of Log Flume
An old-fashioned shooting gallery. Targets were scattered around a saloon scene that triggered different effects like a piano player, spittoon, etc. It’s been said that the game was closed after a knowledgeable employee who maintained it was no longer available for some reason. After that the shooting gallery was completely gutted and converted into an air ball game.

Bonanza

Opened: 2004
Closed: 2013
Location: Pioneer Village, west of Log Flume
This was an air ball game that replaced the old Bonanza Shooting Gallery. The building was converted into a gift shop with an ICEE fountain in 2014.

Bottle Up

Opened: 1998
Closed: 2012
In this game, players tossed rings, trying to land them around the neck of Coca-Cola bottles. This game was replaced by Penalty Shot in 2013.

Bowler Roller

Opened: 19__?
Closed: 2017
Location: Central Midway, southeast of Interactive Fountain
For this game, players would roll a bowling ball down a set of parallel, curved metal rails with enough power to bounce off the end and come back over the hill without going too far. A similar game was located on the South Midway under the name Easy Does It. Bowler Roller, Lucky Ducks and Kat Attack were replaced by Carousel Candy in 2018.

Bowling Alley

A bowling alley appears on a 1911 map of the park around the current location of Game Time & Dracula’s Castle. It appears to have been removed between then and 1950.

Candy Race Track

Opened: 1954
Closed: 19__?

Crane Station

Opened: 2017
Closed: 2017
Location: South Midway, south of Rock-O-Plane
Easy Does It was located here until it closed in 2014. The building remained closed except for use as a photo-op during Frightmares in 2015. It became Crane Station in 2017 with a collection of coin-operated crane and drop-claw machines. In 2018, it became the new home of Touchdown. A couple of claw machine games later appeared on the central Midway in 2024 without any signage.

CROSS BOW

Opened: 1980s?
Closed: 1990s?
Location: Central Midway, possibly south of Coca-Cola Plaza
Similar to a shooting gallery, except using arrows in cross bows mounted on the counter. Players aimed at target sheets on the back wall that were brought up at the end of their game to take home with them.

Day At The Races

Opened: ca. 1983
Closed: 2017
Location: South Midway, where Shake It Up is now
Similar to the Hot Shot game, players would shoot water at a target to move a horse past the other racers. After closing, the space was converted to the Shake It Up chicken tender stand.

Darts

Opened: 1954
Location: Midway
In 2013, the two Darts games used bean bags instead of darts to pop the balloons and the names changed to Pop It and Pop It 2.

Darts II

Opened: 1981
Location: Carousel Plaza, south of the Scamper bumper cars building.
In 2013, the two Darts games used bean bags instead of darts to pop the balloons and the names changed to Pop It and Pop It 2.

Drown The Clown

Opened: 19__?
Closed: 2017
Location: Central Midway, south of Opera House Square
Shoot water directly into the clown’s mouth to inflate a balloon until it pops. This space was replaced in 2018 by two smaller games, Tubs Of Fun and Wrecking Ball.

Fascination

Opened: 1961
Closed: 2003
Location: Central Midway, where the Fascination Station gift shop is now
One of the few indoor games at Lagoon, Fascination was a place where players could sit and play in an air-conditioned building as long as they wanted. Somewhat like a cross between Skee-Ball and Bingo, players would roll balls into a grid of 25 holes to get points. The game was replaced by a gift shop called Fascination Station in 2004.

Fish R’ Jumpin’

Opened: Unknown
Closed: 2012
Location: Central Midway, south of Opera House Square
Manufactured By: Bob’s Space Racers
Replaced by Hi-Roller in 2013.

Game Time Too

Opened: 1990s
Closed: 2000
Location: South Midway, east of Colossus
A small extension of the Game Time Arcade replaced the Painted Shirt stand some time in the 1990s and it was later replaced by Glass Pitch and Plinko before becoming Zeppe’s.

Golf-Fun / Putter Around The Park

See Golf-Fun page.

Glass Pitch [original]

Location: Central Midway
This game was originally in a round building southeast of Dracula’s Castle. The building was removed in the 1990s and was replaced by picnic tables. The Glass Pitch game then moved to a space in front of Game Time until 1997 when Bottle Up opened there (now occupied by World Cup Challenge). Many guests remember ashtrays being a popular prize from this game, along with goblets, shot glasses and mirrors. It was replaced by an outdoor dining area and moved to the front of the Game Time building until 1997. Another Glass Pitch game operated on the South Midway from 2001 to 2012 in the spot now occupied by Zeppe’s.

GLAss Pitch [2001]

Opened: 2001
Closed: 2012
Location: South Midway, east of Colossus
This was the second Glass Pitch game at Lagoon. It replaced a small arcade called Game Time Too. Glass Pitch was replaced in 2013 by Plinko and is now Zeppe’s.

Hi-Roller

a.k.a. Skee-Ball North
Opened: 2013
Closed: 2016
Location: Central Midway, south of Opera House Square
A bank of Skee-Ball games, smaller than the ones that used to be north of the Roller Coaster. Some sources say this location became Touchdown for a time and that Hi-Roller returned in 2013.

Hi-Striker

Opened: 1964
Closed: 2023 or earlier
Location: North Midway, south of Space Scrambler
The first known existence of a Hi-Striker game at Lagoon was in 1964. As popular as this game was at carnivals and amusement parks before that, it’s possible there were earlier ones at Lagoon. In 1965, it could be found east of the Bamberger Fountain, about where Opera House Square was built in 1968. It was possibly then when it moved to the west side of the Midway. The actual device is known to have been replaced in 1995 and 2016 (the 2016 device was believed to have been purchased from Knott’s Berry Farm). It either stopped working or stopped attracting players by the time it was removed in 2023. It has since been replaced by Cornhole. A much smaller version of the game called Rocket Launch can still be played at the park.

HOOPLA

Location: Central Midway, east of Fascination
Confirmed to have existed in the 1980s and the early ’90s.

Hot Shot

a.k.a. Hot Shots
Opened: 1981
Closed: 2017
Location: Central Midway, Carousel Plaza
Similar to Day At The Races, players would shoot water at a target to move their racer past everyone else. Replaced by Gone Fishin’ in 2018. Until about 2015, the game featured Lagoon characters Puff and Moochie (the shark mascot for Lagoon-A-Beach).

Jacob’s Ladder

Opened: 1998
Closed: 2009
Location: South Midway, south of Wild Mouse
Balance along a wobbly rope ladder and ring the bell on the other side. A similar feature was in the Fun House before it closed. Jacob’s Ladder occupied the former Water Wars location, which later became the home to 3-Point Challenge and Pickleball Challenge.

Jean Bob’s Gator Escape

Opened: 2016
Closed: 2019
Location: Pioneer Village, in Rattlesnake Rapids Plaza
Use a mallet to flip a frog into the water. This opened in the former Peddler’s Place souvenir stand, which had relocated to the old Rising Waters building nearby in 2016. The game is similar to the old Leap Frog game, but the name and the characters on the sign were from the somewhat obscure Swan Princess animated film from 1994 – an odd choice for a Lagoon game in Pioneer Village in 2016. The game was still there in 2020, but never reopened. It looked like a new target game was about to open there in 2021, but was never used. See Unopened Pioneer Village Game.

Kat Attack

Opened: Unknown
Closed: 2017
Location: Central Midway, north of Scamper Bumper Cars

Kat Ball

Opened: 1971
Closed: Unknown

King Of Thrones

Opened: 2017
Closed: 2020?
Location: Central Midway, north of Coca-Cola Plaza
Located in the former the location of Hi-Roller (aka Skee-Ball North). The game involved tossing things into toilets. It was replaced by new Skee-Ball machines in 2021.

Krazy Kurve

See Wacky Wire.

Lagoon-A-Beach arcade

Opened: 1989
Closed: 1990s
Location: Lagoon-A-Beach, Beach House
A small arcade that wasn’t open for very long. The space in the southwest corner of the Beach House has since become part of the locker area inside the western edge of the building.

Leap Frog

Opened: 1985
Closed: 19__?

Lite-The-Lite

Opened: 1954
Closed: 19__?

Lucky Ducks

Opened: 2003
Closed: 2017
Location: Central Midway, southeast of Interactive Fountain
Pick from one of many floating rubber ducks to see if it’s a winner. Replaced by Carousel Candy.

Milk Cans

Location: Central Midway, northeast corner of Game Time building
Similar to the current game, Can It. It was empty for several seasons before becoming part of the entrance to the Séance attraction.

Old Fishing Hole

Opened: 1993
Closed: 1993
Location: Pioneer Village, south of Bonanza
From 1976 to about 1986, the space south of the Bonanza Shooting Gallery was the loading area for the Lagoon Miniature Railroad. In 1993, a pond was built there and stocked with real fish. Guests could pay to go fishing and have their fish packaged and saved for them. An outside vendor was used for this, but after the first day or so, the vendor took his equipment and was never heard from again. The pond is still there today, now with fountains. The fish are long gone, but frogs have been found there at times.

Penny Arcade

The Penny Arcade has had a long history at Lagoon with various locations along the Midway before moving to the former Patio Gardens. As the older mechanical games were being phased out by video games, it was renamed Game Time, which now operates as Play Joy location.

Pick-A-Pop

Opened: 2012
Closed: 20__?
Location: Central Midway
Pick a lollipop and see if the bottom of the stick is marked for a prize and keep the lollipop. Moved to part of the Pop It 2 stall in 2012.

Poker Darts

Opened: 1954
Closed: 19__?

Pop-In-Ball

Opened: 1964
Closed: 19__?
Probably similar to the recent Tubs Of Fun game.

Prize Center

Opened: 1954
Closed: 2000
Location: Central Midway
This was a place where you could go to redeem prizes. The Central Park gift shop opened in its place in 2001 and a smaller Prize Center was created inside Game Time. Recently the Prize Center was scaled down in another corner of the arcade and was soon removed completely.

Putter Around The Park

See Putter Around The Park page.

Rebound

Opened: 2006
Closed: 20__?
Location: Central Midway, northeast corner of Game Time building
Bounce a bean bag off of a board to hit a target. This and the neighboring Milk Cans game were closed for many years before being boarded up. It’s now the front portion of the Séance building.

Remote-controlled cars and boats

Opened: 1980s?
Closed: 1990s
Location: Central Midway, east of Game Time
The official name is unknown, but there was a square, above-ground water tank with remote-controlled boats you could drive around. Around the perimeter of the tank was a track on which you could drive small cars.

Rising Waters

Opened: ca. 1997
Closed: 2015
Location: Pioneer Village, Rattlesnake Rapids Plaza
Manufactured By: Bob’s Space Racers
This portable game was placed under a wooden shelter near the entrance to Rattlesnake Rapids. The game was removed in 2015 and picnic tables were put in its place for a time. The building was later enclosed and converted into a larger Peddler’s Place gift shop. Peddler’s Place was previously located in a smaller building to the south which then became Jean Bob’s Gator Escape.

Roman Target

Opened: 1951
Closed: 19__?

Shoot-Til-U-Win

Opened: 1954
Closed: 19__?
The Slam Dunk basketball game near The Rocket was alternately called Shoot-Til-U-Win for several years, but the equipment used is probably not the same as the original 1954 game and it would’ve been in a different location.

Shooting Gallery

Opened: ca. 1896
Closed: 19__?
Lagoon has had a few different shooting galleries around the park over the years. One known location is shown on an 1898 map next to a bowery south of where Opera House Square is today. A 1911 map shows it relocated to the north, about where the Bamberger Fountain is now. See also Bonanza Shooting Gallery.

Shooting Water

Opened: 1954
Closed: 19__?
All that’s known about this game so far is the name and opening year. It’s uncertain if it was anything like the Shooting Waters game of the 1990s.

Shooting Waters

Opened: 1998
Closed: 2018
Location: South Midway, south of Wild Mouse exit
Shooting Waters was a portable game similar to Rising Waters near Rattlesnake Rapids. This corner was first occupied by Paratrooper in the 1970s and ’80s, next to the old wooden Wild Mouse. When Paratrooper moved to the North Midway, a Speedball game opened in its place. After the old Wild Mouse was removed, Speedball moved to a new spot in front of the old Lagoon Music Theatre and this corner and the space to the west of it was home to a game called Boat Tag. Boat Tag was replaced by Water Wars. When the current Wild Mouse opened in 1998, Water Wars was replaced by Shooting Waters, which lasted until 2018. The Lagoon Music Theatre and the nearby Speedball location were demolished and replaced by the Biergarten. A new Speedball building replaced Shooting Waters in 2019.

Skatterball

Opened: Unknown
Closed: Early 2000s
Location: Central Midway, north of Coca-Cola Plaza
After this game closed, the space was a some kind of timeshare advertising booth, followed by a Dove Ice Cream stand. In the late 2000s, the Employee Kitchen expanded into this and other nearby game stalls.

Skee-Ball

a.k.a. Skee-Ball South
Opened: 19__?
Closed: ca. 2008
Location: Central Midway, north of Roller Coaster
A large bank of Skee-Ball machines. The first Skee-Ball games supposedly opened in 1950. Later, it was located in a southern addition to the building that houses Terroride and other games that was built around the 1960s or ’70s. After Skee-Ball closed, the building was used for storage. A portable rock climbing wall called Peak Exposure was placed in front of the building for a few years. The former Skee-Ball building was demolished during the 2017-18 off-season to make way for a new queue for the Roller Coaster and a smoking area.

SLAP SHOT

Opened: 2020
Closed: 2023
Location: Central Midway, in front of Game Time
Hit a hockey puck into the net. The space was originally the ticket booth area when the building was a concert venue. The walls were added later. It has been home to games such as Glass Pitch and Bottle Up. Before it was Slap Shot it was known as Penalty Shot / World Cup Challenge, which it reverted back to in 2024.

Soccer Darts

Opened: 2018
Closed: 2019
Location: South Midway, north of Teriyaki Stix
For this short-lived game that replace Basketball, the target was a giant, inflated dartboard which players kicked a soccer ball at for points. The space is now home to Hang Time.

Spin-A-Picture

Opened: 1964
Closed: 19__?

Super Shifter

Opened: 1982
Closed: 19__?
Possibly similar to today’s Megawire?

Telequiz

Opened: 1947
Closed: 19__?

Tin Can Alley

Opened: 1985
Closed: 19__?

Top Gun

Location: Central Midway, northeast of Interactive Fountain
Replaced by Free Throw in 2014.

Tubs Of Fun

Opened: 2018
Closed: 2019
Location: Central Midway, south of Opera House Square
The idea of this game was to simply throw a ball into a tilted tub without it rolling back out. It opened in part of the old Drown The Clown stall and was replaced in 2020 by Plinko. This was probably similar to an older game from the ’60s called Pop-In Ball.

UNOPENED PIONEER VILLAGE GAME

Location: Pioneer Village, Rattlesnake Rapids Plaza
After Jean Bob’s Gator Escape closed in 2019 and never reopened, this space sat empty until about June 2021 when targets were hung inside the stall. Nothing else ever happened with the game and then in 2023, it became an additional gift shop (which was the building’s original purpose when it was built in the late 1990s).

Wacky Wire

f.k.a. Krazy Kurve
Opened: 1991
Closed: 2012
Location: Central Midway, northwest of Interactive Fountain
The game was replaced by the Glow Station, a shop selling light-up and glowing toys that opens occasionally after dark. In 2018, the space was a caricature and balloon stand.

Walking Charley

a.k.a. Walking Charlie
Little is known about this game, but it was at the park in the 1920s. Similar games at other parks are described as a character that moved back and forth that players could try to hit.

Water Wars

Opened: 1996
Closed: 1997
Location: South Midway, where Pickleball Challenge is now
Ride in small boats while using slingshots to lob water balloons at other boats while dodging the attacks of others. The above-ground water tank extended north into part of the old Wild Mouse site. The game was removed when a new Wild Mouse was installed in 1998. Parts of the game used to be visible from the Lagoon Trail in the bone yard behind Pioneer Village.

Wrecking Ball

Opened: 2018
Closed: 2021?
Location: Central Midway, south of Opera House Square
Players would swing a large ball hung from the ceiling to knock down blocks stacked a few feet away. Formerly part of the space occupied by Drown The Clown.

MORE FROM LHP

SOURCES

Games. LagoonFans.com.

Lagoon guide maps, 1988 & 1989.

Lagoon press kit.