Imagine a time when Jet Star 2 was the latest thrill at Lagoon. The park’s first all-steel coaster. It was 1976 and Lagoon’s Midway didn’t extend beyond the new Jet Star 2 and the recently added Sky Ride.
It was the northern bookend of the park, paired with the old Wild Mouse at the south end. Old-timers back then must have shaken their heads to see what their beloved park was becoming, wondering what ever happened to the days of simpler rides like The Whip or the Showboat on Lagoon Lake. And now there would be this loud contraption competing with the cozy atmosphere of Opera House Square.
The light blue and tan paint off the Jet Star was already fading after it’s earlier life at a world’s fair. But at night, it was brilliantly accentuated by alternating red and warm white lights from the large sign on top to the trademark Schwarzkopf “crown” lights below.
Later on, Jet Star 2 would be dwarfed by much taller rides like The Rocket, but it remained the only roller coaster on the north end until The Bat was added in 2005. Meanwhile, the Midway had been stretching beyond Jet Star 2 since 1986 and several neighboring rides faded in and out over time. Rides with similar space age monikers like Tri-Star and UFO. At the end of decades of bringing joy (and pain), Jet Star 2 became nearly hidden in the mature sycamores, with minimal lighting, but packing a punch to the very end.
Just like we braced ourselves for that final brake run, many revisited the classic coaster leading up to the end of the ride. Others finally took the opportunity to experience its plummeting drops and tight turns for the first, or only time.
The hum of the lift motors, the roar of the wheels coasting along the track and the clacking mid-course brakes will no longer pepper the mechanical cacophony of the park. No more squeezing into awkward seats. No more 360-degree views of the park while rising up the unique spiral lift tower. No more soaring through and around the criss-crossing web of German steel.
It was lovingly kept alive for half a century, despite dwindling resources. And now Jet Star 2 is history. But history is a valuable thing. It informs the present, which in turn affects the future.
History hints to those that will listen to take time to enjoy the small moments and simple pleasures. Things won’t always be this way.
Some of the teenagers who rode Jet Star when it was new are the next old-timers who may shake their heads at the taller, faster and scarier rides which the younger generations rush to jump onto, never thinking it too will someday be gone.
Lagoon has been many different things to many different generations. Jet Star 2 is one of its longest-operating attractions and its memory will now live on as a mental landmark of what Lagoon was for a moment in its ever-growing history.
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