Turn Of The Century – Lagoon History Project

Opened: May or Jun 1987
Location: South Midway
Manufactured By: Zierer – Deggendorf, Germany
Ride Model: Wave Swinger 48
Structural Height: 31 ft (39 ft during operation)
Footprint: 66 ft Ø
Aerial Operating Circle: 69 ft Ø
Structural Weight: 32 metric tons
Ride Capacity: 48
Hourly Capacity: 1,200

A screen capture from KSL's Primetime Access showing Turn Of The Century in its first season. — A screen capture from KSL’s Primetime Access, 1987.

As part of Lagoon’s centennial celebration in 1987,¹ two new rides were added – a Huss Enterprise and a Zierer Wave Swinger. When the park opened in April, only the Enterprise (named Centennial Screamer) was operating. The Wave Swinger was projected to open later in May, but the opening of the ride wasn’t announced in newspaper ads until mid-June. A contest was held that spring to decide the name of the new ride with prizes including a season pass. The winning entry – Turn Of The Century – also paid tribute to the park’s centennial as well as the Victorian imagery on the ride’s panels.

Turn Of The Century replaced a somewhat similar ride. It stands on the former location of the Rockets which had been swinging guests over Lagoon Lake for over 60 years.

Turn Of The Century in 2001. Photo: B. Miskin

Not a lot of major changes have been made to the ride over the years. The color scheme has stayed mostly the same except for the striped canopy, which changed from orange and yellowish-green to white and light blue in the early ’90s. Modifications to the queue were made in 1992 to make the ride more accessible. In 2004, the 16 seats of the inside row were replaced with eight double-seats, giving riders an option to sit together. The queue was partially redone in 2017, moving the entrance closer to Lagoon Lake with a roof to shield guests from the sun.

Like most rides at Lagoon, Turn Of The Century is dismantled each off-season for any needed repairs or painting. But the ride wasn’t rebuilt in time for the opening of the 2024 season and it took several weeks for new parts to arrive before being put together in late summer.

Dummies in use on the Turn Of The Century in October 2024. Photo: S. Dustman

It was reportedly seen in testing mode with dummies on the ride, but did not reopen in 2024. In 2025, it appeared to be ready for operation, but remained closed. Then in May, the park commented on Facebook that they “tried to rebuild the internal structure but unfortunately it was unsuccessful” and that it would not reopen. They did state that they’re looking for a similar ride to replace it with.

However, the dummies used to test the ride remained in the seats and it was seen testing again in June. At that point, Lagoon said they are working on opening dates.

GALLERY

NOTES

1. Lagoon’s early beginnings go back to the Lake Park Bathing Resort which opened in 1886 on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. 1986 would have been the park’s centennial year, but for whatever reason it was celebrated the following year.