Opened: 29 Mar 1975
Location: South Midway
Manufactured By: Crown Metal Products – Wyano, Pennsylvania
Ride Model: Little Toot?
Track Length:
Track Gauge: 24 in
Number Of Trains: 2
Cars Per Train: 4
Ride Capacity:
Lagoon’s Wild Kingdom Train opened in 1975 and circles Lagoon Lake like its predecessors, the most recent being the Animaland Train, which opened in 1967.
Three different engines and trains have been a part of the Wild Kingdom attraction at different times. Meriwether (pictured below), was purchased from the defunct Pixieland park on the Oregon Coast along with the Log Flume.
The second engine, named Houston, had previously operated at the short-live Busch Gardens park in Texas. A third engine, referred to as “the Green Train” was operated in a hobbyist’s yard in American Fork.
Meriwether and Houston still operate today, but the Green Train’s engine and tender was repainted and put on display near Rattlesnake Rapids.
The animals have been a long-standing attraction and most of them were only visible from the train ride. In March 2025 it was announced that the zoo was already in the process of being phased out. The train will remain open, but future plans for the former animal pens have yet to be made public.
A more thorough history of the Wild Kingdom Train is currently in the works.
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