Lagoon’s director of special events, Julie Freed, emerged in a racing suit during their announcement event to say the park is putting “pedal to the metal and shifting into high gear.” (Cassie Goff/City Journals)
A notice on Lagoon’s large LED screens advises the gathering crowd that its new ride for 2027 will be unveiled at 7 p.m. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)
Lagoon Amusement Park announced its new ride (planned to open in 2027) on Oct. 3. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)
“It feels like people are really getting excited about roller coasters,” Lagoon’s representatives said. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)
The first F1 racing-inspired coaster at Lagoon Amusement Park will be opening in summer 2027.
“The J3 Grand Prix will … allow each individual rider to feel like they are in the driver’s seat,” said Julie Freed, Lagoon’s director of special events.
Freed unveiled the name and anticipated specifications of the upcoming ride during a presentation Oct. 3, one of the first times the park has made such an announcement during operating hours.
“With one seat per row, riders will have their own autonomy,” Freed said.
The main highlight for the upcoming ride of two rows of 10 single in-line seats will be its design for riders of 48 inches or taller.
“J3 Grand Prix riders are positioned directly about the track for a true ‘cockpit’ sensation,” said Lagoon spokesperson Adam Leishman in the park’s reveal announcement. “The seats have also been enhanced with additional padding to accommodate riders as small as 48 inches tall, unaccompanied.”
Designed by Itamin, J3 Grand Prix’s track profile will include tight turns and compact layouts. Itamin is a theme park attraction design and planner company based in Schaan, Liechtenstein. L3 Grand Prix will be Itamin’s first roller coaster at Lagoon.
Additional track elements will include two launches, 13 airtime experiences (up to eight seconds of weightlessness) and three inversions. The ride will also be constructed with a “state-of-the-art friction wheel launch system and an avant-garde narrow vehicle design.”
Lagoon staged the unveiling presentation toward the north end of the park, near the planned footprint of J3 Grand Prix, with fog, lights and a posse of masked, chainsaw-wielding, park performers known as Hackenslash.
J3 Grand Prix will be replacing the Jet Star 2 coaster. Freed noted the Jet Star 2’s site alone was insufficient for the vision of J3 Grand Prix so they had made plans to preserve and re-locate the Flying Aces ride to another section of the park.
“‘J3’ stands for ‘Jetstar 3,’” Freed said when asked how Lagoon will be balancing the park’s history with bringing in new attractions. “We knew we needed to maintain the park’s heritage.”
Additional specs for the upcoming J3 Grand Prix include 40 mph maximum speed; 50 feet in height; 102 seconds of ride time; 1,746 feet of track; and 705 riders per hour.
