Lagoon unveils ‘Nutcracker’ — new Screamin’ Swing ride opening in 2026

Lagoon promises that Nutcracker will be one of the park’s “most innovative and daring rides.” It’s a “Screamin’ Swing” ride, a type of pendulum ride created by S&S Worldwide.

Nutcracker will feature a 50-foot-tall statue of its namesake, but that will be “dwarfed by the sheer size of the ride itself.” The static ride height will be 105 feet, with the dynamic ride height (swings) reaching up to 135 feet, almost the height of the Statue of Liberty from heel to crown.

A maximum speed of 68 mph is promised on the new thrill ride, and those who dare to board Nutcracker will experience forces between -0.42G airtime to 4.67G, which Lagoon says is greater than an astronaut’s launch.

Nutcracker will fit 1,200 passengers per hour, and 40 per cycle. Each ride cycle will last around 108 seconds, with an extra 60 seconds for loading time. All riders must be at least 48″ tall to ride Nutcracker. With passengers, the thrill ride weighs roughly 201,300 pounds.

“We want to thank our partners at S&S Worldwide for their innovation and fabrication of this ride, as well as Big D Construction, who is constructing the foundations and support structure for the ride,” said Julie Freed, Director of Special Events and descendant of the second owner of Lagoon. “Last, but not least, we have partnered with 3dxScenic, who is already fabricating our 50-foot Nutcracker icon.”

Lagoon calls Nutcracker a “true engineering achievement,” and says that it has a massive air supply tank that holds 7,500 gallons of air to power “a ride experience unlike any other in Lagoon’s history.”

“It’s a really fun ride, the experience, the accelerations, everything are a great fit for our park,” Dustin Allen, Director of Engineering at Lagoon, shared. “We started construction on this project about three months ago.”

Allen said that Lagoon has introduced several new family rides recently, and that the park wanted to do something with more of a thrill. This ride is targeted at tweens, teens, and young adults. They chose a nutcracker to tie it into the Biergarten theming.

“We’ll see you on the swing,” Freed concluded.