Farmington • The glimmer off Julie Freed’s silver jacket did not compare to the flare in her voice as she announced Lagoon Amusement Park’s next big ride: The Nutcracker, a colossal swing arching 105 feet, and set to open next year.

Freed — the park’s director of special events and a member of the family that has operated Lagoon since 1946 and owned it since the ’80s — announced the new ride to a group of antsy and excited Lagoon enthusiasts Friday afternoon. While she did, a crane behind her raised a banner displaying a 50-foot nutcracker.

Then, to the crowd’s delight, the title icon’s meaning became clear, as a video rendering of the new attraction was featured on a screen in a nearby booth.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A mock up of the new attraction is shown during the

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