darrenhosker
Roller Poster
Paid a visit to Lightwater Valley this Bank Holiday weekend, I didn't fancy going to any other parks at this time due to the crowds etc.
Arrived at the park for 11.30am to find the overflow car park actually being used, the first time I’ve seen this used since the mid 90's. The panic started to set in as I realised that they’re already low capacity rides may become swamped and combined with the slow loading it may be a complete queue fest, especially if you add the glorious weather.
The park was very busy once inside, complete with queues at the ticket booths. But overall there were no major queues on any of the rides and they were all running very well to capacity with no notable breakdowns, the only queue that was big was for the new River Rapids ride but this was only 20 mins due to the fast loading of the boats.
I must say I was very very impressed at how clean and beautiful the park looked, everything looked like it had been cleaned up, there was no litter anywhere and the park was in full floral bloom. There were lots of people just lying around on the grass next to the lake and on the lawns and people just generally having fun walking round, this was very nice to see and everyone looked happy.
All the rides were up and running apart from them having problems with Chaos, but no surprise there. The ultimate was running like a bitch and very fast compared to previous visits, making it almost the full way up the last lift into the station each time. It was also nice to see people from all age groups enjoying their day out, there were even older pensioners together in groups riding on the rapids and having a great time on top of the usual families and teenagers.
One further note, I found the food to a very good standard aswell compared to most other parks. Prices are high but that’s expected at these places.
I had a friend with me who had never been to Lightwater before, he had been to Drayton Manor with me (which I rank better than LWV) and absolutely hated it, he said it was a dump and boring. So I wasn't expecting much from his opinion here. However the first thing he said was that it's not themed to any standards but the surroundings and cleanliness more than make up for this, and even though the rides are not much they were still fun and you had decent long cycles on them all. He said this made a better day out and made it more enjoyable, and he loved the ultimate for its beauty and the craziness of the bends in the trees also added to the fact you get a very long ride compared to most 60 second coasters in the UK.
This was the best day out I have had at LWV since the ultimate opened in its glory years, and I have been every year and many times before with a very critical opinion. We managed to ride on almost every ride leisurely within 5 hours and still had time to wander around and sunbathe, we even left before the park closed which was a first for me.
The park has obviously had some attention in the closed season, with the lake looking very clean and aqua coloured, new trees planted, flowers everywhere, new music/tannoy system installed, new signage, waterfall now finally working on the Wave and permanent lighting installed in some locations.
Bad points;
The Rat looking very tired and the tunnels are too illuminated it now ruins the effect it used to have, also no audio of the rat noises anymore. Just needs a little cleanup and restore some of the old effects.
The park still needs just one more major coaster, doesn't have to be a massive one but something like a small woodie like Megafobia or a unique coaster like Mumbo Jumbo.
More Toilets needed near the Falls of Terror.
Repaints needed on Falls of Terror, The Rat and The Ladybird.
Some form of stage show needed and maybe something like the talking fountain at IOA.
Restore the old talking crow that used to be at the entrance to the park.
Plant some shrubs/trees around Eagles Claw.
Change the position of the Ultimate On ride Camera, not very good anymore and nobody was buying them.
Waveswinger x 1
Eagles Claw x 1
Big Wheel x 1
Falls of Terror x 1
Black Widow x 1
Caterpillar x 1
River Rapids x 1
Ladybird x 1
Treetop Twister x 1
The Ultimate x 2
The Rat x 1
The Wave x 1
Lightwater Express x 1
Very impressed, may have been the sun that topped it off but still a very enjoyable day out and I think the mate would go back there for sure. Well done LWV
Arrived at the park for 11.30am to find the overflow car park actually being used, the first time I’ve seen this used since the mid 90's. The panic started to set in as I realised that they’re already low capacity rides may become swamped and combined with the slow loading it may be a complete queue fest, especially if you add the glorious weather.
The park was very busy once inside, complete with queues at the ticket booths. But overall there were no major queues on any of the rides and they were all running very well to capacity with no notable breakdowns, the only queue that was big was for the new River Rapids ride but this was only 20 mins due to the fast loading of the boats.
I must say I was very very impressed at how clean and beautiful the park looked, everything looked like it had been cleaned up, there was no litter anywhere and the park was in full floral bloom. There were lots of people just lying around on the grass next to the lake and on the lawns and people just generally having fun walking round, this was very nice to see and everyone looked happy.
All the rides were up and running apart from them having problems with Chaos, but no surprise there. The ultimate was running like a bitch and very fast compared to previous visits, making it almost the full way up the last lift into the station each time. It was also nice to see people from all age groups enjoying their day out, there were even older pensioners together in groups riding on the rapids and having a great time on top of the usual families and teenagers.
One further note, I found the food to a very good standard aswell compared to most other parks. Prices are high but that’s expected at these places.
I had a friend with me who had never been to Lightwater before, he had been to Drayton Manor with me (which I rank better than LWV) and absolutely hated it, he said it was a dump and boring. So I wasn't expecting much from his opinion here. However the first thing he said was that it's not themed to any standards but the surroundings and cleanliness more than make up for this, and even though the rides are not much they were still fun and you had decent long cycles on them all. He said this made a better day out and made it more enjoyable, and he loved the ultimate for its beauty and the craziness of the bends in the trees also added to the fact you get a very long ride compared to most 60 second coasters in the UK.
This was the best day out I have had at LWV since the ultimate opened in its glory years, and I have been every year and many times before with a very critical opinion. We managed to ride on almost every ride leisurely within 5 hours and still had time to wander around and sunbathe, we even left before the park closed which was a first for me.
The park has obviously had some attention in the closed season, with the lake looking very clean and aqua coloured, new trees planted, flowers everywhere, new music/tannoy system installed, new signage, waterfall now finally working on the Wave and permanent lighting installed in some locations.
Bad points;
The Rat looking very tired and the tunnels are too illuminated it now ruins the effect it used to have, also no audio of the rat noises anymore. Just needs a little cleanup and restore some of the old effects.
The park still needs just one more major coaster, doesn't have to be a massive one but something like a small woodie like Megafobia or a unique coaster like Mumbo Jumbo.
More Toilets needed near the Falls of Terror.
Repaints needed on Falls of Terror, The Rat and The Ladybird.
Some form of stage show needed and maybe something like the talking fountain at IOA.
Restore the old talking crow that used to be at the entrance to the park.
Plant some shrubs/trees around Eagles Claw.
Change the position of the Ultimate On ride Camera, not very good anymore and nobody was buying them.
Waveswinger x 1
Eagles Claw x 1
Big Wheel x 1
Falls of Terror x 1
Black Widow x 1
Caterpillar x 1
River Rapids x 1
Ladybird x 1
Treetop Twister x 1
The Ultimate x 2
The Rat x 1
The Wave x 1
Lightwater Express x 1
Very impressed, may have been the sun that topped it off but still a very enjoyable day out and I think the mate would go back there for sure. Well done LWV