Those who are within the theme park community will be in the know as to the recent announcements made by Lightwater Valley as to what is happening. But I thought I’d stick together a quick run down but also to share my opinions on the changes too.
Ride Removals:
Unfortunately, it seems there’s a decent handful of ride been removed. Here are the rides that are now retired from the park; Raptor Attack, Eagles Claw, Apollo, Black Pearl & River Rapids. All of which will no longer be operating at the park.
New Rides:
I assume to make up for the loss of the above rides they will then be adding in these new additions; Monkey Drop, Convoy Trucks, Elephant Flight & the Savannah Express. All of the said attractions are highlighted and aimed for the more family-based audience. I do believe there are a few more rides/attractions being added as well.
Change In Audience:
Lightwater Valley has made it quite clear they are making their park more appealing for the family audience rather than thrill. Which by the looks of the current line up, it screams family only.
The Ultimate:
It appears LWV have confirmed The Ultimate will be SBNO during the 2021 season. However, they are yet to confirm whether this will reopen ever again. As unfortunate as it is that it won’t be running this year, if and that’s a big IF it means it’ll operate for more years afterwards then it’ll be worth it. However it is not looking great considering their newly pointed target audience.
My Thoughts:
Honestly, I’m gutted. It’s a park that for whatever reason I put off visiting for some time, didn’t help with a few people recommending us not to bother as “it’s not that good” opinions too. Raptor Attack was one of those coasters I was desperate to ride this year which is the same again for The Ultimate. Now with both not opening this year, it’s another year without us visiting, unfortunately. There is no draw for us to visit this year with majority of the rides we wanted to experience closed. It’s a really sad decision I feel they’ve made that has potentially lost them a lot more customers. I’m not here to sit & speculate their reasoning or finical situation, it’s not my place to share any kind of opinion on. All I do hope is we will see The Ultimate reopen one day or at least have a closing day celebration. But I also hope this approach pays off for the park & it keeps them afloat for as many years as possible. Perhaps it’s not something that now interests me but if it helps the park in any shape or form I’d rather that then see yet another park close for good.
What’re your thoughts on the recent news? Do you think this is the best decision or not?
Thank you for reading as always!
I feel like the park is going down the same route as to what happened in the end with American Adventure. They should get an IP with a popular UK kids brand to attract more people there. If they save up all their money,then they could get an RMC. Or just RMC the Ultimate to make it smoother.
They should’ve kept Eagle’s Claw. It’s one of the best flat rides in the UK. Better than Flip Flop.