Lightwater Valley - 21 April 2015

[mkingy]

Full Picture Gallary: http://imgur.com/a/AetJD

About The Trip
I was heading up to the lovely lake district for a Hotel/Spa break for work and it so happens that Lightwater Valley is on the way - so convinced my girlfriend (Holly) this would be a great park to visit on the way up! It's fairly inexpensive and family run making for a much less corporate experience. It's located in Ripon, England and was founded by Robert Staveley and initially evolved from a small farm attraction. The park features 32 rides which include 5 coaster credits. The park is probably best known for The Ultimate which at time of writing is the longest operating rollercoaster in Europe and 2nd longest in the world.

Park Entrance

Overall Park feelings
When we visited the weather wasn't so great so the park was fairly empty. Normally this would be a good thing but it meant rides running at low capacity - which in the Ultimate's case meant no back seat ride as the back half was filled with water dummies.

The atmosphere was really pleasant on the whole - despite some racist Northerners whilst queuing up for the Ultimate. It was a refreshing change to be able to have a healthier option food at the cafe rather than being bombarded with fast food like at other theme parks.

It was early in the season but the Park was clean and tidy and the ride ops and general staff were friendly and dealt with any situations with logic and reason as you would expect.

The Day
Once we were into the park we jumped straight onto Eagles Claw as the majority of the park doesn't open until 10:30 (I imagine this is due to the smaller crowds a week after Easter Holidays). This ride is a KMG Freak Out with minimal themeing bar the Eagle at the front of the ride - and is nearby the Birds of Prey center (hence the name!). It has a super long cycle which made for a fun ride!

Eagle's Claw

We then had a cup of tea and once the rest of the park opened we headed over towards The Ultimate - stopping by to gain coaster credit #1 - Twister which is your typical Crazy Mouse spinning ride. Not a great deal to say about this ride - I suspect most people have ridden one of these at a similar small park or travelling carnival.

Twister

Next up was the main reason behind the visit - Europe's Longest rollercoaster - The Ultimate. Tough ride this - it has a majestic sense of uniqueness as its in house and bar the two lift hills (wooden with metal tension stays) the entire ride is built no higher than roughly 2m off the ground. The first section is a couple of airtime hills then a the ride sort of just makes its way to the second lift hill, which is where the real fun starts.

The Ultimate

Climbing the lift hill you can see parts of the track below you in the valley. An overbank turn... or at least it should be but it has nominal banking. Due to the nature of the setting those turns looked pretty imposing and as you'd expect the turns had some intense laterals which I found pretty fun. The ride itself however was marred with unheartlined transitions, unbelievably rough bunny hops and sections of track that just didn't really do anything. It felt typical of a ride designed to be a record breaker - more track than the designers had invention. I'd ride it again as it was outrageous as it was fun but I don't think its up there with the best.

Ladybird Rollercoaster

Next up we cleaned out two extra credits on the kiddie coasters: Ladybird & Little Dipper. Was nice to go on the ladybird coaster as it's a great throwback to RCT days with the ladybird rollercoaster on that! We had lunch back at the cafe (Jacket Spuds! and some cake) before I headed to get on all the flats around the pirate cove area (which features 3 pirate ships of varying size / type). The flats I rode were in no particular order Black Pearl - Inverting Pirate ship, Flying Cutless - (Huss?) Pirate ship and a Huss Breakdance (one of my favourite flats) - Powder Kegs.

Powder Kegs

Next up I hit up Whirlwind - a Mondial Top Scan (my #1 favourite flat ride!) - I got the ride all to myself as the park was pretty dead and my girlfriend didn't fancy it. Which isn't as great as you'd think as you want a full arm for better momentum (nevermind!). Got some great flips and turns, despite it being run like a park model (fairground models are much more fun) and this ride never lets me down!

Whirlwind

To round off the day we rode The Ultimate again before hitting up Raptor Attack. This was probably my favourite ride in the park - the theming was great as you went down sewer (remnant from when the ride was called Rat Ride) / mine shafts to get to the station area and the entire thing was incredibly immersive. The actual ride (Schwarzkopf Wildcat model) was enclosed within a pitch black building with several animatronic (veloco)rapters dotted around the layout which were lit up as you sped by them. The ride was smooth and the raptors well placed which led to a genuinely fun ride, both me and Holly came off with a grin!

Raptor Attack

I finished the day off with a ride on the classic Huss Enterprise - Black Widows Web before Holly got her picture taken with a huge owl . Overall a really enjoyable day and a relaxed family run park!

[JAMMY]

Great trip report kingy! I have to agree, this park has a lot of charm, and make the most of the small budget they have exceptionally well. It's good to hear that The Ultimate is still giving people a right ol' bashing, I can still feel the rib pains now. Haha. And like you, Raptor Attack was my favourite ride when visiting too, it's actually a really well themed experience/ride, and it's hard to quite realise how big the pit must be to house what is quite a large Schwarzkoph coaster, much better theme than the old Sewer Rat idea too.

[Coasterkidmwm]

So since I didn't know that the Raptor ride existed now, is that RCT scenario with "The Storm" in it supposed to be Lightwater Valley?

[mkingy]

Thanks for the kind words Jammy! As I mentioned we went to a Spa afterwards so I ended up with no ill effects!

@CK - according to the wikia it is indeed a recreation!

[gouldy]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

So since I didn't know that the Raptor ride existed now, is that RCT scenario with "The Storm" in it supposed to be Lightwater Valley?

Oh my god how the hell have I not realised this until now?!

[JAMMY]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

So since I didn't know that the Raptor ride existed now, is that RCT scenario with "The Storm" in it supposed to be Lightwater Valley?

MIND = BLOWN!

I've only ever been there once, and the ultimate was closed all day, most likely due to a breakdown! i wouldn't have gone on it though (due to medical reasons), but my dad and sister might have.