• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Lightwater Valley

What a poor lad I really hope hope he's ok. No child should have to go through this on what is supposed to be an exciting day out.

Being a father to a 4 year old myself. Things like this really resonate with me.
 
Anyone any idea of the cause? Too small to ride? Operator error? Malfunction?

Never been to the park.

Fingers crossed the boy makes a full and speedy recovery.
 
Glad to hear the little guy is alright (kinda), hope he makes a smooth recovery.
 
Am I the only one thinking "how was a child that young allowed on in the first place?" Surely he can't have been tall enough?
 
Who knows what caused it? No point speculating until it’s been thoroughly investigated. Meanwhile no doubt every nut and bolt, sign etc, will be checked to see if it was a maintenance issue.

Hope the child is ok. Sounds like it’s not serious but still a shocking thing to
happen on what should have been a fun day out and I’m sure the cause will be established in time
 
Apparently the child is now in critical condition:

Poor kid... hope he recovers.
 
As everyone has said already, hope the lad makes a full recovery.

Watching ITV after Britain's Got Talent (please don't judge me!) and this happened...
 
Terrible news and really hoping the child makes a speedy and full recovery.

AT had Merlin behind them or they may not have survived

Could LWV become another park in Merlin's Monopoly?
 
Altonadvocate1 said:
Could LWV become another park in Merlin's Monopoly?
Click to expand...

No. Number of reasons.

Merlin have openly said they are cutting down on investments in RTPs. It would be non-logical to them acquiring another.

They would not want to be associated with the bad press of having bought a theme park where a roller coaster has caused a death and critically injured another, particularly when they still have their own image from 2015.

LWV is struggling along as it is in its current form. Merlin certainly aren't going to be able to turn that around when they're utterly clueless as to how to properly manage their own parks as it is.
 
Last edited:
Danny said:
No. Number of reasons.

Merlin have openly said they are cutting down on investments in RTPs. It would be non-logical to them buy acquiring another.

They would not want to be associated with the bad press of having bought a theme park where a roller coaster has caused a death and critically injured another, particularly when they still have their own image from 2015.

LWV is struggling along as it is in its current form. Merlin certainly aren't going to be able to turn that around when they're utterly clueless as to how to properly manage their own parks as it is.
Click to expand...
All good points and well made
 
I visited Lightwater Valley for the first time since 2010 yesterday with very low expectations seeing as I did not really enjoy the park at all on my last visit. The entrance area of the park was mcuh nicer than I remember and the new (I don't know how new) crazy golf looks pretty good. The back of the park is as barren as I remember is being however I did enjoy it more this time around.

My opinions on The Ultimate have been pretty well known, I've always said it is a terrible coaster and not one that I rate. So after 9 years it was good to give it another go. I still think that it is a terrible coaster, everything about it is just so wrong! However I really did enjoy it this time; I've had so much more experience of riding coasters since I last went and you really do have to ride The Ultimate. If you sit there and try to enjoy it then it will try and destroy you. Ride it in the right way though and it can be a hell of a lot of fun! There was more airtime than I remembered and I did towards the back of the train for the frist time where you really get flung over the drops after the lifts!

Raptor Attack was also much better than I remembered it being.

Despite all of this we left the park at 12.30pm after doing The Ultimate three times, Raptor Attack twice and then Eagles Claw, Ladybird and Little Dipper once each. The park was dead and at times it did feel like there were more staff than guests which is concerning for a Sunday in June. There cannot have been more than 500 people in the park and there is no way they made a profit.

I have grave fears for the future of Lightwater Valley. It felt like a park just about hanging on.

EDIT:

I also had not realised that the Skate Karts had been removed for 2019. These were rather good fun!
 
Last edited:
As Diogo has already said...get in there while you still can people. T'Ultimate is on life support.
Lost lots of its fun when the pub in the wood and dodgems went.
They never managed to build the long promised holiday let sheds either.
 
I was there Saturday and it was equally dead then. Ultimate understandably on one train and no queues across the park.

Managed to get eight rides in on The Ultimate, one of the best coasters in the UK and a truly unique specimen. Plus six on Raptor Attack which is a really terrific little coaster, so well themed for such a small park.

But really they are two shining lights at a park on it's last legs. I fear I won't get the chance to visit again.
 
Last edited:
I was at LWV not last Sunday but the one before, it was pretty quiet apart from several hundred brownies and guides. I guess they booked before the accident though, and there weren't many other guests.

The Ultimate is as fantastic as ever and my cousins loved the family rides, which there's actually a reasonable selection of. We arrived at half 10 and stayed all the way until 5.

I agree with the comments above that the park is declining, another recent loss is the Enterprise which has been replaced with a few of those hand-controlled sand digger things
 
Lightwater could really do with another big ride, preferably another coaster. Plenty of space on the grass area where Treetop Twister is. We'll have to see what happens with that, but spinning coasters suck anyway, so it would be nice to see a proper coaster there.

Not a spinny fan anyway, but Black Widow's Web (Enterprise) was replaced with sand diggers? Really? And the skate karts have been replaced by presumably nothing as yet? They were good fun, at least for my kids they were. Different story for a late 30's lardass trying to stay on them and not shred my hands to bits on the ground. Perhaps too many people went running to the accident book!

The Ultimate is an absolutely ridiculous ride, the most insane coaster in the country now Wild Mouse has gone. Those banked turns after the second drop are ludicrous, it really does feel like the train will fly off the track at any moment. Raptor Attack is ok, nothing special if you ask me, but the park is pretty much a one-ride wonder. Hope they can keep going. Not heard an update on the accident victim, so I hope they are recovering well. I'm sure we'd have heard by now if this wasn't the case.
 
Dipper_Dave said:
Not heard an update on the accident victim, so I hope they are recovering well. I'm sure we'd have heard by now if this wasn't the case.
Click to expand...

The child has been discharged from hospital and is now recovering at home. Not reported by the mass media though, they would only have cared if his condition has worsened; no money to be made from people getting better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top