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Lightwater Valley

I have to say this is brilliant!

Only just found this advert, but made me chuckle ;D - simple, effective, funny, well done LWV made me smile!

AFTERSHOCK - LIGHTWATER VALLEY!

Also have to say, The Ultimate ticket:

Theme park entry
Meal voucher
Ride photo
3 ‘front of queue’ passes.

Only available online, the Ultimate ticket is on sale for £30.00.

Obviously free parking as well.

OK, they may not have the bells and whistles of a Merlin park, but that's great value right there no matter what your opinions of the park.

I'd pay 30 quid all in for all that all day long! Only thing that puts me off, I'm not a fan of flats, so that leaves me with two coasters and a couple of funny kiddie rides and the distance!

Shame really!

But well done LWV none the less, no idea if you read this board or not lol, and I hope you have a fantastic season if you do :)
 
3 "front of queue" passes?

Lightwater Fastrack then... For Ultimate, Raptor Attack and sommat else... That sounds fun...


£30 is alright mind... The park needs more filler and infrastructure though to really take itself to the next level...
 
At first £30 seems good, but it really isn't.

Meal voucher: the food options at the park are awful, so getting a voucher for money off or even a free meal isn't saying much.

3 front of queue passes: When is it ever busy enough to warrant that? Even in the summer, the only ride that has a queue is Raptor Attack.

So the only thing that I would see as beneficial is the ORP.

AND, if I remember correctly, there are lots of vouchers about getting you entry for £15.95. So with that in mind, this £30 deal is a bit of rip off.

Good on them for trying things like this though.
 
Yeah was a trial for 2012 - god knows how many they sold, never saw anyone using a FOQ pass.

It's not value at all really, as if you bought them all seperately it'd come under £30. Granted, you cant buy FOQ passes and the only time you would need one is schools weeks when I queued 1hr 45mins for Ultimate! (that was an experience). But still..
 
Sorry I was basing it on a comparison with Merlin, where a photo costs you nearly 10 quid... parking your car costs 6 quid, along with a basic fast food meal, and a single fast track the same.

That's basically 30 quid, without actually even getting in.

We absolutely need these smaller, independent, customer focused parks to do well.

I love Alton Towers, and I actually like Thorpe Park, but I cannot stand the direction Merlin is taking our Theme Park industry - when I see other parks making an effort to provide better value, that deserves great praise and support in my opinion.

Merlin just happened to buy my favourite day out, so I support Towers etc, but whilst not doing it for the sake of it, I believe it is critical we raise awareness of these kinds of offers other parks are making for their guests.

Point taken on queue things mind you, it's very far from me so have never been!
 
Hopefully the holiday village will make them and offer a classier alternative to the caravan park at Flamingo Land.
 
It's an interesting direction to take Tom, I'm not aware of whether they are close to other tourism spots, to make it a viable stop over destination for other things also, if not they may well have to ramp up park development to match by the sounds of it.

I seldom hear anything but good things about this park and how it's run, if not its attractions so much. I hope to get up there one day to experience the place myself!
 
A lot of people's love for it comes from the marketing staff's warm embracing of enthusiast groups and little else, it has to be said. I do think the park is run very well and it has the best staff away from the Merlin attractions.

It's a park that's been around for a long time. It should have moved further ahead than what it has, but I think this accommodation will enable it to do that. I think they are going to need to add many things to the theme park, but also a few moire things to the resort village than the activities that are indicated on the plans.
 
Right, I'm with you Tom, you used Merlin in a positive context then I was about to berate you for it, then I noticed you said their attractions staff - and I have to say I largely agree with that. ;D

Interesting information about how they engage well also, though this topic seems very quiet taking that into consideration?
 
TheMan said:
Sorry I was basing it on a comparison with Merlin
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Issue is you can't compare them. Lightwater and the merlin parks are miles apart, there's almost nothing you can compare between them, apart from that it's a place to go spend a day (or half a day unless you drag it out at lightwater).

I do adore lightwater and visit it rather a lot per season, and it's almost purely down to their enthusiasm as their park doesn't really have much. It's quirky. I imagine the topic doesn't have much to say because there isn't anything to say, there's no real development, there's no real discussions to have about the park unfortunately.

Essentially, it's like 80s towers without any guests coming.. with pretty awful food, and nothing really outstanding beyond Raptor Attack. If they went the merlin route with marketing, they wouldn't be as "cheap" to enter really. But cheap is another thing, it's quite expensive when you consider what the park actually has to offer in comparison to merlin parks.

Do love lightwater though!
 
Lightwater's got the same issue Chessington has, it's built in a snobbish part of the country that doesn't depend on it for the economy. Any major roller coaster development will be refused as was most of the holiday village capacity.

It has the staff and the passion to deserve to do well, I just hope it succeeds.
 
Ahhh the NIMBY's strike again eh?

These same people would moan about the state of the economy or "jobless" elsewhere no doubt!

Thanks for the insight Dave
 
Just picked this article up from RideRater.

Hawks stolen from Lightwater Valley bird centre

Three Harris Hawks were stolen from the Talon Falconry at Lightwater Valley on Friday.

It is the second theft from the centre, after three of the birds were also stolen following a break-in in 2011.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Talon Falconry on 01765 635010 or Ripon Police on 0845 6060247.
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After the good news from the park last week regarding the accommodation development, you couldn't get much worse news. :(
 
That's terrible! :( Did they ever get the other birds back? :-\

Poor LWV!


:mad:
 
Did the park implement anything after the first incident to try and prevent anything happening in the future? Anyway, it's such a shame that someone thought it was their right to help themselves to these birds. ???
 
I couldn't tell you.

Talon Falconry is an independent business, so it wasn't park's responsibility to do so.
 
From Valley Mania.

Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-aye-ee-aye-oh. Lightwater Valley have revealed details of their first addition for the 2013 season. Set to open this Easter, Eagle's Creek Farm will recreate all the sights, sounds and smells of a traditional British farmyard.

The tractor ride, situated next to Eagle's Claw, was originally scheduled to open last season after being picked up from defunct theme park Loudoun Castle in late 2010, but was put on hold following a shortfall in the attraction's budget. However, the plans have not only now been revived, but have also seen the addition of live animals.

In a surprise move, Lightwater Valley have confirmed that a petting farm is to be built adjacent to the ride, which will include chickens, pigs, a cow, pygmy goats and donkeys. The theme park had previously been home to a small petting farm, which closed prior to the 2001 season following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

In other news, the Theatre is to receive a brand new lighting and sound system for the 2013 season in preparation for a new live magic show, as well as future evening entertainment for Lightwater Valley Resorts, which is set to open in 2015.

And finally, in a move which is sure to please enthusiasts, Valley Mania have been reliably informed that the theme park will no longer be pumping out pop music across the airwaves, and have commissioned the creation of a bespoke soundtrack to be played across the park's internal sound system.
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