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Lightwater Valley - Future?

seems silly to me, to have such an iconic ride taken down, is this just in preparation for the site as a whole to be put up for sale maybe?
once it's gone, it's gone forever and a piece of unique Yorkshire history is removed. Obviously they'll never be able to build something of that scale again.
 
It was a bad fit with the rest of the park, and cost an absolute bomb to keep running due to the massive amount of track.
It also generated an awful lot of complaints because it was so rough...only beaten by the Blackpool Mouse for tears round the exit!
Damn shame, loved the ride, rode it in its second week, and every few years...
It never got any better.
 
sneakycoasters said:
seems silly to me, to have such an iconic ride taken down, is this just in preparation for the site as a whole to be put up for sale maybe?
once it's gone, it's gone forever and a piece of unique Yorkshire history is removed. Obviously they'll never be able to build something of that scale again.
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The land is leased from the original owners (from what I was told years ago). The 'company' is just the rides and attractions plus maintenance

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LWV was glorious in the 90’s, looking back it seemed to be a park that completely encapsulated the decade. The willfully dangerous skateboard hill, the go karts, devils cascade, Viking ship and soopa looper in the woods, hell slides, the Rat and of course the ultimate all of which were soundtracked with Brit pop belting out of speakers in the queues.

Went back for the first time recently with my daughter. I’m a pretty sentimental being and after over 20 years there was much nostalgia whilst walking round, many old memories triggered by remnants of old rides and the rusty husks of those still left. Hoped to ride the ultimate again one day but knew they wouldn’t reopen it. Sad how it ended up really and it’s nowhere near the same. My child enjoyed it but I bade it a fond farewell that day and don’t think I will be back.
 
MOT82 said:
LWV was glorious in the 90’s, looking back it seemed to be a park that completely encapsulated the decade. The willfully dangerous skateboard hill, the go karts, devils cascade, Viking ship and soopa looper in the woods, hell slides, the Rat and of course the ultimate all of which were soundtracked with Brit pop belting out of speakers in the queues.

Went back for the first time recently with my daughter. I’m a pretty sentimental being and after over 20 years there was much nostalgia whilst walking round, many old memories triggered by remnants of old rides and the rusty husks of those still left. Hoped to ride the ultimate again one day but knew they wouldn’t reopen it. Sad how it ended up really and it’s nowhere near the same. My child enjoyed it but I bade it a fond farewell that day and don’t think I will be back.
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Whenever I think of LWV in the 90s/00s I think of Toad Hole. Such a shame what has happened to this place :/ 1673606167284.png
 
Never got to ride it, and I wish I did, but I'm not exactly sad about its demise. To someone with probably very little knowledge of the whole subject it seriously felt like Ultimate ended up being a major roadblock to future investments and it almost killed the entire park as a result. Removals after removals after removals. While I'm happy for the park's new child-centric direction being extremely well-received I hope the park can remain on the up and make some waves in the UK's family coaster market in the near future (while we're certainly not short of them, some modern twists like a small tyre launch would be cool).

HOWEVER I do think that they can still build some things for older teens while having them not be the main focus though. Gulliver's Milton Keynes has a looping pendulum, Legoland has the robot arms etc. The fact that Eagles Claw remains in the ride lineup shows that the park hasn't completely forgotten their older visitors. Whether or not this is just a one-off remains to be seen though. I'm cautiously optimistic for the future of this park with their biggest money pit gone. Might take a short while for things to kick in but hopefully something happens...? Unless all of this is wrong and I'm putting my hopes far too high and someone needs to kick a reality check into me. ;)
 
HandsUpPantsDown said:
Whenever I think of LWV in the 90s/00s I think of Toad Hole. Such a shame what has happened to this place :/ View attachment 22621
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It was the devils cascade, maybe more 80s than 90s and there was this little devil half way down later replaced by a friendly frog I think. my dad would tease me about the devil to the point I didn’t want to go on it. It did give you a real soaking though.
 
Rob Coasters said:
Never got to ride it, and I wish I did, but I'm not exactly sad about its demise. To someone with probably very little knowledge of the whole subject it seriously felt like Ultimate ended up being a major roadblock to future investments and it almost killed the entire park as a result. Removals after removals after removals. While I'm happy for the park's new child-centric direction being extremely well-received I hope the park can remain on the up and make some waves in the UK's family coaster market in the near future (while we're certainly not short of them, some modern twists like a small tyre launch would be cool).

HOWEVER I do think that they can still build some things for older teens while having them not be the main focus though. Gulliver's Milton Keynes has a looping pendulum, Legoland has the robot arms etc. The fact that Eagles Claw remains in the ride lineup shows that the park hasn't completely forgotten their older visitors. Whether or not this is just a one-off remains to be seen though. I'm cautiously optimistic for the future of this park with their biggest money pit gone. Might take a short while for things to kick in but hopefully something happens...? Unless all of this is wrong and I'm putting my hopes far too high and someone needs to kick a reality check into me. ;)
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I suspect it’s in terminal decline to be honest. Feels like a one and done kind of place with nothing unique requiring a revisit. Plus flamingo land up the road which again I haven’t been to for many years seems to have invested a lot.
 
It's very disappointing that you had the opportunity to promote and talk about the industry on national news, and instead said that The Ultimate and BPB's classic wooden coasters feel unsafe.

I'm sure your intentions weren't bad, but that does so much damage to the way non-enthusiasts perceive parks, which then ultimately harms their gate figures.

The way the press hound parks over a routine stoppage is bad enough as it is, this is only fuelling that fire. It's also not true, as we all know these rides are very well looked after.
 
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Coaster said:
It's very disappointing that you had the opportunity to promote and talk about the industry on national news, and instead said that The Ultimate and BPB's classic wooden coasters feel unsafe.

I'm sure your intentions weren't bad, but that does so much damage to the way non-enthusiasts perceive parks, which then ultimately harms their gate figures.

The way the press hound parks over a routine stoppage is bad enough as it is, this is only fuelling that fire. It's also not true, as we all know these rides are very well looked after.
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No the intentions weren't bad. It was live TV and worded wrong. They had that feeling but it is that feeling that excites and thrills generations. A one second moment of nervousness and trying to find the right words.
 
Coaster said:
It's very disappointing that you had the opportunity to promote and talk about the industry on national news, and instead said that The Ultimate and BPB's classic wooden coasters feel unsafe.

I'm sure your intentions weren't bad, but that does so much damage to the way non-enthusiasts perceive parks, which then ultimately harms their gate figures.

The way the press hound parks over a routine stoppage is bad enough as it is, this is only fuelling that fire. It's also not true, as we all know these rides are very well looked after.
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Goddamn, why do you have to be such a twat? Its the ****ing BBC, not even people who are on everyday get it perfect. How would you do in the spot?
 
Coaster Chall YouTube said:
No the intentions weren't bad. It was live TV and worded wrong. They had that feeling but it is that feeling that excites and thrills generations. A one second moment of nervousness and trying to find the right words.
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While obviously not technically a wood coaster, wood coasters have pretty much been advertised as "rickety" and such to elicit a feeling of being unsafe. Roller coasters as a whole live largely on the basis that the general public views them as something crazy and borderline unsafe. I can't tell you how many times I've had people say something to the effect of "I just don't understand how it can be safe."

So don't sweat it. In my previous life, I did interviews with groups far less substantial than the BBC and was way less tactful and silver tongued than you were. I thought you did a pretty good job. I was more shocked to hear that Wicker Man is your favorite. Guess I need to make more of a point to get back to Alton!
 
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