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Lightwater Valley - Future?

Dar

Hyper Poster
Do they own the land under the track? They could be selling it to whoever owns the land inside/around the ride. Maybe they were waiting for an offer or waiting for land prices to come back up after covid?

If they don't own the land under the coaster, the lease could have been due for renewal and they decided it wasn't worth it?
 

UKCoasterFan

Mega Poster
Very sad to see that footage and photos.
I'm glad I managed to get on it twice in 2019. I believe that was the last year of operation.
Even then LWV looked sad and mostly a reflection of better days I guess.

The Ultimate was a coaster I was always wondering about ever since the days I was working as a tech support technician in 2003-2004 and in my spare time was looking at all the coasters I wanted to ride on RCDB. (Don't worry I took most of the calls in my team so wasn't slacking :cool:)

The Ultimate was very rough indeed, and not exactly a comfortable restraint, but the part through the forest was so unique. Perhaps something could have been done if a coaster enthusiast with big bucks owned the park: new track & trains or even a ridiculously long RMC conversion. There seemed to be a lot of potential for all the space and to perhaps create a proper holiday getaway. It is quite sad we don't see this happen in the UK anymore due to various reasons.

Taken during my visit on June 23rd 2019:

a38VASE.jpg
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Interestingly, Lightwater Valley apparently received planning permission recently for a glamping and lodge complex:
Source: Theme Park Insanity (Originally sourced from Sneakycoasters)
(My apologies… the Facebook link wouldn’t embed)

The proposed complex is to be built on a combination of the former Wave Swinger site and part of the former footprint of The Ultimate.

This is surprising news, in my opinion… could the park have some ambitious plans in the pipeline within this new era of targeting the under-10s? I can’t help but think that the current park offering seems a little underdeveloped to warrant investment into on-site accommodation…
 

Lofty

CF Legend
Arguably, on site accommodation changes the business model drastically.

A lot of people think you need the park to then build accommodation - that's strictly not true. Lightwater Valley is located in an AONB, where people stay anyway. What they're doing, is pushing accommodation as there's actually less risk attracting families for weekend stays (for example) than a single day out when you're competing with a lot of other options within the area.

Now, in essence, they're a resort. It has much bigger bang for their bucks. It worked wonders for Crealy.
 

spud

Roller Poster
Just seen this on the lightwater valley website, it seems the park are adding a new coaster for 2024 called the rocket coaster! No other details are known apart from the description below, but I assume it’ll be some sort of junior coaster although it does say for the older kids.(not even on rcdb yet)

The park are also adding a new jeep car ride which I saw under construction in the go safari area last year, also a new softplay and new theatre according to thier website.

Looks to be a more positive year for the park and finally seems to be seeing some decent investment from the owners.

IMG_4656.png
 
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JMW

Roller Poster
Wishful thinking, but do we know what happened to Rocket from Furivik (aka the old Black hole), I heard it was getting refurbished after it was removed, could this be it?
Website says the ride will be 1.1m accompanied - I believe a Jet Star 2's minimum height is 1.2m?
 

AidanCKY

Mega Poster
I highly doubt that this new coaster for Lightwater Valley is the former Rocket from Furuvik, because a Schwarzkopf Jet Star coaster is even more of a thrillride than Raptor Attack was. And that was a Schwarzkopf Wildcat coaster.
Yeah, although I think a lot of factors come into it. Raptor Attack had those metal stairs going to/from the ride which were pretty corroded I recall. The damp environment probably wasnt great for health and safety stuff or the rides condition.

I can see them buying something like this cheap, especially if it comes with a generator and all the signage being re-used. They are all about the bare minimum!

Although it also wouldnt surprise me if something truly terrible gets hired in for the year.
 

spud

Roller Poster
there’s some suggestion that it could be this could be airbender from camel creek, been sbno since last year and sure the park went into administration? https://rcdb.com/17212.htm

Anyway, seems like a good fit to me, the coaster even has rocket styled cars and also pink track which funnily enough the park has used for the background on rides page! Think this very well could be it.
 

liam147a

Roller Poster
Noticed LWV put “We can’t wait for you to jet off with us soon” maybe hinting at a Jet Star 2?
im gonna take a guess at the Rocket from Furuvik in Sweden then.

Its also up for sale....

 

Rob Coasters

Hyper Poster
^ This Jet Star that uses the same colour scheme as the Rocket logo is still listed as for sale. If the new coaster were to be this, this almost certainly would've either been listed as sold or removed from the website.

The relocation of Airbender from Camel Creek (which has been sitting idle since 2023, and also has the same colours as the logo) is a far more likely contender as it'll be easier to maintain for the park, and shipping costs will very likely be far less as the ride already exists in the UK.
 
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