North Yorkshire theme park, famous as home to the longest rollercoaster in Europe, The Ultimate...
North Yorkshire theme park, famous as home to the longest rollercoaster in Europe, The Ultimate...
Opened | 1969 |
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Season | April to October |
Owner | Livingstone Leisure Ltd |
Operator | Lightwater Valley Attractions Ltd |
Website | www.lightwatervalley.co.uk |
Nearby | Flamingo Land (31 miles) Gulliver's Valley (58 miles) South Pier, Blackpool (66 miles) Blackpool Pleasure Beach (66 miles) Gulliver's World (68 miles) |
Lightwater Valley, home of The Ultimate
Lightwater Valley is a theme park in North Yorkshire, probably best known as home to The Ultimate, one of the longest rollercoasters in the world.
Alongside The Ultimate, Lightwater features other major rides including Raptor Attack, an indoor Schwarzkopf rollercoaster; Lightwater Wheel, a large ferris wheel; and several flat rides.
The park began life as a small farm open to the public, with small rides and other attractions slowly being added. However, Lightwater Valley really became famous in theme park circles in 1990 when they began construction of The Ultimate, which at the time was the longest rollercoaster in the world with over 1½ miles of track.
For many years, Lightwater has not enjoyed a great reputation and it seemed ever more appropriate that "twat" was even contained in the park's name. In the past it was a bit scummy, an impression not helped by some of the music choices played within the park: I'm still unsure that a song about smoking weed and smacking your bitch up is really appropriate for a family attraction.
However, recently there has been some investment and, although still not in the premier league of UK amusement parks, there have been noticeable improvements at the park. If it weren't for The Ultimate, there wouldn't be much reason to go out of your way to visit Lightwater Valley, but the ride in itself is good enough reason to check it out - it's definitely a unique experience!
Europe's longest rollercoaster, built by British Rail
Dinghy slide
Small spinning rapids ride
Traditional horse carousel
Ladybird themed family rollercoaster from Zierer
Kiddie coaster