Lightwater Valley will reopen next weekend, with new attractions and activities to attract families of younger children.
The adventure park near Ripon said visitors can expect a new discovery woods, dodgems, new food outlets, a hall of mirrors, an old-school amusement arcade and a new character for children to meet.
Ebor the Lightwater Dragon will meet and greet visitors and have his photo taken.
The friendly dragon is part of the park’s re-brand towards younger children aged up to 12 and will be at the centre of the daily entertainment programme throughout the year.
Discovery Woods will include a lakeside nature trail, a mud kitchen and cloud gazing.
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The park would not be complete without its rides, of which it has more than 35.
Some old favourites like the Eagle’s Claw, Skyrider and the Lady Bird rollercoaster will reopen alongside some gentler rides such as the carousel and the Lightwater Express train.
The Eagle’s Claw
The park has not confirmed if larger rides like the Ultimate will reopen but with its focus now on younger children some rides no longer fit the brief.
Treetop Trails, where visitors can walk across trampoline nets high above the park, will reopen.
Will Lightwater Valley ever reopen rollercoaster The Ultimate?
Lightwater Valley theme park near Ripon opened this weekend after more than four months of lockdown. But much-loved rollercoaster The Ultimate, the longest in Europe, remained shut.
Now doubts have been raised as to whether it will ever re-open, as the park re-orients towards a younger audience.
Lightwater Valley welcomed back families and children with new rides such as Go Safari, Hot Air Balloons, and Treetop Trails saying it was wonderful to have visitors return.
However a spokesperson for the park said:
“Whilst the Ultimate will remain at the Park it will not run for the 2021 season. This is part of a wider development plan for the Park where Lightwater Valley are re-calibrating the visitor experience to more fully encompass families with younger children. Their aim is to offer an exciting, new series of fun adventures and entertainments for an audience which has so often been overlooked.”
Read More:
- Lightwater Valley re-opens after lockdown
- Lightwater Valley fined £330,000 after boy thrown off Twister ride
The last few years have seen ups and downs for Lightwater Valley, even before being forced to close because of the covid pandemic.
Lightwater Valley’s strategic report for 2019-20 revealed how an accident in May 2019 accident on the Twister ride was a major reason for a significant fall in visitor numbers. The company was later fined £350,000 for health and safety breaches.
Following the incident the company said it had :
“Undertaken a root and branch review of all its Health and Safety procedures and controls and implemented a range of new initiatives to maximise safety for customers and staff as well as ceasing operation of all the major ‘thrill’ rides.”
WATCH: Lightwater Valley reopens at 30% capacity
Lightwater Valley theme park is open to the public again and running at 30% capacity.
To ensure social distancing around the park three of its rides – the Ultimate, Raptor Attack and Apollo – have been closed and the number of visitors has been limited. The park is targeting young families for the summer season.
Colin Bowes, general manager, said:
“We’re working at 30% capacity at the moment so we can control the distancing the best we can.”
The park has plans to increase its capacity a little but will continue to measure this with visitor safety.
The park reopened on July 18 bringing all of its full time staff back to work. Due to the lower capacity only 150 seasonal staff have been hired, 100 fewer than the 2019.
Mr Bowes added:
“What we’re trying to do is keep the business going and protect jobs.”
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Lightwater Valley set to reopen this weekend
North Yorkshire theme park Lightwater Valley will be welcoming visitors back as it reopens this weekend.
The theme park will be operating with reduced capacity and all visitors will need to pre-book tickets online. The park will have an increased cleaning regime along with floor markings and hand sanitiser stations.
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The general manager at Light Water Valley, Colin Bowes, said:
“We are delighted to be able to start welcoming visitors back but we also know how crucial it is that they feel safe. For this summer, to help us manage visitor numbers and keep everyone safe, we are focussing on running the rides and parts of the park which are more suited to a younger family audience.”
Lightwater Valley has been closed for over 3 months.
Most of the rides will be open but The Ultimate, Raptor Attack and Apollo remain closed. Indoor play areas will also be closed and food will be take out only.
Lightwater Valley to reopen next monthLightwater Valley will re-open to visitors on Saturday July 18, but its most popular ride The Ultimate will remain closed.
To ensure social distancing, the theme park will initially operate with a reduced capacity and all visitors must pre-book tickets online.
To begin with, it will focus on running rides that are suited to a younger audience, so The Ultimate, Raptor Attack and Apollo will be closed.
Read more
Staff will introduce extra cleaning and hygiene measures on site and queue markers are being put in place to help visitors keep a safe distance apart. Some on-site cafes and the gift shop will also reopen.
General Manager Colin Bowes said:
“We’re delighted to be able to start welcoming visitors back but we also know how crucial it is that they feel safe.
“We’ve allowed ourselves a little extra time to ensure everything is fully in place for opening on the 18th and we’re confident we’ve been able to accommodate a range of protective measures without compromising the visitor experience”
Any visitor who shows symptoms of coronavirus will be asked to return home.