06-13 Lightwater Valley, Light on Attendance

Another amusement park out in the middle of nowhere and attendance is once again very light and we should be able to ride everything we want to in a very short time.



A couple of nights ago we bought tickets online for $16 each. The gate price was $23 - score! Unusual entrance building.



We're early again and only a couple of rides up front are open. Most everything else will open at 10:30. We get into the Ferris Wheel-type thing and can see the Spinning Wild Mouse on the left and The Ultimate wooden roller coaster in the distance on the right.



The Spinning Wild Mouse is running now and no one is around so we ride it. While it is on the upper track it does NOT spin. It only starts spinning on the lower section. Different parks do different things.



When we get into the station of The Ultimate coaster it is empty.



This coaster held the record for awhile as being the longest coaster in the world at 7700' long.



It NOW holds the record for having the slowest lift hill. Pitifully slow. Like "are we EVER going to get to the top" slow.



It also has a Jekyll and Hyde personality. It has two lift hills. The drop and ride after the first lift hill is very mild. The ride after the second lift hill is incredibly brutal and fast. You are holding on so that you don't get hurt. You come back exhausted from hanging on so tight. And then we road it again. And again.



They have a ride that they used to be called The Rat. The ride entrance was through a sewer tunnel. The ride is the still the same - it's really just an indoor steel Wild Cat-type coaster that you would find at most amusement parks - but the theming is now to a Raptor Attack. Karen knew what the ride was but I had no idea so it was fun finding out.





We went around riding, filming and taking pictures of other rides and then we walked toward the park entrance. We found a cafe in the entrance building and bought Karen a baked potato and me a hamburger. Both were good.



We'd forgotten to leave the room key when we checked out of the B&B so we drove the 1/2 mile back to it and dropped it off.

On the 2 hr drive to Blackpool we passed some wind turbines, some globe things we didn't know about, and some pastures like the ones we would see on our Canal Boat later in the week.







We found our motel, The Big Blue Hotel, easy enough (OK, credit goes to the GPS, which they call Sat Nav over here in England) and checked in. We'll be ready for the many coasters that Blackpool Pleasure Beach has to offer tomorrow.