No dilly dallying, let’s get you up to speed with this week’s theme park news from around
the world!
Lightwater Valley in Yorkshire has been acquired by the Brighton Pier Group for an initial
payment of £5 million and further payments of up to £1 million.
Anne Ackord, chief executive of The Brighton Pier Group which owns and operates Brighton
Palace Pier, said: “I am delighted to welcome all the team at Lightwater Valley to the Brighton
Pier Group.
I believe that, together, we can develop Lightwater Valley into the premier amusement destination
across Yorkshire and the surrounding areas.”
The park will need some work if they’re going to achieve that though.
It’s flagship ride The Ultimate has been closed since 2019 as the previous owners were
focusing on the family market, but it still remains at the park.
The Brighton Pier Group have said they will be looking at The Ultimate in due course and
haven’t ruled out anything in terms of whether or not they will keep it.
CEO Achford describes it as “quite fascinating” and “quite a feature”.
It’s a bit of an understatement to call the world’s 2nd longest roller coaster “quite
a feature”...
She also said: “It is quite unique.
There are options to shorten it a little bit [or] to change its track.”
It seems there are exciting times ahead for Lightwater Valley!
I am still yet to ride the ultimate and I’m actually fuming.
If they reopen it I’ll be first in line.
Historic downtown Wichita is getting a roller coaster as part of it’s new Riverwalk development
project.
A site on the Arkansas River will be home to a brand new aquarium and inverting chance
hyper-GTX coaster.
We’ve only seen one of these roller coasters before, Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom,
but that one doesn’t feature any inversions.
Penumbra International who are working on the design of the site stated they are working
with Wichita-based Chance Manufacturing, a leading manufacturer of entertainment rides.
Walibi Holland are making plans for a new attraction which will replace their Go-Kart
track.
Construction fences have appeared at the site that read: “Something new is on the way”.
The Go-Kart track was closed in 2018 following an accident which resulted in serious injury
for a young guest.
Originally the park planned to re-open the attraction but despite the park being found
not-guilty in a lawsuit earlier this year they announced they would not open the track
again.
Instead, the area will be used for a new attraction which will be aimed at families.
It sits in the newly refurbished Wilderness area, so perhaps the attraction will be part
of that area.
The world’s tallest indoor roller coaster is set to open this year at Quest, a brand
new indoor theme park in Qatar.
The park will transport guests to three time dimensions - the past, present and future
- and will be home to one-of-a-kind attractions for all ages.
It will also be home to ‘Quest’s EpiQ Coaster’, the world’s tallest indoor roller
coaster and ‘Quest’s Magma Blast’ the world’s tallest indoor drop tower.
The park hasn’t released an official opening date yet but it has said it’s set to open
this year… at some point.
Progress is being made on Shanghai Disneyland’s new Zootopia-themed area.
Imaginineering posted these images on social media, showing off a massive 3-story-tall
polar bear animatronic, as well as the planting of the first tree into the landscaping in
front of the new attraction.
Not much is currently known about what the new attraction will be, but rumours are it
could be a trackless dark-ride which wouldn’t be unusual for a new Disney dark-ride.
Speaking of Disney, Cars Road Trip opened at Disneyland Paris on the 17th June.
The ride isn’t new though, it’s a reskin of the former Studio Tour within the Walt
Disney Studio Paris park.
During the experience you’ll drive past various sets with life-sized versions of cars
characters, including Lightning McQueen and Mater.
The park also rethemed the main catastrophe canyon section of the ride with cars themed
characters too.
Apparently this is just a temporary attraction until the new lands open up with the Paris’
studios park, but who knows when that will be, especially post COVID.
Canada’s Wonderland can finally reopen, yay!
The park recently confirmed that they will reopen at a limited capacity for season passholders
on the 5th and 6th of July, and then the general public starting on the 7th of July.
Canada’s Wonderland has remained closed throughout the entire pandemic, similar to
other Cedar Fair parks which were closed in 2020 too.
Fortunately though, Canadian theme park fans will be able to get their roller coaster fix
soon!
Blackpool central have launched their public consultation… but what the hell is Blackpool
central?
Well, Nikal Ltd and Media Invest Entertainment, are investing 300 million pounds in a new
world class leisure destination.
The project will include an indoor theme park, as well as other entertainment venues, multimedia
exhibits and restaurants.
Ride wise not a lot has been confirmed yet, but they have said the indoor theme park will
include a flying theatre and VR experience.
They hope to get phase one built 12 months after they’ve got planning permission - phase
one being a car park.
Then they’ll build up the development over the following years.
The overall project is expected to bring an additional 600,000 visitors to Blackpool,
along with £75 million in revenue.
Another theme park in the UK?
Count me in!
And that’s another full week of theme park news ticked off.
This isn’t a joke now, if and when the park confirms the ultimate is reopening let me
know asap.
Only tell me if it’s reopening though, I’ll be broken hearted if I never get to ride it