herbinator
Mega Poster
In the midlands/north area, what is the best park to visit if I can only visit one. Light water valley, flamingo land, drayton manor or some other park, not including alton as I going there already! :--D
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LWV, Flamingo land or drayton?
- Thread starter herbinator
- Start date
MouseAT
Hyper Poster
Overall, Flamingo Land is probably the best of the three parks. It's not got any really stand-out rides, but taken as a whole, it's a pretty good day out these days with a good selection of rides.
Lightwater Valley is somewhat lacking in good attractions, but it's a fairly attractive park, has the Eagle's Claw (an afterburner with amazing airtime) and of course The Ultimate, one of the best (and most lethal) roller coasters in the country.
Drayton is a reasonable enough park, but once you've been there and ridden everything the park has to offer, there's very little reason to trek all the way back. Not that I wouldn't go back - just that it's not worth inconveniencing yourself to do so.
What is The Ultimate worth to you? If you REALLY like the idea of whoring that coaster (and dealing with the inevitable bruising afterwards) then go to Lightwater Valley - The Ultimate is a genuinely amazing experience, and there should at least be enough other attractions to keep you busy for a day, even if they're not exactly world class. If you're not too bothered about The Ultimate or you value your kneecaps, Flamingo Land is probably the better all-rounder for a day out.
I assume you've either already been to Blackpool or it's a no go for some reason?
Lightwater Valley is somewhat lacking in good attractions, but it's a fairly attractive park, has the Eagle's Claw (an afterburner with amazing airtime) and of course The Ultimate, one of the best (and most lethal) roller coasters in the country.
Drayton is a reasonable enough park, but once you've been there and ridden everything the park has to offer, there's very little reason to trek all the way back. Not that I wouldn't go back - just that it's not worth inconveniencing yourself to do so.
What is The Ultimate worth to you? If you REALLY like the idea of whoring that coaster (and dealing with the inevitable bruising afterwards) then go to Lightwater Valley - The Ultimate is a genuinely amazing experience, and there should at least be enough other attractions to keep you busy for a day, even if they're not exactly world class. If you're not too bothered about The Ultimate or you value your kneecaps, Flamingo Land is probably the better all-rounder for a day out.
I assume you've either already been to Blackpool or it's a no go for some reason?
herbinator
Mega Poster
I have not been to black pool but was not sureif it was worth it, I know It has a lot of rides but are they good?
I'd do Blackpool over any of them three to be honest.
Andy summed everything else up really... LWV has the best ride of the lot in the Ultimate, but other than that theres not a lot.
Drayton is a waste of time, you'll have done everything in 2hours 30mins max.
Flamingo Land has enough to keep you going for the whole day, but none of the rides are anything to really write home about.
Blackpool is great and sometimes you can't fit everything in in one day, PMBO, Grand National, Big Dipper, Irn Bru, Steeplechase.... all great classic coasters (except PMBO thats not that 'classic').... then theres the few flats and more minor coasters.
Do it.
Andy summed everything else up really... LWV has the best ride of the lot in the Ultimate, but other than that theres not a lot.
Drayton is a waste of time, you'll have done everything in 2hours 30mins max.
Flamingo Land has enough to keep you going for the whole day, but none of the rides are anything to really write home about.
Blackpool is great and sometimes you can't fit everything in in one day, PMBO, Grand National, Big Dipper, Irn Bru, Steeplechase.... all great classic coasters (except PMBO thats not that 'classic').... then theres the few flats and more minor coasters.
Do it.
Inverse
Hyper Poster
Blackpool has got to be first priority.
Second place depends on what you want? Go to Flamingo Land for credits. Or Lightwater Valley for the experience of The Ultimate. One great ride vs many okay ones.
I don't think Drayton is as bad as people here have made out. Although they are right in saying it's not worth re-visiting, you've not been before. Drayton has 2 ride types you can't get anywhere else in the UK with Shockwave and G-Force, and although they are short I found them both to be enjoyable. Maelstrom is great and if you're a drop-tower fan, how can you argue with Apocalypse?
Second place depends on what you want? Go to Flamingo Land for credits. Or Lightwater Valley for the experience of The Ultimate. One great ride vs many okay ones.
I don't think Drayton is as bad as people here have made out. Although they are right in saying it's not worth re-visiting, you've not been before. Drayton has 2 ride types you can't get anywhere else in the UK with Shockwave and G-Force, and although they are short I found them both to be enjoyable. Maelstrom is great and if you're a drop-tower fan, how can you argue with Apocalypse?
Danzibarr
Mega Poster
Agree with what everyone above is saying; you've gotta go to Blackpool.
Whilst it's not full of modern coasters, the ones that are there all seem to have character to them, the woodies are great. Plus if you count your coasters you can add 10 to your list in a day (12 if you count steeplechase as 3 coasters [which you SHOULDN'T :lol:])
Out of the other three, they're all worth a visit. LWV as a park isn't, but if you haven't been on the Ultimate before, you have to go.
Drayton was one of the first parks I visited, my parents took me there a lot when I was young. I like it. It doesn't seem to improve much, although Thomas land is good..
I like to call Flamingo Land Vekoma Land, it does have a lot of Vekoma! It's worth a visit but has no groundbreaking ride experiences [I haven't been since Mumbo Jumbo opened however, although I doubt this changes anything], they all seem to merge to make a general good day, whereas at LWV you have the Ultimate and Drayton you've got a stand up coaster, an x car coaster, a stand up drop tower and a reversing log flume.
So yeah, do them all if you can!
Whilst it's not full of modern coasters, the ones that are there all seem to have character to them, the woodies are great. Plus if you count your coasters you can add 10 to your list in a day (12 if you count steeplechase as 3 coasters [which you SHOULDN'T :lol:])
Out of the other three, they're all worth a visit. LWV as a park isn't, but if you haven't been on the Ultimate before, you have to go.
Drayton was one of the first parks I visited, my parents took me there a lot when I was young. I like it. It doesn't seem to improve much, although Thomas land is good..
I like to call Flamingo Land Vekoma Land, it does have a lot of Vekoma! It's worth a visit but has no groundbreaking ride experiences [I haven't been since Mumbo Jumbo opened however, although I doubt this changes anything], they all seem to merge to make a general good day, whereas at LWV you have the Ultimate and Drayton you've got a stand up coaster, an x car coaster, a stand up drop tower and a reversing log flume.
So yeah, do them all if you can!
Ignoring Blackpool which is (I shall avoid being inflammatory) one of the best two parks in the country, I'd order them Flamingoland, Drayton, Lightwater - but it's easy to swap Drayton and Lightwater.
Oddly, just three years ago I'd have said Drayton top, then probably Lightwater and then Flamingoland. However, Flamingoland have invested exceptionally wisely and produced a great park out of what was once a real mess.
None of the coasters (for me) stand out at FL, but they're all okay and there are plenty of them. The full range of things to do though at FL is superb - loads to keep you occupied now.
Drayton has done nothing really. Thomas land is brilliant, but only if you have kids. The rest of the park has had very little work or improvements made for maybe four or five years. The zoo is very poor when compared to Flamingoland's. However, there are some (again, in my opinion and I know I'm in a minority
) great rides. Shockwave, Maelstrom, Apocalypse and Pandemonium I love. So it's an odd mix of run down, poorly maintained rides, but the rides that are working are decent.
Lightwater? Everyone should ride The Ultimate at least once in their life. The rest of the park is mediocre at best. However, I really anjoy the openness of Lightwater. It's the kind of park I love with lots of space, grass, trees and places to just chill out and sit around doing nothing.
Anyway, go to Blackpool first
Oddly, just three years ago I'd have said Drayton top, then probably Lightwater and then Flamingoland. However, Flamingoland have invested exceptionally wisely and produced a great park out of what was once a real mess.
None of the coasters (for me) stand out at FL, but they're all okay and there are plenty of them. The full range of things to do though at FL is superb - loads to keep you occupied now.
Drayton has done nothing really. Thomas land is brilliant, but only if you have kids. The rest of the park has had very little work or improvements made for maybe four or five years. The zoo is very poor when compared to Flamingoland's. However, there are some (again, in my opinion and I know I'm in a minority
) great rides. Shockwave, Maelstrom, Apocalypse and Pandemonium I love. So it's an odd mix of run down, poorly maintained rides, but the rides that are working are decent.Lightwater? Everyone should ride The Ultimate at least once in their life. The rest of the park is mediocre at best. However, I really anjoy the openness of Lightwater. It's the kind of park I love with lots of space, grass, trees and places to just chill out and sit around doing nothing.
Anyway, go to Blackpool first
Nemesis Inferno
Strata Poster
Danzibarr said:
Why not 3 coasters for Steeplechase? It's a racing coaster with 3 different tracks... Each one is different hence 3 coasters... (Just bringing THAT arguement in :lol
This is a tricky decision tbh, since I've only frequented Drayton more than once, and I quite like it atmosphere wise... Coaster-wise it's crap, but it's not a serious park, and has 3 great flats (Maelstrom, Apocalypse and Pandemonium)... And the zoo is good as well...
Flamingoland, been a while since I went, seemed an ok enough park... And also gained points for meerkats (like Drayton), but there weren't really any stand-out rides... Kumali was average as was Velocity...
Lightwater has Ultimate... That's it... Does have some nice wide spaces which I do like... But seriously... Ultimate is the only thing that park has... So I'd probably put it last...
So for me it's either Drayton or Flamingoland... And I dunno which one to choose... (Choose numerous comments on my stupidity on actually liking Drayton :lol
EDIT - May as well include Blackpool...
Haven't been there since Infusion was built (before it opened), and well... It's hard to say... Grand National got ruined by the new trains (Not Amanda's fault... or is it? :lol
, and most of the park is alright... Some unique rides (at least for now at the rate it's going), but Blackpool has nothing nowadays that makes me want to go back (already got Infusion as Traumatizer, and don't count moved coasters twice), maybe if they built something relatively major, I would go back, but atm, it's not really worth the long trip...On the plus side, Wild Mouse...
A
Anonymous
Guest
i would say flamingo land