Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park — Attraction in North Stainley with Sleningford

Lightwater Valley, nestled in the scenic North Yorkshire countryside, continues to position itself as a "Family Adventure Park," largely catering to families with younger children. Our recent visit offered a mix of positive experiences and some notable disappointments, particularly concerning changes to attractions. Overall Experience: 7/10 The park offers a decent day out for families with little ones, especially if you manage expectations regarding thrill rides. Attractions & Rides: 6/10 Lightwater Valley still boasts a good selection of rides tailored for younger children, including gentle carousels, the popular Wild River Rapids, and the Splash Falls (perfect for warmer days). The Dino-Roar Adventure area and the Riggmoor petting farm remain engaging. However, the disappointment stemming from the removal of popular attractions like the Eagle's Claw and the large net-climbing structures was significant. These were previously big draws for a slightly older age group within the family demographic, and their absence was keenly felt, limiting options for more adventurous kids. Staff Friendliness: 9/10 A definite highlight of our visit was the staff. From ride operators to park attendants, everyone we encountered was genuinely friendly, helpful, and had a positive attitude. This significantly contributed to a pleasant atmosphere and made interactions smooth and enjoyable. Queue Experience: 8/10 One of Lightwater Valley's enduring strengths is its often manageable queue times. Even on a reasonably busy day, we found that waits were generally short – rarely exceeding 10-15 minutes for most attractions. This is a huge bonus, especially when you have impatient children in tow, allowing you to get on more rides throughout the day. Cleanliness & Maintenance: 7/10 The park generally appeared clean and well-maintained. Rides looked operational and safe, and common areas were tidy. However, some areas, particularly around older attractions, could benefit from a refresh. Food & Drink: 6/10 Standard theme park fare is available – think burgers, hot dogs, and snacks. Quality is decent but not outstanding, and prices are typical for a theme park setting. We recommend bringing your own picnic to save money and for more variety. Parking Experience: 7/10 Parking is ample and relatively well-organised. There's usually plenty of space, and getting in and out isn't overly complicated. It's a fairly straightforward start and end to the day. Value for Money: 6/10 While prices are generally lower than some of the UK's larger theme parks, the reduced number of larger/more adventurous attractions, particularly the removal of the Eagle's Claw and the nets, makes the overall value feel slightly diminished compared to past visits. If your children are solely interested in the smaller, gentler rides, then it offers better value. In Conclusion: Lightwater Valley continues to provide a fun day out for families with younger children, largely thanks to its friendly staff and refreshingly short queues. However, the decision to remove popular attractions like the Eagle's Claw and the extensive net climbing areas is a significant drawback for those who previously enjoyed them and for families seeking slightly more adventurous options within the park. It remains a good choice for a less intense theme park experience, but be aware of its current focus. (Written by AI but all info is correct regarding the experience and...

Went with my partner and our 3 year old girl on a Saturday.

We paid £40 in total which was £20 each for me and the missus, our little girl got in free. We booked this via their website which worked out a little bit cheaper. I think the normal price is £24 worth checking. We were a little bit worried that they're wouldn't be much to do for our little girl due to her height (just under 1 meter) but these worries were quickly dismissed. It's a shame there isn't an option to pay a little less to get in the park if you're not planning to go on any of the rides which was the case for me and my partner.

Upon on arrival the car park was busy but we easily found a parking space and there was plenty of spaces left in the overflow car park. We queued for about 5 mins to get into the park which wasn't too bad.

On entering the park we were greeted by a big dinosaur mini golf course. It looked fantastic. The dinosaurs all moved and our little girl found this amazing. Unfortunately the golf was £3.50 per person, per round. We found this really excessive considering we'd just paid £40 to get in. Was a shame really because it looked like they had invested a lot of money into it but if you're a family of say 5, that's £17.50 on top of your entrance fee. We gave it a miss as we were on a budget and it looked like everyone else did too as it was empty most of the day. Maybe it would make sense to charge £1 per person and get people using it ?

Once in the park we walked for about 2 minutes and found there was actually loads of rides for the little ones to go on. We went on about 5 rides all designed for little kids.

We then decided to get the train to see what was around the park. I'd say this is a great way to get a feel for the park. The park is actually stunning. The train station is nestled just on the lake and this is an amazing view. It also helped that is was really sunny 😎 We took the train all the way around the park and departed where we had started as this give us chance to have a little walk.

We walked thowards the back end of the park and on the way we found a tractor ride that runs on rails that went though a little farm. As my little girl loves tractors and animals she found this amazing. She was also allowed to sit in the front and drive which she found great 😂

We then arrived at the back part of the park which again was very clean. We decided to have our picnic on the grass bank which was near the the train track. As we had our picnic the train would come past every 10 mins or so and our little girl got to wave to the people on the train, all good fun.

In this area there was about another 4 or 5 rides that the little ones could go on. There was a little dipper roller coaster too which our little girl loved, and the young lad operating it was really involved asking if they wanted to go around again which all kids screamed "yeah!!!!" Nice little touch.

All in all I'd definitely recommend light water valley. I feel it probably needs a few more tripple A rides for the bigger kids or adults so it can draw in more people but overall I think it's a great theme park.

They also had an offer on for returning customers to pay £15 so me and the misses night just go back to have a go on the ultimate and the claw and of course...

We have just arrived home from a ‘day out’ at your theme park.

Me, my wife and my 6 year old daughter were completely underwhelmed.

Where to begin…

Poor signage at the entrance Shoddy road surface on the way in The fact we were told to park bonnet first ‘in a bush’

We were given no park maps and told to use the online map. Understandable given the pandemic. However there is little to no signal around the park depending on the mobile network and I was astounded that you didn’t even offer free WiFi for guests. So you are saving on printing costs and don’t even offer free wifi to your guests to use your online map. As an alternative we were told to take a photo of the tiny singular sun-faded map taped to the customer information desk.

A large proportion of the park is in desperate need of some TLC. However, what disgusted me the most was the amount of weeds everywhere. This doesn’t cost a lot of money and would make the whole place look a darn sight more cared for and a more pleasant place to be.

The farm yard ride was a joke. The duck pond had no water in it, some of the animals’ habitats were partially covered by weeds and the tree planters in the farm yard looked horrible - they were more weeds than trees.

It’s a shame you have very little pride in the appearance of your business and the park experience of your customers.

Additionally, we queued for the powder kegs for 30 minutes. Got to the front of the queue and it broke so we couldn’t go on.

Some of the minimum ride-height signs are poorly located - literally at the entrance to the ride - not at the start of the queues. We queued for 20 minutes for two rides only to get to the front and find my daughter was marginally too small to go on. Had the signs not being totally obscured by the huge queues it might not have been as big a deal.

So all in all, we queued for 3 rides and didn’t go on them.

Many other rides also seemed to be closed.

Some of the staff were ‘okay.’ However, 90% were down right miserable with the kids and didn’t even acknowledge them - this is particularly bad on some of the smaller rides. Very poor considering you are refocusing your park for the younger generation.

Your main roller coaster is closed yet you are charging extra - in addition to the park entrance fee - for your ‘virtual rollercoaster’ (£8 for double rider & £5 for a single rider!) - how can you justify this?! I would genuinely like an answer to this question.

Smoking - despite the no smoking and vaping signs, there are adults smoking around kids near the attractions and not in the designated areas - this is not your fault - except no staff members were enforcing ANYTHING! They just let them do it.

The queues for some of the kiddy rollercoasters were huge - smaller kids just won’t queue for that long.

Just a completely lousy and typically British theme park experience.

I understand a lot of business have been impacted by the pandemic… including yourselves, but some of this is nothing to do with the pandemic - it’s just slack and lazy service. If this was my business I would be ashamed. I would have gone round the park and weeded and repainted those areas that needed it myself...