Raptor Attack

Raptor Attack is a re-themed roller coaster at Lightwater Valley. The coaster started life as the Sewer Rat, a roller coaster which was built in a large warehouse hidden behind a large grassy hill. You entered the ride through a tunnel themed as a sewer, with running water and sound effects.

The re-theme has gone to make the ride much better – it has given fresh life to what was a tired ride. The queue line has been given a face lift. A simple bit of work of nailing old wooden planks to the roof and shop works really well as the mine theme that the ride starts out with. The new Raptor Attack logo takes pride of place amongst this making it the best ride entrance on the park – it shows that they have thought about this.

As before with the Sewer Rat, the queue line is split into two parts. You are held outside the tunnel before being sent down in small groups. The staff are kitted out in mining gear which is a nice touch. The tunnel entrance has had its old wooden doors removed. In their place is quite an elaborate 'mine entrance'. With a hint of Jurassic Park about it with a fake steel door, it looks really good. The tunnels are dark and water can be heard echoing through the whole system. They have used the old tunnels, and why not, it would cost a fortune to replace, but they have added 'mining' theming. This is basically roof struts as you would see in a mine. Further in the queue line fossils start appearing on the walls which look good and just as you get to the station area a caged area with bloodied computer equipment sets the scene for the rest of the ride.

The coaster cars have lost their old Rat shells, replaced with mine carts. The coaster itself remains unchanged, except with the addition of some new theming. Inside the coaster 3 raptors wait for you passing, bright lights highlight them and sound effects play their roars. To my surprise the raptors are not static, they actually move towards you, and the speed at which you pass by make them really effective – in fact the very last one made me jump, something which doesn't happen after all these coaster rides!

The ride doesn't end when the train arrives at the station – you need to exit the warehouse somehow, and why not carry on with the mining tunnel theme? The tunnels take you back out to a shop, via a steel staircase with water dropping down the middle. A few extra surprises here go to finish off the ride very well – in fact one goes to add a final scare....which I will leave you to find out!

So, Lightwater Valley have a new ride, a heavily themed roller coaster. The natural comparison is with the other new heavily themed roller coaster, Thirteen at Alton Towers. Alton Towers have heavily advertised their ride and the public believe it to be the next big thing, a huge thrilling roller coaster through the woods, which nothing could be further from the truth, its a family roller coaster with a bit of a twist, nothing special, just an OK ride. Raptor Attack on the other hand hasn't been advertised nearly as much, and the public don't know a lot about it. It outdoes Thirteen as a thrill ride. The coaster itself is an old Schwarzkopf Wildcat – a compact coaster which contains many steep drops. After all these years, the Wildcat does a good trade at seaside resorts, but, turn out the lights and it turns a nice roller coaster into something really thrilling and disorientating – you cannot see what is coming, and to tell the truth, I had to look up what type of coaster this is – after all the rides over the years on Wildcats, I didn't recognise the layout!

I think that Lightwater Valley have done a really good job with Raptor Attack. They have shown that a simple coaster layout with excellent theming goes to make one hell of a ride. I don't usually re-ride coasters now on the same day, yet I rode this 3 times, and I am looking forward to visiting again in the future.....in fact, Lightwater Valley, see you at your Halloween event for the fireworks!