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Drayton Manor Park

Splash Canyon has been removed from their ride line up so either will be undergoing a re-brand or has been removed. Up until now it has always said 'currently closed'.

Pandemonium and Apocalypse still remain so I expect them to be open for the season.
 
I'm getting very bored of the repeated assertion that rides at a 'family park' should each be suitable for every member of a family as an excuse for the decimation of any adult height attractions.

A family park should offer rides aimed at each member of the family, not just rides that are suitable and enjoyable to every age ar the same time. That will include rides with a minimum height limit sitting alongside those with a maximum height limit.
 
I'm getting very bored of the repeated assertion that rides at a 'family park' should each be suitable for every member of a family as an excuse for the decimation of any adult height attractions.

A family park should offer rides aimed at each member of the family, not just rides that are suitable and enjoyable to every age ar the same time. That will include rides with a minimum height limit sitting alongside those with a maximum height limit.

and more so than that it should be a range of types and intensities. Thorpe Park struggles because a lot of their non-water rides have 1.4m restrictions.

True "family" rides should have no height restriction, but that limits you to omnimovers (Haunted Mansion, Duel, etc) and boat rides (Small World, Pirates, Bubbleworks) really, where the emphasis is the sets rather than the ride experiance.
 
Do people think Apocalypse and Pandemonium will open this year? If they haven't been sold then they could potentially operate, it is whether they will risk it (from a major break down point of view). I can't envisage them managing to remove Apocalypse midseason.

If they don't open then it will look pretty bad around the area with the tallest ride and ride next to it SBNO.
 
I guess it depends on whether they have bothered to do winter maintenance on them to pass the yearly inspections. It would potentially be a waste of money to undertake if they are selling the rides.

Or it may have been that winter maintenance unearthed problems that would have been costly to fix which made them put the rides up for sale.
 
There’s a very clear difference between Paultons and Drayton.

Removing thrill rides under the guise of “because we’re a family park” just screams desperation. It’s what American Adventure did some years ago. It’s what Lightwater Valley seem to be doing now, and it looks like Drayton could be heading that way.

I’ll never forget when American Adventure claimed that log flumes don’t belong at family parks.
 
The big obvious comparison is Towers. Aimed at the entire family with a proper range (thrill flat rides aside). You don't stop being family at 7 years old when outgrowing all the really small rides.
You can’t compare Drayton Manor with Alton Towers as 1 owed by the 2nd biggest theme park company in the world and the other 1 is building its catalogue of theme parks, Zoo’s and Aquariums across Europe.
You really can’t judge the looping group to really 2022/23 when they can put there own stamp on the park.
 
I personally don’t think there could have been a better company than Looping to buy the park. They own lots of small parks, and now Drayton is their main flagship park. This means that they’re likely to focus a lot of their time and money on Drayton, especially over the next few years. I’m very optimistic for the future of the park and I feel like everyone should stop with the continuous criticism towards them until Looping have properly gotten to grips with the park. Everyone’s saying that the park will end up like American Adventure and that it’s destined for failure but nobody actually knows what Looping have in mind for the park. It’s unfair to make assumptions based on the history of the park because it’s not owned by the Bryan’s anymore.
 
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