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Drayton Manor Park

I don't mind G-Force as a ride but the restraints system is hell. They are uncomfortable and I am so happy once you get back to the station and they release. Being stuck upside down with them would be horrible though.
 
The papers are just jumping on everything ride related it seems
They seem determined to destroy the theme park industry


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Any idea how long they were left hanging?

I couldn't imagine the pain they must've been in if it was any longer than 10 minutes.
 
I don't think the lift is reversible either, so when the problem was fixed, they'd have had to endure the ride itself before they could be freed!
 
Any idea how long they were left hanging?

I couldn't imagine the pain they must've been in if it was any longer than 10 minutes.
According to someone of fb they was moving again after about 3 minutes


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I don't know how Mauer Sohne X coasters work, but you'd think there would be some kind of system to at least make a train getting stuck upside down highly unlikely. Of course 3 minutes isn't a massive length of time (although agreed it's long enough to be uncomfortable and scary if they don't know how long it will be). It's possible that there is a back up system but it doesn't kick in straight away. Could the ride have been E stopped (for example if someone entered a restricted area or even an accidental E stop if someone lent on a button?).

It's also possible that part of the reason it only has one train (which seems silly when you think about the cost of a train) is that a second train would increase the likelihood of something like this happening. Once you have multiple trains the block system starts to get more complicated increasing the chance of a train getting stuck on the lift.
 
Drayton was a maybe for us today, but when I looked at ride availability Stormforce 10 and Pandemonium are still closed (Splash Canyon, also). Are they still working to reopen Stormforce or have they written it off for this year?

The last time it didn't open with the park was 2005, or so (around that time, anyway) and it opened in June, as I recall.
 
It makes me wonder if they have purposely kept Storm Force 10 closed as a form of damage control to stop any unwanted bad press.
 
It makes me wonder if they have purposely kept Storm Force 10 closed as a form of damage control to stop any unwanted bad press.
Maybe - or maybe they have reviewed the risks associated with running water rides without restraints and are rethinking.

Having it closed seems to have had a mixed response reputationally. Some people are annoyed, the Thomas Land crowd don't care and there are some locals who are very positive about the park and think people should quit moaning.
 
Certainly a negative effect as far as I'm concerned. Normally visit Drayton either once or twice a season but I haven't bothered this year as a direct result of the numerous ride closures.

Wouldn't surprise me if many others take a similar view, or if the park receives complaints from those who do still attend.
 
It's quite frankly been the worst year that I can remember for ride closures in the UK.

BPB started the season very badly, I think they've got things sorted finally. Towers continues to have appalling levels of down time on all coasters, recently including Nemesis!

Drayton appears to have beat them both though with major rides still closed, such as Storm Force, Pandemonium (may have reopened recently?), Flying Dutchman, Rapids (obv), and GForce was down for some time earlier in the year. Plus Apocalypse only having 2 working Towers...

UK aside, do we think there could now be some serious finacial issues facing Drayton? Even Buffalo had it's train cut in half at the start of the year. It's like they all of a sudden can't afford maintenance? Obvs the Rapids accident has had a huge impact, as they rolled out a half price summer event recently for online tickets.

So in a nut shell, it's been a shocking year for UK parks reliability wise, and Drayton could be doomed..lol
 
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