Drayton Manor Park

Pirate Adventure cost 3.5m In 1990.

Sorry for the double post a update for the 4th November court case.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-49072723

Why on earth is it going to court? Were there signs saying remain seated?

If I read it correctly, it's a Jury inquest not court, HSE are yet to make a charge decision.

Nice read from Blooloop - Drayton Manor: George Bryan on how the traditional family park is looking to the future

G-Force is currently being sold, new family ride on the site next year with the area being rethemed with a seaside vibe.

Thanks for posting, a really good read.

Unfortunately, I don't hold out much hope for the new area or ride. Splash park?

The article has been edited since it was first published to remove any mention of G-Force or it’s replacement.

Themepark-newbie said:

Thanks for posting, a really good read.

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Except it’s not really, is it - I know Blooloop is the online equivalent of a trade magazine masquerading as journalism, but to ‘chart the history’ of Drayton Manor without mentioning any of its recent troubles, then remove the only news line from the piece (presumably at DM’s request), is pretty poor all round.

On DraytonTalk https://www.draytontalk.co.uk/discussion/
I been doing many park updates since the start of the season and for the past 3 months a lot of work been done at the back and side of the pirate adventure. A lot of land has been cleared and the pirate adventure boats have been removed so I’m wondering if they been put back into the maintenance area.
Also this past week they been on the pirate adventure roof and some of the theming has been nicely removed so they can repair the roof.
Now reading that article this statement:
In terms of ride technology, Bryan says, “I think the whole VR thing is something of a flash in the pan, personally. It’s a good technology to add to an ageing ride to re-vamp it. It’s cheaper than buying a new ride and the content can be improved and updated, but I don’t think it’s a necessity. I think it’s nice to have, but not essential.”
Now they talk about a ageing ride to revamp and I think that’s the pirate adventure. It’s the only section of the theme park they been working on since April/May.

Themeparksandy1981 said:

On DraytonTalk https://www.draytontalk.co.uk/discussion/
I been doing many park updates since the start of the season and for the past 3 months a lot of work been done at the back and side of the pirate adventure. A lot of land has been cleared and the pirate adventure boats have been removed so I’m wondering if they been put back into the maintenance area.
Also this past week they been on the pirate adventure roof and some of the theming has been nicely removed so they can repair the roof.
Now reading that article this statement:
In terms of ride technology, Bryan says, “I think the whole VR thing is something of a flash in the pan, personally. It’s a good technology to add to an ageing ride to re-vamp it. It’s cheaper than buying a new ride and the content can be improved and updated, but I don’t think it’s a necessity. I think it’s nice to have, but not essential.”
Now they talk about a ageing ride to revamp and I think that’s the pirate adventure. It’s the only section of the theme park they been working on since April/May.

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Thats reads as a general statement about the use of VR not that Drayton are planning on adding it to a ride.

Plans for next year are a small tracked ride and water play area to replace G-force and a seaside themed area to go along side it and all retheme the whole of that area, which I assume will be an extension of Stormforce 10/Maelstrom theme style.

Also the rapids could be coming back if they win the court case against them.
You can’t say nothing happening around Pirate adventure as work men have been there since the start of the season. Even on Sunday the compressor room was open as could see a few maintenance staff In there while I was on the train to the farm.

Themeparksandy1981 said:

Also the rapids could be coming back if they win the court case against them.
You can’t say nothing happening around Pirate adventure as work men have been there since the start of the season. Even on Sunday the compressor room was open as could see a few maintenance staff In there while I was on the train to the farm.

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I am not saying nothing is happening to the building but saying don’t jump to conclusions about VR based on the article. I am sure something will eventually happen to the pirates ride building. not sure it will be next year though and what they currently be doing is just clearing the building out and fixing issues with the roof.

The VR bit is a no/no but as the park only added Air Race and James and the red balloon is the past 5 years and removed the chair lift,Big Wheel and soon G-Force the park they really have spend there money upgrading the zoo and the theme park. They repainted the Flying Dutchman, Pandemonium, the Buffalo, Stormforce 10 and added new theming and Apocalypse and also given a new retheme to the Haunting, Ben 10 to Accelerator, Golden nuggets to Sheriff showdown, repainted and added theming along the route of the Polperro Express, Added a new themed building around the Dodgems and theme inside Keeping the pirate town theme and the retheme of the 4D cinema from Yogi bear to Ice Age and I heard they doing the drunken Barrels during the closed season which will complete the top end of the park. So with all the rethemes and park upgrades over the past 3 years you can’t write off that the pirate adventure could be coming back or a new themed ride inside using the current route.

I think that this seaside area and family track ride could be a good fit for Drayton Manor, personally! Whether you like the idea or not, it will certainly be more fitting for Drayton's new target audience than G-Force was.

The thing to remember is that Alton Towers and the like aren't really who Drayton is competing with anymore. They are competing for the younger family market, going up against the likes of Chessington, Legoland and Paultons Park amongst others. This will give them something additional for their core family market to do, so I think it could be a very good fit for the park!

Also, I feel that if the theme is executed well, it could be a better fit with surrounding attractions like Stormforce 10, Maelstrom and to a lesser extent Shockwave, as all of these kind of have seaside/fishing village themes like this new area will have! Also, "family track ride" could even mean some form of attraction with a nice storyline; what was it that @DistortAMG and @Sauron97 mentioned about Drayton needing to focus on immersive attractions a couple of pages back?

They might as well just rip Shockwave out whilst they're at it. At least that way they can't be considered the worst park for thrill coasters in the UK.

I hope that they keep some form of thrill line-up because when I last went, all the queues were on the thrill rides.

Matt N said:

I think that this seaside area and family track ride could be a good fit for Drayton Manor, personally! Whether you like the idea or not, it will certainly be more fitting for Drayton's new target audience than G-Force was.

The thing to remember is that Alton Towers and the like aren't really who Drayton is competing with anymore. They are competing for the younger family market, going up against the likes of Chessington, Legoland and Paultons Park amongst others. This will give them something additional for their core family market to do, so I think it could be a very good fit for the park!

Also, I feel that if the theme is executed well, it could be a better fit with surrounding attractions like Stormforce 10, Maelstrom and to a lesser extent Shockwave, as all of these kind of have seaside/fishing village themes like this new area will have! Also, "family track ride" could even mean some form of attraction with a nice storyline; what was it that @DistortAMG and @Sauron97 mentioned about Drayton needing to focus on immersive attractions a couple of pages back?

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I like your optimism, as someone that has grown up around the park, I would say I am biased towards the park, but I like to think some of my points still carry weight.

I am all for this new area, it is currently a dorment area of the park, so anything to bring that back to life is welcomed with open arms. G-Force was rubbish anyway, let's face it. Anything is going to better than that. But I hope they can pull someone off that isn't necessarily big or expensive, but fits into the park, and compliments the park well. A track ride will compliment the park well.

Drayton Manor do not and never will be in direct competition with the likes of Chessington, Paultons or Legoland. Not only are those parks located hundreds of miles away, they sit in and around the most populated area of the UK. Drayton Manor sits on the edge of the second most densily populated area in the UK (West Midlands). Which is and always will be the main driving force in visitor numbers to the park.

This isn't to say the can't learn a thing a thing or two from what they are doing down south though!

They should not totally write off the thrill ride section though. While they were adding some of the country's best highly themed rides back in the 90's and late 2000's. They were also adding some world class thrill rides.

Fast forward 20 years to the present day, Storm Force 10 is still one of the best water rides in the country, Maelstrom one of the best themed thrilling flats and Apocolypse, the best drop tower in this country.

Other parks still haven't caught up, in that specific neice area only...... the DMP situation is very difficult and unique...

The owners say there main aim now is Families with kids under 12. My daughter now is 1.2m tall now and there’s only 3 rides in the park now she ain’t tall enough for. You got to see it from my 7 year old point of view and the enjoyment she gets out from the place. Been a season ticket holder we get to the park around 11 and enjoy the rides to 1 then get the train to the farm to enjoy lunch then she always goes on Terence driving school and if it’s not raining on the outdoor play area then we spend some time looking round the Zoo as they always have new animals all the time then head back into the theme park to closing time. We go on average twice a month.

About 19 years ago, Drayton Manor theme park was on the up and a great alternative to many competing theme parks here in the UK.

Whilst over the years other Theme parks have improved on their thrill rides, Drayton Manor over the last decade has gone down hill. Unless things improve with Drayton, then all I can see is that it will soon end up having the same fate as America Adventure.

I think the only way Drayton can survive is to beat Merlin on customer service because Merlin don't seem to care when people complain about 6 hour openings and hour queues. Paultons are able to win best theme park on Trip Advisor because their relationship with their customers is very good.