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Drayton Manor Park

I'm bored at work so just had a snoop on the Loopings Group website. They have 15 'leisure parks' across Europe with a combined annual attendance of just over 4m.

4m annual attendance spread over 15 parks isn't very impressive at all is it? Do they have the capital to turn DMP around? Let's hope so but with attendance figures as low as that I find it very difficult to believe they do.
 
Benjsh said:
I'm bored at work so just had a snoop on the Loopings Group website. They have 15 'leisure parks' across Europe with a combined annual attendance of just over 4m.

4m annual attendance spread over 15 parks isn't very impressive at all is it? Do they have the capital to turn DMP around? Let's hope so but with attendance figures as low as that I find it very difficult to believe they do.
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I think most of their sites are pretty small. Drayton is now their largest.
 
The Buffalo won't be going anywhere anytime soon unless it's blown up. They've recently refurbished it and not to mention given it an on ride photography point!
 
I took some photos on Sunday.
https://www.draytontalk.co.uk/threads/the-buffalo.13/

Drayton May not have added nothing new since 2017 but there slowly been tidying up current attractions.

2016 Flying Dutchman was fully stripped down and repainted. The haunting phase 1 started with a new storyline. Shockwave Queue line repainted.

2017 Dodgems building rethemed, Pandemonium repainted, Ben 10 retheme to Accelerator and Stormforce 10 year long upgrade and the arcade repainted and rethemed inside and out.

2018 Golden Nuggets retheme, 4D cinema repaint as well with the cafe and shop. Maelstrom queue line repainted, Phase 2 of the Haunting, Carousel re-wired, Polperro Express had information added a long the route, Buffalo track repaint.

2019 Phase 3 of the Haunting with new effects in the 2nd pre show and a girl coming out of the tomb at the end, Apocalypse queue line repainted. Chicken Diner repainted and the Buffalo given a another coat of paint with the supports painted also. They started to paint the front of the pirate adventure building.

2020 Jolly Buccaneer was repainted and the wall around the ride rethemed and painted, Final Phase of the Haunting with the queue line been painted, The trailer been repainted and the Skeleton walk way been upgraded and painted, Bounty Pirate Ship had some of its theming repainted but the lockdown stopped them finishing it, Buffalo as you can see in the link above has had new signage, New control booth, New queue line, Ride photo camera added and its back to its full length again, Sheriff's Showdown had a new roof on the extension bit, Thomas Exhibition had new trains added and new signage out front. G forces rock garden and picnic area.

I hope that for next year and 2022 the outside of stormforce 10 is repainting and hopefully the Splash Canyon Case will be sorted and they can get it looking new again with the buildings repaired and repainted with a better colour scheme on Splash Canyons and Shockwave building.
The Zoo looking the best it has been in a long time and hopefully now the penguins and Lamar walk thou will get built.
 
Can't imagine they will put a huge emphasis on the animals from now on given they have their main animal park only 1hr away.

The park badly needs new rides and a few more of the existing ones updated. They could do with a entire new area / land like Tornado Springs or the Lost Kingdom at Paultons. That's what they should be aiming for. A top quality family area with stuff for all ages. Forget thrill coasters, not their market and too expensive anyway.
 
Saferi and the zoo is 2 different things like at WMSP isn’t the monkeys in cages now so they could now make there way to Drayton Manor now and there could reuse the former dinosaur exhibition building as a bat cave or aquarium and add more attractions to the theme park side of the saferi.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Saferi and the zoo is 2 different things like at WMSP isn’t the monkeys in cages now so they could now make there way to Drayton Manor now and there could reuse the former dinosaur exhibition building as a bat cave or aquarium and add more attractions to the theme park side of the saferi.
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WMSP hasn't featured monkeys in the drive through safari for at least 20 years, if at all. I think they do have a walk-through monkey exhibition added fairly recently.
 
skyscraper said:
TPWW just uploaded their Drayton Vlog;

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As I'm working from home still I just had this playing in the background given all the buzz over the recent sale. My word the park looks in a bad way.

Huge queues for Accelerator and Buffalo coaster as that's your lot right now with Shockwave out of action. With the rapids still shut and The Haunting closed due to covid it's not even a full day park right now. It's barely a half day park.

Be difficult seeing them add anything for next season given it's already August. Hopefully they can spruce up the park a little instead and then hopefully we will see some plans for 2022 released next year.
 
Benjsh said:
As I'm working from home still I just had this playing in the background given all the buzz over the recent sale. My word the park looks in a bad way.

Huge queues for Accelerator and Buffalo coaster as that's your lot right now with Shockwave out of action. With the rapids still shut and The Haunting closed due to covid it's not even a full day park right now. It's barely a half day park.

Be difficult seeing them add anything for next season given it's already August. Hopefully they can spruce up the park a little instead and then hopefully we will see some plans for 2022 released next year.
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Accelerator queue only like that cause of the 2m distancing in the queue line. We joined the queue by the entrance and was on the ride 20 mins later from the entrance it’s usually a hour queue and Buffalo cause it goes round twice that’s why the queue was so big.
 
jon81uk said:
That report makes good simple points. If the manual had been better written and clear training given then warnings would have been made about do not stand up.
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And we know why Towers and other parks still keep the waterfalls off.
 
Think the new owners will try to get this back up and running after the full report is out as it be cheaper to do than open a new ride. The manufacturers will do the boats if the new laws/rules require the boats to have doors fitted.
It don’t help with Stormforce 10 having the minimum height raised to 1.3m and both water rides in Thomas land operating without water.
 
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You can put as much training and signage in as you want. You'll never fully stop people standing up on rapids rides. Yes 99% of people abide by the rules and stay seated but I have seen idiots change seats mid ride a few times on different rapids attractions. Winds me right up. Not sure how you can ever stop that without stapling riders to their seats and obviously on a water ride that's never a good idea.
I hope they can reopen it soon though as the park badly needs it. Probably need to re-theme it too to give it a new boost.

The next 5 years for the park are going to be very important. Here's my predictions.

2021: Don't expect anything new added given the short amount of time we have now. Rapids may reopen in 2021 but I seriously doubt it. Another spruce up of 1 or 2 existing attractions is the best I can see happening.

2022: Rapids hopefully to reopen if they haven't already and maybe spruced up and enhanced a bit. New family thrill ride on the site of Gforce. A Disco would be my guess. Think that would fit well there. Not exactly unique or groundbreaking but a good fit all the same.

2023: Thomas land improvements. That's their big money spinner so got to keep it fresh and keep people coming back.

2024: A New themed area with new family coaster aimed at kids too old for TL. Family invert or a gerst family coaster being most logical as the main attraction in the new area.

2025: Quiet year. Spruce up older rides at best.


Longer term: Would love to see them do something with the Pirates Adventure building. Ideally another brilliant dark ride. Just don't know what exact state that building is in.
 
RoyJess said:
Mum fuming as Drayton Manor ride breaks down and suspends terrified son in mid air for 10 minutes

10 minutes, is that all :rolleyes:



Allergies are not on the shielding list and is not thought to increase risk to covid-19 :rolleyes:

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/burton/mum-fuming-broken-down-drayton-4413390

Another non story :rolleyes:
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Harold the Helicopter, for goodness sake, 10 minutes and you're not up that high and you're not upside down! Some people take it too far, I wouldn't mind being stuck on that ride tbh, it would give a very nice view!
 
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