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Drayton Manor Park

I was stuck on Accelerator half way up the launch on the back row about a month ago but didn’t think to report it to the media.
https://www.draytontalk.co.uk/threads/accelerator.36/page-2

There was a couple of kids crying but my daughter was fine with it. Maintenance explained what they were gonna do. They released the breaks and we rolled slowly back into the station and we waited in the exit area while they ran it round 3 times and we were let back on.

I see the Mellors have renamed the company setup that was gonna run Drayton Manor
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/12735919
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
I really think the day Alton Towers decides to remove Spinball it would be a good family coaster for Drayton Manor and theme it to match Maelstrom style theme or to fit into Fisherman's wharf.
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If Mellors had been successful in the partnership deal then they could have put spinning racer in and done the theming like you have suggested.

We have to hope looping group would be willing to spend enough to invest on a new coaster, even if it’s second hand.
 
Looping Group do invest decently in the properties they own. I know that Pleasurewood Hills may not necessarily have had a huge amount of major investment, but they’ve really upped their reputation in recent years, and that’s one of the companie’s smaller properties!

If you look at some of the larger properties, there is investment there. For example, West Midlands Safari Park is building quite lavish-looking safari lodges for next year which don’t look cheap, and Fort Fun Abenteuerland in Germany has apparently invested into a major retheme of their rapids ride and a Zamperla Air Race within recent years, as well as a big refurbishment of their Vekoma looping coaster Speed Snake.

Most companies seem to take the approach of diverting a larger amount of investment to their larger properties. For example, I’d wager that Merlin gives Alton Towers a far greater share of the RTP investment than Chessington, and Six Flags gives a much larger share of company investment to Six Flags Magic Mountain than Great Escape. Now I’m not suggesting that Drayton has suddenly sprouted the budget to build a Lech clone for 2021 or anything, but given that they are now Looping Group’s largest property, I’d suggest that might offer grounds to believe that the park may get higher levels of investment than some of the company’s other properties.
 
Matt N said:
For example, West Midlands Safari Park is building quite lavish-looking safari lodges for next year which don’t look cheap
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Or more cynically I thought that WMSP wanted to build new animal habitats and added lodges to pay for the animal enclosures. Accommodation makes money, but the refurbished animal areas wouldn't directly make any more money. See also Alton Towers adding yet more accommodation instead of more rides.
 
I know many will argue that the C-word will have put a dampener on potential investment prospects, but something to note; Looping Group were very well aware of COVID, and the worst of the financial damage from it was likely already behind them (or should I say, had already been inflicted) by the time they got into talks to acquire Drayton Manor.

To me, the fact that they even took on an operation that made big losses even pre-COVID after having had the financial damage of lockdown inflicted upon their company suggests that they have serious balls from an investment perspective, and clearly have some kind of plans to make Drayton Manor turn a profit. After all, why would any company buy a theme park in a time like now if they didn’t think it would make them better off in the long term?

As I said above, the park was making frequent losses even before the pandemic happened, so Looping Group must have some kind of plans in place to make the business generate a healthy profit again.
 
You’d like to think that there’s some kind of cunning plan. Although you could have said the same thing about Apex Parks in America, before they went bankrupt. Shedding all of Drayton Manor’s debt will no doubt help them though, and there will be some opportunities for centralising things like buying merchandise, and IT systems, which in the long run might save them a bit of money. Not a lot though. There might be a little opportunity for cross pollination between Drayton Manor and the West Midland Safari Park, where they market each other. The new ownership might also help to draw a bit of a line under the Splash Canyon accident.

Beyond all of that, it’ll be interesting to see what they actually do with the park.
 
I think this year they will be happy just see how the park manage to the end of Oct and will put plans in place for next March/April with just Thomas land and select rides open for Christmas/Feb half term like always.
Like the fine for the Rapids will that go to the Looping Group or the Bryans?
Looking at Pleasurewood hills they invested a lot of money on upgrading the rides currently on park so maybe we will see about 1.5m spend on the rapids after the full HSE report is out and up to 3.5m on bringing back the Pirate Adventure or another water ride as the ride system still in place and I’m sure the boats are in the building. Would love to see project mapping and screens added with some pirates as they kept the bodies of the pirates.
Then Spend 4m on a new ride coaster and 1m on the Zoo
 
It’s odd Mellors have a company like this, but then Loopings went and purchased the park. Unless Mellors are involved somehow in it all.
 
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