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Drayton Manor Park

I initially thought the idea of a seat belt on rapids rides seemed a mad idea but all the ones in America (Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Kennywood) I went on this summer had them. They were absolute soakers as well.

However I've never across them at any parks in Europe.

So I'd guess parks in the UK would have to look at this if they want to have rapids running with full effects, otherwise they'll just become lazy rivers like Towers and Thorpes are.
 
Dave said:
Think people are also putting the cart before the horse. To be found guilty/ liable of something 3 things need to happen 1) Investigation 2) prosecution 3) conviction. We have only reached point number two.

Despite what the right wing press would like you to believe, courts deal in facts, I think you have to trust them to deliver a just verdict.
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I say again - 19 out of every 20 prosecutions the HSE brings results in a conviction, such is the threshold of evidence they require to take a case to court. It is almost certain DMP will be found wanting - it’s now simply a question of what they’re found guilty of, and how costly the penalty is.

Themeparksandy1981 said:
4 people died in Australia on there rapids and the park was fined nothing.
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This was in part because of a dispute between the state government and the park as to who should have been auditing the ride. Regulations have been tightened significantly since the accident, and a new criminal change of corporate manslaughter introduced - but Dreamworld escaped that specific punishment as the law cannot be applied retrospectively.
 
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DiogoJ42 said:
I'd be interested to know just how many people have fallen out of boats on these rides over the years. And specifically what years. I'd wager accident rates on water rides have trippled since the invention of the smart phone.
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But if you don't take a mid-ride selfie, how will anyone on instagram believe you even went on it?!!!

ORP's are for losers :p
 
KolonelKlink said:
I say again - 19 out of every 20 prosecutions the HSE brings results in a conviction, such is the threshold of evidence they require to take a case to court. It is almost certain DMP will be found wanting - it’s now simply a question of what they’re found guilty of, and how costly the penalty is.

.
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no one has disputed that so you don’t need to say it again.
 
KolonelKlink said:
Then if I were you, I’d avoid irrelevant snark about the right-wing press.
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Well you are not me so I think I will decide on the relevance of my posts... You can take your passive aggressiveness elsewhere deary.

The point to which I was alluding to and you seem to have taken so much personal pain over, is that people who question the outcome of a court case before it has reached a conclusion should cease to do so, and await it’s outcome. This public distrust of the courts has mostly been due to the right wing press I think the comment is more than justified.

As I made no comment on the rights or the wrongs of the HSE choosing to litigate your disapproval seems unusual.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Drayton Manor are on course to making a bigger profit than last year and cut there debt to 2.2 million
https://www.insidermedia.com/news/midlands/drayton-manor-on-track-for-growth-after-positive-start
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If I read the article correctly. It is not the debt they have cut, I would imagine they have not paid off any debt at all. The park made a pre tax loss of £2.2m the last financial year. Which is half of the losses they made the financial year before.

The park didn't make any money what so ever. They turned over more, but that just cut their losses. Didn't make any cash for the park. I think you might be confusing turnover as profit.

Still not good news for the park going off that article because ultimately they are still loosing lots of money. The only positive thing is that they are loosing less money than the year before. But ultimately, losses like this cant be sustained.

I think more than anything, that article highlights the truly dire situation the park currently finds itself in. While its positive steps. They are still no where near out the woods yet as they still are making no money at all.
 
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DistortAMG said:
If I read the article correctly. It is not the debt they have cut, I would imagine they have not paid off any debt at all. The park made a pre tax loss of £2.2m the last financial year. Which is half of the losses they made the financial year before.

The park didn't make any money what so ever. They turned over more, but that just cut their losses. Didn't make any cash for the park. I think you might be confusing turnover as profit.

Still not good news for the park going off that article because ultimately they are still loosing lots of money. The only positive thing is that they are loosing less money than the year before. But ultimately, losses like this cant be sustained.

I think more than anything, that article highlights the truly dire situation the park currently finds itself in. While its positive steps. They are still no where near out the woods yet as they still are making no money at all.
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Yeah that's a huge loss for the park still even if it's only half of last year's. I do appreciate there was major work on apocalypse and storm force recently which will have been quite expensive
 
The full accounts are available to view via Companies House, bear in mind these accounts are for the period up to 28th Feb 2019, so essentially the 2018 season.

The park spent £0.9million in capital expenditure during the period, including work on the car parks, redevelopment of a catering outlet, upgrading of veterinary facilities in the zoo, 4D cinema and Spencer’s Play area in Thomas Land. Capital expenditure was down from £1.2million in the prior year.

Turnover was up 7% and profitability did improve, albeit still with a £2.1million loss.

The parks debt reduced by £100,000 in the year, and the park currently has £15.6million of debt. They are being supported by their banks - they have a repayment holiday on two loans with payments not due to start again until summer 2020. These payment holidays equate to £927,350 that they would have otherwise had to pay out in the year.

Seems they are coping ok right now and can afford to run the business and they have the support of their banks. It seems to all come down to how quickly they can pick up trade, they do still have a reasonable credit rating.

Hopefully they will survive.
 
Hi All,

Thought I would bump it on this thread as it’s about the 2021 season and not the incident. Rumours have it that the park is going full family route going forward.

Supposed new attraction for Thomas Land in April, and sources say (although not completely confirmed yet) that 2020 will be marketed as the last season to ride Apocalypse and Shockwave!

There’s also quite a few roles that have been pulled for the new season, so they clearly want/need to make savings!
 
Sam Mathews said:
and sources say (although not completely confirmed yet) that 2020 will be marketed as the last season to ride Apocalypse and Shockwave!
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I'll take any rumours with a pinch of salt. If this is true, then Drayton Manor will be off my visiting list. Apocalypse is the only reason why I visit no-a-days. If this (and shockwave) goes, then I doubt there will be much of a future for Drayton Manor as a theme park

All I hope is that Alton purchase Apocalypse, they are in desperate need of some new flats and why not install one of the worlds best
 
I think Apocalypse is a little too tall for Alton Towers even after building a pit. (It is 54m tall so the pit would need to be about 30m deep)
 
Apocalypse won't be able to be moved as the foundations are half of it's height again underground. Removing it would damage them beyond repair. However I could see Maelstrom moved to Blades site in Towers. They desperately need another thrill flat.
 
What purpose would Apocalypse serve at Alton Towers, in the same park as Oblivion? Not to mention, the two parks share a large crossover audience, many of whom would surely look at it and think, "Why is Alton Towers buying a second-hand ride from Drayton Manor?"

I think there's something in the rumour about Shockwave and Apocalypse disappearing. They would surely lose the end of term school trips market if they removed thrill rides entirely (hopefully Maelstrom can stay?), but then, recent events have probably already impacted that kind of business already.
 
Plastic Person said:
What purpose would Apocalypse serve at Alton Towers, in the same park as Oblivion?
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Why build another secret weapon rollercoaster? Alton already have 9 rollercoasters in total, for the simple reason that each ride offers a completely different ride experience and Apocalypse offers a completely difference experience to Oblivion
 
skyscraper said:
Apocalypse won't be able to be moved as the foundations are half of it's height again underground. Removing it would damage them beyond repair. However I could see Maelstrom moved to Blades site in Towers. They desperately need another thrill flat.
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I am not entertaining the prospect of Apocalypse being moved to Alton, but you can move Intamin drop towers between parks, that's a solved problem. You move the tower and stick it on a new foundation.
 
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