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Drayton Manor Park

Funcone said:
In terms of the second question, there are perhaps three answers you could give:

a. Yes, they should bring back a scenic boat ride, possibly with a different theme, or at least with a new story, characters and effects.
b. They should build a new dark ride in the Pirate Adventure building, but not a boat ride.
c. They should do something completely different. Perhaps a roller coaster in a different area of the park (maybe around Aerial Park). Or maybe turning Aerial Park into a cohesively themed area would in itself be the 'major' project.
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yep and then it is working out which would be the best investment for the parks target audience. I would say that for the families they are aiming for a scenic boat ride would make a lot of sense and adds to the number of all-year all-weather attractions.
 
In regards to the top area to park where Drunk Barrels is located and with a mish-mash theme they’ve got up there I can’t help but think a nice German/Bavarian theme would work up there.

Since seeing the Heidi Coaster at Winter Wonderland the park could buy two of these and have them side by side like at Animal Kingdom at Disney and add some theming around to create a mini area. The idea has been circling my head all last night and could even re-theme The Haunting into a Fun House? German Hotel maybe? This also frees up the possibility to start from scratch on a new Haunted House.

I just think it could work as a new area and be pretty cheap to do but effective. The themeing I love on Drunken Barrels anyway.
 
Excalibur said:
In regards to the top area to park where Drunk Barrels is located and with a mish-mash theme they’ve got up there I can’t help but think a nice German/Bavarian theme would work up there.

Since seeing the Heidi Coaster at Winter Wonderland the park could buy two of these and have them side by side like at Animal Kingdom at Disney and add some theming around to create a mini area. The idea has been circling my head all last night and could even re-theme The Haunting into a Fun House? German Hotel maybe? This also frees up the possibility to start from scratch on a new Haunted House.

I just think it could work as a new area and be pretty cheap to do but effective. The themeing I love on Drunken Barrels anyway.
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I think its more likely to be western because of the wild west shooter ride. Drunken barrels could be fitted in quite easily.
 
The Haunting will be getting a clean up, touch up inside and new effects and old repaired during the closed season. They started the work in Jan 2020 with the trailer been repainted and new lighting installed then in the Skeleton corridor with the skeletons painted in UV paint and new effects added in there (strobes and bigger smoke machines) then the flood happened then the 1st lockdown and they didn’t get to do the 3rd pre-show room and the ride itself then it was left with just the usual maintenance taking place when it reopened to the public in July this year.
Drunken barrels really needs some TLC with the paint coming off the ceiling and around the top of the outside theming. They upgraded the lighting on there to LED and completely removed the post the signage was on. I don’t know how much longer the Flying Dutchman got left at the park as it be 40 years old in 2023.
 
I can see the argument for saying it'd be a shame to put in another boat ride when they did that 30 years ago. But Thorpe Park did something innovative using cutting edge technology, and that wasn't exactly well recieved. There is some cool technology out there for modern dark rides with trackless systems, motion bases etc. But presumably they cost a lot more than a boat ride, and are more expensive to maintain and have more complex engineering. A boat ride does appear to be a practical ride to buy.
 
Funcone said:
I can see the argument for saying it'd be a shame to put in another boat ride when they did that 30 years ago. But Thorpe Park did something innovative using cutting edge technology, and that wasn't exactly well recieved. There is some cool technology out there for modern dark rides with trackless systems, motion bases etc. But presumably they cost a lot more than a boat ride, and are more expensive to maintain and have more complex engineering. A boat ride does appear to be a practical ride to buy.
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Part of the issue with a new boat ride is they would need to buy brand new pumps, and those (especially the bigger ones) can cost thousands.
 
The looping group with its major shareholders have already said Drayton Manor is there flagship park and they know they can’t complete with Merlin entertainment but I’m sure they looked at Paulton’s park as a bench mark they want to get to by 2025. They both got good young family IP areas but Drayton aimed to 5 year old now they looked at the 1m to 1.3m group range with bringing back the rapids, Revamping shockwave and the other attractions in the area while adding a new ride 1m tall kids can enjoy with a adult and 1.2m tall on there own.
What Drayton have over Paultons at the moment is dark rides and if the pirate adventure building is used again and marketed well I could see the park having there best season in over 10 years.
 
Also, given that Colin sold the park and I'm presuming land to Looping, what’s happening with his house? As that’s technically on property? unless he’s sold that with it too? I can’t imagine him selling it though, I’m sure it’s his family home where his mother and farther used to live to and would have been brought up in.
 
Excalibur said:
Also, given that Colin sold the park and I'm presuming land to Looping, what’s happening with his house? As that’s technically on property? unless he’s sold that with it too? I can’t imagine him selling it though, I’m sure it’s his family home where his mother and farther used to live to and would have been brought up in.
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Last year speaking to staff members they still own the houses and even today they decorated up for Christmas. Colin got another house in Lincolnshire.
I wonder if Colin still got his DMP car number plate.
 
Dora said:
Again, how would you know that?
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Probably because I’ve been told by people who work there… not exactly hard to figure out is it? I don’t see why this person would lie about it to me, so unless you want to prove me wrong with evidence “Dora”, then there’s no need to keep this conversation going.
 
Dora said:
Again, how would you know that?
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Ciaran said:
Probably because I’ve been told by people who work there… not exactly hard to figure out is it? I don’t see why this person would lie about it to me, so unless you want to prove me wrong with evidence “Dora”, then there’s no need to keep this conversation going.
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I can back Ciaran up here, having worked with him in the past. He has a very good relationship with the park and it's staff, so is a very reliable source. :)
 
Burbs said:
I don't think there's any harm in challenging the source of information, and there's certainly no need to get irate over it. Let's be nice to each other please!
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Thank you. I’m simply questioning the legitimacy of the information source.

Not a fan of this “I know because I have an inside source” mentality that’s all. It’s people’s livelihoods in jeopardy at the end of the day.

Kindness is power. Let’s all be nice
 
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Dora said:
Thank you. I’m simply questioning the legitimacy of the information source.

Not a fan of this “I know best because I have an inside source” mentality that’s all. It’s people’s livelihoods in jeopardy at the end of the day.

Kindness is power. Let’s all be nice
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I never said I know best I was just staying facts. As an employee of the park don’t you think you should be setting a better example?
 
Ciaran said:
I never said I know best I was just staying facts. As an employee of the park don’t you think you should be setting a better example?
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How do you know they are an employee?
Why do they need to set an example better than "please cite your sources"?

If what you are saying is such a fact then provide something to back it up. Even if it is just "I've heard from people working at the park that...".

Your first response including the "not hard to work that out" came across rude and dismissive. Also why should the person challenging be the one to provide evidence, when you made the statement of "fact"?

If you had first posted that "My friends who work at the park have told me they got given bits of the ride as souveners" reads a lot better than just "a lot of the parts of it were given to staff".
 
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