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Drayton Manor Park

DistortAMG said:
They do yeah. They have always opened late in the Spring / Summer.

I cannot recall a single major ride that has not opened before Easter.
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Apparently Shockwave was 26th March 1994, but that was some years ago now…most of the recents seem to be either Easter or Summer.

G Force was summer (26th July), Apocalypse was late spring (27th May), Accelerator was spring (21st April), Air Race was July, Adventure Cove was August… Drayton’s recent trend certainly seems to be towards late in the season openings!
 
Hjohno90 said:
Bit of aerial footage of the new area on TikTok… couldn’t seem to share, check out @flyuk
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Yea i saw that ok tiktok too and i was trying to see if there was anything going on and there is and he is flying directly over the triangles but i cant share it either
 
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You can see the footers for the Disko. I would also say the footers look like they match those for the Disco Coaster Model the same as Chessingtons and Paultons. Rather than the standard or mega disko models which don't have the hump. Although it was rumoured to be the larger model there was talk it was a mega disko as well, which is what Zamperla call their larger version that doesn't feature the hump in the middle (same as flamingo lands), which I kind of expected them to go with as its a cheaper model.
 
Its rumoured to be getting a new name and theme to fit the new area (hopefully some further work to the ride as well). Not sure how true but one rumour is it will have a Loki serpent theme/name, and I assume an updated train lead car train design to match the theme as will look odd if still the standard buffalo themed train!
 
I was listening to this Podcast https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/188...-Park-vertelt-over-recente-bouwprojecten.html from the ride operations head at Europa Park and they talk about the rebuild of Pireten in Batavia. Interesting in relation to Pirate Adventure they mention the fact the ride was no longer manufacturered an that it wasn't in the catalogue anymore, however the ride operations head says "But it was in the unofficial catalogue" but they basically had to relearn a lot about the ride system again. I'm wondering if the rebuild of Batavia has given Mack rides the knowledge they had previously lost to be able to restore the ride system of Pirate Adventure (maybe to a different theme) and support it going forward. In other words the rebuild of Batavia makes it more likely that Pirate Adventure ride system can be restored then before.
 
Drayton replied to a tweet yesterday regarding bringing it back with 'gone but not forgotten'. I'd take that as it's not coming back, certainly as it was, or close to. I'd imagine the building is earmarked for something completely different in the future.
 
I know the comparison between Air's tunnel and Pirate Advenuture is probably a bit tongue in cheek. But without wanting to kill the joke, they are different situations. The cost of theming Air's tunnel would be tiny compared to the cost of bringing back Pirate Adventure. Galactica was a golden opportunity to sort the theming out, but instead they went for a short lived VR system. Even if people liked the VR, the fact it was so short lived does imply that theming would have been a more permanent and better use of the money. The Looping Group might not be prioritising Pirate Adventure, but Splash Canyon, Adventure Cove and the new viking area (if that's what it is), may well be a sensible use of the money.

The Buffalo gets a lot of criticism, but so do most family coasters. If you look at most enthusiast's top coasters they're all fairly intense. I like powered coasters, and the fact it goes out over the lake is a bonus. If they do a good job with the re-theme it will be a decent family coaster. I'm not a massive fan of disco coasters, but it will be the park's biggest genuinely new ride in a long time. The park had somewhat moved away from immersive themed areas (aside from Thomas Land), with Action Park losing its Wild West elements. Another clearly defined area will be a good thing for the park.

Apocalypse will be a big loss (and I liked Pandemonium), but things are definitely exciting at Drayton Manor.
 
Maybe I'm missing something but why can't Drayton afford to do rides on a scale they used to in the past eg Pirates Adventure/Shockwave. The park gets over 1m visitors a year which is way more then many European parks which do get big rides and impressive theming. For example Walibi Belgium had 855,000 visitors in 2019 and has impressive theming on some attractions such as Popcorn Revenge and had a massive new rollercoaster in 2021.

I know we compare Drayton to Towers down the road but Drayton based on its attendance is a big park, so I don't understand why they can't afford comparable projects to similar sizes parks based on attendance.

I know Merlin parks get more but it would be interesting so know how much of that is inflated through the Merlin Annual pass over people paying just for a ticket which I suspect is a much higher percentage at Drayton. Therefore revenue per guest should be higher at Drayton.
 
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