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Drayton Manor Park

Benjsh said:
Going to be a real shame losing Apocalypse too. Okay if the get a coaster in as it's replacement then it's not too bad but it's a shame they can't keep it and still get a family coaster in too. The park line up needs beefing up a lot for me.
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Yeah, I could see a family launched coaster wrapping around Apocalypse similar to how Hansa park have done it with there huge new drop tower.

I certainly don't think Apocalypse has to be removed to provide a family coaster they could certainly fit one around it without removing it. I also think they could make it more family friendly with more of the Seat version and a bit of a less intense theme. It only has a 1.2m restriction for sitdown. My 7-year old nephew was able to go on Apocalypse and enjoyed it, yet he is too short to go on StormForce 10.
 
pjanvil said:
I noticed Drayton are currently pushing their Annual Pass at £99 which they now say is a limited time offer until 28th Feb. Interesting though it runs for 12 months from first visit, not from purchase. So if your planning on getting one for next year you could just redeem it when your current one expires as mine doesn't expire until September. Given the investments and current inflation, I'm expecting it to go up to £119 like Merlin parks so it might be worth existing passholders locking in for next year at current prices as think its quite reasonable for full 12 months and the £20 Share the fun vouchers (which can even be used on Fireworks night). I think £99 for an annual pass is quite reasonable by todays standards without many restrictions and parking.
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That's what we've done, already bought them in preparation for our current ones expiring in May. With 2 small kids and living 30 mins away I think it's a bargain!
 
Apocalypse is at the end of its life. It started the season with 1 sit down, 1 stand up and floorless with the other 2 been stripped for spare parts and by the end of the season the other stand up was closed with just the floorless available. When it needed parts replacing it was not rare to see just 1 tower in use. Would love to see a sit down tower maybe the height of West Midlands Safari Park open in another area of the park.

I think with the height of the building it wouldn’t be a thrilling coaster in the pirate Adventure building and I doubt it be allowed to extend on to the Excalibur lake with the animals so close by.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Apocalypse is at the end of its life. It started the season with 1 sit down, 1 stand up and floorless with the other 2 been stripped for spare parts and by the end of the season the other stand up was closed with just the floorless available. When it needed parts replacing it was not rare to see just 1 tower in use. Would love to see a sit down tower maybe the height of West Midlands Safari Park open in another area of the park.

I think with the height of the building it wouldn’t be a thrilling coaster in the pirate Adventure building and I doubt it be allowed to extend on to the Excalibur lake with the animals so close by.
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I remember speaking to the ride operator about this. Generally they use Track 2 (sit down) and Track 5 the standup floorless one. Track 3 (the standup one) is used for spare parts so would never run again. He told me track 1 (the sit down one) is not used but is fully operational and could be used. Track 4 was used for part of the season and said it could be used So I'm not sure why they don't use tracks 1 and 4 more. My only guess on this would be staff since each track requires its own staff member.
 
Benjsh said:
Going to be a real shame losing Apocalypse too. Okay if the get a coaster in as it's replacement then it's not too bad but it's a shame they can't keep it and still get a family coaster in too. The park line up needs beefing up a lot for me.
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I expect the line-up will be beefed up in a similar way to Paulton, concentrating on more family coasters.
 
Wilko said:
That's what we've done, already bought them in preparation for our current ones expiring in May. With 2 small kids and living 30 mins away I think it's a bargain!
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I renewed my pass on the offer purely so I can ride Apocalypse to the end of the season and then try whatever replaces it in 2023. I'm not sure I'll renew it after that though because I'm just not sure there will be enough for me, unless the new coaster is amazing and they reopen a dark ride in Pirate Adventure building. I suppose one consolation for Apocalypse is that we have it a year longer then initially rumoured so that gave me reason to renew my pass at least. Funny enough the reason I got a pass last year was because I thought Apocalypse was going then so wanted to go lots to go on it loads before it did go. Maybe I'll renew again if it stays another year but based on everything I've heard I doubt it will.
 
pjanvil said:
I remember speaking to the ride operator about this. Generally they use Track 2 (sit down) and Track 5 the standup floorless one. Track 3 (the standup one) is used for spare parts so would never run again. He told me track 1 (the sit down one) is not used but is fully operational and could be used. Track 4 was used for part of the season and said it could be used So I'm not sure why they don't use tracks 1 and 4 more. My only guess on this would be staff since each track requires its own staff member.
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Tower 4 developed an issue with the lift motor partway through the season that has rendered the motor permanently inoperable. To replace it would require hiring in a crane the size they will need to take the ride apart, so it is just not economical for the end of the rides life, especially when they can use it to preserve t2 and t5. It's similar to how several rows of pandemonium were permanently shut towards the end of its life and it was closed for a full week before the goodbye event to ensure it was operating, unfortunately it's just old and heading out, and therefore, its unfortunately been judged that it's not worth the investment.
 
I hope with Shockwave now on 1 train with the other used for parts, Buffalo, Accelerator and Troublesome trucks on 1 train with G-Force before that. Klondike was the last coaster they had which ran more than 2 trains so really they need a coaster that uses multiple trains to keep the thou put higher than the coasters they already got. A spinning coaster for me wins hands down for that and easily fits in that area behind Accelerator and it can be heavy themed.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Apocalypse is at the end of its life. It started the season with 1 sit down, 1 stand up and floorless with the other 2 been stripped for spare parts and by the end of the season the other stand up was closed with just the floorless available. When it needed parts replacing it was not rare to see just 1 tower in use. Would love to see a sit down tower maybe the height of West Midlands Safari Park open in another area of the park.
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I think there's a danger of conflating two things here ... Drayton have no plans to run Apocalypse beyond the end of this season, so they are stripping parts from each of the component parts of the ride system to keep the others running until its retirement. That's not the same thing as a ride that is no longer supported by its manufacturer that you're being forced to retire because it's literally at the end of its operational life.

If it was 'at the end of it its life' - they wouldn't be trying to sell it, right?
 
immelmanloop said:
Tower 4 developed an issue with the lift motor partway through the season that has rendered the motor permanently inoperable. To replace it would require hiring in a crane the size they will need to take the ride apart, so it is just not economical for the end of the rides life, especially when they can use it to preserve t2 and t5. It's similar to how several rows of pandemonium were permanently shut towards the end of its life and it was closed for a full week before the goodbye event to ensure it was operating, unfortunately it's just old and heading out, and therefore, its unfortunately been judged that it's not worth the investment.
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I thought Tower 5 (the stand-up floorless) has a similar issue a few years back which required a crane, yet it got fixed not too long ago?
 
You could probably fit one coaster on the apocalypse site, I would say you could fit one by storm force, one in PA building

with a bit of creativity I’m sure another one could go somewhere or over the lake
 
I really hope they don't install a rollercoaster in the Pirates Adventure building. With the building not designed for it I think it would be too short/not make good use of it. I've been on the new one at Movie Park (based in the building of an old boat ride there) and found it too short. I've seen a POV of the Huracan at Bellewerde (going on it in April) which used their Pirates Adventure building and again I feel it doesn't make good enough use of the building. I think coasters generally retrofitted into buildings not designed for them generally end up being a bit poor personally.
 
pjanvil said:
I really hope they don't install a rollercoaster in the Pirates Adventure building. With the building not designed for it I think it would be too short/not make good use of it. I've been on the new one at Movie Park (based in the building of an old boat ride there) and found it too short. I've seen a POV of the Huracan at Bellewerde (going on it in April) which used their Pirates Adventure building and again I feel it doesn't make good enough use of the building. I think coasters generally retrofitted into buildings not designed for them generally end up being a bit poor personally.
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But they always have the option to remove the building and put it there or alternatively, remove the building and build one for the coaster. Although that would be quite expensive.
 
The biggest problem now is they could make the building taller and make it bigger on the right side and behind but as the restaurant, Dodgems, Indoor play area, Winston queue line, toilets, Thomas shop, Sodor cars indoor area and the staff room all connect to the pirate Adventure building it wouldn’t make much sense to remove the building.
 
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