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Drayton Manor Park

This will please my son. He is really looking forward to it. Shame I working for the next 3 weekends.
pjanvil said:
I had an email saying there will be exclusive access for annual passholders for a period but after launch on 28th may and they say date/time tbc
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I got the email too. It reads the following.

Experience a whole new land of discovery, in our brand-new Vikings area! Enjoy all our exhilarating rides and attractions, inspired by ancient gods and legends.

Opening from Saturday 28th May, you won’t want to miss out. Join us for exVIKING fun this May Half Term.

As an Annual Pass holder, you’ll be invited to have exclusive access to the area – giving you the chance to experience the brand-new rides and attractions without the queues. Keep your eyes shield to find out more!
 
To be fair even if the plans for a new coaster / attraction are quite far ahead I don't see the benefit to the park in announcing anything now. I bet a fair few folks have delayed a visit until the new area is opened. If there are further major developments planned you don't want it impacting on immediate attendance (even as I can imagine the impact will be pretty small)
 
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rob666 said:
Again, we are talking about the new big signature coaster...none has been promised or announced, a new big project is planned, nothing mentioned about a coaster.
There is a lot of presumption going on here, I remember the big new coaster for the millennium...still waiting over two decades later.
And that was from the park's manager at the time.
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Andy Hine described it in an interview as a multi million pound investment that all enthusiasts will look forward to. It's probably safe to assume it is indeed a big new coaster.
 
Assume.
Can make an ass out of u and me.
Still no mention of a signature rollercoaster, twenty two years on.
Time will tell, but after previous experience with the park with unfulfilled promises and projections, I'm still not holding my breath.
 
This is a big project and theses markings go from the back end of Accelerator and across to the Pandemonium site and to the top end of the park behind the toilet block and across to the back of the Hamilton suite. I think originally it was gonna be a smaller coaster on the Apocalypse, Pandemonium and Test track site but think it maybe another big new area which will include removing Apocalypse, Pandemonium queue and test track not also the toilet block and the former fish and chip site.
It would explain that the entrance/exit at the top of the park will be closed off and why they installed that pathway down from the hotel to the entrance 2.
 
rob666 said:
Assume.
Can make an ass out of u and me.
Still no mention of a signature rollercoaster, twenty two years on.
Time will tell, but after previous experience with the park with unfulfilled promises and projections, I'm still not holding my breath.
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I would agree with you - if the park was still owned by the Bryan’s. However I believe the Looping Group will give the proper investment and I think something good will be built.
 
Drayton Manor is back!!

Coming off the quality of last years basic but pretty decent quick investment. Then the quality of this. I think it is safe to say the park are now getting back to their stride, the stride of adding decently themed attractions. Something that dried up apart from Thomas Land.

Really looking forward to this area, equally if not more looking forward to what is next.
 
This is one of the few times when I'm happy to have been proven wrong, two years ago I wasn't sure Drayton would pull through as they were just rebuilding from a storm as covid hit. After attempts by Mellors to buy the park failed, the park was bought by the Looping Group and people were saying a Looping Group takeover would be only slightly better than the park closing. Now I've seen the new area with some nice crowd-pleaser rides and good theming, I am significantly more confident about the future of the park (despite the new logo)!
Interesting how there were several parks we were worried about losing to Covid but I don't think we had any actual losses and some parks have invested more after Covid than for several years before it!
 
Yes, the additions are good, however… I’m going to be critical and harsh purely for the connection I have to the park.

How can this be classed as one of the best themed areas in the UK? It’s literally Shields dotted everywhere, shrubbery and fences? Am I the only one seeing this? Apart from a wooden chair that’s been installed? I’m yet to see a Excalibur boat installed if at all.

I will reserve judgment till I see in in person, but it’s hardly the best themed area in the UK. And you’d be a fool for believing so in my opinion. Again, the park could do better and install actual physical themeing.
 
I wonder when this update was filmed? I’m just surprised with just 9 days to go the re-themed Buffalo trains ain’t even back on the track yet.
I think with still a week to go more theming will be added but all 3 new attractions are looking great.
 
The area looks perfectly fine for a mid-tier park like Drayton, and along with Adventure Cove is a welcome investment after several years of stagnation in the main park. But let’s not try and make out like it’s a hottest thing in the UK park scene. That isn’t an attempt to discredit the area by any means. As I say, I think it’s a good investment. But as others have said, it’s nothing Earth shattering. They’ve hardly gone and built Klugheim. I’m not sure I’d even say it seems on par with Tornado Springs from what I’m seeing.

The key thing to bare in mind is that the park and Looping Group are still very much in their honeymoon period. Let’s not forget how Merlin swooped into Towers after years of hit and miss with Tussauds, opening Mutiny Bay, Cloud Cuckoo Land and a refurbishment of the Skyride. At that time we all thought they were the best thing to happen to the resort and seemed to be a great improvement on the previous operators. The future was looking bright. Now we have traveling fair rides and castoffs from Midway attractions.

New investment is good, but it has to be sustained. That is where we will know for certain how good/bad this new tenure is going to be.
 
Drayton Manor were never a top tier park, they never made top tier investments compared to the competition. A few good bits, but on the whole were always in the shadow of Tussauds and Merlin.

Given that, I maintain by my statement that Drayton Manor are back, making non earth shattering but solid investments. Something they used to do, but stopped nearly 2 decades ago. So in that respect, they are seemingly back doing what they used to do pretty well.

They can be back now and not later. It is not an indication that they will always be making solid investments, not an indication that it is the best thing in the UK, just a statement of where they are right now relative to what they used to do.

In terms of right now in the UK park scene, it is not the hottest thing for sure, but the hottest thing this year? Absolutely. Not much else has been built or opened yet. So it could be argued it is the hottest new thing for the year, based on what else has opened this season. Maybe as the year progresses and we see what Valhalla and the likes are like, that could change. But right now, nothing else has opened. Making this the biggest new thing right now.
 
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I do agree about the honeymoon period, and it’s interesting to make the comparison to Alton Towers and Merlin. It is a slightly different situation though. In Alton Tower’s case, the park did seem to be very profitable at the time, and DIC had treated it as a cash cow. It therefore seemed reasonable to expect significant investments from Merlin. Drayton Manor clearly has been struggling for a while, despite serious efforts from the Bryans. Some of the issues like the flooding and Covid may have been one offs, but I think our expectations were lower for Drayton Manor.

The DIC period wasn’t really that long. Alton Towers had Air in 2002, and the water park in 2003. Alton Towers had a few bad years before Merlin came in, but there wasn’t that much ‘rot’ to undo. Even in the dark years of DIC we got investments like Rita, which were disappointing by Towers standards, but in Drayton Manor’s case investments went down to a trickle. Drayton Manor had been struggling for a while, and whilst the Bryan family still made some good efforts, by the time The Looping Group came in, the park was a shadow of what it had been. Look at all the rides that had been removed: Pirate Adventure, Splash Canyon, G Force, Excalibur, The Cable Car, The Big Wheel…

Having said all of that, I agree that we shouldn’t get carried away. I think this Viking area looks good, but most areas do look good when they’re brand new and everything’s pristine. But I also agree that aside from all the paint being fresh, it probably isn’t as well themed as Adventure Cove or Thomasland. In a way it’s relatively easy to impress people with this because it doesn’t replace much. The ride replacing Apocalypse will have a harder act to follow. In a way the alarm bells for Merlin were when they did the sale and leaseback. It’s a bit early to say whether The Looping Group are in it for the long haul. Outside of Drayton Manor they aren’t known for big investments. If they don’t see returns on their investment at Drayton Manor, the money taps might turn off again.
 
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