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Drayton Manor Park

Skyscraper said:
They already have a pirate area, where Bounty is. Flying Dutchman could be easily moved there if there is space.
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Yes, and there’s the Jolly Bucaneer sea storm and Dodgems in there as well, but it does feel that area would be nice with a tiny bit of a refresh given how strong the theming is of the areas around it are (Adventure Cove, Thomas Land, and Vikings).

A new dark ride using the Pirate Adventure building, Flying Dutchman relocated, and maybe a water based flat ride would and some nice new theming elements would make it feel like a new area if wanted to bring the middle part of the park a bit of a relaunch.


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I tell you something people moan a lot on social media.
The park is sold out and there moaning it took them a hour to get into the park. The owners have decided to open the queue lines to 7pm and there’s people asking for there money back cause of the queues been a hour long. When they booked it they must have thought it was gonna be busy
 
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Themeparksandy1981 said:
I tell you something people moan a lot on social media.
The park is sold out and theremoaning it took them a hour to get into the park. The owners have decided to open the queue lines to 7pm and there’s people asking for there money back cause of the queues been a hour long. When they booked it they must have thought it was gonna be busy
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Some people will take any excuse to try and squeeze some money out of a visitor attraction. I volunteer at a miniature railway and we had one group demand a refund because they didn't get on a steam train, even after we explained 3 times that there were no steam trains in operation that day, including before they brought the ticket, and another complaining at us that we were taking too long to load them, when they were a group of 30 (The capacity of 1.5 of our trains) that wouldn't split any smaller than 20/10 in the busiest day of the year. At some point you just stop listening.
 
Taking an hour to get into a theme park is ridiculous though.

Queues inside are to be expected, however the way in which operations are done which can affect those queues are often more frustrating than anything.

However its good to see the annual "I went to X park and only got on 2 rides in the day" stories will be out in force.
 
Most of the season they been getting 4/5 scores on Tripadviser and this week after a whole new area opened it’s been getting 1/2 😂
www.tripadvisor.co.uk

DRAYTON MANOR THEME PARK (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

www.tripadvisor.co.uk www.tripadvisor.co.uk

I think they put all there prices up to make the annual pass look very good value. Like I paid £184 for mine and my daughters passes back In October when our 2020 ran out and got my sons a week before he turned 2 so it was free. We been 12 times since I renewed ours. So it’s cost me £15.33 per visit and still got 4 and a half months to I got to active the new passes I brought before the prices went up.
When we went to Paulton’s last year it took ages to get into and out of the park but they spending £2.5 million improving this.
On Monday there was no traffic into the park but took ages to get out as it was rush hour with traffic going into Tamworth but was clear going the other way. We learned to join 1 of the longest queues at the end of the day and by the time u got off, been the toilet etc most of the traffic has gone.

Been looking at rides that could replace the pirate Adventure and I found this.


Instead of Dinosaurs keep it pirate themed but it be good to see set pieces and screens as it will feel like your part of the action.
 
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Was any of the ticket booths open? I don’t need to use them but in the summer we gonna be going with friends and family which will be using the £20 vouchers.
As I not been for a week they will doing ground work behind the Hamilton suite?
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Was any of the ticket booths open? I don’t need to use them but in the summer we gonna be going with friends and family which will be using the £20 vouchers.
As I not been for a week they will doing ground work behind the Hamilton suite?
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Ticket booths for the new second entrance at Vikings will be open, my picture does not show it well, but the furthest ticket booth to the right was open all day on the Viking entrance.
 
I’m almost definitely going to Drayton on Thursday, and I was only wanting to ask; would a maximum wind speed of 12mph and maximum gust of 26mph be likely to close attractions? Those are the figures being cited by the Met Office as maximums for Drayton Manor Park on Thursday (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcqg28jhk#?date=2022-06-09).

I only ask because I know that UK parks are quite sensitive to wind these days, and I wasn’t sure whether that kind of speed would be shutting rides or not. If you guys think this would be shutting rides, then I might hold off and go another day. If not, then I will go ahead and book my tickets, as I’d like to take advantage of the reduced rate while I still can.

The weather looks otherwise fine, but I was just curious to know about the wind in case it might be an issue.

Also, if I have an e-ticket (I think I’m probably going to go for this), do I have to go to a ticket kiosk, or can I just rock up to the turnstiles and get in with my e-ticket?
 
Judging from that photo, the theming on the new horse ride looks quite sparse.

In the past I popped out the Aerial Park entrance to eat at the Grill Inn. I think I'd be less likely to eat there now. Hopefully the food in the park will improve, as the last couple of times I've been there it's been very limited for vegans, and not particularly good quality.

In some ways it makes sense to bring people into the shiny new area, rather than past the old Super Loos and the potential construction site. It's a better first and last impression. At the same time, new areas tend to get busy anyway, and that effect will be compounded if people go straight into it. Particularly as the throughputs are quite low on the new rides.
 
Funcone said:
These days you can't even fart without The Big One closing.
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I’d imagine the coastal location compounds the Big One’s wind issues.

Do you reckon Drayton would be closing rides at 12mph max speed and 26mph max gust?
 
Matt N said:
I’m almost definitely going to Drayton on Thursday, and I was only wanting to ask; would a maximum wind speed of 12mph and maximum gust of 26mph be likely to close attractions? Those are the figures being cited by the Met Office as maximums for Drayton Manor Park on Thursday (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcqg28jhk#?date=2022-06-09).

I only ask because I know that UK parks are quite sensitive to wind these days, and I wasn’t sure whether that kind of speed would be shutting rides or not. If you guys think this would be shutting rides, then I might hold off and go another day. If not, then I will go ahead and book my tickets, as I’d like to take advantage of the reduced rate while I still can.

The weather looks otherwise fine, but I was just curious to know about the wind in case it might be an issue.

Also, if I have an e-ticket (I think I’m probably going to go for this), do I have to go to a ticket kiosk, or can I just rock up to the turnstiles and get in with my e-ticket?
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If you have an e-ticket you should be able to go straight to the gates (there are no turnstiles if I remember correctly). I don't think the wind will be an issue, but it might be worth doing certain rides first thing that are more susceptible to high winds (like Apocalypse and Shockwave).
 
Matt N said:
I’d imagine the coastal location compounds the Big One’s wind issues.

Do you reckon Drayton would be closing rides at 12mph max speed and 26mph max gust?
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One time I went in 2020 there was very high winds I can't remember how high but much higher than 30mph and in all fairness they held out as long as they could before closing anything.

However if it's a worry and you don't have a annual pass or regular visits no harm in pushing it back a week.
 
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