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Drayton Manor Park

Thoughts on Vikings. It looks nice they have done a great job and definitely a step up for the park from recent years. I see what people mean about needing more greenery but that will come also see what people mean about the throughput on Loki. Different and fun but less intense then it looked. Enjoyed Sephir as was a bit different. Thor was fun but I suppose I still don't consider a Disk O which even M&Ds have to be an acceptable trade off to Poccy
 
DistortAMG said:
No, Storm Force 10 is much wetter now than it used to be. You only ever used to get a soaking on the back row on the backwards drop. The other rows and especially the front used to get off relatively well.

You now get almost as wet on the front as you do on the back. It never used to throw water on the front of the boat like it does now in the backwards drop. I've rode the ride since 1999, just this year was the first year since the refurb I've rode it.

It is not like you get a small bit wetter now than you used to, you get much wetter, especially on the front.

I have noticed the configuration of the water level control holes have been re configured from what they used to be. Which are basically multiple circle holes in the concrete trough near drops. The first two drops have them and the configuration of how many are open is now changed from what it used to be pre refurb. This will directly impact the water levels. The whole ride had new sensors fitted throughout, so more than likely they had to re conffigure the levels to ensure the new sensors were triggering properly. The boats hardly touch the bottom of the trough now also, in between drop 1 and 2. Whereas before they used to be barely floating and always hitting the bottom, because the water level was different.

Just ride it, the thing never used to soak you like it does now. I've rode the ride hundreds of times since 1999. It has changed. It is no luck, no matter where you sit and no matter how full the boat is, you will now get soaked. Period.

As for Pirate Adventure, I would have thought it is more the case of they used the spare space under the drop area as maintenance space. Rather than building it up high to go over a maintenance space, if that makes sense. You start up high because they wanted to put a drop in the ride, exactly like the Disney ride it was based off, nothing more, nothing less.
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Sorry to disagree, but I used to avoid the front seat, to avoid the massive wave that came right over the boat on the backwards drop.
Every last time.
The biggest, wettest, splash of the ride.
 
Fair enough. I guess it can be hit and miss. But I've always found the front to be pretty dry on the backwards drop.

In any case, they have reconfigured the multiple holes that control water levels in drops. The backwards drop has about 20, all about the diameter of a football. You can see them as you ride and on videos. More are closed now than used to be, meaning the boats are now dropping into deeper water on that backwards drop.

The first drop has all 4 of its holes now open, when previously and for years, one was covered up with a piece of sheet metal.
 
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Just looking for photos of said holes. You can see the ones for the first drop here, along side one set of three for the backwards drop. Photo from that excellent Coaster Review blog with all the construction photos of the ride.

20220611_134105.jpg
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
It’s had all new fencing and was half repainted when my daughter went on it 2 weeks ago and it had a bit of a queue. Just needs better theming as it’s no where as good as it was themed when it was in Thomas land and now the former area is such a mess now after they started ground work on that Kids tea cup ride and then the flood and lockdown hit and it’s been a dumping ground since.

Look how small it was and how many they used compared to today.
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the little trains that go round in a circle use to be in that spot before the expansion opened and they moved there
 
DistortAMG said:
Just ride it, the thing never used to soak you like it does now. I've rode the ride hundreds of times since 1999. It has changed. It is no luck, no matter where you sit and no matter how full the boat is, you will now get soaked. Period.
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I've been round 21 times this season. As I said I'll bow to your knowledge baout how it compares to previous seasons but I can tell you that when we went round, twice, with the same boat riders we suffered much less with two big lads squeezed in behind us. We were on a run of 5 that time, this was runs 2 & 3. It was noticeable.
 
RustyShackleford said:
I've been round 21 times this season. As I said I'll bow to your knowledge baout how it compares to previous seasons but I can tell you that when we went round, twice, with the same boat riders we suffered much less with two big lads squeezed in behind us. We were on a run of 5 that time, this was runs 2 & 3. It was noticeable.
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Oh yeah, you are going to get even wetter with heavier people in. But the point I am making is you get very wet now, especially when compared to previous seasons. You are now getting close to Valhalla levels of wetness now.

Back in the early 2000's we would do 10 to 15 goes in a row on the ride. You can be just as wet after 1 or two runs now, which is totally soaked through.
 
Themeparkplanet said:
the little trains that go round in a circle use to be in that spot before the expansion opened and they moved there
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Terence was there from 2008 to 2010 with Blue Mountain engines opening in the same spot in 2011 to 2014 when it was moved to the new expansion area for the 2015 season. Then it was a smoking area to the end of the 2019.
 
Update from today.
Sleipnir now has 2 members of staff at each end of the station. It also has had its audio added to each horse.
We were only there from half 1 but Thor still having a lot of downtime problems. Loki on the other end is doing great.
Maelstrom was down today. The motor which makes the ride go round was replaced
7EA7C1A0-C3C0-406D-B577-E8C12ABF9D42.jpeg
It was testing around half 3 but not sure if it opened at the end of the day.
I had a good look in the door way of the pirate adventure and there looks like there been a lot more removed and the parrot outside was still partly open not sure if they were testing to see it still worked.
743DF7D7-30F4-4083-883F-C6F06B983349.jpegE33B7A21-0F06-49F4-81B4-E85F1C3AE053.jpeg
I really wanted to look in there but didn’t want to get into trouble with my kids there.
Also my son wanted to go on Thomas but missed that train so got Rosie instead but cause it was the end of the day it was a return trip only anyway didn’t have my phone ready but the maintenance doors were nearly fully open and I can confirm that I could see some of the boats in there. I took a pic coming back but cause it was the end of the day the doors had been closed a bit.
D082D70E-09FD-4C58-8CF4-C6BBBD76B53B.jpeg
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Update from today.
Sleipnir now has 2 members of staff at each end of the station. It also has had its audio added to each horse.
We were only there from half 1 but Thor still having a lot of downtime problems. Loki on the other end is doing great.
Maelstrom was down today. The motor which makes the ride go round was replaced
7EA7C1A0-C3C0-406D-B577-E8C12ABF9D42.jpeg
It was testing around half 3 but not sure if it opened at the end of the day.
I had a good look in the door way of the pirate adventure and there looks like there been a lot more removed and the parrot outside was still partly open not sure if they were testing to see it still worked.
743DF7D7-30F4-4083-883F-C6F06B983349.jpegE33B7A21-0F06-49F4-81B4-E85F1C3AE053.jpeg
I really wanted to look in there but didn’t want to get into trouble with my kids there.
Also my son wanted to go on Thomas but missed that train so got Rosie instead but cause it was the end of the day it was a return trip only anyway didn’t have my phone ready but the maintenance doors were nearly fully open and I can confirm that I could see some of the boats in there. I took a pic coming back but cause it was the end of the day the doors had been closed a bit.
D082D70E-09FD-4C58-8CF4-C6BBBD76B53B.jpeg
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yes the audio was on friday maelstrom must have closed yesterday or today great seeing Loki on 3 staff and thor had 0 downtime on friday odd
 
That parrot box was not partially open a week ago. I remember looking at it myself.

It makes you wonder..we know the Apocalypse site is not being used for next year's attraction. So I wonder what is planned for next year and where? Pirate building maybe? Pure speculation at this point. But loopings have started bringing old ride infrastructure back. Aka River Rapids.
 
DistortAMG said:
That parrot box was not partially open a week ago. I remember looking at it myself.

It makes you wonder..we know the Apocalypse site is not being used for next year's attraction. So I wonder what is planned for next year and where? Pirate building maybe? Pure speculation at this point. But loopings have started bringing old ride infrastructure back. Aka River Rapids.
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I think next year we will get a phase 2 to vikings with either a walkthrough in the old vertigo building and outside behind walhalla or a new ride not sure what though
 
Oh please Pirates Adventure for 2023. We wouldn't see much beforehand either so could be in full swing inside for all we know. I noticed the door at back was wide open on Saturday too but couldn't really see much inside unfortunately. I think pirates adventure reopening is about the only thing they could do to make up for the loss of Poccy. I was trying to remember what the budget Loopings signed off on for their 5 year plan. Was it £5m investment for 2020 and £3m per year for the 4 years after that? Does anyone remember?
 
pjanvil said:
Oh please Pirates Adventure for 2023. We wouldn't see much beforehand either so could be in full swing inside for all we know. I noticed the door at back was wide open on Saturday too but couldn't really see much inside unfortunately. I think pirates adventure reopening is about the only thing they could do to make up for the loss of Poccy. I was trying to remember what the budget Loopings signed off on for their 5 year plan. Was it £5m investment for 2020 and £3m per year for the 4 years after that? Does anyone remember?
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Oh please, it has been dead for the best part of a decade!
They have spent two whole years bringing back Valhalla, which was still functioning before closure.
You can't expect Pirates to reopen, especially next year.
Or you can, but expect disappointment!
Why would they spend a fortune resurrecting a long dead water ride in a shed, when they could have a shiny new coaster for less money?
More chance of the Beach rebuilding the Reel.
 
rob666 said:
Oh please, it has been dead for the best part of a decade!
They have spent two whole years bringing back Valhalla, which was still functioning before closure.
You can't expect Pirates to reopen, especially next year.
Or you can, but expect disappointment!
Why would they spend a fortune resurrecting a long dead water ride in a shed, when they could have a shiny new coaster for less money?
More chance of the Beach rebuilding the Reel.
Click to expand...

In fairness though. I expect Valhalla has taken so long because they have used it as an excuse to save money and haven't had the money to do it all in one go so have done it over a few years....I mean, the ride did not take that long to build in the first place. So it is hard to believe that they have spent 2 solid years refurbishing it.

I agree with Pirate Adventure though. It is not coming back, but we might see something in the area sooner than later. It is a prime spot for re development.

As for the speculation that we would not see anything as it is inside, we would. Materials, scenery and props do not appear by magic. If substantial work was being done, you would see visible signs of construction from the outside, trade van's ect. Seeing non of these suggests nothing is happening inside.
 
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