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Drayton Manor Park

There is a caveat, It's only for certain rides, namely: Jeremy Jets, Winston’s Whistle Stop Tours, Troublesome Trucks, Shockwave, Stormforce 10, River Rapids, Apocalypse, Accelerator, Thor and the Jormungandr. My only worry is they are very cheap. I have no doubt as to the number of people who will pay £30 to jump 5 queues. Some of these ride could handle this, but Apoc, Jeremy and Whinston already struggle with capacity, especially with easy access guests
 
Storm Force 10 struggles with capacity too. At least with Merlin parks, Alton Towers in particular. The rides can throw quests through them at quite a ferocious pace. Not a single ride at Drayton Manor can do this. Making already poor throughput rides even worse with fast-track.

I think it is a bit cheeky offering fast track for rides like Storm Force 10 in particular, when they have 4 boats rotting away on a berm behind the river rapids.
 
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DistortAMG said:
Storm Force 10 struggles with capacity too. At least with Merlin parks, Alton Towers in particular. The rides can throw quests through them at quite a ferocious pace. Not a single ride at Drayton Manor can do this. Making already poor throughput rides even worse with fast-track.

I think it is a bit cheeky offering fast track for rides like Storm Force 10 in particular, when they have 4 boats rotting away on a berm behind the river rapids.
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That surprises me, I must admit. I’d have expected Stormforce 10 to be quite high, what with how it loads two boats at once (surely on a peak day, it could get fairly near to 960pph, or two boats sent every minute?).

I’d also expect River Rapids to be quite high; over 1,000pph, surely? Those boats are fairly big, and they go at a fairly frequent interval due to the turntable.

In general, though, I do agree that Drayton lacks high capacity rides. Admittedly, my last visit was not the best gauge of park wide throughputs, as the place was deserted and I only got to time one ride, but to cite some examples:
  • Shockwave, the one ride I timed, was only getting around 300pph, or a 24 seat train every 4-5 minutes, when I timed it over lunch (I sat eating lunch for around 15 minutes, and I only saw 3 or 4 trains go by in that timeframe).
  • Apocalypse is now down to one tower, so I’d guess that the throughput was no more than 240pph (a 4 person gondola every minute), and in all honesty was probably lower.
  • Accelerator is a shuttle coaster, which are lower throughput by default, and when I timed the similar Family Boomerang at Paultons, it was getting around 500pph (a 20 person train every 2.5 minutes or so).
  • Haunting is probably quite low due to the way in which they operate it. If they let a group occupy each scene, it would probably be quite high capacity, and similar in throughput to Hex at Towers (which is allegedly 864pph according to Vekoma), but as the experience only lets in a group every 15 minutes, that makes the throughput no higher than 312pph, or 78 every 15 minutes.
In fairness, though, I’d imagine Jormungandr is fairly high capacity (the train is big, so even if you dispatched every 3 minutes or so, you’d still attain 720pph), and some of the other rides probably get fair capacity as well. And as I say, the day I most recently visited was probably not the best barometer of park wide capacities.

However, I have previously visited during the summer holidays and had queues of over an hour for some rides. I do feel that something with 2 trains would be greatly beneficial for Drayton’s next coaster.
 
:eek: £100 for platinum is crazy. It's only on 10 rides, and as much as I like Drayton Manor, half of them are mediocre at best.

It does concern me though how bad the regular queues will get. It's bad enough now with the slow turnaround (multiple restraint and gate checks) and easy access, add in fast pass and who knows how long you'll queue for.
 
Matt N said:
That surprises me, I must admit. I’d have expected Stormforce 10 to be quite high, what with how it loads two boats at once (surely on a peak day, it could get fairly near to 960pph, or two boats sent every minute?).

I’d also expect River Rapids to be quite high; over 1,000pph, surely? Those boats are fairly big, and they go at a fairly frequent interval due to the turntable.

In general, though, I do agree that Drayton lacks high capacity rides. Admittedly, my last visit was not the best gauge of park wide throughputs, as the place was deserted and I only got to time one ride, but to cite some examples:
  • Shockwave, the one ride I timed, was only getting around 300pph, or a 24 seat train every 4-5 minutes, when I timed it over lunch (I sat eating lunch for around 15 minutes, and I only saw 3 or 4 trains go by in that timeframe).
  • Apocalypse is now down to one tower, so I’d guess that the throughput was no more than 240pph (a 4 person gondola every minute), and in all honesty was probably lower.
  • Accelerator is a shuttle coaster, which are lower throughput by default, and when I timed the similar Family Boomerang at Paultons, it was getting around 500pph (a 20 person train every 2.5 minutes or so).
  • Haunting is probably quite low due to the way in which they operate it. If they let a group occupy each scene, it would probably be quite high capacity, and similar in throughput to Hex at Towers (which is allegedly 864pph according to Vekoma), but as the experience only lets in a group every 15 minutes, that makes the throughput no higher than 312pph, or 78 every 15 minutes.
In fairness, though, I’d imagine Jormungandr is fairly high capacity (the train is big, so even if you dispatched every 3 minutes or so, you’d still attain 720pph), and some of the other rides probably get fair capacity as well. And as I say, the day I most recently visited was probably not the best barometer of park wide capacities.

However, I have previously visited during the summer holidays and had queues of over an hour for some rides. I do feel that something with 2 trains would be greatly beneficial for Drayton’s next coaster.
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Storm force 10 usually dispatches 2x boats every 3 to 4 minutes, some times longer. They do not have enough boats on the circuit to dispatch every minute. I mean they could, but then there would be a huge gap between the last boats being sent and the next one's arriving at the station, as they have just under half the boats rotting away on a berm. It has the potential to be high capacity, in it's current setup though, it is not.

Gone are the days of rides like Pirate Adventure and Excalibur getting 2000pph and 1200pph respectively.
 
rob666 said:
When did Excalibur actually get 1200 per hour then?
I never saw it running more than about 500 poor, bored punters an hour.
That was on the days it was actually running at all.
First ride build I followed closely on the internet at Drayton...what an utter disappointment!
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I remember riding it years ago, and there was a sign at the station stating that there were fewer boats due to technical reasons, which would result in increased wait times.
 
Does Drayton really need throughputs of 1,200pph+, though? Of course, aiming for high throughputs is always a good thing, but surely Drayton could get by with lower throughputs than the likes of the Merlin parks by virtue of it having lower guest figures?

Paultons Park has nothing with a throughput higher than about 700pph (Storm Chaser might exceed this figure, but not much else), and that seems to cope fine on similar guest figures to Drayton. For some idea, nothing currently has a queue above 25 minutes, and that’s with Storm Chaser (their probable throughput workhorse) currently closed.
 
remlap said:
:eek: £100 for platinum is crazy. It's only on 10 rides, and as much as I like Drayton Manor, half of them are mediocre at best.

It does concern me though how bad the regular queues will get. It's bad enough now with the slow turnaround (multiple restraint and gate checks) and easy access, add in fast pass and who knows how long you'll queue for.
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I'd rather have a crazy price that means no-one buys it and therefore the main queue moves quicker. Cheap fast pass means more people buy it and all the queues move slower. Especially when its unlimited.
 
rob666 said:
When did Excalibur actually get 1200 per hour then?
I never saw it running more than about 500 poor, bored punters an hour.
That was on the days it was actually running at all.
First ride build I followed closely on the internet at Drayton...what an utter disappointment!
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I may have my maths wrong here, but I know the throughput was certainly pretty high, could be fairly lower than what I stated though. Pirates was certainly close to 2000 though. I cannot remember the exact math, it has been a long day and my head is fried. I do not have these fancy throughput calculator apps.
Can anyone help me out work out the throughput of Excalibur?

Here are the facts:
  1. 12 Boats (at launch)
  2. 16 People per boat.
  3. Almost bang on 10 minute ride time, from turntable back to turntable. (YouTube POV's will back this up)
The boats were evenly spaced along the circuit at launch, so I am pretty sure dividing 12 by 600 (seconds aka 10 mins) means a boat was going through the station every 50 or so seconds. Should be able to work out the throughput from that.

The throughput certainly dropped quite drastically later on in it's life, they had a real issue with boats coming off the cable, to the point they started to give up in the end.

Boats were going adrift, (perhaps wanting to be a Pirate like their counterpart's next door) even before the ride opened. They never seemed to get a grasp of the issue with boats coming off the cable sorted. I remember before the ride even opened, a few boats had quite severe scratches on the side from where they had gone adrift and slammed into things, especially in the tunnel (of love).
 
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The introduction of FastTrack is clearly an easy money maker so I understand why they've done it although I can't hide I'm a little disappointed, especially as I don't think it's wanted and I don't think the majority of the rides have got the setup to support it. The prices do seem steep but like I say I think this has just been done as a money making scheme rather than something guests requested. It's interesting that the website states that they can only be bought at Guest Services on the day and also that they are on a first come first serve basis. Perhaps they are planning to only sell a limited number, hence why they aren't being sold online as I'm sure it wouldn't be too much trouble to sell them online.
 
JAperson said:
The introduction of FastTrack is clearly an easy money maker so I understand why they've done it although I can't hide I'm a little disappointed, especially as I don't think it's wanted and I don't think the majority of the rides have got the setup to support it. The prices do seem steep but like I say I think this has just been done as a money making scheme rather than something guests requested. It's interesting that the website states that they can only be bought at Guest Services on the day and also that they are on a first come first serve basis. Perhaps they are planning to only sell a limited number, hence why they aren't being sold online as I'm sure it wouldn't be too much trouble to sell them online.
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The other risk with selling online is if guest buy it, then turn up and find everything has short waits anyway that leaves guests even more unhappy as they spent money on nothing. At least with on the day sales guests can work out if its really needed first.
 
Jb85 said:
Your clearly trying to provoke a reaction into an argument for no reason other than to fulfil your own needs. The laughing comment, if you must know was due to the fact you just won't let this go or respect other members opinions.

Not once have I disagreed with your opinion, yet you seem fit to be derogatory towards others? Why, because you cab used big statements like IPO and board room 'stuff' with likely minimal knowledge of how these actually work?

Having a masters degree in Business Management, being a chartered accountant and having sat on numerous boards in my career, I can 100% guarantee to you no company has failed solely due to a change of logo.

What you will likely find is a poor product has led to a rebrand as a last throw of the dice to reinvigorate the brand. This is clearly not what is happening here.

Now, I really have wasted enough of my life arguing here. I think it be sensible to draw a line under this debacle of a debate and move on to more interesting matters.

Anyone would think it is closed season.
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:tearsofjoy: Ah the typical I'm an expert mantra , “ I have a degree and worked as an accountant therefore I always know more than you now shut your mouth peasant”
You’re a bloke presumably in your 30s , you’re better than that. Waving your degree around as a bragging exercise
… and please by all means go all the way and rip me apart. I am a bit masochistic sometimes so maybe you'll damage my ego and turn me on as a result,
The point is, experience might make you knowledgeable in some ways but it doesn’t give you a right to shut down debate . That’s exactly what you are doing and what you have done throughout this debate. So many people have pointed out the logo change and why it's a huge change in how we see Drayton: look at the logo difference and tell me how you wouldn't see Drayton in an entirely different light if you saw it on the road, or on a map.
1659456987887.png to 1659456978122.png It's not a small change. It's completely different and almost unrecognizable in difference. Now pretend you are a person who hasn't looked up rides and theme parks for much of your adult life and ask yourself,would you notice that logo as much, would it stick in your head as much, and does it look like the kind of place that takes itself seriously. Maybe it won't cost them big time, and maybe it's not going to affect them much because they might add some cool new rides, but it could definitely reduce their radar.

...And It’s not relevant at all but since you claim it is...I’m doing a Bsc in Economics at a Russell Group uni, so yeah I’m not at your postgrad level yet but just behind it, in a similar kind of field, but not sure if that counts as 'minimal knowledge' by your standards , who cares..... On the degree point, I’ve met small and medium business owners who know way more than people with “degrees” . I've held different jobs since 2017 some part time some full time alongside studying but I don't need to tell an anonymous person online what or where I work thanks.

My point was that companies floating on the stock market (since you said all companies and not just Drayton or private) will be influenced by future expectations based on things like brand value or brand strength, hard to measure independently because of the number of factors at play, but you literally said said “no company ever failed due to rebranding” you never once defined what “fail” meant, and by saying 'all companies' you are including companies on the open market trading/isssuing liquid securities where numerous volatile factors come in to play. What's failure though? Calling the administrators? Low turnover? Large drop in stock price? Are you seriously suggesting that no public company has ever performed poorly on the stock market because investors are unconvinced by poor or misleading branding , especially if the rebrand liabilities form a big % of their revenue?. Or that speculators have never short sold a company’s stock based on the prediction of this happening following a rebrand ? That was my point, it's a factor that plays in to a company's performance on primary and secondary financial markets. You said it's never happened under your watch in the BR, but that's just an anecdote.
There are numerous historical cases of major rebranding being the instigator of stock price shocks , lower turnover, and changing the direction of company performance. Clearly you haven’t been paying attention to this. Even a basic google search yields results:

You have given me a good idea for an economics degree dissertation next year though. The affect of rebranding on company stock value, or consumer confidence. I will see if I can investigate this and we will see who is right.

I'm not going in to any more discussion here because its not fair on people talking about Drayton, if you want to 'rip me apart' start a topic on it somewhere else . Case closed :)


Have the water effects been turned off on the rapids again? I get the feeling that this will keep happening because without seat belts inevitably some people are going to stand up when water is directed at them.
 
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Sauron97 said:
Have the water effects been turned off on the rapids again? I get the feeling that this will keep happening because without seat belts inevitably some people are going to stand up when water is directed at them.
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As far as I'm aware, yes. They were certainly off when I visited last month, and as such, my ride on Adventure Cove River Rapids was the first rapids ride I've ever stepped off of bone dry.
 
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