Drayton Manor Park

[ozziechef]

Drunken Barrels re-theme started!

 

[Blackhole_Sun]

Drunken Barrels re-theme started!

Visited today and could see this had started. Was speculating what it could possibly be but non the wiser. The most nauseating ride in the UK for me and I rarely feel sick on anything.

Park was pretty empty today. Managed to get a couple of last rides on Shockwave which was running on even lower capacity than the usual 1 train (back two rows empty). Around 2 it started raining and it shut, didn’t open again I don’t think although left an hour early. Ride op said it hates rain but it did test a couple of times.

Rapids were closed but not advertised as closed all day. We managed one ride on Storm Force 10 again, opened very late in the day. I think they are lacking staff rather than the rides being broken.

Still a very enjoyable visit. They also have the best gerstlaurer in the county in troublesome trucks. Hope this new coaster can bring people in more consistently for them.

 

[Relife]

Visited today and could see this had started. Was speculating what it could possibly be but non the wiser. The most nauseating ride in the UK for me and I rarely feel sick on anything.

Park was pretty empty today. Managed to get a couple of last rides on Shockwave which was running on even lower capacity than the usual 1 train (back two rows empty). Around 2 it started raining and it shut, didn’t open again I don’t think although left an hour early. Ride op said it hates rain but it did test a couple of times.

Rapids were closed but not advertised as closed all day. We managed one ride on Storm Force 10 again, opened very late in the day. I think they are lacking staff rather than the rides being broken.

Still a very enjoyable visit. They also have the best gerstlaurer in the county in troublesome trucks. Hope this new coaster can bring people in more consistently for them.

September is traditionally a quiet month for theme parks in the UK, Towers is the same, it's actually a good time to visit but there isn't that long left in the season.

I'm hoping they do some area theming as well as just the rides as Drunken barrels should be an easy one to retheme.

 

[rob666]

September is traditionally a quiet month for theme parks in the UK, Towers is the same, it's actually a good time to visit but there isn't that long left in the season.

I'm hoping they do some area theming as well as just the rides as Drunken barrels should be an easy one to retheme.

...apart from Blackpool, which has the loominations, Scotitsh half term, and all those pensioner September specials.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

Still a very enjoyable visit. They also have the best gerstlaurer in the county in troublesome trucks.

Second best after Cobra at Paulton’s. Gertslauer can make nice smooth fun family coasters but anything bigger gets janky fast. Troublesome Trucks is a very decent little ride, seems surprising that more parks don’t have them, there’s only four of those Gertslauer junior coasters around the world according to RCDB.

 

[Charliemoore93]

Park are not waisting a single moment with the retheme

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

A company called BMR (Build Maintain Repair) is doing the work so I guess they have a contract to do it and the quicker they finish the work the quicker they will get fully paid.

 

[DistortAMG]

A company called BMR (Build Maintain Repair) is doing the work so I guess they have a contract to do it and the quicker they finish the work the quicker they will get fully paid.

Not only that. Less labour costs if it is done quicker. I'm guessing there is alot to do between now and next year, so they are getting what they can get done, while they can. There is now no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a wild west theme.

I wonder if they plan any work to the front of Sherrifs Showdown? I hope so because although it is wild west, it clearly has a different aesthetic from what they are going for with this new stuff. Some minor changes would be welcomed to help it sit in more.

 

[Trooper Looper]

I wonder if they plan any work to the front of Sherrifs Showdown? I hope so because although it is wild west, it clearly has a different aesthetic from what they are going for with this new stuff. Some minor changes would be welcomed to help it sit in more.

I'd love to see them give it a more vibrant look to how it used to look like. It looked way better back in its early years compared to now.

 

[DistortAMG]

I'd love to see them give it a more vibrant look to how it used to look like. It looked way better back in its early years compared to now.

I totally agree it looked loads better in the past. I used to ride it loads in it's early days. But I think the style of what they go for now needs to match the aesthetic of the new area. There is no point just going for a vibrant look, if it is going to stick out from the rest of the ride.

 

[Trooper Looper]

I totally agree it looked loads better in the past. I used to ride it loads in it's early days. But I think the style of what they go for now needs to match the aesthetic of the new area. There is no point just going for a vibrant look, if it is going to stick out from the rest of the ride.

Such a shame the facade wasn't took proper care of and looked worse over the years, even from repaints. Well as of now, none of us have any idea what their version of the wild west is gonna look like. Maybe they'll give it a wacky paint job when they've finished construction, all we've seen so far is bland looking wood panels applied to barrels and the toilets. They did a good job making Vikings look vibrant and a bit wacky, so perhaps we could see the same here?

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

I always felt the shootout in both versions from the outside has a Mexican/Spanish theme but now it looks like a mismatch of themes.
I think it should be re theme into a bank and you help the sheriff.
The 1st room could be re theme into the bank with the safe been robbed and you go after the bandits though town with them in jail at the end of the ride.

 

[DistortAMG]

I always felt the shootout in both versions from the outside has a Mexican/Spanish theme but now it looks like a mismatch of themes.
I think it should be re theme into a bank and you help the sheriff.
The 1st room could be re theme into the bank with the safe been robbed and you go after the bandits though town with them in jail at the end of the ride.

It's not Spanish or Mexican, although I can see why people would think that, there are a few ques from those styles but it is distinctly American.

The style of the Sheriffs Showdown building is a style called "Adobe arcitecture", with the unmistakable wooden beams (vigas) sticking out the walls. This style was very common in the United States' southwest and around the New Mexico area of the USA.

While it is considerably different looking to what you would consider the iconic, stereotypical and well known "western false front architecture". Characturised with all the wood, gables, pediments, parapets and what not, both styles did exist at the same time within the wild west period. Just that the adobe style was more in the hotter southwest USA and the Western false front being in the cooler North.

This is why you see some wild west themes in the one style and others in the other one. They are both correct for the wild west, they just originate from different geographical locations from within one huge country.

It seems though that Drayton are pursuing the western false front architectural style for their new wild west theme, which will sort of put it into contrast with the Sherriffs showdown adobe architecture. Will be interesting to see if they do anything to address this. I would have preferred to see the whole area done in Adobe, saying that I do love the more stereotypical "western false front" style. But it would have helped set this theme apart, because the false front style is so stereotypical it is what is almost always used when places go for a wild west theme. I suppose that does help convey the theme to the guests a bit better too, they may struggle with the adobe style a bit, in working out that it is infact a wild west theme.

As we are on subject, here is an original concept drawing for the ride we are talking about, called ride n shoot in this concept.


Quickly to go back without re posting what I've posted previously,. Ride n Shoot was a concept name, the name Toonstone was then decided on as can be seen on the construction boards that appeared in front of where the ride is now. This changed when they got the license from Nestle to use the Golden Nuggest brand (my favorite kids cereal to this day).



I did have some amazing concept drawings which I cannot find. When this ride was pitched to Drayton Manor there was two potential themes, a wild west theme and a spooky theme owing to The Haunting being next door. We know which one they went for.

 

[Trooper Looper]

It's not Spanish or Mexican, although I can see why people would think that, there are a few ques from those styles but it is distinctly American.

The style of the Sheriffs Showdown building is a style called "Adobe arcitecture", with the unmistakable wooden beams (vigas) sticking out the walls. This style was very common in the United States' southwest and around the New Mexico area of the USA.

While it is considerably different looking to what you would consider the iconic, stereotypical and well known "western false front architecture". Characturised with all the wood, gables, pediments, parapets and what not, both styles did exist at the same time within the wild west period. Just that the adobe style was more in the hotter southwest USA and the Western false front being in the cooler North.

This is why you see some wild west themes in the one style and others in the other one. They are both correct for the wild west, they just originate from different geographical locations from within one huge country.

It seems though that Drayton are pursuing the western false front architectural style for their new wild west theme, which will sort of put it into contrast with the Sherriffs showdown adobe architecture. Will be interesting to see if they do anything to address this. I would have preferred to see the whole area done in Adobe, saying that I do love the more stereotypical "western false front" style. But it would have helped set this theme apart, because the false front style is so stereotypical it is what is almost always used when places go for a wild west theme. I suppose that does help convey the theme to the guests a bit better too, they may struggle with the adobe style a bit, in working out that it is infact a wild west theme.

As we are on subject, here is an original concept drawing for the ride we are talking about, called ride n shoot in this concept. I did have concepts for the other pitch Space Leisure.


Quickly to go back without re posting what I've posted previously,. Ride n Shoot was a concept name, the name Toonstone was then decided on as can be seen on the construction boards that appeared in front of where the ride is now. This changed when they got the license from Nestle to use the Golden Nuggest brand (my favorite kids cereal to this day).



I did have some amazing concept drawings which I cannot find. When this ride was picthed to Drayton Manor there was two potential themes, a wild west theme and a spooky theme owing to The Haunting being next door. We know which one they went for.

I always prefer variety in theming rather than seeing the same thing everywhere. You're right about the fake front Western style buildings being overused in Theme Parks. Sheriffs Showodwn facade is a breath of fresh air as its something very different. Funny, El Paso (also designed by Space Leisure/Golding Attractions) is also a western theme but went for a very different style, which is something I really appreciate. I'll take the Adobe Architecture over the False Front Architecture any day for a wild West theme. Just looks a lot more interesting as a whole personally. The ideal situation would be to see a mixture of Both False Front and Adobe Architecture in the area, something familiar yet new.

That concept art for the Facade looks great! Here you are Drayton, just use this for next year, haha!

 

[rob666]

...seeing the same thong everywhere...

Yes, I prefer seeing a variety of thongs.
A western style leather and studs one would be appropriate here.

 

[Jb85]

@Trooper Looper Sisqo would agree. He's all about the Thong.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Visited the park today, decided to take advantage of the free return offer so will be going again in a few weeks. The park is littered with pumpkins both real ones and giant fake ones which makes for some great photos and makes the place look and feel really autumnal. I especially enjoyed how the Thomas train was decorated for Halloween, just a few stickers but a nice touch. I didn’t notice any of the other trains operating today however.

There was lots of activity on the new coaster site, didn’t get any photos but it’s very exciting to see and no doubt with how busy the site was looking today, it’ll look different again in a few weeks.

Unfortunately the Rapids, Polperro Express and The Haunting were closed all day. Was hoping to go on the rapids so that was a shame. Stormforce seemed to have a couple of small breakdowns but nothing major that caused an evac from what I saw. My eldest has finally passed the 1.3 mark so was able to have a go on it with her dad today, as well as 2 rides on Maelstrom with me and she loved it, it was her favourite ride of the day. Youngest had her first go on a disco in Thor, but didn’t really like it. She doesn’t enjoy Loki either and wouldn’t even consider Air Race. That one seems to be more of a coaster kid than a flat ride kid, which is fine by me!

Picked up a set of ‘retro’ magnets, 4 for £8.99 is not bad value at all and they are quite nice, especially the old Drayton Logo and Apocalypse one. Overall I can’t really say the merch at the park is really that inspiring at the moment though, so hopefully that’s something they might improve on in the future, maybe that’s something they will tackle once they’re done sprucing the place up and getting all their planned themed areas in place or maybe I just visited at a bad time and all the good stuff this season has sold out.

Overall a good day was had with fantastic weather, Drayton Manor on a sunny day is just such a pleasant place to be imo. We got a decent ride count that included all coasters apart from Jormungander. It seems to be crawling round the track these days, the literal definition of ‘looks slow’. I’m sure it wasn’t always that slow but could be wrong. I wouldn’t mind it eventually being replaced with a more modern powered coaster.

 

[DistortAMG]

Drayton Manor on a sunny day is just such a pleasant place to be imo.

I agree with that statement loads. The parkland feel of the place is just amazing on a lovely day.

I enjoy the walk to and from the park in the summer, being fortunate enough to be able to do that. Lovely walk down the Fazeley and Birmingham canal, from within the inner depths of Tamworth. Its pretty much a canal walk for the whole journey for me.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

I can’t remember the last time I seen the rapids operating and having my son with us most of the time I only managed to get on the ride on opening weekend of the main season.
When the main season finishes on the 5th November it will be closed for 3 weeks and reopen for weekends only for the Christmas event to the 18th December when it’s open for the whole week and just the select rides open from the 27th to 31st.
I still think the coaster will start to go up during them closed 3 weeks.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Has anyone actually got an alternative source that states that Shockwave is definitely becoming a sit-down coaster? I've watched the Sanbrooke interview with Victoria from Drayton Manor a few times now and she never actually comments, confirms, or denies, that Shockwave is going to be sit down. She says that new cars have been ordered and that the height limit will be lowered. It's Sanbrooke that states categorically, in a question, that it's going to be sit down and she just lets it hang there and seemingly avoids it.

All the other reports online, of Shockwave becoming sit-down, seem to rely solely on the TPWW video as their source for the sit-down rumour. Video below is time stamped to the Shockwave section so we can all remind ourselves and pick over it.


From: https://youtu.be/H-ZHUrM3Njo?si=8HkIHbaAgjopnhKQ&t=8m31s