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Drayton Manor Park

Themepark-newbie said:
Is it just me, or would the surf theme been more suited to the stand up coaster? They've converted it to sit down which isn't exactly... surfy!
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No, it's not just you. @Katy made the same observation about an hour ago in a post just above yours.
Katy said:
Ironic thing being that a surf board theme would have worked better when it was a stand up coaster 😁
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Unpopular opinion it seems, but I never really liked the standing up on Shockwave. The restraint system never gave you the freedom that would have meant the standing up position was a unique experience, it just felt claustrophobic and unnecessarily tight in all areas (including a particular certain area if you weren't *very* careful before the restraints locked in place). I'm super looking forward to riding it, in a comfortable position, with a lap-bar. Hopefully this will provide for much more freedom of (safely restrained) movement and a much more pleasant riding experience. With their surf coaster concept, B&M made the old Intamin standing restraints look and feel positively torturous. Yes, it would've been nice to have had one of those trains, but there's no way I could've seen B&M either wanting their new concept trains on a 30 year old coaster with a bang average layout, or even if they did, Drayton being able to afford them. I think we've got the makings of a nice ride system and should see this ride lasting a good few years longer in to the future, which is no bad thing. It's still a 4 inversion 100+ft coaster. Let's not let nostalgia get in the way of remembering that Shockwave was a pretty uncomfortable ride, with restraints that negated any benefit of the standing position, that sounded like a rusty bag of spanners being thrown down a lift shaft when you were strapped in to it.
 
Johnny_5 said:
Unpopular opinion it seems, but I never really liked the standing up on Shockwave. The restraint system never gave you the freedom that would have meant the standing up position was a unique experience, it just felt claustrophobic and unnecessarily tight in all areas (including a particular certain area if you weren't *very* careful before the restraints locked in place). I'm super looking forward to riding it, in a comfortable position, with a lap-bar. Hopefully this will provide for much more freedom of (safely restrained) movement and a much more pleasant riding experience. With their surf coaster concept, B&M made the old Intamin standing restraints look and feel positively torturous. Yes, it would've been nice to have had one of those trains, but there's no way I could've seen B&M either wanting their new concept trains on a 30 year old coaster with a bang average layout, or even if they did, Drayton being able to afford them. I think we've got the makings of a nice ride system and should see this ride lasting a good few years longer in to the future, which is no bad thing. It's still a 4 inversion 100+ft coaster. Let's not let nostalgia get in the way of remembering that Shockwave was a pretty uncomfortable ride, with restraints that negated any benefit of the standing position, that sounded like a rusty bag of spanners being thrown down a lift shaft when you were strapped in to it.
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The Surf Coaster trains wouldn't have been beneficial for this coaster anyway. They may have offered a little more movement but pipelines layout is designed to get the benefit out of the moving seats. Would love to see a Surf Coaster in this country though.
 
Never found shockwave rough like some. Always felt it fell into a similar category as Ex Nemesis, its inversions were whippy and taken at speed with old trains. I understand if you hadn’t ridden it often and didn’t know how to avoid any head banging, also I know people who were shorter used to struggle with those restraints banging their heads. Overall it’s a shame to lose the unique aspect to it, but I can’t wait to fly through that Zero G with lap bars!
 
Connor98 said:
Never found shockwave rough like some. Always felt it fell into a similar category as Ex Nemesis, its inversions were whippy and taken at speed with old trains. I understand if you hadn’t ridden it often and didn’t know how to avoid any head banging, also I know people who were shorter used to struggle with those restraints banging their heads. Overall it’s a shame to lose the unique aspect to it, but I can’t wait to fly through that Zero G with lap bars!
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Same, although that could be because I only ever rode it in the front row. 😂
 
Connor98 said:
Never found shockwave rough like some. Always felt it fell into a similar category as Ex Nemesis, its inversions were whippy and taken at speed with old trains. I understand if you hadn’t ridden it often and didn’t know how to avoid any head banging, also I know people who were shorter used to struggle with those restraints banging their heads. Overall it’s a shame to lose the unique aspect to it, but I can’t wait to fly through that Zero G with lap bars!
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It wasn't the headbanging most people had an issue with.
 
AT86 said:
(not that head anyway)
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Sorry. Can someone elaborate? Is this an in joke? Hmm… 🤔

(joking - mine is bigger than ya’lls)

Ahem.

Any news on the unexpected item stuck on lifthill? My working assumption given the reported in-situ engineering works is that the lift chain can’t just be popped into reverse to get the train out of the way while they get sorted?
 
Sazzle said:
Any news on the unexpected item stuck on lifthill? My working assumption given the reported in-situ engineering works is that the lift chain can’t just be popped into reverse to get the train out of the way while they get sorted?
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Correct in your assumption. This ride has a traditional rachet system for an antiroll back, specfically to stop trains rolling backwards should the life chain snap or the car stops on the hill. This is the stereotypical clicking sound you hear on lifts. The weather has been awful here the last few days so haven't gone to the park, it would certainly make any work at that height difficult / not possible.
 
I remember seeing a comment somewhere that on Vampire the some of the ARBs (which are on the lift rather than the train) are/were sometimes cable tied out of the way to reduce lift noise as the train engages lift 2, you could probably do something similar to allow the train to be reversed down a conventional lift. It would be high-risk though as you're deliberately defeating a safety device.

RE: Shockwave comfort, I think part of the problem was that it wasn't clear how it was intended to be ridden. I always took the approach of ensuring the seat was well out of the way by pulling the sliding part down as low as possible so as to be just above my shoulders with my feet flat on the floor. Always worked for me -the main issue then became trying to prevent the seat lifting you up at the end of the ride cycle as it was inexplicably designed to raise to maximum height with considerable force.
 
They really need the Wave open asap, I'm surprised the train arrived as late as it did. Still got my fingers crossed the new coaster will be ready by June
 
DistortAMG said:
This ride has a traditional rachet system for an antiroll back, specfically to stop trains rolling backwards should the life chain snap or the car stops on the hill. This is the stereotypical clicking sound you hear on lifts.
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Oh absolutely. After 20+ years of being an enthusiast, I’m aware of anti rollbacks. I’ve thankfully felt a few of them during lift stops on many coasters!
John said:
I remember seeing a comment somewhere that on Vampire the some of the ARBs (which are on the lift rather than the train) are/were sometimes cable tied out of the way to reduce lift noise as the train engages lift 2, you could probably do something similar to allow the train to be reversed down a conventional lift. It would be high-risk though as you're deliberately defeating a safety device.
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^^^^ this. It may have been easier to bodge a disengage fix on the anti rollbacks rather than saw apart the catwalk with the train in-situ.

The deliberate defeating of a safety device when a coaster is under the jurisdiction of tech services is surely unheard of…?

Alas. Time shall tell on next steps…!
 
Won’t do a full report yet, however Malestrom closed all day again and not advertised which was annoying.

Seems staff uniform now they’re allowed to wear joggers with any trainers they deem fit. Including pure white Nike dunks, and Nike all white airforce.

All I’m going to say is, I still think Drayton are way off being anywhere they need to be up there with the key players.

Branding is all over the place still, and it seems infrastructure is built upon old infrastructure with the old just being left to rot.
 
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