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Drayton Manor Park

Been on a Friday when most people who are over the 1.2m tall requirement with neither be in school/college or at work. Can see today been busier I may pop there tomorrow for a couple of rides on it.
 
Sorry to ask a slightly random question, but I’d be interested to know; if anyone has taken public transport to Drayton Manor before, which train station out of Wilnecote or Tamworth do you feel is the preferable option?

I only ask because I’m likely going to be heading to the park for another solo trip at some point this year, and I’m wondering whether I should change my route compared to last time or stick with Wilnecote.

I’ve done the Wilnecote journey before, and I actually feel that it’s a very nice route. My local train station and Wilnecote can be directly connected, and from Wilnecote, it’s only a short walk to the park (Maps says it’s 43 minutes, but I personally refute this; it took me around 30-35 minutes when I did it in 2022). It was very easy, it was a very pleasant walk through a quiet housing estate and beside a canal, and I would happily do it again.

However, the one issue with Wilnecote is that the CrossCountry train services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham don’t seem to stop there consistently. Wilnecote being an ideal option relies heavily on me taking very specific train times, as my local station is already a station that CrossCountry don’t stop at consistently and adding another infrequent stop in Wilnecote into the mix makes it harder to find train times that stops in both stations. This isn’t too much of an issue if everything runs smoothly (which it mostly did on my last solo trip to DMP in 2022), as the 7:24 from Lydney gets me directly to Wilnecote at a very convenient 9:04, but with the UK train network, you can’t rely on that always being the case. My parents also thought that the walk sounded long, and that it might be easier for me to go to a bigger station and catch public transport to DMP.

I was looking into Tamworth, which CrossCountry do at least stop at consistently on their Cardiff Central to Nottingham services, and it appears to be a bit further from Drayton Manor. It appears to require a little bit of a walk in itself to get to the nearest bus service, and while this bus service does seemingly run at astoundingly quick 20 minute intervals, the nearest stops aren’t particularly close to either Tamworth station or Drayton Manor, with a good bit of walking still required.

With this in mind, I was leaning towards sticking with Wilnecote, as Tamworth doesn’t appear to be notably quicker even with a bus in the mix and would involve spending extra money on said bus, but I’d be interested to know what others think.
 
Matt N said:
Sorry to ask a slightly random question, but I’d be interested to know; if anyone has taken public transport to Drayton Manor before, which train station out of Wilnecote or Tamworth do you feel is the preferable option?

I only ask because I’m likely going to be heading to the park for another solo trip at some point this year, and I’m wondering whether I should change my route compared to last time or stick with Wilnecote.

I’ve done the Wilnecote journey before, and I actually feel that it’s a very nice route. My local train station and Wilnecote can be directly connected, and from Wilnecote, it’s only a short walk to the park (Maps says it’s 43 minutes, but I personally refute this; it took me around 30-35 minutes when I did it in 2022). It was very easy, it was a very pleasant walk through a quiet housing estate and beside a canal, and I would happily do it again.

However, the one issue with Wilnecote is that the CrossCountry train services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham don’t seem to stop there consistently. Wilnecote being an ideal option relies heavily on me taking very specific train times, as my local station is already a station that CrossCountry don’t stop at consistently and adding another infrequent stop in Wilnecote into the mix makes it harder to find train times that stops in both stations. This isn’t too much of an issue if everything runs smoothly (which it mostly did on my last solo trip to DMP in 2022), as the 7:24 from Lydney gets me directly to Wilnecote at a very convenient 9:04, but with the UK train network, you can’t rely on that always being the case. My parents also thought that the walk sounded long, and that it might be easier for me to go to a bigger station and catch public transport to DMP.

I was looking into Tamworth, which CrossCountry do at least stop at consistently on their Cardiff Central to Nottingham services, and it appears to be a bit further from Drayton Manor. It appears to require a little bit of a walk in itself to get to the nearest bus service, and while this bus service does seemingly run at astoundingly quick 20 minute intervals, the nearest stops aren’t particularly close to either Tamworth station or Drayton Manor, with a good bit of walking still required.

With this in mind, I was leaning towards sticking with Wilnecote, as Tamworth doesn’t appear to be notably quicker even with a bus in the mix and would involve spending extra money on said bus, but I’d be interested to know what others think.
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I've travelled via Tamworth a few times, it's just a 10 minute taxi ride from the park and there are taxis right outside waiting.
 
Was going to say the only time I went on public transport via Tamworth I just got a taxi outside the station. Fella gave me his number so called him up at park close for a pick up back to the station. I travelled a bit later to avoid rush hour train prices so the taxi costs were covered by the savings from trying to arrive for park opening. That was in late 2020 when there was a clear worry for the parks future and I'd never been before.
 
Matt N said:
Sorry to ask a slightly random question, but I’d be interested to know; if anyone has taken public transport to Drayton Manor before, which train station out of Wilnecote or Tamworth do you feel is the preferable option?

I only ask because I’m likely going to be heading to the park for another solo trip at some point this year, and I’m wondering whether I should change my route compared to last time or stick with Wilnecote.

I’ve done the Wilnecote journey before, and I actually feel that it’s a very nice route. My local train station and Wilnecote can be directly connected, and from Wilnecote, it’s only a short walk to the park (Maps says it’s 43 minutes, but I personally refute this; it took me around 30-35 minutes when I did it in 2022). It was very easy, it was a very pleasant walk through a quiet housing estate and beside a canal, and I would happily do it again.

However, the one issue with Wilnecote is that the CrossCountry train services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham don’t seem to stop there consistently. Wilnecote being an ideal option relies heavily on me taking very specific train times, as my local station is already a station that CrossCountry don’t stop at consistently and adding another infrequent stop in Wilnecote into the mix makes it harder to find train times that stops in both stations. This isn’t too much of an issue if everything runs smoothly (which it mostly did on my last solo trip to DMP in 2022), as the 7:24 from Lydney gets me directly to Wilnecote at a very convenient 9:04, but with the UK train network, you can’t rely on that always being the case. My parents also thought that the walk sounded long, and that it might be easier for me to go to a bigger station and catch public transport to DMP.

I was looking into Tamworth, which CrossCountry do at least stop at consistently on their Cardiff Central to Nottingham services, and it appears to be a bit further from Drayton Manor. It appears to require a little bit of a walk in itself to get to the nearest bus service, and while this bus service does seemingly run at astoundingly quick 20 minute intervals, the nearest stops aren’t particularly close to either Tamworth station or Drayton Manor, with a good bit of walking still required.

With this in mind, I was leaning towards sticking with Wilnecote, as Tamworth doesn’t appear to be notably quicker even with a bus in the mix and would involve spending extra money on said bus, but I’d be interested to know what others think.
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If you're willing to fork out a little more in transport an Uber will get you to DM for roughly £10 and its a very short and easy drive!
 
That areal view of the new coaster is interesting- a lot of buildings - I knew they were there but actually seeing the areal view makes you think - why so many ?
I’m excited for this coaster way more than break run
 
Jb85 said:
That areal view of the new coaster is interesting- a lot of buildings - I knew they were there but actually seeing the areal view makes you think - why so many ?
I’m excited for this coaster way more than break run
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You mean “The Wavebreaker” surely?
 
In all fairness there's not much of a brake run on Shockwave / The Wave. You slam into that station, and those brakes, like there's no tomorrow. I don't think it's much of a coincidence that the park's official POV cuts out just before the brakes.

25 times in one day and you start to feel them.
 
Funcone said:
Oh, that was just a jokey comment because Intamin have a long history of rides having technical problems, although to be fair I think their water rides have been more prone to problems than their coasters.

But you’re right, there are expectations around ride testing, through things like EN and ISO standards. The EN (European Norm) standards are adopted in the UK, and the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) interprets those standards.

Manufacturers and parks might have their own individual standards on testing. A ride should also have a safety doc (normally an ADIPS certificate) and the inspection body may also have views on how much testing there should be.

A ride should have a design review to check that the design of the ride is safe, and then when it’s built a conformity to design review to check it’s been built to the design.

Although the design review makes theoretical calculations to check the ride’s safe, there’d then be testing to provide practical evidence to back it up. This would include running it in different weather conditions (there might be an element of simulating weather conditions, for example adding lubricant to track to simulate it being wet). You’d measure g forces. You’d measure stopping distances on brakes. You’d load test the ride, for example with water dummies in different places. There’ll be different kinds of function testing, to check controls and sensors work correctly. There probably will be a certain number of ride cycles completed as part of this.
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My mistake, apologies. 🙂
Matt N said:
Sorry to ask a slightly random question, but I’d be interested to know; if anyone has taken public transport to Drayton Manor before, which train station out of Wilnecote or Tamworth do you feel is the preferable option?

I only ask because I’m likely going to be heading to the park for another solo trip at some point this year, and I’m wondering whether I should change my route compared to last time or stick with Wilnecote.

I’ve done the Wilnecote journey before, and I actually feel that it’s a very nice route. My local train station and Wilnecote can be directly connected, and from Wilnecote, it’s only a short walk to the park (Maps says it’s 43 minutes, but I personally refute this; it took me around 30-35 minutes when I did it in 2022). It was very easy, it was a very pleasant walk through a quiet housing estate and beside a canal, and I would happily do it again.

However, the one issue with Wilnecote is that the CrossCountry train services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham don’t seem to stop there consistently. Wilnecote being an ideal option relies heavily on me taking very specific train times, as my local station is already a station that CrossCountry don’t stop at consistently and adding another infrequent stop in Wilnecote into the mix makes it harder to find train times that stops in both stations. This isn’t too much of an issue if everything runs smoothly (which it mostly did on my last solo trip to DMP in 2022), as the 7:24 from Lydney gets me directly to Wilnecote at a very convenient 9:04, but with the UK train network, you can’t rely on that always being the case. My parents also thought that the walk sounded long, and that it might be easier for me to go to a bigger station and catch public transport to DMP.

I was looking into Tamworth, which CrossCountry do at least stop at consistently on their Cardiff Central to Nottingham services, and it appears to be a bit further from Drayton Manor. It appears to require a little bit of a walk in itself to get to the nearest bus service, and while this bus service does seemingly run at astoundingly quick 20 minute intervals, the nearest stops aren’t particularly close to either Tamworth station or Drayton Manor, with a good bit of walking still required.

With this in mind, I was leaning towards sticking with Wilnecote, as Tamworth doesn’t appear to be notably quicker even with a bus in the mix and would involve spending extra money on said bus, but I’d be interested to know what others think.
Click to expand...

As someone from Tamworth, Wilnecote, a suburb of Tamworth itself, is much closer to the park. By a good mile or two. You can walk both but be prepared to walk about an hour to an hour and half from Tamworth. Wilnecote can be done in about half hour, especially if you walk down the Brookend street in Fazely which cuts the corner off Fazely.
 
The Wave been down again for most of the day. Guests have been pulling the restraints down when they close automatically which makes them go into a failed mode.
Anyway update from today
2397F6BE-C2E1-40ED-BF99-023BD00A5232.jpegFC97D82C-F35A-4101-B946-CFF2B54EA790.jpeg005FA83E-3279-4A2E-B443-1A02ABE2F79E.jpeg28608DA3-27AC-47FC-9F66-BC137409844F.jpeg7A35EE00-3B7B-4318-B1B2-C4D446F60772.jpeg78EFB16C-986C-407B-83F0-FCD81EA619F7.jpeg98FCC5EC-16DC-4138-B75E-B64D93B150E5.jpeg6DE8113A-70B5-478B-8587-E4672A53EFCB.jpeg9FA6C6C8-7DDD-46A9-B223-6559E1323E94.jpegB3320740-3F6D-4447-8C45-7FC2A32EC2B6.jpeg323D2F2E-2769-404D-8530-5EC9BC80C2D9.jpeg
Some of the new merchandise for the new area with a new Rory and his sister been introduced into the park hopefully next weekend.
FF3C19AA-81C8-40F8-A3B1-AB1E2F4DE2B6.jpeg0D156330-C001-49C2-882B-6516007B2A7A.jpeg
I brought the top mug and with my discount cost me £7.99.
 
I feel like it’s because Drayton have had several projects on the go (Wild West retheme, the Shockwave to Wave refresh, and new Lift & Launch coaster) and didn’t have the resources to get them all done for the start of the season, so they’ve staggered them.
 
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