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Drayton Manor Park

owenstreet7 said:
I would love to see a Vekoma STC over one of the two lakes (Excalibur maybe)

It could be very well themed and presented if executed well.
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I second this, I think a Vekoma STC would be a perfect fit for Drayton. Thrilling bit not too much and a low rider height restriction.

TedShatner10 said:
Why did they ditch the "stand up" gimmick the earlier iteration of the Wave had during the 90s/00s?
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To reduce the height restriction from 1.4 to 1.2, making it more accessible to the target audience.
 
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Enter Valhalla said:
It was strange just how far the park plummeted in the later years of the Bryans ownership. I remember visiting a couple of years before it was sold, and it was honestly so depressing to see how many rides had been ripped out.

But people forget just how many successful years the Bryans had. The stagnation of the park started long before the rapids incident, the floods and Covid, and it’s actually very difficult to place the point at which things started to go wrong.
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I think it was 2014 as that the 1st year that a ride outside of Thomas land was installed since 2011 and visitor numbers dropped. So for Thomas 70th birthday they spent 2.5m on the expansion. Then instead of spending the money on Pirate adventure it was spent on the haunting and Sheriff showdown instead.
 
This might come across like a slightly odd perspective, but I actually think that while very successful for them, Thomas Land played a significant role in Drayton Manor’s downward turn under the Bryans. Or more specifically, Drayton Manor’s response to Thomas Land’s success played a significant role in the park’s downward turn.

Drayton Manor was arguably a trailblazer in the UK theme park market when they opened Thomas Land in 2008. It proved that IP lands targeted at the family market could be hugely successful, and it spawned many similar projects at parks across the country, such as Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park and CBeebies Land at Alton Towers. Thomas Land was enormously successful for Drayton Manor, and it continues to rake in the cash for them and be one of their principal draws 16 years later.

But what did they do after that? Other than Accelerator and Air Race, they didn’t do a whole lot within the park itself outside of Thomas Land. They mostly just coasted off Thomas Land’s success for a number of years, particularly post-2015, and didn’t really do much within the rest of the park. They built the hotel, but I’ve often heard it said that this proved a flop for them and was the beginning of their financial woes, and I personally don’t think that the park was developed enough to necessitate a hotel when they built one. Within the park itself, they grew overly reliant on Thomas and coasted on its success rather than capitalising on its success to grow and improve their wider park offering.

They’re mentioned a lot, but I think a fine example of how to capitalise on a successful IP investment well is Paultons Park. Peppa Pig World was the goose that laid the golden egg for them back in 2011; it was enormously successful, and it still is 13 years on. However, Paultons Park were savvy and used Peppa Pig’s success as a springboard to aggressively expand and grow the rest of the park through targeted, good quality investments. This strategy has paid dividends for them; the park continues to go from strength to strength, and continues to be prosperous and successful. Peppa Pig remains one of Paultons’ principal draws, but they did not grow overly reliant on it, instead taking the opportunity to grow and improve the wider park offering and running with it.

If Drayton had harnessed Thomas’ success in a similar way rather than becoming overly reliant on Thomas at the expense of the rest of the park, they could have been equally successful and prosperous as Paultons. Heck, they could have been more successful than Paultons, what with their already established offering and highly central location within the UK. I think Looping Group got the right idea when they took over in 2020, with investments such as Vikings and Gold Rush showing real promise, but this is arguably reinvigorating the park following a dark period rather than capitalising on Thomas’ success, seeing as Thomas is now 16 years old. Had the Bryans made similar investment in the years immediately following Thomas Land rather than building the hotel and largely relying on Thomas to carry them along in the park itself, I think they could have been very successful.
 
I do wonder if the Bryan’s had opened up talks with the Mellors group sooner they could still have owned the land and ran the hotel while the mellors would have owned the rides and the retail units and paid the Bryan’s rent. The mellors did get as far as registering a company name at the address but the Administrations stepped in and put a stop to it and the looping group ended up only paying £15 million for the park and hotel. That money went towards paying off some of the debts( not sure how much they owed) The Company Drayton Manor Park Ltd was dissolved (liquidated) and the Bryan’s walked away debt free but owning nothing with just William kept on the board to they appointed a new director in late 2021 who appointed Victoria Lynn as MD.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
I do wonder if the Bryan’s had opened up talks with the Mellors group sooner they could still have owned the land and ran the hotel while the mellors would have owned the rides and the retail units and paid the Bryan’s rent. The mellors did get as far as registering a company name at the address but the Administrations stepped in and put a stop to it and the looping group ended up only paying £15 million for the park and hotel. That money went towards paying off some of the debts( not sure how much they owed) The Company Drayton Manor Park Ltd was dissolved (liquidated) and the Bryan’s walked away debt free but owning nothing with just William kept on the board to they appointed a new director in late 2021 who appointed Victoria Lynn as MD.
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The Bryan's still own the majority of the land which I assume rent is paid on. According to the land registry, the land has not been sold in many, many years, decades if not more. Indicating whoever owned it before Looping brought the park assets, still own it now. It does appear there are multiple owners across the whole estate but no sales have happened recently. Way, way before Looping were involved.
 
DistortAMG said:
The Bryan's still own the majority of the land which I assume rent is paid on. According to the land registry, the land has not been sold in many, many years, decades if not more. Indicating whoever owned it before Looping brought the park assets, still own it now. It does appear there are multiple owners across the whole estate but no sales have happened recently. Way, way before Looping were involved.
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Just checked a few things the leasehold of the hotel was brought in August 2020
IMG_4402.png
But I think you are right about the theme park still been owned by the Bryan’s family as that was brought by the family n 2005 as the leasehold maybe was running out

IMG_4403.png
Also looking at the parks end of year report it lists rental prices

IMG_4404.pngIMG_4405.png
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Just checked a few things the leasehold of the hotel was brought in August 2020
IMG_4402.png
But I think you are right about the theme park still been owned by the Bryan’s family as that was brought by the family n 2005 as the leasehold maybe was running out

IMG_4403.png
Also looking at the parks end of year report it lists rental prices

IMG_4404.pngIMG_4405.png
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Where does it say it was brought by the family in 2005? It just says it was valued in 2005?

I would make sense for them to sell the assets keep the land.
 
It’s weird just searching Drayton Manor brings up. I found the company who did the work inside the castle of dreams, the haunting and Sheriff showdown
www.venuemagic.co.uk

Drayton Manor Theme Park - Venue Magic Show Control Software - Control DMX, Audio and Video in one easy to use timeline based software Package

VenueMagic UK have been working with Drayton Manor Park for a couple of years providing show control automation, props, equipment and complete ride refurbishment across the park. From live shows in Thomas Land and on the Rory Live Stage through to providing specialist theming décor for events...
www.venuemagic.co.uk www.venuemagic.co.uk
 
In all fairness during the quiet years of investment and considering the Brian’s family were on the verge of bankruptcy. They did still invest in keeping the park tidy including modifying, stripping back and fully painting rides and attractions keeping the park very fresh.
 
TBoy535 said:
In all fairness during the quiet years of investment and considering the Brian’s family were on the verge of bankruptcy. They did still invest in keeping the park tidy including modifying, stripping back and fully painting rides and attractions keeping the park very fresh.
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I think that’s the big difference in the Bryan’s to the looping group. As they were family owned they always made it affordable for families to visit.
I also think where the looping group has spent money on rides and areas the events haven’t been on par with the Bryan’s.
Like the fireworks event it’s not on par with Alton Towers but it had a theme which had lasers and lighting with nearly 30 mins worth of fireworks with speakers all around the lake.
Now the sound is from speakers the park brought themselves and they just round the front of the lake and linked to the dj booth on the stage which sounded awful. The fireworks length is 10-15 mins with no fire effects/flames.
The Christmas event is nothing like it was under the Bryan’s.
The last year they run it in 2019 with your annual pass you got 1 free visit to see Santa and my kids got this off Santa

IMG_0922.jpeg
There was a free ice rink on the dodgems site and there was entertainment on all day.
They ended the night with a singalong with Santa arriving on the train with Mrs Claus and we had a little show with Rusty and Dusty and the elves. You then had a parade down to the other stage and had a singalong with a then 5 min fireworks show to end each day.
Now they reusing most of the stuff the Bryan’s brought but are broken like the dancing light tree.
Except the rides which is included in the price everything else is an extra charge.
The Christmas event last year was shocking to start with as the present from Santa was a candy cane and a free return visit before the end of March with a full paying adult with adults getting a hot chocolate. The complaints was shocking after guests were waiting over a hour just for that and many wasn’t happy as many were annual pass holders. The train also broke down so many never got to go on it.
The following weekend they added a present from Santa
I thought the train experience was good but wasn’t worth the price and at the end of the evening Mrs Claus was just singing to a crowd of 5-6 people.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
It was strange just how far the park plummeted in the later years of the Bryans ownership. I remember visiting a couple of years before it was sold, and it was honestly so depressing to see how many rides had been ripped out.

But people forget just how many successful years the Bryans had. The stagnation of the park started long before the rapids incident, the floods and Covid, and it’s actually very difficult to place the point at which things started to go wrong.
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I think unfortunately they tried too hard to chase a worlds first and G-Force was a stupid investment. A more tried and tested coaster would have probably kept the momentum they had from Apocalypse going better.
 
I think all the investments the Bryan’s did involved rides that you couldn’t ride at any other uk theme park.
I’m sure Stormforce 10 was the 1st water ride with a backwards drop.
Apocalypse the 1st stand up drop tower or it was the floorless.
Europe’s 1st stand up coaster.
G-Force wasn’t that a worlds 1st.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
I think all the investments the Bryan’s did involved rides that you couldn’t ride at any other uk theme park.
I’m sure Stormforce 10 was the 1st water ride with a backwards drop.
Apocalypse the 1st stand up drop tower or it was the floorless.
Europe’s 1st stand up coaster.
G-Force wasn’t that a worlds 1st.
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I think G-Force was just a UK first, but there wasn't many of those inverted lift coasters Wikipedia says Sky Wheel was the first, but RCDB has that as a different model and its not really a full-circuit coaster.

The issue is although the inverted lift hill is a unique gimmick, it was not used much for a reason, its uncomfortable and didn't make for a more thrilling experience, just an awkward one. Submission at AT had the same issue, the sloe movement to upside down made it painful, compared to Ripsaw or Enterprise where the faster inversions are fun.

The others in your list like first stand-up coaster and drop tower had gimmicks that overall did make the ride more thrilling and fun.

But in the case of G-Force, the park already had attention for Apolcolypse, I don't think they needed the gimmick as much as they needed a fun coaster. Then as others have said, once the park got burnt trying to do something unique they stuck with Thomasland investments instead.
 
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