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Drayton Manor Park

Matt N said:
I don’t think theming is necessarily the factor here, because you’re forgetting the other big success of 1994… The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. That ride had no theming at all, but was a huge success and is still arguably Blackpool’s most iconic attraction 30 years on.
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A good point. Then I would say theming was “a” factor rather than “the” factor.

With the likes of Nemesis, Haunted Manor, RMT whilst over at Chessington you had Vampire, Bubbleworks etc, Tussauds were offering the closest thing to the Disney experience that was unaffordable for many.

I think for the casual visitor, “worlds tallest” is the metric that supersedes everything. It’s why Hyperia is so popular devoid of theming.

An inverter coaster was novel but I think the whole package of its presentation is what cemented its legacy rather than just the type. Drayton and co never had that.
 
Matt N said:
I don’t think theming is necessarily the factor here, because you’re forgetting the other big success of 1994… The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. That ride had no theming at all, but was a huge success and is still arguably Blackpool’s most iconic attraction 30 years on.
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I remember watching a report on the news about The Big One when it opened and seeing pictures of it in the newspaper, I can actually recall myself thinking how insane it looked and how I didn’t think I’d have the guts to ride something that size! But really though PMBO sold itself on account how massive it was, I think it really captured the public’s imagination in the way that no other coaster in this country has done.
 
It's most likely that the Pirate Adventure and Excalibur areas will get the focus next for the big area.

There is Flying Dutchman which is in a part between Frontier Falls and Vikings.

There is unused space in Adventure Cove between Air Race and Maelstrom that was used by G Force and left over from Wave Swinger and Tidal Towers. It's big enough for a flat ride of some description.

There is also space in Vikings behind Walhalla next to Slepnir which would be big enough for a compact coaster (Wild Mouse, S&S Freespin etc.) or a flat ride of some description.

If using the big lake, there does appear to be space for something to use that area.

Jormungandr approaching the end of it's service life is potentially something they're thinking about as well.
 
owenstreet7 said:
It's most likely that the Pirate Adventure and Excalibur areas will get the focus next for the big area.

There is Flying Dutchman which is in a part between Frontier Falls and Vikings.

There is unused space in Adventure Cove between Air Race and Maelstrom that was used by G Force and left over from Wave Swinger and Tidal Towers. It's big enough for a flat ride of some description.

There is also space in Vikings behind Walhalla next to Slepnir which would be big enough for a compact coaster (Wild Mouse, S&S Freespin etc.) or a flat ride of some description.

If using the big lake, there does appear to be space for something to use that area.

Jormungandr approaching the end of it's service life is potentially something they're thinking about as well.
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If there was no plans to renovate the powered coaster they wouldn’t have integrated it to the Vikings entry portal imo. Needs work though
 
Bowser said:
I think AT was well established before Nemesis. We were going every year (from the south) from about 1987 so it evidently had enough of a national reputation by that point.
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You're probably right; I'm too young to remember the pre-Nemesis era as I didn't visit AT for the first time until 1994 (I didn't go again until 2001 as I still preferred Drayton Manor!).

Bowser said:
Other parks did get their own exclusive coasters like Shockwave at Drayton and whatever the boomerang was called at American Adventure but they didn’t have the theming. So the question may have been would nemesis be as successful if it had been plonked on some tarmac?
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The Nemesis theming definitely helped, although the Batman inverted coasters from 1992 to 1994 (which pre-dated Nemesis) were still quite popular; given that Shockwave used the same name and branding as a similar ride from the USA, I wonder if Drayton Manor would have simply tried to copy the Batman-esque theming for a hypothetical 1994 inverted coaster? (although they probably wouldn't have used the official Batman character)

I remember hearing that Corkscrew had huge queues when it first opened in 1980 (in spite of the plain theming), although maybe customer expectations had changed by 1994 and theming had become more important by then?
 
This was spotted in another thread :

Monorail - Zamperla | Used Rides for Sale! | Amusement-rides.com

Find used amusement rides for sale or rental. Worldwide operations. Contact us now! Roller coasters, ferris wheels, carousels, family rides and more! The best rides for your theme park!
www.amusement-rides.com www.amusement-rides.com

Looks like changes are coming.
IIRC the ride electronics for this (along with the soft play, and Thomas land shop) all use the old PA building?

although the rumours buzzing around from a former general manager at the park are PA isn’t coming back, but the indoor space is earmarked for a multi use / ride area.
 
Alphe86 said:
This was spotted in another thread :

Monorail - Zamperla | Used Rides for Sale! | Amusement-rides.com

Find used amusement rides for sale or rental. Worldwide operations. Contact us now! Roller coasters, ferris wheels, carousels, family rides and more! The best rides for your theme park!
www.amusement-rides.com www.amusement-rides.com

Looks like changes are coming.
IIRC the ride electronics for this (along with the soft play, and Thomas land shop) all use the old PA building?

although the rumours buzzing around from a former general manager at the park are PA isn’t coming back, but the indoor space is earmarked for a multi use / ride area.
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I've seen this post discussed on Coasterforce

None of the stats for the ride for sale match up with Drayton Manor's Monorail but it matches up with one over in the States.

The posting seem to use Drayton Manor's Monorail photos.

Drayton Manor - Ride For Sale?

Drayton Manor Resort looks to be selling their 2013 Zamperla Monorail attraction Winston's Whistle-Stop Tour: https://www.amusement-rides.com/product/monorail-zamperla Anyone else know more about this?
coasterforce.com coasterforce.com
 
I was looking at that listing last night and came to the conclusion that the images were for illustration only, Given it is a listing for a 'new' ride and Winston's Whistle-Stop Tours is anything but new - when I went on it earlier this year it struck me as one of the most tired looking attractions at DMP.

Elsewhere on the same site, there's also a listing using pics of The Smiler.
 
Drayton to they installed the Pirate Adventure in 1990 was mainly the zoo as the main draw as the only permanent ride they had back then was the log flume and the jungle cruise.
 
Alphe86 said:
This was spotted in another thread :

Monorail - Zamperla | Used Rides for Sale! | Amusement-rides.com

Find used amusement rides for sale or rental. Worldwide operations. Contact us now! Roller coasters, ferris wheels, carousels, family rides and more! The best rides for your theme park!
www.amusement-rides.com www.amusement-rides.com

Looks like changes are coming.
IIRC the ride electronics for this (along with the soft play, and Thomas land shop) all use the old PA building?

although the rumours buzzing around from a former general manager at the park are PA isn’t coming back, but the indoor space is earmarked for a multi use / ride area.
Click to expand...

The soft play, electronics and station for Winstons tours all use a separate building that was built in 2004, seen below to the left. They occupy the old Crypt ghost train site, which was operating until 2001. Many years after Pirate Adventure opened.

1000007064.jpg

This is nothing to do with Drayton, the model they are selling opened in 2018, way after Draytons. The model which closed in the USA last year I think, opened in 2018. They have just used photos from Draytons model that is all, something not uncommon actually.

Photo credit Matthew Wells, Flickr.
 
I've just been at a few parks with similar tow boat rides to Excalibar, fun relaxing family rides, which got me thinking Excalibur only lasted 9 years before being abandoned and the station repurposed. Does anyone know what were the main problems with Excalibur resulting in its closure after quite a short time? Since similar ones operate at other parks decades without problem?
 
It was crap.

Think my last visit (when Ben 10 opened) most of the effects were broken/off. Which naturally given the water location was difficult for most to be maintained.

Trying to add a story to a slow boat ride doesn't always work. Especially with the dodgy Brummie accents firing at you.

"COR BLIMEY, THIS SWORD WEIGHS A TON!"
 
I always had a bit of a soft spot for it, and it was easily one of my favourites at Drayton as a kid. But yes, in terms of maintenance it was probably quite intensive.

I believe as well that the ride system itself was quite problematic. Weren’t there supposedly issues with the boats frequently disengaging from the tow rope? Most others tend to be Mack or Intamin, whereas Excalibur was BEAR, the same as Stormforce 10, another ride that’s hardly a shining example of reliability 🤣
 
I did wonder if it suffered more due to being BEAR whereas others are more established manufacturers. Shame to see a ride closed and that lake abandoned though. They have kept Stormforce going
 
pjanvil said:
I did wonder if it suffered more due to being BEAR whereas others are more established manufacturers. Shame to see a ride closed and that lake abandoned though. They have kept Stormforce going
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Stormforce 10 has a different system and is partially in the lake which may be why it's easier to maintain.

I'd also say it may be workable for Interlink, Intamin or even Zamperla who have manufactured similar super flume models to overhaul the ride if the time comes.
 
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