I think a lot of the rides at West midlands safari park probably wouldn't survive the relocation. Essentially the rides are more like a travelling fair that have been stuck in one place for 30 years. The 3 coasters are nothing to shout about and the less said about Dr Umbotos Catacombs the better. They really wouldn't suit being in an actual theme park especially one that's trying to set its standards a bit higher.
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Drayton Manor Park
- Thread starter Matty
- Start date
owenstreet7
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Monkey Mayhem is exactly the type of ride Drayton Manor oughta be considering with it's thrill level.
Something that fits above Gold Rush and below the Wave in thrills.
There was a time I'd rather have a Spinning Wild Mouse replace G Force to be honest.
As a new purchase sure. With working block zones so more then a single car can be on track
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
I’d hope Drayton would aim a little higher than Monkey Mayhem for a new family coaster, personally.
Those Reverchon spinning coasters and their siblings really are common as anything within the UK seafront and travelling fair scenes, whereas Drayton is one of this country’s larger theme parks and has the clout to build something a little more unique, as proven by the excellent Gold Rush.
Those Reverchon spinning coasters and their siblings really are common as anything within the UK seafront and travelling fair scenes, whereas Drayton is one of this country’s larger theme parks and has the clout to build something a little more unique, as proven by the excellent Gold Rush.
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
I feel one of the areas they should focus on is Pirate Adventure space / Excalibur lake, the combined area is huge and central in the park, ripe for redevelopment.
The Excalibur lake has partially been filled in, across part of the rides old route to expand the maintenance area behind the dodgems, but they could infill the lake even more to create space for some attractions, its not deep at all and is man made from a stream that runs through the lake. But even before that, there is a huge warehouse doing nothing, that could either be removed or re purposed for something else.
The Excalibur lake has partially been filled in, across part of the rides old route to expand the maintenance area behind the dodgems, but they could infill the lake even more to create space for some attractions, its not deep at all and is man made from a stream that runs through the lake. But even before that, there is a huge warehouse doing nothing, that could either be removed or re purposed for something else.
It all entails money.
Drayton is on the slide.
Attendance down apparently, and revenues and profits have fallen, income down by a million, profits halved.
They didn't say which one.
Roll on 3000.
Drayton is on the slide.
Attendance down apparently, and revenues and profits have fallen, income down by a million, profits halved.
Again, the park bosses told me many years ago the ride was going to be replaced around the millennium.
They didn't say which one.
Roll on 3000.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
Paulton’s and Drayton are the only parks since 2020 that has increased ride offerings.
Yeah they had to remove Apocalypse and Pandemonium but in return we had 6 new rides, 3 re/themed rides and other rides improved to fit into 3 new theme areas.
When I went last Sunday the main car park was full and all they had to offer was Thomas land rides (minus Troublesome trunks) and the Carousel and having the £75 Gold annual pass sale I bet has boosted the profits for the group.
I do think the pirate adventure building is the next big project for the park and they started to clear the area at the back of the ride.
Yeah they had to remove Apocalypse and Pandemonium but in return we had 6 new rides, 3 re/themed rides and other rides improved to fit into 3 new theme areas.
When I went last Sunday the main car park was full and all they had to offer was Thomas land rides (minus Troublesome trunks) and the Carousel and having the £75 Gold annual pass sale I bet has boosted the profits for the group.
I do think the pirate adventure building is the next big project for the park and they started to clear the area at the back of the ride.
Any evidence of this?
Park was rammed last summer I find it hard to believe attendance down. Unless there are some concrete figures I don't believe it.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
I’m not sure term time days are the best barometer by which to judge Drayton Manor’s overall attendance. With their target market being families with younger children, the park likely has lower term time attendance than parks with more thrill seeker appeal like Alton or Thorpe, so I don’t find reports of it being dead in term time overly surprising.
I also went in term time last year, and while very quiet, I wouldn’t have said it was any quieter than my similar visit in 2022.
Was the money thing referencing Drayton Manor specifically or theme parks and leisure as an overall industry @rob666? If the latter, I’m not sure you can necessarily extrapolate that to Drayton.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
For the context of others, I think this might be what @rob666 is referring to: https://www.cityam.com/drayton-manor-profit-continues-to-slide-as-wet-summer-hits-theme-park/
In the year to 30th September 2024, Drayton’s pre-tax profit lowered to £1.2m, and their turnover lowered by £1m. It does not say anything about lowered attendance figures, however; it would figure that they were probably lower, but we don’t know that for sure.
In the year to 30th September 2024, Drayton’s pre-tax profit lowered to £1.2m, and their turnover lowered by £1m. It does not say anything about lowered attendance figures, however; it would figure that they were probably lower, but we don’t know that for sure.
I'd only be worried it the park was running at a loss. There have been big changes at Drayton in that last few years, they need to focus on operations this season, Thier online offers seemed to work well.
It's tough for any business at the moment with the government absolutely hammering retail, hospitality and leisure with taxes
It's tough for any business at the moment with the government absolutely hammering retail, hospitality and leisure with taxes
One thing i do wish Drayton Manor would invest in is a decent app for the park. This Tap app is awful and when you compare it to Paultons Park who have a fantastic app there really is no reason for this. With maps pretty much gone, guests now rely on the app to navigate and view queue times. The park map on the Tap app is so distorted it's unusable. Most of the functions link you back to the website so it must prevent them upselling through the app like the merlin parks.
Example of the map below.
Example of the map below.
Bowser
TS Member
Profits would also be expected to be lower with the investments though obviously turnover being lower isn’t great. Though worth remembering Gold Rush didn’t open till quite late in the year.
I would imagine Gold Rush opening late in the year was probably the problem. As great as new rides are they also create low visit days in the run up as guests will refrain from visiting. If I remember correctly Drayton Manor had to be aggressive on pricing early in the season to try and encourage visits before Gold Rush and the Wave opened probably hurting profits.
That had far more detail than the I article.
The weather point is fair, it was a crap summer.
I know managers on the Beach in the past have said the whole season hangs on about a dozen really busy days in the good weather, they cover all the quiet periods, but if those days don't happen because of the weather, it becomes a bad year.
One more point, large numbers of people on the park no longer equates to high income...these are the days of the season pass holder.
How many of those families packing the park in the school holidays have paid full admission?
I love Drayton, and had amazing times there in the past, but there is little for us thrill seekers now, the highlights were the two "stand ups"...both gone.