They do say beauty is only skin deep sometimes, and I think this applies to Drayton in some respects. As Dan has already said, aesthetically from the outside the park is looking brilliant. Probably the best I've seen it in 18 years of visiting. Most of the rides have been freshly painted, the signage the theming is on the whole clean, the paths are generally presentable and tidy. All in all the park should be commended for that.
Since working on catering with Love to Eat too I'd say the offerings and quality have both become much better. The choice of food on park has been made much better than in the past, and with the hotel recently being added they've also got themselves two nice, high quality restaurants to offer to guests.
Operations are still their downfall sadly. While they've managed to improve the appearance and quality of the staff somewhat in the past few years they do still struggle to manage some attractions. The dark rides are all a shambles. It's probably one of Drayton's biggest downfalls. Seeing Pirate Adventure in such a state was truly heartbreaking, and I'd probably rather it be SBNO or removed than ride it in that condition. It's a shame too, as the ride system has such potential, but the pumps are supposedly knackered, and a lot of the boats apparently have holes in them and are unusable.
The Haunting, as cheesy as the ride is has become very poorly managed. The park seem to have set out to run the attraction with the bare minimum staff (Two people), and as a result the queues are diabolical. By using such few staff only one group can be in the ride at any given time, as guests are escorted through the length of the ride. The other staff member is sat at the ride operations desk, overseeing the running of the ride. Even just one more staff member would help, and allow twice as many people to be in the attraction at any given time. If they still want to keep staff levels down why not pipe some money into having the effects automated like Hex, and therefore eliminate the need for staff escorting. Have the ride so that a group are counted in, watch the first show, are told to make their way through the door to the right by the operator. The operator manually starts the skeleton corridor when the group have passed through the door, and automate the door at the end so it opens when the effect is finished. The guests then make their own way into the main pre-show and an automated message plays warning them to stand clear of the walls, before the show commences (This could be done manually by the op, or even timed to take place after the skeleton corridor door closes automatically). The show happens and the doors to the right open. Here the riders finally come to the second staff member, who observes loading taking place, before moving out of the on-load doors and waiting for the next group in the passageway while the show takes place. This could allow for two groups of guests to be in the attraction at any one time, and drastically cut waiting times. The idea of unescorted groups works fine for Hex, so why can't this ride be made to do so too? Maybe it's an improvement they can look into if the Scooby Doo retheme happens.
Lets not even go into Golden Nuggets Wild West Shoot Out. The sooner that ride is removed the better in my books. Either that or it receives are Cartoon Network IP which gives the ride some meaning and makes it fit into the surrounding area. Drayton seem to be able to make IPs work most of the time, so I would have high hopes for this.
Like John has said, I'd sooner visit Drayton at capacity than a Merlin park. At least Drayton's capacity is still reasonable for the park, and the park operations team are willing to extend their hours to compensate for it. The extra hour and a half was certainly very welcome.
The Buffalo did reopen later in the day, but we didn't manage to ride it (And it had the usual queue).
I feel that some credit should go to Drayton's staff on some rides. G-Force was being ran flat out by the team, and they were doing very well (For G-Force
) at keeping the queue moving. The same goes for Shockwave. Drayton's real downfall seems to be ride design and choice really. G-Force is diabolical, and while two trains would be a big step in the right direction I'm still unsure if it will ever happen.
Shockwave's failing, as John has also said, is in the train design. When the ride downloads a train the seats all raise to the highest position, making it very hard for guests for shorted legs to board the ride. I don't think the restraint system is particularly helpful either. It's the only coaster I've seen to use that kind of half and half system. I don't think there'd be an easy way to stop the seats rising, but maybe if the park had some foot plates welded to the side of each seat and painted it yellow and black so it was visible they could have some directions on the station to explain to guests that they can lower the seat by pushing it down. In fact, a whole video similar to those Parc Asterix use would be helpful. Install a couple of screens above the final stairwell and down the platform and just get some staff with a camcorder to film how you board the ride (Looping one arm through and pulling down with the other, standing so both feet are on the floor, etc.). It'd prepare guests better for how to board, and hopefully reduce some of the faff. With the length of the station too I've always wondered why they don't just get someone to reprogram the ride, move the station fences around a bit, and add a restraint release arm at the back. Then have one train downloading at the back while the other takes guests on, rather than sitting on the brake run waiting. The train them moves forward to on-load with the restraints open and starts loading when the one in front has cleared. A similar system to what Rita uses really. Just have offloading on the opposite side, and install a Nemmy style bag locker for each train. That too would have to be something of an improvement for the ride.
Hopefully in the future Drayton will be selecting rides with a high throughput to try and ease the strain on their older ones, and work on improving park operations. Given time I really do hope it happens, as the park is looking the best I have seen it in 18 years of visiting. Come on Drayton, don't spoil it now!
