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Drayton Manor Park

Well really since 2008 they really have upgraded/added new rides every year.
2009 4D Cinema opens
2010 Dino Trail,new 4D movie
2011 Ben 10 coaster and Cartoon Network street new hotel opens.
2012 new 4D movie castle of dreams opens
2013 Winston ride in thomasland,Carousel upgraded,
2014 Air Race
2015 New area in Thomasland with 3 new rides.
2016 The Haunting retheme,New monkey area in Zoo.
2017 James and the red balloon,rethemed Ben 10,Rethemed bumper cars,,zoo upgrades
2018 Ice age 4D,Rethemed golden nugget ride,Storm Force 10 repainted,

Before Thomas land 1998

1998 7 new rides added to the park
1999 Storm force 10
2000 Apocalypse,Golden nuggets and a new Popeye ride In the now 4D cinema building.
2001 Robinsons fruit shoot area
2002 Maelstrom
2003 Excalibur
2004 Pandemonium
2005 G-Force
2006 Drunken Barrels
2007 The Bountry
2008 Thomasland

So since the start of the 2008 season they added 23 new rides and attractions and rethemed 4 rides.

There only 4 rides left that opened in the 80's and only 4 left from the 90's.
 
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A lot of those additions post 2009 haven't been big though. Very small outlays for most parks with Ben 10 being the biggest most likely.

They are long overdue a real standout coaster even if they go down the family route. I just don't see it happening any time soon.
 
Well depends on what you class as big. With Alton Towers big attraction budget is 18 to 20 million. Drayton Manor's biggest output was 5 million for the original Thomasland and 2.5 million for the extension in 2015. So on Thomasland they spent 10 million over 10 years.
Ben 10 was roughly 2 million including the Ip for 6 years.
The 4D cinema 1.5 million
Air Race 1.2 million
Ride upgrades 1.5 million
Hotel 14 million
 
Yes it was a pound. I also spoke to the chap in Penny Arcade museum. He stated that the issue with Pirates isn't the parts not being available it is purely down to cost, he also mentioned that there would have to be a whole new upgrade of the fire system and that is what is putting the park off. He also mentioned the sky ride again and that was purely down to cost.

I really would like to see them build a family laugh coaster. Rip out vertigo and the buffalo and put a new coaster / area over there.
 
@Themeparksandy1981 Absolutely agree, they have made consistent investments

Question for you all:
Here's an interesting scenario:
What would everyone prefer in the next 5 years, if you could only choose one:
1)-Pirate Adventure to relaunch to an excellent standard (with all scenes restored including the ghost pirate at the end)
2)-New family-thrill or thrill coaster where Buffalo and vertigo is
 
Sauron97 said:
Question for you all:
Here's an interesting scenario:
What would everyone prefer in the next 5 years, if you could only choose one:
1)-Pirate Adventure to relaunch to an excellent standard (with all scenes restored including the ghost pirate at the end)
2)-New family-thrill or thrill coaster where Buffalo and vertigo is
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Pirate's Adventure all day.

It makes perfect sense to me to reopen Pirates Adventure. Firstly, the ride system, the system was expensive, DMP would never purchase something on that scale again, the ride was also insanely reliable (to my knowledge) and thus I don't think there would be a constant maintenance expenditure. Also, there was a great throughput provided by the ride (to my knowledge).

Secondly, the building / location, I don't see them taking down the building any time soon considering that there are two Thomas Rides inside of this, as well as the dodgems, the Burger Restaurant, and staff facilities meaning taking that down would cost lots of money and would likely be very inconvenient. Also, the fact that they have the Excalibur site available for developments makes removing the building for a future development pointless. It also fits in perfect with the surrounding theme in Pirate Cove, which definitely isn't going anywhere.

Thirdly, the fact that this will still appeal to the General Public, there are no other rides like this in the UK, the fact that a ride similar to POTC is available may be a draw to families who perhaps can't afford Disney, and there is bound to be people who visit to ride this as a memory. There aren't a lot of dark water rides in the UK, and, if marketed well, this could be a big draw; Pirates Adventure still fits in with the 'family' route the park appear to be taking.

I've heard numerous rumours about why the ride closed, from money thefts, mechanical failures, H&S as well as Fire Alarm Systems. But the fact that they've invested in The Haunting and Sheriff's Showdown, each successfully, gives me some hope they they may decide to invest in this site, they can't leave it SBNO forever. Yes, Drayton have a bad track record caring for Dark Rides, especially Animatronics, but things can change.

Sorry for the long post.

EDIT: I potentially have a picture of the old ghost scene before the fire, if anybody wants me to share that?
 
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I agree. Investing in Dark Rides would be a big gamble but at this current moment in time I think the odds would be in their favour. They'll never be able to compete with Alton Towers by building coasters. But Alton has gone so coaster mad they practiclly have nothing else at this point. This has left a hole in the market for good family rides with all age appeal, something that a good pirate boat ride can deffientley be.

The last time I visited Drayton was before Ben10 opened. A family boomerang wasn't enough to draw me back. But an interesting new/re-imagined Dark Ride would. The main reason I'm reading this topic is because the new Golden Nugget sounds intriguing!... But then Animation is my thing so maybe I'm biased.
 
Also a great point, dark rides have been in the shadows of the industry for what seems like at least 20 years
3-nil to Pirate Adventure. Got to say, I'm pretty surprised :)
 
I'd rather a new family coaster than a Pirate's Adventure relaunch.

A new ride is easier to market and would bring in a lot more guests than a refurbed ride. Same goes for any theme park, Why bring back an old dated attracion when you can build a shiny new ride. I know there are a few execptions out there like Hulk but they are done because it is important to the parks lineup/guest popularity.
 
I suppose the argument could be made that Pirate adventure is important to the parks lineup and guest popularity. It was the main ride at the whole park from '90 until Shockwave was built, it covers a huge area and stands out in the center of the park. In fact, I reckon there are people that would visit the park now JUST to go on that ride. I do admit though, a family thrill coaster would most likely do wonders for the park. :D
 
Bert2theSpark said:
I'd rather a new family coaster than a Pirate's Adventure relaunch.

A new ride is easier to market and would bring in a lot more guests than a refurbed ride. Same goes for any theme park, Why bring back an old dated attracion when you can build a shiny new ride. I know there are a few execptions out there like Hulk but they are done because it is important to the parks lineup/guest popularity.
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Why not market it as a new ride? Merlin get away with it all the time. Just look at Galactica, Walking Dead, Tiger Rock and Grufallo to name a few. Pirate Adventure would need a complete overhaul, by the time they are done it'll feel like something new.

Like I said before it would be a big investment and it's not a safe option. But they'll have to take risks if they want to stand apart from Merlin.
 
Pirate Adventure is relatively close to Thomas Land is it not? No doubt it could be transformed in to a Thomas themed dark ride.

:)
 
Rob said:
Pirate Adventure is relatively close to Thomas Land is it not? No doubt it could be transformed in to a Thomas themed dark ride.

:)
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tumblr_ncbc1eOKL41sgsitwo8_500.gif

;)
 
Tim said:
I agree. Investing in Dark Rides would be a big gamble but at this current moment in time I think the odds would be in their favour. They'll never be able to compete with Alton Towers by building coasters. But Alton has gone so coaster mad they practiclly have nothing else at this point. This has left a hole in the market for good family rides with all age appeal, something that a good pirate boat ride can deffientley be.

The last time I visited Drayton was before Ben10 opened. A family boomerang wasn't enough to draw me back. But an interesting new/re-imagined Dark Ride would. The main reason I'm reading this topic is because the new Golden Nugget sounds intriguing!... But then Animation is my thing so maybe I'm biased.
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Unfortunately the Sherrifs Showdown is still a little underwhelming. The guns hardly have any sound and difficult to know if you have hit anything.
 
What's wrong with the Pirates Adventure ride? I was on it on my last visit in 2014, while a bit underwhelming it was nice to have a change from outdoor rides.

Add some special effects (like those in Valhalla) and I'm sure they could make it a great ride!
 
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