yoursilentface
TS Member
Its a toss up between DM and the National Space Centre
I'm not sure i fancy either to be honest
I'm not sure i fancy either to be honest
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ℹ️ Heads up...
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Drayton Manor Park
- Thread starter Matty
- Start date
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
Last year I queued about 2 miles away from the main entrance and the biggest problem is as there’s only 1 way in cars turning right ain’t helping this so a 25 min journey had become a 1 hr journey. With school trips and school holidays starting next week it won’t be any less busy to September.
A couple of pages ago, there was talk about Pirate Adventure, a closed dark ride at DMP - I shared some opening day images of the ride and other people shared their past experiences with the ride, some of which having even worked on the ride.
Also, we discussed why the ride closed, and the likelihood of it reopening, combined with some evidence I provided from Steve Lomas, Director of Park Operations, stating that the ride is not definitely closed for good:
Since then I have been watching POV's online and also looking at the collection of images I have of the attraction to try and piece together a Ride Plan or Schema whereby the trough path can be plotted, as well as the scenery walls and the scenes themselves. The result of that can be seen below:
This is the best I could do, the quality of most POV's are poor due to the dark nature of the ride and the time since it closed. If anybody has any corrections or suggestions, let me know and I'll edit the image.
Also, we discussed why the ride closed, and the likelihood of it reopening, combined with some evidence I provided from Steve Lomas, Director of Park Operations, stating that the ride is not definitely closed for good:
Since then I have been watching POV's online and also looking at the collection of images I have of the attraction to try and piece together a Ride Plan or Schema whereby the trough path can be plotted, as well as the scenery walls and the scenes themselves. The result of that can be seen below:
This is the best I could do, the quality of most POV's are poor due to the dark nature of the ride and the time since it closed. If anybody has any corrections or suggestions, let me know and I'll edit the image.
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Sauron97
TS Member
Well done ! @DW_0505 That's really impressive.
I do have a couple of suggestions
As I understand it, the first section before the drop is a 180 degree turn rather than a 90, and the skeletons are in the center point of this turn
The section between offload and onload has a 90 degree turn and 30 foot lift hill (I think)
Apologies for the very quick and not very good google earth drawing to show what I mean
I'd send your diagram to Drayton, it would really show them how enthusiastic we are about it returning
Keep it up!
I do have a couple of suggestions
As I understand it, the first section before the drop is a 180 degree turn rather than a 90, and the skeletons are in the center point of this turn
The section between offload and onload has a 90 degree turn and 30 foot lift hill (I think)
Apologies for the very quick and not very good google earth drawing to show what I mean
I'd send your diagram to Drayton, it would really show them how enthusiastic we are about it returning
Keep it up!
Further to the corrections suggested by @Sauron97 - here is the updated Ride Plan / Schema of Pirate Adventure at Drayton Manor Park. This has the 180 degree turn on the first turn and also the 90 degree turn between the Unload and Load Points. Again, any corrections, please do let me know.
EDIT: Updated to reflect changes highlighted by @Sauron97 and @DiogoJ42
EDIT: Updated to reflect changes highlighted by @Sauron97 and @DiogoJ42
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Sauron97
TS Member
Superb. I can see you've clearly put time and effort in to this and it has really paid off.
I'd hate to get you to change it again, but if you really want to, I have some further final suggestions.
-I believe the bucket over the lady section on the opposite side to what it should be.
-Obviously the path of the troughs, not accounting for the turns, does not follow a displacement vector and involves many gentle curves, so I'd suggest trying to match your diagram with any birds eye pictures you have of the showroom buildings from above and trying to get it to scale so you can get the route perfect! This one is tricky and I don't think you'd need to do it necessarily, but it's the closest you'd be getting to seeing the actual layout
I'd hate to get you to change it again, but if you really want to, I have some further final suggestions.
-I believe the bucket over the lady section on the opposite side to what it should be.
-Obviously the path of the troughs, not accounting for the turns, does not follow a displacement vector and involves many gentle curves, so I'd suggest trying to match your diagram with any birds eye pictures you have of the showroom buildings from above and trying to get it to scale so you can get the route perfect! This one is tricky and I don't think you'd need to do it necessarily, but it's the closest you'd be getting to seeing the actual layout
That's the tiny lift hill that ensures there's a break between boats dropping, altogether there are two lift hills; three if you count the tiny chain which is actually on the offload section. The boats went in a straight direction just after the ride exit (so that in high capacity there wouldn't obviously be a pile up before the end of the ride) for a short distance before turning right at 90 degrees as shown on @DW_0505 s diagram. Immediately after the turn was a large lift hill in a tall building that lead straight in to the onload/station section. This whole building was plain and well lit with a large staircase following the lift hill upwards. It was covered up by a black sheet and not visible to any riders though.
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
Further to the corrections suggested by @Sauron97 - here is the updated Ride Plan / Schema of Pirate Adventure at Drayton Manor Park. This has the 180 degree turn on the first turn and also the 90 degree turn between the Unload and Load Points. Again, any corrections, please do let me know.
EDIT: Updated to reflect changes highlighted by @Sauron97 and @DiogoJ42
The general layout of this is quite acurate just a bit of the scaling is off. I have some time tomorrow. Let me see if I can fire up Adobe Illustrator and improve on it from how I remember it. I will try and overlay the layout over an image of the ride building.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
I'm not sure what the exact problem is, but I think it was something to do with the ride being unsafe to operate for some reason or another.
With regards to your question about the ride's manufacturer, I think Mack Rides built it, correct me if I'm wrong.
Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
The ride system was built by Mack, and it’s a fairly basic free-flow boat system.
There’s been a number of reasons suggested/rumoured for the closure, and it seems likely to be a combination of factors, but one of the main issues with the ride system itself is supposedly that the pumps are knackered.
The whole ride relies on the flow of water being pumped around the circuit to push the boats forward, but as the pumps age that flow is reduced. It not only slows the ride, but as we saw with the Dreamworld incident, can lower water levels which can cause issues with boats being able to move safely. The area I expect would be most impacted would be the bottom of the drop. If the water is too low you could end up with boats not having enough drag to slow them down and overspeeding out of the runoff.
I also don’t know what condition the boats themselves are in, but the last time I rode it before it closed (on a TS sandwich meet, maybe 2015?) there only seeemed to be 2/3 boats in service. We queued from the top of the ramp in the first room, but with no cattlepens at the end and it took what must have been 40-60 minutes or more before we boarded. I’ve never been in such a slow moving queue in all my life. I also seem to remember us getting absolutely drenched on it...
There’s been a number of reasons suggested/rumoured for the closure, and it seems likely to be a combination of factors, but one of the main issues with the ride system itself is supposedly that the pumps are knackered.
The whole ride relies on the flow of water being pumped around the circuit to push the boats forward, but as the pumps age that flow is reduced. It not only slows the ride, but as we saw with the Dreamworld incident, can lower water levels which can cause issues with boats being able to move safely. The area I expect would be most impacted would be the bottom of the drop. If the water is too low you could end up with boats not having enough drag to slow them down and overspeeding out of the runoff.
I also don’t know what condition the boats themselves are in, but the last time I rode it before it closed (on a TS sandwich meet, maybe 2015?) there only seeemed to be 2/3 boats in service. We queued from the top of the ramp in the first room, but with no cattlepens at the end and it took what must have been 40-60 minutes or more before we boarded. I’ve never been in such a slow moving queue in all my life. I also seem to remember us getting absolutely drenched on it...
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
If you look at the BIrds eye view picture on page 70 you can see the boats in the top left corner. They wasn’t there last season so they must have been moved during the closed season
Like @Ian says, there were problems with the pumps on the ride which caused the ride time to be significantly extended, which you can see on some of the more recent POVs, that also caused massive queues, that, like the boats, were really slow moving. Anybody got any ideas if this is a costly refurbishment?
There were also other rumours that Pirate Adventure failed its Health and Safety due to the need for re-work of the fire system, including better escape options. The area which was particularly of concern was the battle scene, as the boats weren’t really close to any fire exits, other than at the start of the scene on the right. I believe @Sauron97 asked a member of staff about the ride and the stated this as a reason for its closure.
Another potential reason that I’ve heard is that’s Colin Bryan, Managing Director of Drayton Manor, did put money aside for a refurbishment, but this went missing due to a theft? I’m not 100% sure on the validity of this one, I do know that it won’t be cheap to maintain or replace the animatronics, some which are controlled by compressed air (I think?) also lots of the wooden theming boats were rotting and had been used as unintentional flower beds
I don’t think the condition of the boats was a problem necessarily, sure a couple were pretty aged, but during the closed season of 2012/2013/2014, I know a lot of boats were repainted and refurbished, there is evidence for that from a Theme Park Worldwide Closed Season Update from Drayton Manor. I think there were only a few boats on due to the power of the pumps causing a slow flow and stacking.
I absolutely adore Pirate Adventure, and I’d love nothing more than for it to reopen. It’s something different to all other ride openings recently, being a dark ride. It fits into a themed area, something Drayton don’t tend to have often nowadays. It plays a big part in the parks history, turning it from a Fair to a Theme Park, in some ways. The building can’t be demolished as it houses two other rides, staff rooms and a Thomas Indoor-Play area. I really hope Drayton Manor invest back into this ride, I think it’d be a big pull for the public, especially for those who can’t afford, or won’t travel to, Florida to see POTC.
There were also other rumours that Pirate Adventure failed its Health and Safety due to the need for re-work of the fire system, including better escape options. The area which was particularly of concern was the battle scene, as the boats weren’t really close to any fire exits, other than at the start of the scene on the right. I believe @Sauron97 asked a member of staff about the ride and the stated this as a reason for its closure.
Another potential reason that I’ve heard is that’s Colin Bryan, Managing Director of Drayton Manor, did put money aside for a refurbishment, but this went missing due to a theft? I’m not 100% sure on the validity of this one, I do know that it won’t be cheap to maintain or replace the animatronics, some which are controlled by compressed air (I think?) also lots of the wooden theming boats were rotting and had been used as unintentional flower beds
I don’t think the condition of the boats was a problem necessarily, sure a couple were pretty aged, but during the closed season of 2012/2013/2014, I know a lot of boats were repainted and refurbished, there is evidence for that from a Theme Park Worldwide Closed Season Update from Drayton Manor. I think there were only a few boats on due to the power of the pumps causing a slow flow and stacking.
I absolutely adore Pirate Adventure, and I’d love nothing more than for it to reopen. It’s something different to all other ride openings recently, being a dark ride. It fits into a themed area, something Drayton don’t tend to have often nowadays. It plays a big part in the parks history, turning it from a Fair to a Theme Park, in some ways. The building can’t be demolished as it houses two other rides, staff rooms and a Thomas Indoor-Play area. I really hope Drayton Manor invest back into this ride, I think it’d be a big pull for the public, especially for those who can’t afford, or won’t travel to, Florida to see POTC.
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Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
@Ian @DW_0505 @DistortAMG
It's been a while since I've wandered around that ride, but as I recall the 'flow' is not pumped as described above, it's more like something like Battle Galleons (pumps in a flat trough), occuring on two levels with only 'show water' transferring between the two?
It's been a while since I've wandered around that ride, but as I recall the 'flow' is not pumped as described above, it's more like something like Battle Galleons (pumps in a flat trough), occuring on two levels with only 'show water' transferring between the two?