Charliemoore93
TS Member
We had the same issue and park staff was not aware how to transfer our passes. I had to download the app called Tap and now our season passes and friends and family vouchers are all stored there.
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DistortAMG
TS Member
They will accept just a barcode. No photo. Seeing as they are giving no card with a photo, they have no choice. They have to compensate for people with no smart phone. You need a smart phone to get the photoed version of your pass through the TAP app.
This system is now ripe for abuse and abused it shall be. Now I know photos are not checked every time if at all. But the fact this new system means they have to accept barcodes without photos means there is now almost no way of checking on the gate if they wanted to. What a stupid decision. For whatever reason they have stopped giving physical passes, they must not care about the passes being abused. You cannot overlook something like this without having your head seriously buried in the sand or just not caring.
Can they not afford to give you a flimsy piece of plastic or what. A bit of a joke to be fair.
When they are charging £8 for just a burger, they can surely afford to give you a card with your annual pass. I mean they still print physical maps.
It is a bit backwards, if it was a money thing, the map would be digital only surely. But they still spend god knows what printing all those. Great for the planet too.
This system is now ripe for abuse and abused it shall be. Now I know photos are not checked every time if at all. But the fact this new system means they have to accept barcodes without photos means there is now almost no way of checking on the gate if they wanted to. What a stupid decision. For whatever reason they have stopped giving physical passes, they must not care about the passes being abused. You cannot overlook something like this without having your head seriously buried in the sand or just not caring.
Can they not afford to give you a flimsy piece of plastic or what. A bit of a joke to be fair.
When they are charging £8 for just a burger, they can surely afford to give you a card with your annual pass. I mean they still print physical maps.
It is a bit backwards, if it was a money thing, the map would be digital only surely. But they still spend god knows what printing all those. Great for the planet too.
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Charliemoore93
TS Member
Oh I agree, it’s not a wise move and it makes it less special for children. The food selection is poor so we end up taking our own as there’s just nothing substantial for families with children outside of Thomas land airport. The tickets will be abused as proof with that rainy day code that had somehow been used for standard tickets. It’s a shame that they are over looking physical passes with photos but maybe it’s something they will realise will need to be rectified down the road when people do misuse the new system.
djtruefitt
TS Team
To be fair the towers passes are all digital (but you do still have a physical pass) which I think would be very easy to misuse if you wanted, as you just scan it yourself. And even the new EP pass is digital (but you can pay to get a printed one). So I guess it’s just the way the world is going now.
Maybe they could do the paid printed option for those who want a physical pass.
I have to say with my Merlin pass I’ve yet to actually get the physical card out of my wallet, I’ve just use digital everywhere.
DistortAMG
TS Member
You see it works fine for an adult. Issues arise when I want to send my child with someone else. I could print it out. But it is a 10 pence piece of plastic.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
Cause of the annual pass been very popular this year they turned to a digital version as they keep running out of cards. I think it’s a terrible idea unless they sort out the parks wi-fi problems as Sometimes I have a low signal in some areas of the park.
I wonder how the friends and family passes work as it was so much easier giving family the vouchers.
I wonder how the friends and family passes work as it was so much easier giving family the vouchers.
Wilko
TS Member
Our current passes expire next week, have no idea how the new system will work. There's 4 of us with passes (2 adults,2 kids). Can we download all of them to more than one phone does anyone know? And if the kids go with friends etc. how does that work as they don't have phones and can't take mine. Ridiculous not having passes. They could even just extend the date on the ones we already have.
BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
You could always take a screenshot of the barcode and send it to various phones? Should scan fine at the gates. Still an annoying inconvenience though.
DistortAMG
TS Member
Pass issues aside. My thoughts on the park this year are mostly positive.
Vikings looks great, after seeing the site myself from the many vantage points and speaking to some local friends / contractors who are working on the site, there is still quite a lot to be done infrastructure wise. At a guess, maybe about 5 to 6 weeks minimum. Although it is amazing how quickly construction sites can come together at this stage. So could be even sooner. Non the less, it looks great and will add some much needed capacity and solid additions to the park. I do hope Buffalo is getting a repaint though. It sticks out with it's red and that red itself looks aged and weathered. The area itself is great though. This is going to be an awesome new area to the park. The first time the theme park has expanded in a long time.
The food was a main sticking point, eating at the burger bar, I found £8 for a bacon cheese burger to be on the steep side. Then £3.10 for what would be considered a small drink and another £4 or so quid for fries. That makes for an expensive meal. Why on earth they do not do any meal deals is beyond me, well it is not, it is so they can fleece you of as much money as possible. The redeeming factor was the quality of the food, it was tasty and a decent size atleast. But I would like to see Drayton to offer atleast some type of refillable coke / fanta soft drink. The stuff literally costs pennys, help people keep hydrated on hot days and offer one thing that is somewhat good value. I know it is just sugar water, but it is very much needed on hot days. The ice cream cones up by the 4D cinema, very nice. Around the £4 mark for a double. I can just about live with that. I somehow managed to steamroll through £60 between me and my boy on food and drink. Which I do not mind as a once in a blue moon sort of treat. Picknicks will certainly be on the cards more with odd treats being purchased at the park.
Really enjoyed River Rapids, although it seems like a fancy lazy river, the music, colours and effects are very cool. Very good to see a great ride back and looking better than ever. Now they have cleared alot of bushes, it was cool to see one of the old Jungle Cruise boats stacked up on the side.
The safety of this ride is now seemingly run like a military operation. I can not, knock them on that. Long gone are the days when kids used to dangerously but successfully jump from boat to boat in the old wave pool section where the boats used to get stuck. A very very regular occurrence back in the early 2000's. I do not condone that behaviour, just pointing out how much times have changed.
Seemed to be alot of pop music playing around the park, specifically by the teashop. The Adventure Cove FM is great and really fits the area, no issues with that. I just feel pop music makes the park feel cheaper, tacky and fairgroundy. It is only in certain parts though, so it is not too bad. But I feel they should move away from this, as clearly they are not aiming for a fairgroundy type park with investments like Adventure Cove and Vikings.
Shockwave felt awful, really rough on the blue train. Really really bad about two third down the train. This is the only ride out of the big 3 from 1994 that hasn't had or is having major track work replacements. I cannot help but feel the days of this are numbered by reaching the end of its working life. I am pretty sure it will be removed soon, they can remove it without having to remove River Rapids, like was suggested a few times. They can keep certain footers in place around the rapids if need be. But they do not have to co exist. Further proof of this is the fact Splash Canyon operated for a full season with no Shockwave in sight. Yeah the footers were there but there is no reason why the footers for Shockwave that interfere with the rapids cannot be left in situ. That is exactly what will happen, should Shockwave be removed and footers are connected.
I really hope something is on the cards for the Pirate Adventure building soon. Big space in a central location. So much potential there. It did occur to me, you wouldn't even fit a coaster the height of troublesome trucks in that building. Not that I want one, but I have heard it mentioned. I think another lavishly themed dark ride would be perfect there, perfect for their target market too. I think a decent dark ride and a decent family coaster are the two biggest things the park are lacking.
Overall, there is still a long way to go, Drayton was in decline for a long time. But they seem to be heading in the right direction at quite a fast pace.
Right now, it is still a great day out, specifically with kids. But as of writing this, it is very similar to how it has been for the last 10 years. Adventure cove did not change much, added a wave singer and brought an old ride back. That is not a dig, just an observation. The area is a GREAT improvement afterall. Just nothing new with substance......you have to start somewhere I guess and this is all changing with decent investments that seem to be coming. It takes time to revive something that was neglected for so long, they are taking all the right steps. I am sure it will be a very different story in a few years time. Go Drayton!!!
One annoyance with the digital pass system. So I have my son and I's pass on the TAP app, which Drayton encourage you to use. No problem. That also puts the 20x per pass, so 40 in my case, £20 family and friends tickets on the app too. The only issue with this is, there is no way to tell when you have used a ticket or not. This has a potential to be confusing esepecially with 40 tickets, very easy to loose track of what you have used or not. It cannot be hard to visually show tickets you have used as void.....come on DMP! If you are going to commit to a system, then commit to it, cross the T's and dot the I's. Not some half working system.
Overall though I think my overall feelings can be summed up by the fact that my son and myself are now annual pass holders. The first time I have had an annual pass for the park in well over a decade. Not only is it a great place to spend time with my son (he would live there if he could) it is a great place to relax and spend some time even if it's for a few hours, especially if you are lucky enough to be within cycling distance of the park. I look forward to hopefully being a pass holder for many years to come, mainly for my child at this stage. But with the way they are heading, I think I more than likely will be.
I do feel very lucky to be able to take a short cycle up the canal to the park. I think that also gives the pass more value for me, than it may for others.
Vikings looks great, after seeing the site myself from the many vantage points and speaking to some local friends / contractors who are working on the site, there is still quite a lot to be done infrastructure wise. At a guess, maybe about 5 to 6 weeks minimum. Although it is amazing how quickly construction sites can come together at this stage. So could be even sooner. Non the less, it looks great and will add some much needed capacity and solid additions to the park. I do hope Buffalo is getting a repaint though. It sticks out with it's red and that red itself looks aged and weathered. The area itself is great though. This is going to be an awesome new area to the park. The first time the theme park has expanded in a long time.
The food was a main sticking point, eating at the burger bar, I found £8 for a bacon cheese burger to be on the steep side. Then £3.10 for what would be considered a small drink and another £4 or so quid for fries. That makes for an expensive meal. Why on earth they do not do any meal deals is beyond me, well it is not, it is so they can fleece you of as much money as possible. The redeeming factor was the quality of the food, it was tasty and a decent size atleast. But I would like to see Drayton to offer atleast some type of refillable coke / fanta soft drink. The stuff literally costs pennys, help people keep hydrated on hot days and offer one thing that is somewhat good value. I know it is just sugar water, but it is very much needed on hot days. The ice cream cones up by the 4D cinema, very nice. Around the £4 mark for a double. I can just about live with that. I somehow managed to steamroll through £60 between me and my boy on food and drink. Which I do not mind as a once in a blue moon sort of treat. Picknicks will certainly be on the cards more with odd treats being purchased at the park.
Really enjoyed River Rapids, although it seems like a fancy lazy river, the music, colours and effects are very cool. Very good to see a great ride back and looking better than ever. Now they have cleared alot of bushes, it was cool to see one of the old Jungle Cruise boats stacked up on the side.
The safety of this ride is now seemingly run like a military operation. I can not, knock them on that. Long gone are the days when kids used to dangerously but successfully jump from boat to boat in the old wave pool section where the boats used to get stuck. A very very regular occurrence back in the early 2000's. I do not condone that behaviour, just pointing out how much times have changed.
Seemed to be alot of pop music playing around the park, specifically by the teashop. The Adventure Cove FM is great and really fits the area, no issues with that. I just feel pop music makes the park feel cheaper, tacky and fairgroundy. It is only in certain parts though, so it is not too bad. But I feel they should move away from this, as clearly they are not aiming for a fairgroundy type park with investments like Adventure Cove and Vikings.
Shockwave felt awful, really rough on the blue train. Really really bad about two third down the train. This is the only ride out of the big 3 from 1994 that hasn't had or is having major track work replacements. I cannot help but feel the days of this are numbered by reaching the end of its working life. I am pretty sure it will be removed soon, they can remove it without having to remove River Rapids, like was suggested a few times. They can keep certain footers in place around the rapids if need be. But they do not have to co exist. Further proof of this is the fact Splash Canyon operated for a full season with no Shockwave in sight. Yeah the footers were there but there is no reason why the footers for Shockwave that interfere with the rapids cannot be left in situ. That is exactly what will happen, should Shockwave be removed and footers are connected.
I really hope something is on the cards for the Pirate Adventure building soon. Big space in a central location. So much potential there. It did occur to me, you wouldn't even fit a coaster the height of troublesome trucks in that building. Not that I want one, but I have heard it mentioned. I think another lavishly themed dark ride would be perfect there, perfect for their target market too. I think a decent dark ride and a decent family coaster are the two biggest things the park are lacking.
Overall, there is still a long way to go, Drayton was in decline for a long time. But they seem to be heading in the right direction at quite a fast pace.
Right now, it is still a great day out, specifically with kids. But as of writing this, it is very similar to how it has been for the last 10 years. Adventure cove did not change much, added a wave singer and brought an old ride back. That is not a dig, just an observation. The area is a GREAT improvement afterall. Just nothing new with substance......you have to start somewhere I guess and this is all changing with decent investments that seem to be coming. It takes time to revive something that was neglected for so long, they are taking all the right steps. I am sure it will be a very different story in a few years time. Go Drayton!!!
One annoyance with the digital pass system. So I have my son and I's pass on the TAP app, which Drayton encourage you to use. No problem. That also puts the 20x per pass, so 40 in my case, £20 family and friends tickets on the app too. The only issue with this is, there is no way to tell when you have used a ticket or not. This has a potential to be confusing esepecially with 40 tickets, very easy to loose track of what you have used or not. It cannot be hard to visually show tickets you have used as void.....come on DMP! If you are going to commit to a system, then commit to it, cross the T's and dot the I's. Not some half working system.
Overall though I think my overall feelings can be summed up by the fact that my son and myself are now annual pass holders. The first time I have had an annual pass for the park in well over a decade. Not only is it a great place to spend time with my son (he would live there if he could) it is a great place to relax and spend some time even if it's for a few hours, especially if you are lucky enough to be within cycling distance of the park. I look forward to hopefully being a pass holder for many years to come, mainly for my child at this stage. But with the way they are heading, I think I more than likely will be.
I do feel very lucky to be able to take a short cycle up the canal to the park. I think that also gives the pass more value for me, than it may for others.
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Pixie-Ro
TS Member
We are new pass holders and live fairly locally - half an hour drive. Our 3 year olds love Thomasland which was our main reason for purchasing - although they get upset every time I have to tell them they’re not tall enough for Troublesome Trucks even though they can do Runaway Mine Train!
We find it a perfect half day park, plus we can decide on the day if we fancy going - I’m really appreciating the lack of need to pre book!
We’ve found the park surprisingly quiet recently, although we are restricted to the smaller rides.
One area I feel the park falls down on is food. I always take food for the kids, whereas at AT we prefer to sit down and eat so us grown ups can enjoy something slightly stronger to help us get through the day with toddler twins!
Overall though I’m really pleased with our decision to become passholders and I think the park can only keep improving.
We find it a perfect half day park, plus we can decide on the day if we fancy going - I’m really appreciating the lack of need to pre book!
We’ve found the park surprisingly quiet recently, although we are restricted to the smaller rides.
One area I feel the park falls down on is food. I always take food for the kids, whereas at AT we prefer to sit down and eat so us grown ups can enjoy something slightly stronger to help us get through the day with toddler twins!
Overall though I’m really pleased with our decision to become passholders and I think the park can only keep improving.
DistortAMG
TS Member
That is the thing with Drayton, it really is such a great place for kids. One of the best days out for kids in the midlands no doubt. Not only is the scale of the park just right for little legs, there is lots for them to see and do. I feel you do not really get to see how good it is for kids in the true sense, until you go there with them. You can see it objectively without kids sure, but going there with kids, you really see it more from their eyes. This is something I noticed myself, by going with my boy.
Yeah, the food. Not only is it expensive, the selection is quite mediocre. The great thing about taking food though, is there are plenty lovely spots around the zoo and main park to sit, relax and enjoy dinner in beautiful surroundings.
I fully agree with the decision to get a pass, the park is certainly on the onwards and upwards. About time too!
Yeah, the food. Not only is it expensive, the selection is quite mediocre. The great thing about taking food though, is there are plenty lovely spots around the zoo and main park to sit, relax and enjoy dinner in beautiful surroundings.
I fully agree with the decision to get a pass, the park is certainly on the onwards and upwards. About time too!
Dave
TS Founding Member
Thing with all theme parks is when you need to make more money (for whatever reason) food prices and quality are an easy hit.
Look at Merlin, in their early days food quality went pretty high, now they are employing a company that specialises in prison food to sort out their offering.
Look at Merlin, in their early days food quality went pretty high, now they are employing a company that specialises in prison food to sort out their offering.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
After been so many times over the past 5 years we also go in the afternoon after I given the kids there lunch. We try to get there for 1 and 4 hrs is enough as with my kids been 10 and 3 this year. My daughter is roughly 1.37m tall so really only the Dodgems (driving), Shockwave and the floorless on Apocalypse but with my son only been just over 900m we spend a lot of time in Thomasland and the family rides.
I thought it was a looping group thing but at the Safari park they still had set meal deals so can’t understand why not at Drayton.
When it’s busy I don’t mind if they want to go on the outdoor play area or taking our time walking round the zoo. Like last Wednesday we did the Flying Dutchman, 4D cinema in 2D, Went round the zoo while my son went on Tiny tots, got the train back to Thomas land and watched the goodbye show then my daughter wanted to go on the outdoor play area, then my son fell a sleep so I waited for her while she went on Air race then we went home.
I thought it was a looping group thing but at the Safari park they still had set meal deals so can’t understand why not at Drayton.
When it’s busy I don’t mind if they want to go on the outdoor play area or taking our time walking round the zoo. Like last Wednesday we did the Flying Dutchman, 4D cinema in 2D, Went round the zoo while my son went on Tiny tots, got the train back to Thomas land and watched the goodbye show then my daughter wanted to go on the outdoor play area, then my son fell a sleep so I waited for her while she went on Air race then we went home.
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Skyscraper
TS Member
Could have something to do with the fact that RMT has shared lap bars whereas TT has individual ones, maybe.
Rick
TS Member
If anything, that would typically mean it would be the opposite - if you have a chunky adult riding RMT with someone who is about 0.9m, that restraint won't be doing a lot for the kid. They're not going to fall out ... but they're not being 'held' in.
I think it's probably down to the respective eras those rides were built.
jon81uk
TS Member
I can remember around 2004ish getting amazing ice cream cones, freshly made in store waffle cones with multiple scoops of carte d’or, sauces and cream. That was the best thing about food at Drayton.
Pretty sure we always got fish and chips and watched the strange animatronic band back then and it was expensive but didn’t seem unreasonable.
But going with my parents back in the early 90s we took packed lunch to eat in the queues as we could barely afford the wristbands let alone buying food on park.
Pretty sure we always got fish and chips and watched the strange animatronic band back then and it was expensive but didn’t seem unreasonable.
But going with my parents back in the early 90s we took packed lunch to eat in the queues as we could barely afford the wristbands let alone buying food on park.
jon81uk
TS Member
If anything individual lap bars would make the restriction lower as a tighter lock can be achieved.