• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Drayton Manor Park

This seems far more likely than Flamingo Land's ride -- lots of indoor areas that could have screens retrofitted
It seems deeply unlikely to be anything other than Flamingo Land’s river ride

The simulator section probably needs *at least* 90 seconds to engage a boat, play its sequence, and then disengage (if not even longer). Any attraction where the boats are small and need to be dispatched at regular intervals are out - and that includes River Caves

As far as I can think, Lost River Ride is the only flume we have in the U.K. with those large capacity boats, that would be able to accommodate such an addition in time for the Summer

Dungeons could ultimately have this added as part of a bigger overhaul but I can’t see it being done for a Scarefest attraction
 
It seems deeply unlikely to be anything other than Flamingo Land’s river ride

The simulator section probably needs *at least* 90 seconds to engage a boat, play its sequence, and then disengage (if not even longer). Any attraction where the boats are small and need to be dispatched at regular intervals are out - and that includes River Caves

As far as I can think, Lost River Ride is the only flume we have in the U.K. with those large capacity boats, that would be able to accommodate such an addition in time for the Summer

Dungeons could ultimately have this added as part of a bigger overhaul but I can’t see it being done for a Scarefest attraction
In all honestly I assumed that the immersive screens could simply be used in motion without having to engage and disengage the boats, but with that in mind you're right that Lost River Ride is probably the most likely. Particularly if they only have one or two screen sequences so it wouldn't require building new indoor locations.
 
In all honestly I assumed that the immersive screens could simply be used in motion without having to engage and disengage the boats, but with that in mind you're right that Lost River Ride is probably the most likely. Particularly if they only have one or two screen sequences so it wouldn't require building new indoor locations.
It took a moments research to see that the USP of the offering is the motion base rather than any screen
 
Out of interest, do we reckon this will be open by early to mid June?

I was hoping to do a solo trip up to Drayton in early to mid June (week commencing 10th June, perhaps?), as I did in 2022, but if the new coaster isn’t open by then, I’ll probably leave it until a later date.

Given that the track is finished, I guess it’s far from inconceivable that the ride could be open in 2 months, but based on the station still being well under construction, I’m not certain of that by any stretch. Particularly given that the park haven’t even formally announced the ride yet…

What do we reckon? That 2nd week of June was very nice crowds-wise in 2022, but if the new coaster isn’t open yet, then I’d definitely prefer to hold off until later.
 
Out of interest, do we reckon this will be open by early to mid June?

I was hoping to do a solo trip up to Drayton in early to mid June (week commencing 10th June, perhaps?), as I did in 2022, but if the new coaster isn’t open by then, I’ll probably leave it until a later date.

Given that the track is finished, I guess it’s far from inconceivable that the ride could be open in 2 months, but based on the station still being well under construction, I’m not certain of that by any stretch. Particularly given that the park haven’t even formally announced the ride yet…

What do we reckon? That 2nd week of June was very nice crowds-wise in 2022, but if the new coaster isn’t open yet, then I’d definitely prefer to hold off until later.
I'm also hoping for a June opening, I'm due to go sometime at the back end of that month. They need to get a move on
 
After the coaster was installed in just under a month it’s taking them ages to Install the station.
Picture taken on 18th Feb
63D45FC3-70C8-4F20-8275-6562490150EB.jpeg
Picture taken the 17th March
BC67CE13-3095-4BAA-9E39-505706BDE978.jpeg8BDB12E3-4EFD-4517-AFD6-5B31957B1514.jpeg
Taken 7th April
1EADC0DA-9B11-4D82-8D53-A7635A0BB398.jpeg976E4F7E-943E-4C29-9CB5-6A30DBBFFBD9.jpeg
Like it’s taken 7 weeks and it’s still not finished.
It has been very wet, and very windy, since the beginning of the year...so construction work at heights has been very slow right the way across the country.
You have to be safe.
 
I'm more surprised they haven't announced when either rollercoaster is opening yet. They seemed way ahead of the pack and now it looks like they'll be the last rollercoasters of the season. Might be deliberate of course rather than competing with Hyperia.
 
I’m more surprised that they don’t even seem to have formally announced the new coaster yet. Yes, they’ve technically confirmed it within interviews and Blooloop articles, but aside from some passing remarks to the effect of “Oh yeah, we’re building a new coaster this year”, we haven’t had any proper public reveal of the new coaster at all.

We don’t even know the name, and even though enthusiasts and others who read Blooloop articles know what the ride is and what it does, the park hasn’t even properly announced the ride to the wider public yet. If you weren’t an enthusiast or weren’t well informed with developments at the park, I think you’d be forgiven for thinking that The Wave was the only “new coaster” opening at Drayton Manor in 2024.

I get that Drayton Manor may not have wanted to announce their new coaster super early, but I think April of opening year, when the track is completed, is surprisingly late. I’m a little concerned that announcing the ride so late may backfire on them; how can people plan trips to ride it if they don’t even know it’s opening?
 
Last edited:
Probably because they want people to visit now, see the new coaster under construction and then return later in the year to ride it.
I get that, but what about the people who aren’t visiting earlier in the year, won’t see it under construction, and are weighing up Drayton Manor alongside other parks for a summer trip? Surely it would make sense to have that new coaster at very least properly announced so that you could make your park look as compelling as possible?

I totally get why they aren’t shouting from the rooftops with TV adverts and things, as it’s not open yet, but an announcement of some description and a bit more of a song and dance on social media might have been good by now to at least raise awareness of the new ride. Look at what Thorpe Park are doing with Hyperia; that ride didn’t open at the start of the season, but that didn’t stop them from announcing it in October 2023 and raising a fair amount of hype for it through their social media channels.

Currently, The Wave and Frontier Falls are being advertised on Drayton’s website, with the only mention of this ride being in the form of a tiny little “New Roller Coaster: Coming Soon” footnote hidden deep within the attraction list of the Frontier Falls page. Perhaps there is some kind of thinking behind not announcing it at all until the summer, but to me at least, it seems odd that they’re not even trying to promote what is arguably their most interesting and unique ride investment in years. I get why they’re not fully shouting from the rooftops seeing as it’s not open yet, but I am surprised that they haven’t even announced it and done some social media hype building. Surely they’d want to raise awareness of the new coaster while people are planning summer trips?
 
I think they want to get the Wave and Stormforce 10 open then maybe start teasers for the new coaster as if I’m right in saying this but is it the worlds 1st lift hill and launch with multiple switch tracks? Also I wonder where the other train is.
 
Also I wonder where the other train is.
Knowing Drayton, they've pulled a G Force, again. They fully intend to have two train operation, at some unspecified point in the future, and fully reserve the right to purchase a second train if and when it suits them.

I can't this opening much before the beginning of the Summer holidays.

They've missed the Easter window. May (HALF TERM cc @rob666) will be Hyperia. The only window really available to them, where they're not competing for attention, is July.
 
Top