Drayton Manor Park

[Plastic Person]

Excalibur was nicely ambitious, with a few good gags, but it was also the first major indication that Colin Bryan was prone to novelty and whose tastes were perhaps out-of-step with the wider industry. Every park should have a decent boat ride for families. But DMP already had one in Pirate Adventure, literally next door. It felt really dated, even upon opening, struggling to pull a queue even in its first year. G-Force followed in 2005, and that was received with even greater indifference. It was a double-whammy of ill-considered investments that an independent park can't really afford to make, and both were absolute follies within less than a decade.

Fortunately, Thomas Land later bailed them out and offered something Alton Towers didn't, but they then misread the market severely with the Ben 10 IP.

 

[Squiggs]

Excalibur was nicely ambitious, with a few good gags, but it was also the first major indication that Colin Bryan was prone to novelty and whose tastes were perhaps out-of-step with the wider industry. Every park should have a decent boat ride for families. But DMP already had one in Pirate Adventure, literally next door. It felt really dated, even upon opening, struggling to pull a queue even in its first year. G-Force followed in 2005, and that was received with even greater indifference. It was a double-whammy of ill-considered investments that an independent park can't really afford to make, and both were absolute follies within less than a decade.

Fortunately, Thomas Land later bailed them out and offered something Alton Towers didn't, but they then misread the market severely with the Ben 10 IP.#

I think the underlying maintenance issues were a big factor in Excalibur's problems, it looked very tired, very quickly, which did not help matters.

Plus, it arrived in the same year as Cyclone, which was another of the park's missteps during that period.

 

[Plastic Person]

Plus, it arrived in the same year as Cyclone, which was another of the park's missteps during that period.

Wow, I had totally forgotten about Cyclone, as well as it's ridiculously threatening signage indicating that anybody screaming aboard would be ejected from the park... I wonder how many times that occurred, if ever?

Was it a brand-new Enterprise? DMP really captured the spirit of 1986 with these investments, the original Retro Squad.

 

[Matt N]

Isn't Cyclone what later became Zodiac at Thorpe Park? It can't have stayed at Drayton Manor very long if that was the case.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

I do think Colin’s love for the park started to died after he lost both his parents within a month of each other with his dad passing away on the 20th September and his mum passing away on the 16th October 2013.
They went to Walt Disney World on a family holiday in the mid 70’s and wanted to offer rides and attractions that no other UK park could offer. So they installed the Jungle Cruise for the 1976 season and the Jungle palladium I think around mid 80’s but it wasn’t to 1990 which was the start of Drayton Manor going from a zoo and amusement park to the full on theme park with the 1st full themed area been Pirate Cove in 1992. Then every year up to 2002 they installed highly themed rides and attractions across the park.
Then things for me started to go sour starting with Excalibur and how long it took them to install it. In its 1st season of Operation it was more closed than it was open with boats coming away from the tow rope and floating around the lake and breaking down. They installed Cyclone for the summer season but cause of the noise was removed 2 years later. Then come Pandemonium which replaced the sky flyer. Now I preferred the sky flyer as it was more scary. Then come G-Force and can understand why they installed it as it was a world 1st coaster but was very painful and goes to show no other park wanted to buy it. The park did a guest survey and they wanted to know what rides guests missed the most and the tea cups and the pirate ship was the most missed and they installed Drunken barrels (now blasting barrels) and the Bounty. Then came the biggest success in the parks history with Thomas land opening in 2008 which brought so many more visitors to the park.
The following year the 4D cinema, American themed cafe and shop opened. They also built the Chicken Diner, Fish and chip shop and re-themed the burger restaurant next to the pirate adventure.
Then in 2011 the Ben 10 coaster was installed with blue mountain engines opening in Thomas land and the hotel.
Then Winston’s was installed in 2013 with Air race opening in 2014 which was the last ride outside Thomas land to open under the Bryan’s. 2015 saw the expansion of Thomas land with 3 new rides added and a cafe and the final ride added was James and the red balloon which cost £250000. Then the rapids death happened which saw the big wheel, Chair lift, Rapids SBNO, G force removed and Pirate Adventure and Excalibur left to Rot.
They did want to add a kids tea cup ride for the 2020 season and it was listed on early park maps
Thread 'NEW Thomas Land Ride & 4D Cinema Film For 2021'
https://www.draytontalk.co.uk/threads/new-thomas-land-ride-4d-cinema-film-for-2021.265/
Then we all know the flood, Covid and going into Administration put an end of 70 years of the Bryan family been in charge.

It was a blessing in disguise that the looping group took over as it nearly was the Mellors group. They would have owned the rides and brought there own in while the Bryan’s would have got ground rent off them and still ran the hotel and function rooms.

I agree the theming of the looping group hasn’t been as good as the Bryan’s but they nearly all been made in house and reusing Props that been used in other areas of the park. The looping group has installed 6 rides, brought back the Rapids and now we have 3 themed areas of the park with just the pirate area left to do.

 

[owenstreet7]

Isn't Cyclone what later became Zodiac at Thorpe Park? It can't have stayed at Drayton Manor very long if that was the case.

That's correct, Cyclone got removed from Drayton Manor due to noise complaints and got replaced with the Blasting Barrels. It lasted from 2003-2005.

It ended up at Thorpe Park a season later to replace the original Zodiac which was aging as it was originally on the fair circuit.

I'm not sure whether Cyclone/Zodiac 2.0 was bought brand new or secondhand from a travelling fair or park. Coasterpedia doesn't say anything about it's life before Drayton if any.

I definitely think if the noise complaints didn't happen, we would've likely still had Cyclone to this day at Drayton.

 

[Johnny_5]

I genuinely don’t understand this nostalgia for Drayton. It’s ok to admire the look, theming and immersion of rides like Stormforce 10, Pirates etc when they opened, but they were so badly maintained, they were simply left to rot. We talk like the effects and animatronics on Stormforce aren’t working due to recent neglect, but some of them had stopped working before the end of its first season and never worked again. Likewise, Pirates. Which within a couple of years was like floating through a health hazard. It stunk in there. The water was foul. The building leaked. Half of the animatronics stopped working. The Bryan’s were architects of their own ultimate downfall. Took risks on experimental ride hardware, never maintained their immersive attractions and let the rest of the park rot when they realised Thomas land was a cash cow. No love lost here for the Bryan’s ownership from me, I’m afraid.

 

[jon81uk]

I genuinely don’t understand this nostalgia for Drayton. It’s ok to admire the look, theming and immersion of rides like Stormforce 10, Pirates etc when they opened, but they were so badly maintained, they were simply left to rot. We talk like the effects and animatronics on Stormforce aren’t working due to recent neglect, but some of them had stopped working before the end of its first season and never worked again. Likewise, Pirates. Which within a couple of years was like floating through a health hazard. It stunk in there. The water was foul. The building leaked. Half of the animatronics stopped working. The Bryan’s were architects of their own ultimate downfall. Took risks on experimental ride hardware, never maintained their immersive attractions and let the rest of the park rot when they realised Thomas land was a cash cow. No love lost here for the Bryan’s ownership from me, I’m afraid.

My memory of 30 years ago is hazy but I can't remember pirates being a "health hazard" back then, it was a popular attraction. Maybe ten years later in the 2000s when focus shifted to Excalibur. But its 90s heyday was great, that's the period most of the DM nostalgia is for, as has been said its things like Excalibur and G-Force in th mid-2000s that started the downfall. But similar can be said about Alton Towers, the 90s and early 2000s was the peak, with it going downhill once Rita was added on the cheap.

 

[owenstreet7]

The thing with Drayton Manor was is that in the 90s and early 00s, they were very experimental with their rides.

There was more unique types of rides from lesser known manufacturers such as Stormforce 10 which Bear manufactured.

Other examples include Shockwave and G Force.

As Thomas Land got added, the focus shifted towards Thomas which contributed to the start of it's downfall as it was having an identity crisis. They wanted to be a family park but had thrill rides in the mix from their legacy.

I'm happy with their family thrill approach now as that's the best of both worlds and keeps the park open for all ages.

 

[rob666]

My memory of 30 years ago is hazy but I can't remember pirates being a "health hazard" back then, it was a popular attraction.

Popular but smelly, from about the opening of the drop tower.

The thing with Drayton Manor was is that in the 90s and early 00s, they were very experimental with their rides.

Yup, my work kids loved it for a different set of rides, stuff that wasn't at Blackpool and the Towers.

 

[jon81uk]

Popular but smelly, from about the opening of the drop tower.

So from 2000 when Pirates was ten years old. Again, can't remember it myself, but makes more sense it was getting bad by then, not "within a couple of years".

 

[Benzin]

I think the push for more unique rides across the 2000s certainly piqued some interest and allowed a different type of visit from someone more used to Thorpe & Chessie in the day.

Don't think the nostalgia is any worse than that for the other UK parks.

 

[Matt N]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I think Drayton got too complacent after Thomas. It was extremely successful, but they didn’t really capitalise on that to do an awful lot with the main park.

Where Paultons, for example, capitalised heavily on the success of Peppa Pig and used it as a springboard to expand and improve the rest of the park, it seems like Drayton didn’t exploit that potential in the same way. Drayton built very little of note in the main park after Thomas, with Accelerator and Air Race being the only notable ride additions to the main park between Thomas Land’s opening and the Looping Group buyout (and both of those were closer to Thomas than 2020).

Had they done more of a Paultons and capitalised on Thomas’ success more within the main park, I dare say they may not have floundered as they did in the mid to late 2010s.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

Pirates was working fine to they had the fire in 2006 which took out the ghost pirates scene and the audio after the pirate cove scene.
I do think if they had the budget im sure the looping group could open another dark ride and keep it maintained as they did get the animals in the pizza restaurant working again.

 

[Benzin]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I think Drayton got too complacent after Thomas. It was extremely successful, but they didn’t really capitalise on that to do an awful lot with the main park.

Where Paultons, for example, capitalised heavily on the success of Peppa Pig and used it as a springboard to expand and improve the rest of the park, it seems like Drayton didn’t exploit that potential in the same way. Drayton built very little of note in the main park after Thomas, with Accelerator and Air Race being the only notable ride additions to the main park between Thomas Land’s opening and the Looping Group buyout (and both of those were closer to Thomas than 2020).

Had they done more of a Paultons and capitalised on Thomas’ success more within the main park, I dare say they may not have floundered as they did in the mid to late 2010s.

There's a massive difference in that Drayton was already well established with most of the attractions in place before Thomas Land. Hard to expand upon what's already there.

 

[Matt N]

There's a massive difference in that Drayton was already well established with most of the attractions in place before Thomas Land. Hard to expand upon what's already there.

As true as that may be, I think they could still have invested a fair amount more into the main park than they did following Thomas. One roller coaster and one flat ride in 12 years is not a lot.

 

[AltonLover123]

As true as that may be, I think they could still have invested a fair amount more into the main park than they did following Thomas. One roller coaster and one flat ride in 12 years is not a lot.

Pretty much Thorpe’s track record pre Hyperia

 

[Funcone]

Excalibur was certainly an ambitious ride.

1. Outdoor animatronics seem to be difficult to maintain. Even Universal and Disney tend to avoid them. Jurassic Park River Adventure has quite a few outdoor animatronics (admittedly larger ones than the knights on Excalibur), but seems to find them difficult to keep working. Disney are famous for their animatronics, but is very sparing on using them outdoors, and they tend to be quite basic. Nintendo Land at Universal seems to have quite a few animatronics and Europa Park’s got a lot of outdoor animatronics, but generally outdoor animatronics are known for being difficult to maintain.

2. Onboard sound is hard to maintain and keep working reliably. Even 20 years later I’m struggling to think of rides in the UK with onboard sound.

3. Fire effects have the obvious risks of explosions and fire, as well as the cost of gas. Merlin’s not tended to keep their fire effects running for that long either.

4. Tow boat rides are also known for being challenging.

The combination of a tow boat ride, onboard sound, outdoor animatronics and a fire effect obviously proved too much. For a ride of its time, at a park of Drayton Manor's size, they really pushed themselves very hard with what they tried to achieve. I thought it was a really cool attraction, though, and I’m glad I got to ride it.

 

[owenstreet7]

As true as that may be, I think they could still have invested a fair amount more into the main park than they did following Thomas. One roller coaster and one flat ride in 12 years is not a lot.

I do feel that Looping Group's investments in Drayton seem to be catching up with the last 12 or so years of underinvestment from the Bryans.

I definitely think if they kept up the momentum of the years leading up to Thomas, the park would be so much more successful.

 

[Funcone]

I was just watching the Coaster College video about why Snake River Expedition only lasted for a few years at Cedar Point. I rode it in its final year, and really enjoyed it. I loved all the puns and the quality of the animatronics. According to Coaster College, one of the likely factors in its short lifespan was the difficulty with maintaining the theming and effects outdoors. Snake River Expedition was a similar ride to Excalibur, although with a captain steering the boat, rather than an underwater cable, and the captain cracking the jokes, rather than a recorded soundtrack.

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fCQZk1HkKc