Drayton Manor Theme Park

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Drayton Manor Theme Park

Drayton Manor logo
Location	Near Tamworth, Staffordshire
Website	http://www.draytonmanor.co.uk/
Owner	The Bryan family
Opened	1949
Operating season	March to October
Area	280 acres / 113 hectares
Rides	36 total 4 roller coasters 3 water rides

Drayton Manor Theme Park is a British theme park near Tamworth in Staffordshire, England.

Drayton Manor is a family theme park with a mixture of scenic and white knuckle rides. It covers 280 acres of land, and is visited by over one million people annually. Drayton Manor opened to the public on October 16th, 1949 as an 'inland pleasure resort' and has since grown substantially in size. It is the UK's leading family run theme park and the fourth most popular theme park in Britain in terms of visitor numbers. In 2006, the park received two awards: 'Best UK Attraction' awarded by Group Leisure and 'UK Attraction of the Year' awarded by Coach Tourism.

Contents 1 Rides 1.1 List of all rides 2 Facts & Figures 3 Zoo 4 Newest Ride 5 Future Projects and Rumours 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Rides

Rides in the park include StormForce 10 (the park's most popular ride), Shockwave, Europe's only stand-up roller coaster, Apocalypse, a Freefall Tower with a choice of sit-down, stand-up or floorless ride positions, Pirate Adventure, a dark ride loosely based on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunting, a walkthrough attraction that incorporates a haunted swing, Excalibur, a boat ride attraction with medieval scenes, Splash Canyon, a river rapids, G-force, a steel roller coaster with three inversions, Pandemonium, a double inverted swing and Maelstrom, a gyro swing.

Stormforce 10 is a water ride that recreates the story of a lifeboat rescue, launched in association with the RNLI. It holds the title of world's first charitable ride and accepts donations on site. Opened in 1999 to replace the ageing log flume, the idea was said to have been thought up by the manager's nephew. Stormforce 10 is the most popular ride in the park. It starts with a small drop into water and is followed by a very wet backwards drop and a finally a 9 m drop. For every ride photograph sold a donation is made to the RNLI through which Drayton Manor has raised £66,000 since 1999 and have funded a lifeboat named the 'Drayton Manor' Atlantic 85 rescue boat.

Shockwave is a stand-up roller coaster that was built in 1994 by Intamin AG. The ride was created as part of a two year £4 million project in 1993/1994 to build Splash Canyon with Shockwave. The ride, which reaches 53mph and delivers up to 4 g, features a lift hill up to 120ft, then into an 80 ft drop and a medium size loop followed by a Zero G roll and then finishes with two corkscrews and a bend around back to the station. Shockwave is located in the 'Action Park' area next to G Force. In 1994 after the completion of the ride, neighbours complained that the final bend was too close to the edge of the property. In fact it had been built as planned but local Councillors had not noticed the proximity to the boundary on the plans.^[1]

Apocalypse is a 54 m (or 180 ft) high freefall tower ride built by Intamin in 1999 and opened in 2000. The ride, which has been voted 'Britain’s scariest ride', has three different forms of seating. One is the normal sit down, another is stand-up position (the world's only stand-up tower drop) and the last one is a stand-up floorless which was introduced in 2002 and is known as the 'Fifth Element'. Riders experience 4g as they decelerate after falling 54 m in less than 3 seconds.

G Force is a new type of steel roller coaster, the X-Car coaster, designed by German company Maurer Söhne and opened in 2005. G Force is the second X-Car coaster to be built after the prototype in Skyline Park, in Germany called Sky Wheel. The coaster train has a hip restraint (instead of the usual over the shoulder restraint) and 'Big Boy' seats that are capable of safely holding larger riders. After a short drop out of the station the train reaches the main feature of G Force; a 'Humpty Bump Lift' which looks like an extended loop but with a chain lift on it, riders hang upside down as they are lifted to 23 m. After zooming downwards the ride goes up and down on a camelback and then enters a loop (instead of the usual straight loop, this one suddenly turns right) and into another new inversion called the 'Bent Cuban Eight' an element that is modelled on aerobatic manoeuvres, then left around (above and under the lift) and then up to the station. G Force riders experience 4.3g during its 385 m long ride with speeds of up to 70 km/h (or 43 mph).

Pandemonium is a swinging inverter ride manufactured by Fabbri and opened in 2004 at a cost of £1,000,000. It is on the site of its similar predecessor, SkyFlyer which closed in 2003. The ride has two large swinging cars that have strong over shoulder restraints and a large lap bar. The two cars raise up on their support and begin with two small swings (each ship travelling opposite directions) then the cars swing progressively higher until they swing right over 360 degrees at the height of 24.7 metres.

Maelstrom is a gyro swing ride from Intamin with 32 seats on the circular gondola that face outwards, unlike other gyro swings which have seats that face inwards. The ride swings up to a maximum height of 22.5 m at an angle of 95 to 120 degrees while it simultaneously revolves at 5 rpm. The coastal village theme surrounding the ride tells the story that a Maelstrom has struck Drayton Manor and various debris has been strewn about, including washed up surf boards, a submarine swept up with a shark pierced through it, and a hut that has been damaged. Maelstrom cost £1,000,000 and was opened in April 2002 by the pop band Hear'Say, later than was planned out of respect for the Queen Mothers' death.

[edit] List of all rides

The following list indicates all the current rides at Drayton Manor Theme Park and what areas they are in:

Aerial Park

Apocalypse, The Haunting, Pandemonium, Big Wheel, Flying Dutchman, Drunken Barrels, Wild West Shoot Out, Buffalo Coaster, Sombrero, Drayton Queen Boat.

Pirate Cove

Excalibur - A Dragon's Tale, Pirate Adventure, Jolly Roger, Dodgems, Jolly Buccaneer, Pirate Raft Ride.

Robinson's Land- Watch this area for some big news in 2008

Flying Jumbos, Junior Carousel, Ladybirds, Vintage Cars, Mini Balloons, Arriva Crazy Bus, Super Dragon Roller Coaster, Frog Hopper, Whirly Wheel, Cadbury's Junior Pirate Ship.

Fisherman's Wharf

Stormforce 10, Polperro Express Railway, Carousel, The Bounty (New for 2007)

Action Park

Maelstrom, Shockwave, Splash Canyon, Black Revolver, G-Force, Chair Lift.

[edit] Facts & Figures

• Apocalypse is the world's first stand-up tower drop ride.

• G Force was a world first X Car Coaster, apart from its prototype 'Sky Wheel' in Skyline park in Germany.

• Stormforce 10 was the first water ride in the UK to have a backwards drop.

• Shockwave is Europe's only stand-up roller coaster.

• Maelstrom is the only gyro swing to have seats that face outwards.

• Drunken Barrels is named after its type- Drunken Barrels. It is also the only ride of its type in Europe and there is only 2 in the world.

• Drayton Manor Theme Park is the UK's fourth most popular theme park and is a family owned business. The chairman, George Bryan and his wife Vera opened Drayton Manor as an inland pleasure resort in 1949, and originally it was just a normal park with tea rooms, boat rides and a pets corner.

• The Managing Director, Colin Bryan, is the brainchild of the park's business and is the son of George Bryan (MBE and OBE) and Vera Bryan. He has now been working for the park for 40 years and has provided positive success to the park.

• It is said that Stormforce 10's idea was thought up by the manager's nephew.

• Maelstrom is one of the few Gyro-Swings in the world.

• Apocalypse has 5 sides, with three different types of seats- 2 sit down, 2 stand-up and 1 stand-up floorless (known as the fifth element by the park).

• UK Coaster enthusiasts say Shockwave is particularly good because of its zero-g roll. In fact, with the zero-g roll, it makes Shockwave the only stand-up coaster in the world to have this inversion.

• When the park wants to add a new ride, they usually remove another ride to put the new one in its place. This is because the park currently has little space available. (They have a lot of unbuilt land, but they have not currently extended into that space.)

• At the end of the 2005 season, the park visitor numbers were announced: 1.1 million had visited that year but Flamingo Land Theme Park beat them with 1.3 million.

• The owner and chairman, George Bryan went to Disney Land and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and took an idea from it to create Pirate Adventure which opened on Pirate Cove in 1990.

• The park's areas can be characterised as follows:
  • Action Park: where the major white knuckle "action" rides are, such as Shockwave and Black Revolver.
  • Aerial Park: has aerial-based rides such as Apocalypse and Flying Dutchman which create an airborne atmosphere for the riders.
  • Pirate Cove: an area where the 'piratey' rides are.
  • Fisherman's Wharf: where Stormforce 10 is, as it is based on a Cornish fishing village.
  • Robinson's Land: where the kiddie rides are, brightly coloured like the Robinson's Fruit Shoot drink.

[edit] Zoo

The park is also home to a 15 acre Zoo with over 100 species.

[edit] Newest Ride

Drayton Manor had launched a new Intamin flat ride back in June 2006, it's a Drunken Barrels ride and be named this as well. At £700,000, the riders spin in one of the 12 barrels and the platform also spins and lifts up nearly 4 metres while tilting 15 degrees. It's themed to be a German Bier/fest halle and has the highest capacity in the park with 72 riders at one time and up to 1400 people per hour. It is now a very popular family attraction.^[2]

[edit] Future Projects and Rumours

New for 2007 is The Bounty. A pirate ship ride from Intamin that is on the Drayton Manor lake in Fisherman's Wharf. It is expected to open in Easter and is the return of a pirate ship for Drayton Manor.

The 2007 map shows under the title of Robinson's Land for us to "watch this area for some big news in 2008" this may lead to a speculated re-theme. However there is no other information what the news is about. It may well be until 2008 when the news is revealed.

In 2005, Drayton Manor had an official press release^[3] on their plans to build a water park to go along with their also planned hotel to create a resort for the park, much like Alton Towers have done. The water park is called 'Stormalong Bay' and is to have many exciting attractions built in such as water slides. The hotel has been planned for over 4 years and has given permisson to build. According to the new 2007 map, the hotel will be completed by 2009^[4]; while the water park will not be around until 2012.

2021 it will be the year when the park starts expanding land for more space. Plans^[5] have been submitted to Lichfield District Council.

The ride Shockwave may take an exit by 2010 according to a report by AIRtime, the Rollercoaster Club of Great Britain (RCCGB) magazine, despite more done on its paint work and has a new ride logo.

[edit] References

1. ^ An Interview with Colin Bryan. Coaster Kingdom (2004). Retrieved on 2006-03-24.
2. ^ Day out - Drayton Manor. Lancashire Evening Post (2006). Retrieved on 2006-05-22.
3. ^ Griffin, John (2005). Theme park splashes out on attraction. Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved on 2006-03-24.
4. ^ 2007 Park Map (html) 1. Drayton Manor (2007). Retrieved on 2007-3-12.
5. ^ Plans for Drayton Manor submitted to Lichfield District Council (PDF). Lichfield District Council (2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-29.

[edit] External links

• Official Drayton Manor Website
• Drayton Manor Theme Park at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)

Roller coasters at Drayton Manor Theme Park
G Force - Mountain Buffalo Coaster - Shockwave - Super Dragon

UK Theme Parks:

Tussauds Theme Parks:

Alton Towers | Chessington | Thorpe Park

Other Selected Theme Parks:

Blackgang Chine | Blackpool Pleasure Beach | Drayton Manor | Dreamland Margate Flamingo Land | Lightwater Valley | Loudoun Castle | Oakwood | Robin Hill

Coordinates: 52°36′39″N, 1°42′48″W