| Drayton Manor Theme Park | |
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| Drayton Manor logo | |
| Location | Near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England |
| Website | http://www.draytonmanor.co.uk/ |
| Opened | 16 October 1949 |
| Previous names | Drayton Manor Park
Drayton Manor Family Theme Park |
| Operating season | Theme park: March to October (Regular)
Late November to January (Drayton's Magical Christmas) (Thomas Land only) Zoo: All year round |
| Area | 280 acres (110 ha) |
| Rides | 35 total
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| Slogan | "Total family entertainment" |
Drayton Manor Theme Park is a theme park, resort & zoo in the grounds of the former Drayton Manor, near Tamworth in Staffordshire, England.
Drayton Manor is best known because it is a theme park and zoo which attracts around 1.4 million people a year. The attraction has a wide selection of rides set in 280 acres (110 ha), and has been running for 61 years as of 2011. Well known rides include Shockwave, Europe's only standing up coaster, and Apocalypse, a five-sided drop tower.
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Rides in the park include Stormforce 10 (funding RNLI); 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 which takes riders through a dark journey of a pirate's life; 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 aging log flume, the idea was said to have been thought up by the manager's nephew. It starts with a small drop into water and is followed by a backwards drop and finally a large drop. The height restriction for this ride is 1.2 m.
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 53 mph (85 km/h) and delivers up to 4 g, features a lift hill up to 120 ft (37 m), then into an 80 ft (24 m) 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] The height restriction for this ride is 1.4m.
Apocalypse is a free-fall tower ride 54 metres (177 ft) high, built by Intamin AG in 1999, and opened in 2000. The ride has been voted 'Britain's scariest ride'. It 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 until 2005 when the Hurakan Condor opened in Port Aventura) 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 4 seconds. The height restriction for this ride is 1.2m for sit down and 1.4m for stand up.
G Force is a steel roller coaster designed by German company Maurer Söhne and opened in 2005. It replaced the Klondike Gold Mine (previously the Python) that used to be in the area in previous years. G Force was 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 negotiates a 'Humpty Bump Lift' which is a 180 degree chain lift, where riders hang upside down as they are lifted to 23 m. The ride includes a camelback hill, a loop and a new inversion known as the 'Bent Cuban Eight' an element that is modelled on aerobatic manoeuvres. G Force riders experience its 385 m long ride with speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph).
Pandemonium is a swinging inverter ride manufactured by Fabbri and opened in 2004 at a cost of around £1,000,000. It is on the site of its similar predecessor, SkyFlyer which closed in 2003 and was put in Flamingo Land and is now operating under the same name. The ride has two large swinging cars that feature over the shoulder restraints and a large lap bar. The two cars swing progressively higher, in opposite directions, until they swing right over 360 degrees at the height of 24.7 m.
Maelstrom is a gyro swing ride from Intamin AG with 32 outward-facing seats on a circular gondola. The ride swings up to a maximum height of 22.5 m at an angle of 95 to 120 degrees while simultaneously revolving 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 Mother's death.
For 2011 Drayton Manor have removed the Sombrero ride to make way for a new coaster, Ben 10 Ultimate Mission Roller Coaster, a junior boomerang prototype manufactured by Vekoma. The ride features a well themed queue line and a modern station building and is based on the characters from the TV series Ben 10.
The park is split up into five areas, that overall are slightly mixed up and confused, but recent new attractions have helped to reinforce theming in some areas.
Drayton Manor is also home to a 15-acre (6 ha) zoo. It contains over 100 species from all over the world. It is also the only part of Drayton Manor that is open 365 days of the year.
The park holds many events throughout the year including fundraising for Birminghams children's hospital and musical projects, plus the annual fireworks event taking place on the lake.
In 2005, Drayton Manor had an official press release[2] on their plans to build a water park to accompany their planned hotel to create a resort for the park, much like Alton Towers have done. Part of this proposed development included a water park called 'Stormalong Bay' and containing several attractions such as water slides.[3] The hotel has been planned for over 10 years and has been granted planning permission. With construction starting in early 2010, the hotel opened in August 2011.[4] The plans for the water park have been declined due to the scale of the development.[5]
The plans for expansion will happen around the year 2021 +. The area marked out for expansion will be around the Zoo area. Drayton Manor Theme Park predict that more roller-coaster type rides will fill this space in the foreseeable future. The Plans have been submitted to Lichfield District Council.[6]
In February 2009 revised plans for a hotel at Drayton Manor were submitted to Lichfield District Council. Planning permission for the hotel was granted in 2007 though the applicants felt that the scheme could benefit from further improvements without increasing the site area required.
The 75 bedroom hotel is designed to primarily meet the demand from park visitors as the theme park is attracting families from all over the UK, particularly since the arrival of Thomas Land. The hotel opened Monday 15 August 2011, featuring innovative bedroom designs that allow double rooms to be enlarged to family rooms. There are also meeting rooms, catering for business events and conferences.
Drayton Manor Theme Park at the Open Directory Project
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