JoshC.

Fish fingers.

For the first in about 10 or 11 years, I visited a non-Merlin theme park. It's been a long time coming, and anywhere was a start. And that start was to be Drayton Manor. After such a beautiful week, Saturday decided to take a turn for the worst, and give us rain, thunder, lightning (though with a couple of breaks of sunshine during the day!). Adam picked me up and we arrived at Drayton around 9ish. Even though we were early, we could tell it was gonna be quiet day, and thank goodness, after some of the horror stories I'd heard about the park's operations. We arrived to some sun, though we could tell dark times were ahead. Half 9 came and the park opened. One of the first things which confuse me about the park is opening the park at 9:30, but not the rides until 10:30. There's not really enough to do for a whole hour, other than the small zoo, which we headed to straight away. Tigers are a'coming. A chimpanzee looks to Apocalypse in the distance. Rides were testing so we headed over to G Force (which apparently had been closed for a couple of days) and we were pretty much first in the queue. 10:30 came and it opened; yay. This was my first coaster with inversions that had lap bars, and I'd heard some pretty poor things about it, but kept an open mind. And yeah, I thought it was quite fun. My first ride didn't give me any problems with the restraints, and it was a fun, fast-paced ride. I did get a bit of air time as well, which is nice. It's an odd ride (especially with the "humpety bumpety" lift) and seems to do all the best bits at the beginning, giving a week end, but hey-ho, it's a fun enough ride. My G Force face. Next up was the big, new thing - Air Race. I wasn't quite sure how it'd ride, what with the continual spinning and moving and stuff, but it was actually really good. The rocking start is very good, and then it just keeps spinning, round and round and round. It doesn't get boring, and there's some nice moments where you're left hanging upside down for quite a while. Near the end of the ride, we started spinning in the opposite direction. Would be nice if it did it sooner, just to mix it up a little, but hey ho. On a ride later on in the day, we counted that we went upside 18 times (sorry Smiler! ). Air Race does have a nice entrance feature though. Air Race's queue line is a nice cattlepen - like many of Drayton's queue - and has a TV playing annoying things. Shockwave followed. Have to say, the station and theming in the queue line is quite nice actually. The seats and restraints on this thing though is very, erm, eurgh. Yeah, I'll go with eurgh. They're not comfortable and they just don't feel right. The ride itself has two highlights - a random little dip before going onto the lift, and the zero-g roll (which is actually incredible). The rest is uncomfortable, rattly or boring. There vertical loop was bleurgh, the double corkscrew is verging on painful and then the random straight bits are unimaginative (though, at least they don't try to castrate you). Now I see why so few stand ups have been built... Found in Shockwave's queueline - made me chuckle... Next up was Splash Canyon, the park's rapids. It was barely 11 o'clock, but we were already soaking wet, so water rides wouldn't make much difference. Fun little ride, not that wet really, though the indoor section did take me off guard. Another water ride followed, and this time it was in the famous Stormforce 10. I'd heard a lot of good things about this, so I was excited. Have to say, the queue - which we once again walked through - is nicely themed and works really well. Onto the ride itself. The first drop is nice, and the way it's done was unexpected by me. Then wandering through the random waterfall is cool. The second drop, the backwards one, was a shock. We were sat at the very back, which meant we got the full force of water. For a split second, I thought I was on Tidal Wave I was that wet. Brilliant water ride. Not-so brilliant for when the weather is already chucking it down. Final drop is quite nice too. So yeah, a great water ride all in all, but I'll try to avoid the back next time... A quick spin on Malestrom (nothing really to say about this, just a nice filler really) and drying off in one of the heater things (which was so worth it given how wet we were...), it was time to venture indoors for Pirate Adventure. It's an indoor boat ride which is basically a knock off of Pirates of the Caribbean. Have to say it's alright, though it seemed like a lot of the animatronics were broke. The ending was super anti-climatic too, which was a shame. For the record, this was probably our longest queue of the day at an amazingly long 15 minutes. Goes to show how quiet it was I guess. A go on the dodgems, sponsored by Free Radio, followed, and they were pretty decent. Food followed in the Safari Pizza & Pasta: Very nice indoors restaurant located by the zoo. Indoors there's loads of animal animatronics which move and stuff and it was quite a nice atmosphere in there. (By the way, unlike Merlin's Pizza / Pasta, this isn't all you can eat in case you're wondering. We just had a nice pizza and wedges meal). We headed over to Ben 10: Ultimate Mission, the world's first Vekoma Junior Boomerang. It looked surprisingly tall and quick for a junior coaster, and I have to admit, it was one coaster I was really looking forward to. Again, there was next to no queue, which was great. The majority of the queue is indoors, and is very well themed, with aliens, loads of 'high tech' stuff, noises, lights, etc., and a false corridor which tricked Adam and I. Very, very good. Aliens. First ride gifted us with front row. Being lifted up backwards was a nice sensation, though the stop is very harsh and judders you around a bit. Then you're dropped down and you pick up a lot of speed very quickly, meander around a bit, then up a random wiggle. You hear the laser fire and do backward to the station. It's a short ride of course, but it's great. It has a bit of everything and left both of us happy. No doubt kids love the ride as well. It's certainly Drayton's most complete ride and is fun for everyone. What's even more impressive is how it takes up so little room. Given the lack of queue, we went straight back round to do it again, which is a testament to the ride's quality. Look at that joy. Afterwards, we ventured to what I'll nickname 'dark ride row'. We started off with The Haunting, a Vekoma madhouse. Much like Hex, it has two pre-shows before the ride. The first pre-show is very nicely done, with some TVs giving you an introduction, and one or two nice effects used. The second pre-show isn't as good I found, going on for a bit too long, and that you couldn't always hear what was being said. The actual madhouse itself is good, with a nice ending I thought. So all in all it is a nice ride, but it also showed by just how good Hex is as well. Haunting is great in its own right, but Hex is in a different league. Next door was Golden Nugget - Wild West Shoot Out. As the name suggests, it's a gun-based ride where you shoot things for points. Other than the name and logo, there's no reference to the Golden Nugget cereal. It's a very cheap ride clearly, and to be honest, is quite laughable. It's nice that some things happen when you hit the target though. But still, not a great ride. We ended dark ride row with Drunken Barrels, the tilting teacups. They were good fun, and the plate actually tipped, but our cup was way too stiff to spin. It was now time for the last major ride (in my opinion), Apocalypse. Decided to go in at the deep end and do stand up first (though, unfortunately, the floorless seating wasn't available today). The seats are okay - more comfortable than Shockwave's at least! - and the tilt is a great twist; did get me a little bit. However, the drop itself is okay at best. Just doesn't really get me as much as I'd hoped. Though the suddenness of the drop is a nice touch. Sit down followed straight away, and I think I prefer that seating arrangement due to the added comfort. One thing which disappointed me with this (and a lot of Drayton in general actually) was the lack of audio, apart from the occasional siren. No atmosphere, very little tension and it just felt like the ride could have been so much more intimidating with some sort of background noise. We decided to get some other rides done, including Flying Dutchman - yet another odd Drayton ride - and Buffalo Coaster. Buffalo is quite possibly the weirdest coaster I've done, with an odd layout, monorail-like speeds, yet the occasional okay bit. It goes on forever as well. I feels like it's time should be nearly up, and the space and surrounding area would be great for a family coaster (hi there Mack!). Oh, one laughable thing about Buffalo - on our ride, the train overshot the station, meaning the people in the front row couldn't get out, and had to have another go (I feel for the poor souls). I would do a list of all the things which are more useful than Buffalo, but I think I'd be here for too long... Buffalo with Apocalypse in the background. The Buffalo should look a lot more sad though. We then went to the other side of the park to venture round Thomas Land. Looks nice, and I know that my younger self would have exploded with excitement to be there. Only ride we did round here was Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster. For a ride set in Thomas Land, it was actually alright, and the ending on it was a specific highlight. Great ride for the younger market. We saw Percy whilst queueing fro Troublesome Trucks. NEW FOR 2015. Funnily enough, when you're in the park, you don't really recognise the construction going on. When you're outside the park, by the entrance, you see the site, but have no idea what it's for. With basically everything done, it was time for rerides aplenty. Air Race, G Force and Shockwave were all done again, as was Ben 10. After a while, a storm came over, bringing more rain, thunder and lightning, bringing most rides to a close (as an interesting fact, Apocalypse was hit by lightning this past week ). One of the few rides which remained open was Polperro Express Train; a short train ride which goes round part of the park. It gave some nice views of Shockwave, Stormforce 10, G Force and the rapids, and it was a nice break from the rain. Some rides slowly began reopening, so we were able to get a few more rides in (including on the Golden Nugget ride since it was indoors, and just so we could laugh at it's awfulness some more). We ended up riding Ben 10 five times during the day, which I think shows how it is indeed a good ride for the park. The day ended off with a ride on G Force, and it was the only one where I had an uncomfortable experience. However, I still stand by my views that it is a fun ride; just a shame the restraints can cause it to be otherwise. Drayton Manor is a nice park all in all, and given it's a small park, it's done well for itself. But there's a few rides which are very cheap and laughable which need sorting out, I imagine on a busy day it's a bad place to be in (queue board times to some description would be nice for example), and there's some things lacking (audio on all rides for example). I don't want to end on a negative note, as I enjoyed the place and had a fabulous day out, and if you take it for what it is, it is good. I definitely would recommend people trying it out (especially if you have a voucher of some description), there are some good rides there which make it worth going there once. Visiting has given me the extra incentive to try out other parks as well. It's not that I haven't wanted to, but it's more that I've been a been a bit blasé about it all. However, after yesterday's experience, I now have an urge to try parks new and different (and who knows, might even crack Europe next year!) I'll leave with perhaps the best photo of the day; our last ride on Ben 10:

Echoing SCB's comments - great day, with a great ride count. First time visiting the park and it was a great first trip to the place. I'll do a TR in the next day or two, but really enjoyed the likes of G Force, Air Race and Ben 10. Shockwave has potentially left me with a few less children for the future. A few neat rides for a small park too.

Who cares about Super Freeze, I want Coca Cola Freestyle machines!!!

Cheeky.

Wasn't there also plans for Colossus (or, at least, a multi-inversion coaster) for Chessington at one point too?

For Fright Nights roles only I meant. Job descriptions in the past for FN roles have made reference to 'a terrifying new attraction' our 'new mazes'... They've never said what exactly they are though of course.

Helix

With regards to Thorpe, I doubt many Europeans make their way over the UK for Thorpe. Alton I'd say is a different story (Nemesis must surely be a huge draw?). However, how many 'regular people (ie non-enthusiasts) go to the likes of any of the European parks (bar Disney)? I doubt many have heard of the German parks (with perhaps the exception of Europa Park possibly, since that is hugely popular?). So I expect very few regular people will go for those parks; if they travel abroad for a theme park, it's likely going to end up being Disney / Orlando or the like. There's very few parks which I think try to attract people from other countries in Europe (hard for me to say really, since I haven't been to any, but I think that's a fair assumption to make). But what's stopping Merlin trying to reach out to a more international audience? Alton is more ready for it (given they have a top-10 coaster in the world, multiple world's firsts, many hotels, etc.), but if rumours of a large dark ride are true, coupled along with other decent investments, there's nothing stopping Thorpe attempting to capture a broader audience. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, nor that it will definitely work, but I think in a few more years, with the right investments, they could give it a damn good go.

Sorry, not being clear. What I mean to say is that after so long of focusing on the national audience, the next natural step would be to try and break through in an international audience. Alton especially will have the more complete resort feel, and Thorpe will be building upon that, so they'll have the resources to do so (even if it's the bare minimum). If there's Paramount trying to attract attention from overseas, there's nothing stopping Merlin doing the same earlier or at the same time. It may not work, but they certainly have that option.

I totally agree that it there should be alarm bells and they should keep an eye on the development of it (like with any rival project), and be ready for when the place opens. However, I think it'll be a natural development that in the next few years, the UK Merlin parks (except Chessington) will have an appeal - and be in a position to handle - to a more international audience. However, at this stage, I just don't think saying 'Paramount Park will be the best thing for the UK theme park industry' or 'This will put Merlin parks to shame' or things anyone can justify saying. More just me erring on the side of caution I guess..

I see what you're saying about the island behind Swarm, as that would also be one of my concerns for a family coaster there (I just can't see a 50m tall family coaster coming to Thorpe!). But there's other ways around it, like using the island for Shark Hotel once that's got for a 50m coaster. A family coaster could also fit in the MHFS spot; it's quite a large space really, and could easily expand out a bit (construction of it may be difficult, but by no means impossible in my eyes). I'm still very dubious about the whole 'Paramount Park are coming, so Merlin better buck their ideas up'. PP may not work out in the UK, it may flop, it may not be as good a quality as what we think. It could be a huge success and leave Merlin parks needing to dramatically up their game. But I don't think the opening of PP in a few years should be ringing large alarm bells in Merlin's ears.

They normally do mention about new attractions in the job description (2012 it read something like '*list of mazes* or in our terrifying new attraction for 2012'; 2013 it was 'Scare customers in one of our new mazes'). However, not mentioning new attractions there is no indication as to whether or not there will be a new one; this just leaves things open. Remember, for the past 3 FNs, there's been roaming actors, and they've never been mentioned on the job description.

-Great big whopping island behind Swarm and Stealth currently unused, -Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari spot currently unused, -Arena, only used in summer and at Fright Nights, -CCR station and nearby area, only used at Fright Nights, -Some attractions are surely ending their life in the next few year, so potential redevelopment spots around the park. Thorpe have many restrictions, but space is not one of them at the time. Also, it would be highly unlikely that a dark ride would be built on the island due to potential flood risks. Either way, they're going to have a flood risk issue, but to build a dark ride (if one ever comes about), it would be most sensible to do it on the core of the park. So, that leaves a huge empty island to build a (family) coaster..

Doh, completely forgot how they're giving the option to queue normally; thought it was just full out RnR. The theory would be that since people are using RnR, there won't be as many people queueing, so queue times shouldn't be any longer (hopefully), even though they'll feel longer. Let's see if what works in theory works in practice though..

I imagine that any physical queues won't feel any different to any other day. Queues on non-RnR rides may be longer, but they won't (or, at least, shouldn't) be any slower, nor should they feel any slower.

LEAKED: The front cover photo for Liam's first music Album... (photo done by the marvellous stretchy!)

I actually quite like the atmosphere when Thorpe is basically dead. It's a strange sense of peace and quiet accompanied with the excitement and anticipation of being in a theme park. Being on an island too gives more of a secluded feel as well I guess. Admittedly, it's something which more suits for something a bit scarier or darker (eg Fright Nights). And you want a more relaxed, party atmosphere for these sort of things. Really glad to hear the likes of Teacups and Dodgems are open though!

SWARMMMMMMMMMMMM

The seats will have different weights, giving them different momentum. This means some may catapult forward at different speeds and in different times, meaning it's possible for them to collide. In theory, if everyone on the ride was the same weight, then there'd be less chance of collisions, as everyone should swing in the same time with the same speed.

Sidders.

A sign from My Bloody Valentine has crept its way into X's queue... (From TPC's Facebook) Because that makes perfect?

Nah, it was for everyone, much like how in the past they had free Fright Night previews for AP holders, but others could still get in. It'll probably get busier like last year though, what with word of mouth and everything.

Revue. (Let's see how many people understand that link... )

Yeah, I agree the "new ride problem" probably shouldn't happen on something as simple as some dodgems. However, my point was it's a new ride, and a problem occurred with it that they couldn't have known about until it had been open for a while. Can happen with any new ride, can't it. I don't really know what the need for sweeping the floor is exactly, so can't really comment there. I'd guess clearance could be an issue though. However, I think at one point, they were closing the ride down temporarily because of it (since it was a new ride and a problem which could well have been unexpected)? Now they just stop operations for a couple of minutes to sweep the floor every 90-120 minutes I think - and do a queue announcement to say so - so that shouldn't be causing any closures to the ride.