Drayton Manor Theme Park

Drayton Manor Theme Park
Drayton Manor logo
Location	Near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England
Coordinates	52°36′39″N 1°42′48″W / 52.61083°N 1.71333°W / 52.61083; -1.71333Coordinates: 52°36′39″N 1°42′48″W / 52.61083°N 1.71333°W / 52.61083; -1.71333
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 5 roller coasters 4 water rides
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.

Rides

Drayton Manor Theme Park includes a lake, Stormforce 10 and G Force (red track).

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

Main article: Stormforce 10

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.^{[citation needed]} 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

Main article: Shockwave (Drayton Manor Theme Park)

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} 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

Main article: Apocalypse (Drayton Manor)

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'^{[citation needed]}. 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

G-Force

Main article: G Force (roller coaster)

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} G Force riders experience its 385 m long ride with speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph).^{[citation needed]}

Pandemonium

Pandemonium is a swinging inverter ride manufactured by Fabbri and opened in 2004 at a cost of around £1,000,000.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Maelstrom

Maelstorm

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

New for 2011

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.

Themed areas

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.

• Aerial Park/Cartoon Network Street: Apocalypse, The Haunting, Pandemonium, Big Wheel, Flying Dutchman, Drunken Barrels, Wild West Shoot Out, Buffalo Coaster, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien and Drayton Queen Boat.
• Pirate Cove: Excalibur - A Dragon's Tale, Pirate Adventure, Dodgems and The Jolly Buccaneer.

• Fisherman's Wharf: Stormforce 10, Polperro Express Railway, Carousel and The Bounty.

• Action Park: Maelstrom, Shockwave, Splash Canyon, G-Force and Chair Lift.

• Thomas Land: Thomas, Percy & Rosie at Knapford Station, Troublesome Trucks, Jeremy's Flying Academy, Terence's Driving School, Diesel's Locomotion Mayhem, Crazy Bertie Bus, Lady's Carousel, Sodor's Classic Cars, Harold's Heli-Tours, Cranky's Drop Tower, Emily's Indoor Play Area, Spencer's Outdoor play area and Rockin' Bulstrode.

Zoo

Drayton Manor Zoo

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.

Events

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.

Future projects

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]

Hotel plans

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.

In 2012 the park set to be charging £2.00 for car parking, which aims to anger those who visit the park.

See also

• List of theme parks in the United Kingdom
• Drayton Bassett
• Fazeley

References

1. ^ "An Interview with Colin Bryan". Coaster Kingdom. 2004. http://www.s104638357.websitehome.co.uk/html/birthday_shockwaveinterview.htm. Retrieved 2006-03-24. 
2. ^ Griffin, John (2005). "Theme park splashes out on attraction". Birmingham Evening Mail. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=15841125&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=theme-park-splashes-out-on-attraction-name_page.html. Retrieved 2006-03-24. 
3. ^ "Waterpark Postponed". ThemeParks-UK. 2008. http://www.themeparks-uk.com/drayton-manor-guide/news/waterpark-postponed.html. Retrieved 2008-10-20. 
4. ^ "Drayton Manor Future". Screamscape. 2008. pp. 1. http://www.screamscape.com/html/drayton_manor.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
5. ^ "New Waterpark Planned". DraytonManorPlus. 2008. http://www.draytonmanorplus.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=160. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 
6. ^ "Plans for Drayton Manor submitted to Lichfield District Council" (PDF). Lichfield District Council. 2005. http://www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/downloads/Plan20_-_Drayton_Manor_Park.pdf. Retrieved 2006-03-29. 

External links

• Official website

Drayton Manor Theme Park at the Open Directory Project