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Gold Rush (New for 2024)

Surely an official announcement is imminent? Maybe wait a week for the Nemesis reveal to die down? I’d imagine before the end of January…

Anyone remember Drayton’s previous project reveal/open timeframes? I have the memory of a goldfish…
 
LT95 said:
Surely an official announcement is imminent? Maybe wait a week for the Nemesis reveal to die down? I’d imagine before the end of January…

Anyone remember Drayton’s previous project reveal/open timeframes? I have the memory of a goldfish…
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I'd agree on that. It can be hard to announce something when another huge announcement just dropped. Its about finding the right moment / gap to do so for the right impact.
 
I cannot see this being ready until mid to late summer now to be honest. If construction has not gone vertical already, they will struggle to meet anything but late summer. I think a July opening is most plausible if they start imminently. This is perhaps why we have seen no advertisement as they know the coaster is not opening until quite late into the season. The upcoming bad weather will probably push schedules back even more.

The track needs to be built, electronics installed, station / maintenance buildings, landscaping, queue lines and the huge amount of testing legally required along side any theming and scenery within the ride area. It is a BIG ask to get all that done. The key thing to also remember, a lot of the outstanding tasks listed above, cannot be completed until after track is installed. So it is not like they can work on all other tasks to bring the schedule back, before others, that is not always possible with a lot of tasks. Certain things have to be done in certain orders. Electronics and then testing cannot come before track installation, neither can things such as landscaping and queue line construction, plus many others.

I am pretty sure this project has been hit with unexpected delays, track was supposed to have gone vertical much sooner, hence why we now how an almost complete coaster sitting in the carpark. Usually, delivery's are scheduled close to when they are planned to be installed. This mitigates many issues such as storage problems, damage caused by piles and piles of track and other things.

We may see marketing soon, however the problem they have created for themselves this year, is we have two massive coasters due to open early into the 2024 season, with this opening later, their marketing will perhaps be drowned out and not as effective as it could have been, due to these new coasters opening earlier, taking press coverage because they are actually open etc etc. Blame cannot fully be put down to Drayton Manor, but this needed to open in the general time frame that the others opened in, to maximise press coverage. I could be wrong, but I can see lots of the marketing for this being drown out and missed due to the other titans actually being open first and taking up press coverage that would have otherwise gone towards promoting Drayton's coaster that would be opening soon. The press will naturally go for something that is open now rather than open soon.

It should still be a hit however. As Drayton is very popular these last few seasons due to all the positive changes.
 
Yeah.....although this is their first major / complex project in a long time, their first major complex project for the new owners too.

After thinking about this, It could have the advantage and work the other way, opening later into the season might perhaps give the marketing for the other coasters chance to die down. Merlin are masters at marketing, Alton Towers are masters of marketing and over the past three decades had some extremely iconic, powerful and effective marketing. The Curse of Alton Manor last year being a recent example.

Given that, perhaps this is better opening later, as opening at the same time would mean going up against the titan that is the Merlin marketing machine, even though the coasters serve entirely different demographics, I feel it would still be somewhat drown out. This could be a blessing in disguise, it could even be intentional.

A big year for Drayton, I can see the park being very popular anyway due to the current offerings, a revamped Shockwave and this new coaster later on, perhaps this will push repeat visits for guest coming earlier in the season, I am confident it has a high potential to do just that. Pull more guests in more than once, who may only visit once a year, which then, depending on which way you look at it, will also increase per head spend while in the park.
 
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ACMP said:
Given that, perhaps this is better opening later, as opening at the same time would mean going up against the titan that is the Merlin marketing machine, even though the coasters serve entirely different demographics, I feel it would still be somewhat drown out. This could be a blessing in disguise, it could even be intentional.
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Curse at Alton Manor was very hyped up during the start of the season but near Summer I didn't see anyone talking about it. I'm not sure if DM will get so lucky with Nemmy though since the ride is so iconic and the reopening will probably be relevant until at least the end of this season.

However I do still think this coaster can be a massive success if done right.
 
Charliie said:
It’s good to see supports and part of the track being installed , Yourll find it will be a rapid process providing weather or unforeseen circumstances don’t push it back any further.
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Anyone who's local - was there any snow in Tamworth today? Where I live there was quite a bit in the morning but after about 8 stopped. Just wondering because it might've delayed construction a bit.
 
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