Theme Park Musician
Member
Drayton have removed a lot of rides of the past 5 years, but I think now that they've removed most of the old ones and a few classics, which ride is most likely to be closed down?
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Which Ride Will Go Next?
- Thread starter Theme Park Musician
- Start date
Theme Park Musician
Member
Everyone said Buffalo for a long time but the work has shut those rumours down. I'd say the next ride to go will be probably the Flying Dutchman!!?
I don't think any ride is going to be leaving for the forseeable future, and I should hope this remains the case given the amount that has been lost over the past years, and how little of that has been replaced. I don't think any rides have any particular issues that can't be addressed, so they should all be good to continue - I suppose all of the rides that did close in the past 5-10 years have closed for a good reason.
The current lineup is solid, they need to work on filling the gaps, not making any more gaps. If the park remove another ride in the coming couple of years I don't think I'd be returning.
The current lineup is solid, they need to work on filling the gaps, not making any more gaps. If the park remove another ride in the coming couple of years I don't think I'd be returning.
Themeparksandy1981
Member
Where we haven’t had no new rides outside Thomas land in 6 years the top end of the park has been getting up dated.
The Haunting since 2016 has had year on year improvements.
The golden Nuggets rethemed
Flying Dutchman totally stripped down and repainted
Pandamonium repainted
Buffalo repainted
Accelerator Been rethemed
Think The drunken barrels is due next for a repaint and the sign going back up.
You also had Pirate Cove area repainted and rethemed
Action Park is the next area but we have to see the HSE results of Splash Canyon 1st.
The Haunting since 2016 has had year on year improvements.
The golden Nuggets rethemed
Flying Dutchman totally stripped down and repainted
Pandamonium repainted
Buffalo repainted
Accelerator Been rethemed
Think The drunken barrels is due next for a repaint and the sign going back up.
You also had Pirate Cove area repainted and rethemed
Action Park is the next area but we have to see the HSE results of Splash Canyon 1st.
Theme Park Musician
Member
It's not likely that any ride will (hopefully) go anytime soon, however, we had two shock removals back in 2018. G-force and Wild Mouse. Everyone with G-Force- they were shocked but we're not really going to miss it that much.
Wild Mouse- Everyone has a massive row at the Thompsons on social media and only Pleasure Beach Experience are there to calm it down. I'm hoping we've seen the end of yearly removals for now but who knows, what with the ongoing situation at the moment.
Wild Mouse- Everyone has a massive row at the Thompsons on social media and only Pleasure Beach Experience are there to calm it down. I'm hoping we've seen the end of yearly removals for now but who knows, what with the ongoing situation at the moment.
I hope you're correct. If they lose any more without replacing it will look bad to returning guests and make the park less appealing to new ones. The other problem is, the more they remove the bigger the queues get for other rides. If you look at SF10 in the summer now, when Splash canyon was open, it used to split the water ride traffic, now you just have an insane queue for the one.
Theme Park Musician
Member
Drayton need to focus on getting more rides in now rather than chucking all the classics and high costly maintained ones out. I hope we don't lose rides such as Flying Dutchman or Pandemonium or even Shockwave because they're all unique rides and I doubt those particular ones will be going anywhere anytime soon.
Themepark-newbie
Member
The Shockwave removal rumour continues to circulate. High maintenance and staffing costs plus their shift to a more 'family offering' could see it redundant soon. Hope it doesn't go but much more affordable rides in the market for their target demographic.
I think shockwaves removal would do untold damage to the parks reputation given g force has now gone, it’s ok going to a family offering but if they’re going to do that i think it would need to be gradual. Culling all the thrill rides without replacement is crazy as I’m sure few families with older kids would bother to visit given the ever decreasing ride line up outside of thomas land.
Themeparksandy1981
Member
I think we seen the last of the 1.4m tall rides coming to the park but there is some good 1.2m tall coasters like Spinball, 13 and Wickerman out there. If Splash Canyon doesn’t reopen then I think Shockwave days are numbered. The coaster will be removed and like they did with the American Adventure rapids just removed all the buildings and parts and filled in the channels and the land returned to nature. Then move Air race then they can built the area to look like a seaside town with rides, stalls and food you usually see on a seaside pier. Then add a beach with water features for kids not tall enough for Maelstrom and stormforce 10.
Theme Park Musician
Member
Drayton have got some pretty rare rides left like Flying Dutchman, Apocalypse, Shockwave, Maelstrom, Pandemonium and Stormforce 10 not to mention the other good ones. I've been going through different Drayton rides and I've done a maybe yes or no for the next ride to go:
.Thomas Land (every ride)- I can't see Thomas Land going as it's one of the best children's areas in the UK.
.Stormforce 10-They just refurbished it so that would be a waste of money to scrap it.
.Maelstrom-If Paultons are adding their own Swing, then it seems like a family friendly thing so I can't see it going
.Polperro Express- I'm not sure about this ride because it's a classic but did have a massive breakdown last year when I visited
.Air Race- It's going into its sixth season and it operates really well. It would be stupid to remove it.
.The Haunting- Drayton love this ride and give it new upgrades every season.
.Sheriff's Showdown-Had a refurbishment two seasons ago and they keep on making improvement to it.
. Drunken Barrels- had it's theming redone recently
. Dodgems- refurbished back in 2016 and running fine
. Pandemonium- refurbished back in 2017 so it would be pointless to scrap it at this stage
. Accelerator- could do with a track repaint but it was recently rethemed
. Buffalo- recently repainted and with the photo booth coming in it would be pointless to scrap it
. Jolly Buccaneer- good ride but does need a boat refresh
. Carousel- oldest ride but that doesn't mean it's going to go anytime soon
. Apocalypse- probably Drayton's best thrill seeker ride so i doubt it's going anywhere, especially with it being in a brilliant condition
. Flying Dutchman- a rare ride but it was refurbished back in 2016 despite rumours
. Shockwave- The park's stand up coaster which is unique and brilliant but it is showing its age ( and still hurting men).
Let me know if I missed out on any others. I just hope we see Test Track scrapped soon.
Themepark-newbie
Member
Well thought out points and yes, agree there are some really unique rides which hopefully will remain.
It is disappointing though and shows how the Park has changed that the discussions are about what is going next rather than what is coming.
It is disappointing though and shows how the Park has changed that the discussions are about what is going next rather than what is coming.
Theme Park Musician
Member
There is a chat for that and we have seen some clearing in Thomas Land, but this will probably open in 2021 or 2022!
Themeparksandy1981
Member
like it’s hard to know what area will be worked on next
Like I said above, I don't think the park can afford to get rid of any more rides. There's only so many rides that can be removed without replacement and ticket price drop before people will notice and stop visiting. I agree with all of the reasoning above, the park have a good ride line up now and it is well balanced between kids and thrill. What I'd like to see come is more family rides like Excalibur and Pirate Adventure, maybe even family coasters. But those unique family rides are what I miss. But if anything was removed from the current ride lineup I'd miss it as much as I do Excalibur and Pirate Adventure.
Theme Park Musician
Member
Apart from Test Track?. I agree with you though and I hope that's the case. I'd personally like to see a Mack coaster at Drayton or a B&M suspended family coaster? Still it's hopefully a long time till the next ride goes though Vertigo is still standing.!