Drayton Manor

Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:28 pm

Oooh... err...

What a disappointment. Where's the theming?

Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:41 pm

It dosnt seem like its improved going UP the hill either wich is abit of a shame and yeah lack of themeing.. maby they're behind schedule? Added in the next few months?.. That's if there's anything to be added!

DiogoJ42 · Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:48 pm

Well I know it's always hard to judge from a POV, but it looks a tad on the dull side. 8-[ Only time will tell, I guess.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:54 pm

Photos from the day:

The ride launch:

Queue Line:

General Photos:

Blue Shockwave Train:

Twist & Pulse:

Twist and Pulse, Me & Nat from draytonmanorplus

and finally some hotel photos

Pictures from [url=http://www.draytonmanorplus.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://www.draytonmanorplus.co.uk[/url]

The twist and pulse performance video is currently uploading and i will sort out the interview later

Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:58 pm

Is that it?

Oh well, I won't knock it till I've tried it.

Great pics G-force.

Anthony · Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:00 pm

For a kids' ride, it looks quite good. There's no theming, but I wouldn't be able to appreciate good Ben 10 theming anyway since I have but a slender grasp of what it is.

This isn't for us and the IP shows that it never was meant for us. It's for the kid in the second row on Sam's picture and for him, I think it's good.

EDIT: Those pics weren't there when I posted before. The queue looks very good. It's a shame it isn't extended to the station, but that's a good effort!

DiogoJ42 · Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:19 pm

What's with the massive gap between the platform and the train?

Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:26 pm

the floor lowers once the train is loaded.

Blaze · Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:29 pm

Queue looks awesome, station is such a disapointment, why didn't they bother?

Probably would have been a good idea to have Shockwave's trains match the track.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:29 pm

I also note that Vekoma are still very reluctant to build air gates with equal spacing for trains with one row per car.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:34 pm

The queue line looks excellent, sadly the entrance facade and station are very poor.

The theme appears to be a mix of Oblivion and X:/ No Way Out.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:38 pm

From my eyes, this looks like a brillient attraction for the park, and finally gives some area a theme, earning it the "Theme-Park" status. I will hopefully be able to ride the coaster in the coming weeks once I've contacted Drayton about buses from Derby (If anyone knows how I could get to the park from Derby, that'd be highly appreciated).

The CoasterForce Forum has a rather indepth review of Cartoon Network Land, and the Ben 10 coaster itself, and some pretty nifty photos. But warning, preshow spoilers are within the article :- [url=http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/view ... hp?t=30271" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/view ... hp?t=30271[/url]

Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:52 pm

Queue theming looks fantastic! I can imagine a younger me absolutely loving it. Ride looks nice and crisp and clean and fun. Thanks for the pics G-Force.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:55 pm

[quote=""G-Force""]the floor lowers once the train is loaded.[/quote]
What?! In case people accidentally touch the floor when it's running through the station?!

To be honest, it doesn't look like it goes through the station much faster than RMT, and that does't have a dropping floor!

Even Xcellerator at KBF doesn't have the little "locked up sections" for staff that Rita and Stealth does. I hate to sound all Daily Mail, but ELF' N' SAFETY GAWWWWN MAAAD!

Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:16 pm

[quote=""DiogoJ42""]Well I know it's always hard to judge from a POV, but it looks a tad on the dull side. 8-[ Only time will tell, I guess.[/quote]

It is what it is... It's just like somebody took a Vekoma Boomerang, and made it suitable for little kids... You could say they made a Junior version of the Boomerang...

I love Boomerangs to be honest. There's a fantastic thrill on the lift looking down and a mildly pleasant shock as you drop through the station. On a normal Boomerang, it all goes hideously wrong after this point with all the head banging and back breaking and everything.

This captures a child's amount of the thrill. It's there, just in a smaller, neater package. The helices are pretty lacking, but they have a soft "punch", it's a really odd coaster. It's just... perfect for kids. For me, it was a bit like going to a park and playing on the swings and see-saw. I've been on much bigger and more thrilling versions of the play park equipment, but there's still a childish joy to be had from something small and simple.

Theming is spot on for Ben 10 fans. Lots of recognisable characters well presented. They were still working on the station to a degree, but again, it's just a simply designed building that keeps the kids happy. I did feel that the last thing Drayton needed was another silly claustrophobic, sticky, hot indoor queue line. However, the building was cool enough inside and very wide and open - so it worked.

As with all these things, it's all about target market. The target market for this is spot on. It's a fantastic stepping stone coaster, with exactly the right I.P. presented just right. It's not rivalling Disney, but it doesn't need to. It's just another "quirky and interesting" addition to Drayton well presented and bang on for the audience they are aiming at.

[quote=""Blaze""]Queue looks awesome, station is such a disapointment, why didn't they bother?
[/quote]

Once you're actually in the station, you're only a train away from riding, you don't have much time to look around. The time you do have, you'll be watching the coaster probably. I don't know if it was by design to be so sparse, or they're lucky though?

---- Post Info Added ----

[quote=""Sam""][quote=""G-Force""]the floor lowers once the train is loaded.[/quote]
What?! In case people accidentally touch the floor when it's running through the station?!

To be honest, it doesn't look like it goes through the station much faster than RMT, and that does't have a dropping floor!
[/quote]

The trains are a lot more "open" than on RMT, there's no real step into them. It would be easy for a child (or sue happy adult) to stick their leg out of the train and do themselves harm (if the floor was there in the station). So it makes sense I guess? It goes through the station at something like 34mph, which isn't slow...

Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:45 pm

Video of Twist & Pulse's First Performance at the park:

[url=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;][/url]

---- Post Info Added ----

Ok ive only just noticed this but here's the picture i posted a couple weeks ago:

taken yesterday

now is it just me but the spike has changed alot

Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:58 pm

I thought it looked different yesterday when i was looking at the photo's, i would imagine its so it travels higher up the spike.

Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:01 pm

Telescopic supports, and rubber track? :P

Well spotted!

Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:54 pm

Will I be able to use the 2 for 1 tickets on Friday 29th April 2011.
Please reply. Thanks

Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:07 pm

[quote=""G-Force""]Video of Twist & Pulse's First Performance at the park:

[url=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;][/url]

---- Post Info Added ----

Ok ive only just noticed this but here's the picture i posted a couple weeks ago:

taken yesterday

now is it just me but the spike has changed alot[/quote]

If you look closely you can see that the supports have had bits added to them