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Drayton Manor | Gold Rush | Intamin Family Coaster | 2024

I'd personally go for an actual announcement. Even Shockwaves updates are a mystery beyond educated thoughts. Gold coasters never get built then 2 come at once. Would be silly to have this lost in the shuffle during a relatively quiet year.
 
Construction is coming along well!

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Joelpagett said:
It's going to be a very exciting year for Drayton Manor, it's great to see they're investing in such quick succession and really trying to turn the park around.

Can't wait to see this thing finished - hopefully they'll make an announcement soon!
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They really are... Pre covid, how many of us would have predicted the amount of additions and other work they've carried out in the last few years? They're doing an incredible job with the park, I sincerely hope it pays off for them.
 
In all honestly, I thought it would go the way of Lightwater Valley, lose the big rides and focus on the small kids stuff*. Extending the life of Shockwave, the UK's first Nebulez and a new coaster to boot? I'd have thought you were pulling my leg.

*Thomas Land is a cut above what Lightwater can offer, but you get my point.
 
Tonkso said:
In all honestly, I thought it would go the way of Lightwater Valley, lose the big rides and focus on the small kids stuff*. Extending the life of Shockwave, the UK's first Nebulez and a new coaster to boot? I'd have thought you were pulling my leg.

*Thomas Land is a cut above what Lightwater can offer, but you get my point.
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I am on record here as saying exactly the same... I also used American Adventure as an example. They 'tried' the kiddie thing after being a whole family park and it failed miserably. Honestly, without the takeover, I still think this is where DM was heading. But even with the takeover, whilst I had higher hopes, I would never have predicted this level of investment, nor how quickly they've transitioned back to the 'whole family' market...

What was Looping's reputation like before the takeover? Were they always this impressive? Should we have predicted this?

I mean, I remember all of the 'flagship' discussion, but still, I'm blown away.
 
Nicky Borrill said:
I am on record here as saying exactly the same... I also used American Adventure as an example. They 'tried' the kiddie thing after being a whole family park and it failed miserably. Honestly, without the takeover, I still think this is where DM was heading. But even with the takeover, whilst I had higher hopes, I would never have predicted this level of investment, nor how quickly they've transitioned back to the 'whole family' market...

What was Looping's reputation like before the takeover? Were they always this impressive? Should we have predicted this?

I mean, I remember all of the 'flagship' discussion, but still, I'm blown away.
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I agree, I don't think anyone was really holding out much hope that they'd turn the park around so quickly, if at all.

Looping didn't really have any parks in the same ball park as Drayton Manor in their portfolio, so I thought they would trundle along happily but not really doing much apart from tidy the place up a bit.

But I am glad to be proven wrong, and they seem to have a very capable and passionate team running the show and it's clearly paying off.
 
Exciting stuff! Does anyone else think we might be looking at some kind of semi-shuttle with some switch-track magic here? The overview of footers doesn't suggest a particular long layout, so maybe some clever tricks to make it more substantial are in order?
 
TheCoasterCruiser said:
Exciting stuff! Does anyone else think we might be looking at some kind of semi-shuttle with some switch-track magic here? The overview of footers doesn't suggest a particular long layout, so maybe some clever tricks to make it more substantial are in order?
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I think it will be a similar system to Darkoaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg?? One time round forward then the second lap backwards/spinning??
 
Aerial images of the site from Aerial Amusements on Twitter

I have uploaded some below but there are more on their twitter

The switch track looks like it is heading straight into the lift hill so as people said could it be repeating a section of the track again or an idea I had was could they just use the same lift hill twice then also have a switch track at the top so first circuit you turn left, second you turn right for example
Aerial 1.jpgAerial 10.jpgAerial 11.jpgAerial 12.jpg


I Did a rough sketch on a a few bits of the layout.
Red - last curve into brake run
Black - First switch point
Purple - Lift Hill
Blue - 1 or 2 launches?
Choice.jpg
 
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Ok, so I'm pretty sure I've cracked the layout. The cluster of footers at the top of the site was throwing me off initially, but I think this is it.

Screenshot_20240122-2127124.png


So, you'll exit the station and go up the lift. You'll make a ~225° turn to the right as some form of drop that will connect with the existing twisted s-hill that's been installed. Then you'll follow that track through to the launch straight. Here you will either come to a stop or have some sort of two-part swing launch where you will launch backwards through the lower section of the layout that takes you to the lift once again. You will go through the first section a second time until you reach the launch straight again, but instead of stopping and launching backwards, you will launch forwards into the remaining portion of the layout until you hit the brakes. ALTERNATIVELY, once you go up the lift a second time, you could drop backwards down the lift into the section you just traversed, then forwards through the launch into the final portion of the layout. This could also be flipped, so the lift drop comes first and then the normal lift comes second. This would solve the issue of the train facing backwards when it returns to the station if it isn't actually a spinner.

I'm pretty confident this is how the ride will work, and if it is then we will have a decently long and fun coaster on our hands!
 
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CrashCoaster said:
Ok, so I'm pretty sure I've cracked the layout. The cluster of footers at the top of the site was throwing me off, but I think this is it.

Screenshot_20240122-2127123.png


So, you'll exit the station and go up the lift. You'll make a ~225° turn to the right as some form of drop that will connect with the existing twisted s-hill that's been installed. Then you'll follow that track through to the launch straight. Here you will either come to a stop or have some sort of two-part swing launch where you will launch backwards through the lower section of the layout that takes you to the lift once again. You will go through this section a second time until you reach the launch straight again, but instead of stopping and launching backwards, you will launch forwards into the remaining portion of the layout until you hit the brakes.

I'm pretty confident this is how the ride will work, and if it is then we will have a decently long and fun coaster on our hands!
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Even with your drawings I don’t know what I’m looking at. Its been frustrating not knowing the layout for this 🙃
 
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