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Drayton Manor | Gold Rush | Intamin Family Coaster | 2024

Thanks for the news and pics! 😊

I know that the opening date hasn't been announced yet, but based on how the construction is going, do you guys think it could be ready in May? I'm planning to ride Nemesis Reborn and it would be interesting to visit Drayton Manor too.
 
Thanks for the news and pics! 😊

I know that the opening date hasn't been announced yet, but based on how the construction is going, do you guys think it could be ready in May? I'm planning to ride Nemesis Reborn and it would be interesting to visit Drayton Manor too.
Watch it open before Nemesis ;)
 
I feel like I have no idea which way round you're supposed to go around this. Or is that the point, that you could do it both ways?
That is what they hinted at that it can have multiple options.
I have said before I feel like the default will be, Go round forwards starting up the lift hill,
Brake on the launch then launch backwards,
go backwards up the lifthill then when you reach the top stop
Drop back forwards down towards the launch again
then launch forward and complete the circuit

But yes in theory we could be looking at it wrong and what people have assumed is the brake run could also act as a launch and you could start with a launch?

Opening Date wise, If it is supposed to be as heavily themed as rumoured I imagine opening Early july for summer holidays
 
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I don't get it.
At first, I couldn't get my head around what this coaster actually does. Now that we do know what it does thanks to these animations, I still don't get it. I mean... what I don't understand is.... why? What's it supposed to achieve? What's the point of it?
I'm still not completely sold on the idea of backwardsy bits and switch track nonsense on high-end thrill coasters like Toutatis and Pantheon, let alone on a piddly little family coaster like this.
Unless this turns out to be a very heavily themed, story driven attraction where the sequence of events serves some sort of narrative purpose, it all just seems like a lot of unnecessary cocking about if you ask me.
 
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I don't get it.
At first, I couldn't get my head around what this coaster actually does. Now that we do know what it does thanks to these animations, I still don't get it. I mean... what I don't understand is.... why? What's it supposed to achieve? What's the point of it?
I'm not completely sold yet on backwardsy bits and switch track tomfoolery on high-end thrill coasters like Toutatis and Pantheon, let alone on a piddly little family coaster like this.
Unless this turns out to be a very heavily themed, story driven attraction where the sequence of events serves some sort of narrative purpose, it all just seems like a lot of unnecessary cocking about if you ask me.
I agree. It seems like you could just make a longer/better coaster for all the money all these fancy mechanisms cost.
 
I don't get it.
At first, I couldn't get my head around what this coaster actually does. Now that we do know what it does thanks to these animations, I still don't get it. I mean... what I don't understand is.... why? What's it supposed to achieve? What's the point of it?
I'm still not completely sold on the idea of backwardsy bits and switch track nonsense on high-end thrill coasters like Toutatis and Pantheon, let alone on a piddly little family coaster like this.
Unless this turns out to be a very heavily themed, story driven attraction where the sequence of events serves some sort of narrative purpose, it all just seems like a lot of unnecessary cocking about if you ask me.
I agree with this, and my worry is, even if it is heavily themed with a story-led element - give it two or three years and it won't work.

We don't have a very good track record of dark rides and experiences being looked after in the UK...
 
I agree with this, and my worry is, even if it is heavily themed with a story-led element - give it two or three years and it won't work.

We don't have a very good track record of dark rides and experiences being looked after in the UK...
Correct but owned by Merlin by the majority
 
Unless this turns out to be a very heavily themed, story driven attraction where the sequence of events serves some sort of narrative purpose, it all just seems like a lot of unnecessary cocking about if you ask me.
I dared to say this on another forum. There seems to be an almost over-excitment for this coaster. I hope it is great, but worry it is just sooo gimmicky with lots of switch tracks and clever bits that it never actually gets going. Little bit of speed, few twists and then it stops to change direction.

I hope i am wrong and any new coaster should be applauded.. especially at Drayton who desperately need it!!
 
but worry it is just sooo gimmicky with lots of switch tracks and clever bits that it never actually gets going. Little bit of speed, few twists and then it stops to change direction.

Yeah, this, totally. Makes you wonder why they didn't just buy a Vekoma family boomerang instead, it does pretty much the same thing.
Oh yes... that's right, they already have one of those. 🙄
 
I think that how this rides will depend on how seamlessly Intamin are able to integrate the various directional changes.

If the integration is seamless, then I think it could end up being quite good fun, and a really interesting ride.

If the integration is like it is in the NL2 recreation, though, then I fear that it could feel a tad fragmented. That NL2 recreation makes it appear as though the ride will have 3 "sections", none of which are longer than about 20-25 seconds in duration. That could possibly make it feel like the ride is just being clever for the sake of it, or that none of the individual sections are long enough to really have much impact. An integration like that would not make the ride feel overly cohesive.

However, I'm hopeful that it will err more towards seamless integration. Intamin are generally quite good at making things like this feel seamlessly integrated; I'd certainly say that this was the case from my experiences on rides like Thirteen and Hagrid's.

I also think that the layout looks surprisingly interesting. Some of those transitions look very dynamic, and like they could ride very well!

Overall, I am rather intrigued to see how this coaster turns out... it's certainly very unique!
 
Are we definitely sure the ride drops down the lift hill on the second lift and heads back towards the launch? Just looking at the profiling of the track, that turn the train would take after dropping down the lift hill seems pretty tight if that was the case? Unless it only makes it part way up the lift before dropping?

I would prefer it if it completed the course forwards, then did the whole course again but backwards. But then we’d be left with the train coming into the station still facing backwards.

It really is a shame the cars aren’t going to spin in my opinion. It would have really added an extra dimension and made this stand out more for Drayton. However, having said that, it’s still a really exciting investment for them. I hope it goes well so we see continuous investment in the future.
 
If the setting is completely random then I guess the lifthill is kinda exciting cause you don't know if you're gonna fall backwards or not on the first ascend.
People also talk about extra cost with the gimmicks but the only really extra thing is the transfer track at the lifthill, cause the one at the launch is also used for the maintenance shed.
They even use the launch 2 times in different directions which of course is cheaper than 2 seperate launches.

Not implying this coaster will be incredbile but I think the layout is pretty neat.
 
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I think the ride experience would flow better if the train dropped backwards down the lift hill on the first ascent.

Then, when it reaches the launch track and stops, it can launch forwards and do a full circuit of the entire layout without any stoppages.
 
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