cjbrandy
Hyper Poster
First park of the season and it was a great day! Queues were very kind and ranged from ZERO to 10 mins with a max wait of 25 mins for G Force in the morning. Now Ive been to Drayton before but I hadn't been for a good 2 or 3 years and there was a lot of rides that would be brand new to me making it a lot more interesting than popping up/down to Alton or Thorpe!
First, we decided to get everything in the "Action Park" area done before lunch. First ride of the day was Shockwave. This I've rode many times before and holds a special place in my heart <3 because the loop was my first inversion. It was rougher than I remembered, it really feels 22 and defensive riding is a must! Despite this I still really enjoyed it, it was a cute trip down memory lane and a surprisingly intense one too, my eyes were watery at the brake run! Didn't fancy lapping it like I did when I was younger despite the non existent queue because it is showing its age and there were other rides I fell in love with... Question: Does this ever have 2 train operations these days?
Next it was finally time to ride G Force for the first time! Wanted to get it done ASAP because I knew of its rep for ridiculous queues thanks to having one 12 rider train. I was quite excited because it looked so unsusal, whilst I have seen people say they like it, there sure is a lot of people who really don't because of the 'tight restraints'. I was intrigued to see if that accusation was true or not. After a reasonable wait of 25 minutes I hopped in my seat! I pushed my restraint down to a snug but breathable level. Unfortunately it soon got a lot tighter, genuinely restricting my breathing. I see where people are coming from now! I forgot about all that when the ride was in motion, and I enjoyed my first ride. The lift hill was unusual but fun and the rest was short, basic but OK! When I got to the break run however, it made me realise how **** tight that restraint was, bloody hell! They need to sort out that problem some how, it will dramatically improve the ride! Question: Does HRRR or any other Maurer X Car coaster share the overly tight restraint problem?
Satisfied with finally getting G Force done, we set our sights on the somewhat recently added Zamperla Air Race. With just a 10 min wait I was very excited, I'd heard good things about all of them. Absolutely loved it, didn't find it too sickly and I was smiling and laughing throughout, the restraints and seats were perfectly comfortable and made the lengthy hangtime moments good fun!
We finished off the first area of the park with the Intamin gyro swing Maelstrom. What a bloody great flat! It was love at first ride, you just stick your arms and legs out and fly. I had a good 3 or 4 rides total but would of happily done 5+ consecutive rides if I was on my own and not with the gf and brother.
Before lunch I had my first ride on the much loved Apocalyspe, clearly heavily inspired by Alton Tower's Oblivion in aesthetic. We went on sit down first because we were with a very nervous gf who hates drop towers. I know I enjoyed it but my first ride went by in a flash because I was focusing on the amusing reactions of a very scared gf so I knew I needed some re rides to take it in a bit more!
After lunch we had a cheeky ride on junior boomerang Ben 10, the UKs best family coaster! We were treated to a short 10 minute wait for this ride and it was as fun as I remembered! Not much to say about it apart from that it can be enjoyed by all ages! Only bad part of the ride is the awful indoor queue with the flashing lights and irritating noises.
Had a go on Wild West shoot out, its just a tacky old shooter, it is what it is! I'd love them to spend a small amount of money on putting some walls around to make all the scenes seem more seperated because right now its literally just a big room with Wild West targets.
Gf gave me and brother permission to re ride Apocalypse. Woohoo! It was going to be Stand up WITH floor because floorless was closed for maintenance or whatever. Fair enough! This is where I really found out that the hype was real, the only other one Ive done is Hurakan Condor but Im sure this is drop towers at their VERY best! The 15 degree forward tilt was a perfect little touch, making the acension musch more exciting. And this time I was much more focused on the drop- wow! The drop forced a man-scream out of me, it was intense! Im certain this ride is much more intense/forceful than Hurakan Condor despite that being 100 odd ft taller (anyone else agree?). I could 'whore' Apocalypse for over 10 consecutive rides easily, I really hope I get the opportunity to at some point. I need many more rides on this addictive beast! (I only had one more ride that day on sit down as the gf decided to have another go, again, the drop was brilliantly intense).
Buffalo Coaster I appreciate that this old powered coaster will have a lot of nostalgic value for many people, but I think it could be due for some kind of replacement! A family woodie perhaps?
Bounty Best pirate ship in the UK! Beautiful looking ship and a quality ride experience (Im more used to the ancient one at Wicksteed!), better than the one at Legoland with a restraint you'll hardly notice and a higher and steeper swing (both are Intamin). Great stuff. Notably, the op was actually cheerful! Got us all singing the Spongebob theme with "Are ya ready kids?" It was great to see because most of the ops looked like they'd rather be paper cutting themselves or something, a simple smile doesn't go amiss guys!
Pandemonium This was the last major ride I'd never done before, I was excited and it looked fun in videos. This ride is simple, if you don't like the sensation of hang time, steer VERY clear because you simply won't find anything to enjoy here. It was an exciting hang time experience as it always slows down to a crawl when you get to the top and looking back, it was a really good flat but for me personally, it was really intense! Way too intense of a headrush for a direct re ride IMO, just one or 2 rides in 1 day would be enough for me! Do not ride this one soon after a meal folks.
Stormforce 10
Towards the end of the day, me and the gf decided we should do it. Why? Because we're young and stupid. Whilst my brother waved and laughed with his hot dog and drink, I had the worst ride experience of my life. With the temperature being just above 10 degrees, it was pure misery and regret as we were cursed with the dreaded back row. (I don't hate the ride for what it is, it would have been a laugh on a day where the temp was 20 degrees+). My immune system was rekt and I was shivering and feeling bleugh for a couple hours after. Skin tight skinny jeans were the cherry on top of this awfulness </3.
Summary of the day
It was a really fun day out and it was great to get back to Drayton after a few years. We were treated to a quiet park and minimal queues with the fabbest rides such as Shockwave with 1 train, Apocalypse and Maelstrom being a walk on or 1 cycle wait.
Operations leave a lot to be desired with a general feeling of overwhelming un-enthusiasm and lack of urgency (except the pirate ship). I know I live in the United KINGDOM not the United STATES so I'll never expect "Hey dudes this ride is totally radical man!!!!" but as I said earlier, a smile wouldn't go amiss! And I know "Merlin" and "excellent operations" are seldom used in the same sentence but I swear guys, last time I went Thorpe the ops on The Swarm were rushing riders through like their lives depended on it! And it wasn't even busy!
The park was in a decent state, but poor old Shockwave is crying out for a repaint! Unlike Buffalo Coaster where I'd be fine with seeing it replaced, I want dear old Shockwave to be cared for properly for the years to come.
*I promise that when I replace the old 8gb 5C with a 6 in a couple months I'll take MORE and BETTER photos at parks!
First, we decided to get everything in the "Action Park" area done before lunch. First ride of the day was Shockwave. This I've rode many times before and holds a special place in my heart <3 because the loop was my first inversion. It was rougher than I remembered, it really feels 22 and defensive riding is a must! Despite this I still really enjoyed it, it was a cute trip down memory lane and a surprisingly intense one too, my eyes were watery at the brake run! Didn't fancy lapping it like I did when I was younger despite the non existent queue because it is showing its age and there were other rides I fell in love with... Question: Does this ever have 2 train operations these days?
Next it was finally time to ride G Force for the first time! Wanted to get it done ASAP because I knew of its rep for ridiculous queues thanks to having one 12 rider train. I was quite excited because it looked so unsusal, whilst I have seen people say they like it, there sure is a lot of people who really don't because of the 'tight restraints'. I was intrigued to see if that accusation was true or not. After a reasonable wait of 25 minutes I hopped in my seat! I pushed my restraint down to a snug but breathable level. Unfortunately it soon got a lot tighter, genuinely restricting my breathing. I see where people are coming from now! I forgot about all that when the ride was in motion, and I enjoyed my first ride. The lift hill was unusual but fun and the rest was short, basic but OK! When I got to the break run however, it made me realise how **** tight that restraint was, bloody hell! They need to sort out that problem some how, it will dramatically improve the ride! Question: Does HRRR or any other Maurer X Car coaster share the overly tight restraint problem?
Satisfied with finally getting G Force done, we set our sights on the somewhat recently added Zamperla Air Race. With just a 10 min wait I was very excited, I'd heard good things about all of them. Absolutely loved it, didn't find it too sickly and I was smiling and laughing throughout, the restraints and seats were perfectly comfortable and made the lengthy hangtime moments good fun!
We finished off the first area of the park with the Intamin gyro swing Maelstrom. What a bloody great flat! It was love at first ride, you just stick your arms and legs out and fly. I had a good 3 or 4 rides total but would of happily done 5+ consecutive rides if I was on my own and not with the gf and brother.
Before lunch I had my first ride on the much loved Apocalyspe, clearly heavily inspired by Alton Tower's Oblivion in aesthetic. We went on sit down first because we were with a very nervous gf who hates drop towers. I know I enjoyed it but my first ride went by in a flash because I was focusing on the amusing reactions of a very scared gf so I knew I needed some re rides to take it in a bit more!
After lunch we had a cheeky ride on junior boomerang Ben 10, the UKs best family coaster! We were treated to a short 10 minute wait for this ride and it was as fun as I remembered! Not much to say about it apart from that it can be enjoyed by all ages! Only bad part of the ride is the awful indoor queue with the flashing lights and irritating noises.
Had a go on Wild West shoot out, its just a tacky old shooter, it is what it is! I'd love them to spend a small amount of money on putting some walls around to make all the scenes seem more seperated because right now its literally just a big room with Wild West targets.
Gf gave me and brother permission to re ride Apocalypse. Woohoo! It was going to be Stand up WITH floor because floorless was closed for maintenance or whatever. Fair enough! This is where I really found out that the hype was real, the only other one Ive done is Hurakan Condor but Im sure this is drop towers at their VERY best! The 15 degree forward tilt was a perfect little touch, making the acension musch more exciting. And this time I was much more focused on the drop- wow! The drop forced a man-scream out of me, it was intense! Im certain this ride is much more intense/forceful than Hurakan Condor despite that being 100 odd ft taller (anyone else agree?). I could 'whore' Apocalypse for over 10 consecutive rides easily, I really hope I get the opportunity to at some point. I need many more rides on this addictive beast! (I only had one more ride that day on sit down as the gf decided to have another go, again, the drop was brilliantly intense).
Buffalo Coaster I appreciate that this old powered coaster will have a lot of nostalgic value for many people, but I think it could be due for some kind of replacement! A family woodie perhaps?
Bounty Best pirate ship in the UK! Beautiful looking ship and a quality ride experience (Im more used to the ancient one at Wicksteed!), better than the one at Legoland with a restraint you'll hardly notice and a higher and steeper swing (both are Intamin). Great stuff. Notably, the op was actually cheerful! Got us all singing the Spongebob theme with "Are ya ready kids?" It was great to see because most of the ops looked like they'd rather be paper cutting themselves or something, a simple smile doesn't go amiss guys!
Pandemonium This was the last major ride I'd never done before, I was excited and it looked fun in videos. This ride is simple, if you don't like the sensation of hang time, steer VERY clear because you simply won't find anything to enjoy here. It was an exciting hang time experience as it always slows down to a crawl when you get to the top and looking back, it was a really good flat but for me personally, it was really intense! Way too intense of a headrush for a direct re ride IMO, just one or 2 rides in 1 day would be enough for me! Do not ride this one soon after a meal folks.
Stormforce 10
Towards the end of the day, me and the gf decided we should do it. Why? Because we're young and stupid. Whilst my brother waved and laughed with his hot dog and drink, I had the worst ride experience of my life. With the temperature being just above 10 degrees, it was pure misery and regret as we were cursed with the dreaded back row. (I don't hate the ride for what it is, it would have been a laugh on a day where the temp was 20 degrees+). My immune system was rekt and I was shivering and feeling bleugh for a couple hours after. Skin tight skinny jeans were the cherry on top of this awfulness </3.
Summary of the day
It was a really fun day out and it was great to get back to Drayton after a few years. We were treated to a quiet park and minimal queues with the fabbest rides such as Shockwave with 1 train, Apocalypse and Maelstrom being a walk on or 1 cycle wait.
Operations leave a lot to be desired with a general feeling of overwhelming un-enthusiasm and lack of urgency (except the pirate ship). I know I live in the United KINGDOM not the United STATES so I'll never expect "Hey dudes this ride is totally radical man!!!!" but as I said earlier, a smile wouldn't go amiss! And I know "Merlin" and "excellent operations" are seldom used in the same sentence but I swear guys, last time I went Thorpe the ops on The Swarm were rushing riders through like their lives depended on it! And it wasn't even busy!
The park was in a decent state, but poor old Shockwave is crying out for a repaint! Unlike Buffalo Coaster where I'd be fine with seeing it replaced, I want dear old Shockwave to be cared for properly for the years to come.
*I promise that when I replace the old 8gb 5C with a 6 in a couple months I'll take MORE and BETTER photos at parks!
