We went to Drayton manor yesterday using some free vouchers from tescos. I was quite looking forward to it as I had never been before. However it was a massive let down.
Shockwave (the only standing coaster in the UK) was quite a good ride but not worth the hour and 10 minute queue. The staff were so inefficient that the train (there was only 1) only left the station every 10 minutes - resulting in a riders per hour figure of about 130 (and that is generous because they didn't bother asking for people to fill the gaps). I could improve this figure dramatically by ensuring that the staff weren't just sat in the ride booth doing crosswords rather than sorting out the loading and unloading.
G-Force was closed for most of the day and when it eventually did open the queue was huge - and they were only running one train as well so the queue was very slow moving and we didn't bother.
Apocalypse (I think) was quite a cool drop ride and had about a 5 minute wait - so that is a positive for them.
Storm force 10 was a good themed water ride - although it was raining quite heavily when queueing so we were a bit cheesed off by the time we got on the ride (not the parks fault). However the loading and unloading again was so inefficient - the staff were letting people get onto the boats and then letting someone get off to buy a poncho from the vending machine and then spend 5 minutes trying to get it over their childs head.
The rapids ride was alright - a bit tame though.
I think that I am destined never to enjoy a british theme park again. We went to Florida last november and now everything is going to be compared to that experience. Drayton manor had inefficient staff, tons of graffiti, dirty toilets and was generally a bit dull. Okay the weather didn't help but I am so glad that I didn't pay for the experience!
Rant Over
Toffeeman
