mash80 Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 My first photo TR, so please be gentle Pictures were taken with my camera phone so not the best quality but they turned out a lot better than I expected! Having not visited the park for 20 years despite living only 90 minutes away, I decided it would be worth spending half a day there as I was going to be in the area, especially as there were credits to be had. I arrived around noon on a really cloudy Saturday, but fortunately it cleared up dramatically later on. The park was absolutely packed and I only just managed to get a parking spot, I was expecting it to be dead to be honest so this was quite a surprise. Thankfully the majority of visitors seemed to be families with young children visiting the new Thomas Land area. I didn't plan on taking many rides, which I'm glad of as the operations were pretty bad. Both coasters were only running one train so although queues didn't look too bad they ended up taking longer than expected - seriously, Shockwave was taking 5 minutes plus for each dispatch and all the flats seemed to be taking an age between cycles. The ride Ops on G-Force were pushing the riders through quick though so I'll give them credit. Also, Apocalypse was a walk on all day, what a bonus! Overall I really enjoyed my day, I had arrived with very low expectations after hearing nothing good about the park, so I'm sure that helped. It was a lot cleaner than I expected and thankfully they seem to have gotten rid of the negative signs that were there for TPR's trip in '06 (no screaming, no spitting etc). The new Thomas Land area in particular was really impressive and as I said earlier it seemed very popular. They could certainly use some more stand out thrill rides though (ie. better coasters). Now onto what I rode... Shockwave (x2) - My first stand up coaster so I enjoyed it because it was different. Certainly nothing special though and surprisingly rough in parts, it had one hell of a rattle. G-Force (x2) - Very...meh. Some good airtime over the first hill but all in all it kind of felt like a Pinfari death machine or something. I did like the restraints though! Preferred the front seat to the back. Apocalypse (x4) - I've only been on a few drop towers but this was the best by far, the saving grace of the park. I did stand up floored twice and stand up floorless twice. I give floorless the nod, probably the most scared I've even been on a ride and it didn't hurt too much either! Maelstrom (x1) - Fun spinning disc flat ride, would be more fun if it span a bit more though. Enough of the rambling, onto the pictures! Hope you enjoyed my first TR! Crazy Bertie Bus! Cool looking kiddie flat Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth bound misfit, I Basically a 'frog hopper' type of ride Mini Apocalypse, aka Cranky's Drop Tower New credit! This was as much as I could see though sorry and didn't ride coz I'm no whore! ...baby, right round... You spin me right round... No offence Percy but was kinda hoping for Thomas And now, what you've all been waiting for...Thomas Land!!! Jolly, jolly, jolly! Entrance to the zoo, no animal photos though due to phone memory restrictions I'm afraid "I can't take it any more, I'm going over the edge. Hey Bob, tell my wife I love her!" Would have been the boat across the lake but due to how long it takes my phone to switch into camera mode and then actually take a picture, I give you....boat a$$! Really dark, crappy photo of Flying Dutchman Totally PC flat ride...Sombrero! Wow, those bucaneers must really smell!! Random pirate themed flat ride Ahoy there me heartys! Woohoo, lets go shoot some Hillbillys! Oh, it's a boat ride, sounded quite exciting (guess it could be, I didn't actually ride it) Excalibur - A dragon's tale! Across the lake... Damn clouds, this could have come out quite nice... Pandamonium... I'm pleased to see you too Mr Apocalypse! Stand up, and to the right, the mighty stand up floorless Yeah baby, now we're talkin'... Don't want you ferris wheel guys to feel left out.... Shout out to all the carousel lovers And again...you lucky people! One for you train enthusiasts Hi RapidsNerd! Yup, Maelstrom swings both ways :o Maelstrom.... OMG, get your hands up! At least TRY to look like you're having fun Airtime! Hangtime! Inverted lift hill madness Seriosly twisted.... G-Spo...erm...Force! Change of angle + change in weather = Result! (My fave shot of the day) Grrrrr, stupid camera phone, a nightmare to time shots with. Loop-de-looooooop - Taken earlier in the day, you can see how the weather cleared up. Corkscrew goodness! (or not, as the case may be) Shockwave.... Splosh! Just in case you forgot where we were! (Yes, I forgot to take an entrance shot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveRitalin Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 A Saturday at Drayton Manor = much better than a Saturday watching Nottingham Forest. Nice TR. Drayton looks like a great park, and G-Force looks like a great ride. I've actually been looking at pictures of that ride online and it just looks purty-like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 G-Force looks like a great ride. I've actually been looking at pictures of that ride online and it just looks purty-like. hahaha ---- It actually sucks. Nice report and I'm impressed with the pictures using your phone. Not bad. There are a few things at the park that I don't remember seeing when I was there. I will have to check them out next time I drop in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mash80 Posted September 24, 2008 Author Share Posted September 24, 2008 Thanks for the nice replies guys! Hahaha, anything beats watching Forest, I'm a Man Utd fan myself though I did used to have a Forest season ticket and kinda support them as my local team, but yea, they suck. As far as G-Force goes, unfortunately it looks a lot better than it actually is and I have to agree with Gisco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveRitalin Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Well, there you have it... that's my luck innit? I find a ride that I think looks pretty amazing and it sucks. Oh well, plenty more out there that I'll probably never get the chance to ride. Oh, and Mash... GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED! I'm also a United fan. We better start scoring goals soon. Starting off like we did last year isn't exactly good for stress control. Hopefully Berba can step up and earn the right to wear the shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoisonedPirate Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Great TR.... until I found out you are a Man Utd Fan Boo the Reds! Come on the Gooners! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Nice TR and pics. Apocalypse, stand up side, is still my favorite drop tower. Although not the greatest park, I loved my visit to DM some years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electerik Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Pretty impressive pictures for a cellphone. What kind is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zjerre Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 your TR was a warm up for my visit within 4 weeks looking forward to it (specially the drop tower) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mash80 Posted September 26, 2008 Author Share Posted September 26, 2008 Again, thanks for all the replies. Boo to the Gooners (ok, i'll admit they do play a beautiful game ). At least there is one fellow red devil in here, yay for IloveRitalin! Hoping for big things from Berba, he's certainly a class act, just hope he does it for us. ^^ It's a Sony Ericsson K800i, quite an old model really. The camera on it is 3.2MP. ^ Cool, enjoy your visit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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