Drayton Manor Theme Park

Drayton Manor theme park, resort, and zoo is in the grounds of the former Drayton Manor, in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England.

The park covers 280 acres (110 ha) of which about 113 acres are in use, and hosts about 1.5 million people each year. Rides at the park include The Shockwave, Europe's only stand up coaster,[1] and Apocalypse, a five-sided drop tower.[2] The park's maximum daily capacity is 15,000 guests, which is set with guest experience and traffic congestion in mind.

The park has three entrances (Main Entrance, Entrance 1 and Entrance 2). Entrance 1 is also accessible by Arriva Midlands Bus 110 [1] and is 900 metres south of the Fazeley bus stop via Drayton Manor Drive.

Drayton Manor Theme Park is open daily from mid March to early November and on selected days in late November to January (Drayton's Magical Christmas: Thomas Land, Ben 10, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball and the Zoo only), in February (February Half Term: Thomas Land, Ben 10, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball and the Zoo only) and in March (Thomas Weekends: Thomas Land and the Zoo only).

During the main season, gates opens at 9:30 a.m., rides starts at 10:30 a.m. and close at a minimum of 5 p.m. (as late as 6 p.m. during summer school holidays). Special opening hours apply outside the main season.

Contents
[hide]
 * 1 History
 * 2 The Park
 * 2.1 Roller coasters
 * 2.2 Thrill rides
 * 2.3 Water rides
 * 2.4 Other rides
 * 2.5 Thomas Land
 * 2.5.1 Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition
 * 2.5.2 Thomas Land Shop
 * 2.6 Past rides & attractions
 * 3 Zoo
 * 4 Drayton Manor Hotel
 * 5 Events
 * 6 Future projects
 * 6.1 Winston Ride
 * 6.2 Air Race
 * 7 Incidents
 * 7.1 Maelstrom
 * 8 References
 * 9 External links

History[edit]
The land on which the theme park was built belonged to the Peel family, but the mansion (built in 1790) had been reduced to ruins when the British Army requisitioned it as a training post during World War II. After the war, entrepreneurs George and Vera Bryan borrowed £6,000 and bought the land (and the 17 huts that the army had constructed during their stay). They opened a small amusement park with just a handful of children's rides in 1949. In 1954 Mrs Molly Badham (who later opened the nearby Twycross Zoo) joined forces with the Bryans and opened a small zoo to complement the fun park. The amusement park grew slowly in the 1950s, '60s and '70s but in the late '80s the park began to install bigger and more thrilling rides to attract customers from all over the United Kingdom. Drayton Manor Theme Park is today the fifth most popular theme park in the UK and still managed by Colin Bryan

The Park[edit]
Drayton Manor Theme Park is divided into 7 areas: Thomas Land, Action Park, Aerial Park, Fisherman's Wharf, Pirate Cove, The Zoo and Dinotrail, Farmer McColl's Farm.

Main Plaza is main entrance to the park.

Thomas Land is the park's children's area and draws inspiration from Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends who are quite familiar to both readers of the books and the TV-series. This area, which was called Robinson's Land until 2007, has many rides and attractions that appeal to children. It also host the world's largest Thomas Land Shop with the world's largest selection of Thomas & Friends clothing, accessories, toys, books, games, DVDs, memorabilia, collectibles and Thomas Land merchandise[citation needed].

Action Park does not really have any discernible theme to it apart from the number of thrill rides it has on offer - hence the name Action Park. Main attractions include: Europe's only stand up roller coaster;|The Shock Wave, a giant gyro swing known as Maelstrom, the X Car roller coaster G Force, the river rapids ride Splash Canyon and Air race

Aerial Park also serves as the park's main throughway, flanked by rides, restaurants and stores. The rides are mostly characterized by their aerial nature - hence the name Aerial Park. Cartoon Network Street is the new name given to the part of the street where the roller coaster that opened in 2011 Ben 10 - Ultimate Mission can be found. Entrance 1 (next door to the hotel) is located here as well. Main attractions include: the drop tower Apocalypse, the mad house The Haunting, the inverted giant swing Pandemonium and aforementioned Ben 10 - Ultimate Mission. It also host UK's only Cartoon Network Shop.

Fisherman's Wharf is situated next to the lake - hence the name Fisherman's Wharf even though (apart from the Lighthouse) theming is not the area's strong suit. Attractions include: the super splash Stormforce 10and the swinging ship The Bounty.

Pirate Cove is loosely themed as a Pirate haven, with one appropriately themed ride: the dark ride Pirate Adventure

The Zoo and Dinotrail offer respite from the amusement park rides; the 15-acre walkthrough zoo (which is open all year) has quite a few animal enclosures with over 100 different species of animals on display including tigers, meerkats, penguins, parrots, reptiles, owls etc. There is also a Discovery Museum, and then there is a walkthrough Dinosaurland with life-size models of dinosaurs to intrigue and enthral the kids.

Farmer McColl's Farm is an extension of the zoo, but it specialises in domestic farm animals. There is also a Discover Thomas and Friends Exhibition, an outdoor activity area, exotic animal reserve, and Bryan's Slot Machine Museum.

Just outside the park is Peel Plaza where guests can play Miniature Golf. It also has a Caravan and Camp site.
 * Main Entrance
 * Lake view

Roller coasters[edit]

 * Shockwave
 * G Force

Thrill rides[edit]

 * Maelstrom
 * Pandemonium

Water rides[edit]

 * Storm Force 10
 * Splash Canyon

Thomas Land[edit]
Main article: Thomas Land (Drayton Manor)

Set in 3 acres (12,000 m2) of parkland, Thomas Land was re-themed with plenty of new children's rides in 2008, previously it had been called Robinson's Land. In addition to the rides, there are 3 daily live shows, the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition, the Thomas Land Shop and an indoor and an outdoor play area for kids.

Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition[edit]
Located in Farmer McColls Farm. In early 2009, HIT Entertainment announced that the original models from the Thomas & Friends television series would be put on display at Thomas Land in an exhibit called "Discover Thomas & Friends", as production was to move to Canada, now that the series is to be animated with CGI. The models were then put on display in 2010. So far, the layout features Great Waterton, a town that first appeared in "The Great Discovery", the Fishing Village and Brendam Docks. Many other buildings have been seen from previous seasons from the show, such as "Neptune's Refreshments", "Ben's Books", Toby's Shed and Bluff's Cove signal box. Models have also appeared in the workshop, including: Bulgy, Terence, Trevor, Elizabeth, Butch, 3 Horrid Lorries, a canal boat, A Tug boat (Top Hat), A Harbour Ship (Izzy Gomez), 2 red and white express carriages, 2 green and cream express carriages, Thomas, Edward, Toby, Stepney, Rosie, Harvey, Bulstrode, Toad the brake van (faceless), and various trucks.

Thomas Land Shop[edit]
The ultimate place in which to remember Thomas & Friends. Probably the largest selection of Thomas & Friends toys, games, memorabilia and collectibles you will discover under one roof. Take a piece of the magic home with you. Open daily.
 * Entrance to Thomas Land
 * Knapford StationTurntable

Past rides & attractions[edit]

 * Excalibur — Tow boat ride.

Zoo[edit]
Drayton Manor Zoo

Drayton Manor is also home to a 15-acre (6 ha) zoo. It contains over 100 species from all over the world. It is also the only part of Drayton Manor that is open all year round (apart from Christmas Day).

Drayton Manor Hotel[edit]
In February 2009 revised plans for a hotel at Drayton Manor were submitted to Lichfield District Council. Planning permission for the hotel was granted in 2007 though the applicants felt that the scheme could benefit from further improvements without increasing the site area required.

The 4-star hotel with 150 well-appointed contemporary guest rooms including 11 Thomas & Friends themed bedrooms is designed to primarily meet the demand from park visitors as the theme park is attracting families from all over the UK, particularly since the arrival of Thomas Land.

The Drayton Manor Hotel opened Monday 15 August 2011. Set against Entrance 1, it features innovative bedroom designs that allow double rooms to be enlarged to family rooms. There are a Parkview conference and banqueting suite and 3 modern meeting rooms to cater for weddings, business events and conferences. And for the children, and those that are young at heart, there are the video games room and the Thomas & Friends Theatre.

Events[edit]
The park holds many events throughout the year including fundraising for Birmingham's children's hospital and musical projects, plus the annual fireworks event taking place on the lake.

The Park will also be home to Miss Community UK Grand Finals in 2016. This National UK Pageant focused on community and charity work will finish at the Wonderful Drayton Manor Theme Park[6]

Future projects[edit]
In 2005, Drayton Manor had an official press release[7] on their plans to build a water park to accompany their planned hotel to create a resort for the park, much like Alton Towers have done. Part of this proposed development included a water park called 'Stormalong Bay' and containing several attractions such as water slides.[8] The hotel has been planned for over 10 years and has been granted planning permission. With construction starting in early 2010, the hotel opened in August 2011.[9] The plans for the water park have been declined due to the scale of the development.

The plans for expansion will happen around the year 2021 +. The area marked out for expansion will be around the Zoo area. Drayton Manor Theme Park predict that more roller-coaster type rides will fill this space in the foreseeable future. The Plans have been submitted to Lichfield District Council.[10]

In 2012, the park has introduced a car parking fee of £3 per car. this applies to everyone except season pass holders, who can buy a season car park pass which costs £15. Annual pass holders are not charged. Since 2013, season pass holders no longer pay extra for parking either.

Winston Ride[edit]
The Winston Ride has been found to have Green & White Track and the track can be seen on the Drayton Manor Polberro Express train. The latest ride of Thomas Land. this ride opened in summer 2013

Air Race[edit]
In 2014, a new ride has been built. Based on the popular Air Race ride, this will turn riders through a 360 degree loop in both directions. It has been reported that it cost around £1.2 million.

Maelstrom[edit]
On August 3, 2012, a mother-of-two died of a cardiac arrest after coming off the Maelstrom ride seconds after coming off the ride. A message from her daughter read "RIP Momma, Love You." The ride was also closed for several hours for inspection.