Interactive Dark Ride

Stand up when you get to Drayton Manor!

itemprop="discussionURL"0

Drayton Manor Theme Park

Close to the English town of Tamworth, in a small town called Drayton Bassett, is the Drayton Manor Theme Park. The animal and amusement park offers some interesting and rare rides and can almost be called a showcase for the Liechtenstein company Intamin due to its impressive number of rides by the company.

When you enter the park through the main entrance you will immediately see the flagship of the park on your left. The Thomas Land consists of several smaller attractions and has been designed to match the children’s series Thomas and friends. The park was one of the first in the country to use a well-known IP – an unparalleled success, even though the amusement park is now often reduced to the Thomas Land.

Thomas Land

Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster

Among the larger rides in the Thomas Land area is a suitably designed train ride which has its second stop in the zoo area of the park, as well as the small Gerstlauer roller coaster Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster. The ride itself starts with some curve changes before you climb up the lift hill to start the fast paced ride, which has a very funny turn around. For children this junior coaster is simply fantastic, furthermore the Troublesome Trucks Runaway offers an excellent smooth ride.

Maelstrom

Opposite the Thomas Land is the visually very appealing Intamin Gyro Swing called Maelstrom. Compared to swings of various manufacturers, a ride on the Gyro Swing is surprisingly brute and absolutely brilliant. The airtime, as well as the acceleration are simply breathtaking. A great fun!

Bounty

Interestingly, there is another swing in the park, but it was not until a few years after Maelstrom that it found its way into the park. We are talking about the boat swing of the park, which again comes from the manufacturer Intamin. The ride called Bounty also accelerates very fast, but it has a much more family-friendly ride program.

Beside a typical English horse carousel you can take a quite interesting round trip with the well established Chance Rides C.P. Huntington trains. During the ride you will not only get good impressions of the main attractions Shockwave, Stormforce 10, Splash Canyon and G-Force, but you will also learn that the park used to be operated according to the Tivoli system.

Stormforce 10

The last attraction of the themed area known as Fisherman’s Wharf, which could also include Maelstrom, Shockwave and the rafting facility Splash Canyon below, is the Stormforce 10 whitewater ride.

After you have taken a seat in the boats the journey can immediately begin. Joyfully approaching the first shot, you are stopped shortly before and a gate closes behind you. The following effect is absolutely unexpected and surprising and ends as expected in cool water. Passing waterfalls we head towards the first drive up, where a turntable is waiting at the end to start the short and rather nasty backward ride. The problem of this is not the level of wetness, but the force with which the boat is braked, so the ride is definitely not for someone with a weak back. After you have turned around once again and passed under the station, you’ll be heading out into the lofty heights again and eventually reach the final shot at a snail’s pace, which will bring the ride closer to its end with a double drop.

The ride built by Bear Rides is not only unbelievably photogenic, but also simply unique due to the built-in effects, which is why you should not miss it.

Splash Canyon

Meanwhile, the rapids ride Splash Canyon offers a dry ride, which amusingly is declared to the passengers as a soaking wet one. The rapid ride itself is nicely designed and has, similar to Thorpe Parks Rumba Rapids, a very active wave pool. If one is lucky enough to be wetted by one of the numerous rapids, one can surely also be happy about the water jet shower at the end of the ride, if it catches one at all.

Shockwave

A few meters above the turntable of the rapid ride is the station of the only Intamin Stand-Up Coaster in Europe. After you have left the beautifully designed queue to Shockwave with all its stairs behind you and a train is waiting for you, you can try to get on your seat in some way, which is quite funny to watch, especially with small children. After the seat has been lowered slowly so that you are standing on your feet again and the two split bars, as well as the standing row, are locked, you slowly move towards the lift.

The rather strange first drop ends in a wonderfully intense loop, whereupon one tries to pull the ground from under one’s feet in a zero-g roll. The feeling to roll over the Splash Canyon is simply ingenious, especially as it increases the fear of losing something from your pockets during the ride. The two corkscrews that follow are the crowning glory of an all-round balanced ride, which in the end should not be any longer. The ride feeling is really something different and so it is a pity that there is only one ride of this kind in Europe. Due to the empty queues during the visit, the rides on Shockwave were unfortunately only held in the first row, so the ride sensation of the other rows could not be included in this review.

G-Force

In the direct vicinity there is a roller coaster of German production, which unfortunately doesn’t form a unit with the surrounding attractions. Rather, it represents something completely different and thus formed the basis for the theme area Action Park at Drayton Manor Theme Park. The musical background in the queue to G-Force, which takes the floor level of the station building, is outstanding and creates a great unity with the roller coaster. As soon as you have left the stairs behind you can take a seat in the Maurer Söhne X-Cars and wait for your passengers for a few minutes if necessary.

After leaving the first downhill run behind you, you go up the strangely shaped lift to do an even stranger but ingenious downhill run. On the following hill you can experience a lot of airtime before the Cuban Eight completes the ride. Contrary to the Sky Wheel from Skyline Park or Abismo from Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, G-Force offers a completely satisfying ride, which also has a very smooth ride. Unfortunately, there is also the problem with the bars, which from time to time adapt to the human body in a rather unpleasant way and thus spoil the ride, as one hardly gets any air.

Pirates Adventure

A little bit off the beaten track is the Pirates Adventure boat theme ride from Mack Rides at Drayton Manor Theme Park. The ride itself is beautifully designed, but – like most pirate themed dark rides – it lacks that certain something that only Disney can do. Unfortunately, the effects are rather sparsely set, the lighting is too dark in some places and the background music is as little dominant as the undisguised hall ceiling.

Ben10 Ultimate Mission

The newest roller coaster of Drayton Manor Theme Park is the smallest Boomerang variation by Vekoma, which is completely dedicated to the cartoon network series Ben10 Alien Force. Why they decided to go for the second, much weaker series remains a mystery to me, but the roller coaster Ben10 Ultimate Mission can convince from the beginning of the cue. The ride is fast-paced and especially during the forward ride quite intense. The backward part is unfortunately rather gentle, but if you consider for whom this roller coaster was created, this is absolutely acceptable.

The Haunting

Passing the 4D cinema of the park, where this year a film about the little prince is shown, we take a small path to a small mansion, where a research team is already waiting for us, so that we can watch the paranormal activities of the house a little bit closer. The story of The Haunting is brought closer to you through video recordings in a container in front of the mansion, but the other pre-show rooms also contribute well to the story. The main room seems to be quite small compared to other Vekoma installations, but is designed very well. Unfortunately the music during the ride is slightly monotonous but full of atmosphere. The compressed air effect simulating bats flying around did not work everywhere and the effect at the end of the ride is just unnecessary. All in all The Haunting is a really good Mad House by Vekoma, but unfortunately it can’t match the Hotel Embrujado from the Spanish Parque Warner, which is the closest comparison.

Wild West Shoot Out and Drunken Barrels

If you slowly climb the neighbouring hill you will find the interactive theme ride Wild West Shoot Out next to the beautifully designed Intamin Drunken Barrels, which unfortunately were broken at the time of the visit. This small dark ride, manufactured by Zamperla, offers an absolutely worthwhile ride, which is not only beautifully designed, but also has some funny effects.

At the top of the hill there is a restaurant, the Grill Inn, which is not only open to park guests and will probably not be very popular until some time after the park closes. Also the beautiful, although from the outside rather plain, park owned hotel can be found here. If the cable car would be running, one could play a round of mini golf at this place.

Apocalypse

At about half height of the small ascent is the entrance to Apocalypse, one of the best free fall towers in Europe. The 54m heighted tower offers five lanes, two of which each have the normal gondolas and the stand-up gondolas with corridor. The last gondola is a stand-up gondola without corridor. For the real freefall tower lovers, of course, only the stand-up gondolas are suitable, as they enhance the experience. But it should be said that also the normal gondolas are completely convincing. While the stand-up gondola without corridor is simply outstanding, the stand-up gondolas with corridor are a little strangely designed. After closing the bar, one has to move upwards here, so that at some time, one stands in the right position that was also approved by the personnel.

Apocalypse is similar to the freefall tower La Lanzandera from the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid and in contrast to the bigger versions like Huracan Condor from the Port Aventura Park it is simply convincing. The fall is breathtaking and intense, but unfortunately, the gondola on the Intamin Giant Drop is brought to the tilt position quite early during the ascent.

Pandemonium

One level lower, next to the Ferris wheel, is the Fabbri Pandemonium, named Pandemonium. This is basically a beautifully designed and much larger version of a Cataclysm ride made by the same company. Like the Flying Oil Pump from the Zoo Safari- and Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock, the degree of freedom of this upside-down swing is simply high, which guarantees a fun ride with a lot of hang time. By the way, during the ride you have to be very careful not to scream, as the park does not want to make itself unpopular with its neighbours and points this out quite clearly.

Flying Dutchman

The latest Intamin ride at Drayton Manor Theme Park is a flying swing variation called Flying Dutchman. Here you fly through the air in small boats attached to steel cables, which is very relaxing due to the inclination of the seats.

Buffalo Coaster

The last roller coaster at Drayton Manor Theme Park is the Zamperla Powered Coaster Buffalo Coaster. The ride itself isn’t that spectacular, but it’s quite satisfying, because the ride is not as slow as it looks on video. But the track is very unconventional and can show some bizarre peculiarities.

Drayton Manor Zoo

The zoo area in Drayton Manor Theme Park is quite large and is located away from the park’s rides. Here, one can discover not only game animals, as one often finds in theme parks with animal enclosures, but also more exotic animals. Remarkable is, besides the large number of owls, the enclosure of the meerkats and the lemurs. Both animal species were quite astonished about what the other animals were doing in their environment. The zoo itself is well comparable with the zoological gardens from the Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle, but also with the one from Chessington – World of Adventures.

In the back part of the zoo you can find a Thomas Museum, which is basically just a bigger model railway, as well as some attractions that fit the theme, but also Drayton Manor’s version of Cedar Fair’s Dinosaur Alive can be admired here. Although the animatronics idea has been left out from the beginning and there is no upcharge fee, the little tour with all its presentations is worth the time and is even more impressive than Nigloland’s Dinosaurs Aventure, which can score with animatronics.

Pictures Drayton Manor Theme Park

[vls_gf_album id=”11516″]

Conclusion Drayton Manor Theme Park

Drayton Manor Theme Park itself is a good theme park with, at least in Europe, quite unique attractions. The smoothness of all attractions is comparatively high, and with minor exceptions, every ride is a sight to behold. It would be nice to see how the park will develop in the next few years, because there is clearly still a lot of potential. So I will definitely come back someday!

 

What is your opinion about Drayton Manor Theme Park?  Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Drayton Manor Theme Park

Benidorm in a different light

itemprop="discussionURL"0

Terra Mítica

The Terra Mítica theme park is located on a hillside above the city of Benidorm on the Coasta Blanca. This amusement park, which is now eleven years old, once bore the subtitle “a Paramount Park”, which was the result of the management of the park in the first years, until the group decided to sell its shares to the Valencia region.

Cataratas del Nilo

After paying your entrance fee, you enter the mythological world through an ancient Egyptian gate and find yourself right next to a lake, around which you will find several thematically related buildings, as well as various statues and a monolith. There are not many rides in this area, so you will find a lookout tower, whose gondola once found its use in the Lüneburg Heath, the children’s log flume Akuatiti and a boat ride, as well as the log flume Cataratas del Nilo from Mack Rides.

The latter ride is rather untypical for a log flume, as the first downhill run is also the big shot. The second descent leads backwards back to the same level as the station, which is located at about half the height of the first slope. The boats appear in the form of an elaborately designed sacrophate, but the rest of the ride is less involved in the theme.

Following the path further up, you will find three entrances to various water basins. In the upper one there are a few benches, in the basin below there are some water cannons and in the lowest basin, best to be seen from the rides La Colera de Akiles, there is the deepest basin where some water toys are available. With the temperatures that prevail during the season, a very useful addition to the offer, so be sure to pack bathing clothes. Furthermore, there are always some possibilities to cool down along the paths.

Laberinto del Minotauro

Further up, you will come across the first major highlight of the Terra Mítica theme park, the Laberinto del Minotauro, an interactive dark ride from the Sally company with individual chaises, as used in Walibi Belgium. The ride itself offers a few metres of route full of elaborate animatronics and scenic images that make your mouth water. Although the interactive aspect unfortunately didn’t work properly, this ride is clearly the best Sally dark ride in Europe and a must ride for every amusement park fan.

Synkope

Another highlight in the Greek themed area is the Mondial Revolution Synkope, which can do much more than a HUSS Giant Frisbee. Although the ride time is quite short, it is much more intense, which is also due to the faster rotation of the gondola. The monotonous turning in only one direction is unfortunately also present on this ride.

Titanide

The suspended looping coaster Titanide used to be called Tizona and was located at the other end of the Terra Mítica theme park in the Iberia theme area, which now only has a show stage and two beautiful bumper cars. Due to the land sales, which have lifted the park out of debt, some restructuring in Terra Mítica also followed, which in the case of the SLC was quite positive. This is now less out of the way and was wonderfully integrated into the Greek theme, and the ride now has an inner courtyard, which is quite positive for one or the other photo opportunity. The ride itself is good for a roller coaster of this type, but could be upgraded immensely by the new train generation.

La Furia de Triton

For the water enthusiasts in us there is the spillwater La Furia de Triton from Intamin, which has two slopes of 10 and 17m. The design of the ride has been successful and if the timing is right, it is the wettest ride in Spain, otherwise the degree of wetness is on the same level as the Cataratas Salvajes from Parque Warner, although the boats displace the water to the side rather than up. If the timing is correct, one boat must be immersed in the pool while the second boat is on a quarter of the lift, the water that manages to hit the gaps between the decoration now floods the boat to be carried on the lift in its entirety.

Templo de Kinetos

If you have always wanted to test a Maxi Motion Seat Simulator from Intamin, you can do so at Templo de Kinetos. The single rows for four people moving have quite a high degree of movement and the film they moved to this year was outstanding, albeit absolute trash. In that sense absolutely recommendable.

Los Icarus und Alucinakis

Next to the wave swinger Los Icarus, which offered a pretty good ride with a beautiful view and a pleasant breeze, is the children’s hybrid roller coaster Alucinakis in Terra Mítica. After the great downward helix first drop, the rest of the track is only oval, but since the ride produced by Zamperla is quite fast, the whole thing is even fun.

Magnus Colossus

After leaving the Greek area, one finds oneself in a Roman fort. Here you can see the big roller coaster of the Terra Mítica amusement park, which can be seen from far away. To get to it, however, you have to climb a few metres, as Magnus Colossus is located at the highest point of the park. The ride, built by the Roller Coaster Corporation of America (RCCA), takes you up one more level and then down again with a double drop. This is followed by a few turns and slopes and there is also airtime until you are released into the brakes after the Big Helix. The ride itself is not bad at all, only the trains are anything but suitable for a wooden roller coaster. The upper body swings back and forth in the last row between bar and backrest in such a way that the whole thing, although you hold on to the provided bar, is not as funny anymore. In terms of ride quality Parque Warners Coaster Express is better, but the ride in Benidorm has the better layout.

Inferno

Passing a few children’s rides, we descend to the entrance of the Intamin ZacSpins Inferno, only to climb the mountain again immediately afterwards. After you have taken a seat in one of the two groups of seats, the ride is already going uphill. What follows is a fun and crisp but short ride, in which you can make your rollover on the last hill or before, depending on the load. Basically the smaller Zac Spin rides are the second part of the bigger brother, but here not braked to death. Concerning the turnovers, I think it could be much more intensive, however for most people the ride is probably good enough the way it is.

El Vuelo del Fenix

Next to the Circo Maximo, another show theatre, is El Vuelo del Fenix, a beautiful Giant Drop by the company Intamin with three tracks and a height of 54m. This tower is in a kind of dead end since the connection between Rome and Iberia was lost. The Spaniards themselves, however, do not seem to be averse to the free fall, as there were longer waiting times here, mainly due to only one open lane.

La Colera de Akiles

If you follow the path now downhill, you will enter the Las Islas themed area. Here you will find not only another show theatre on one level, but also the carousel Mythos and a Mondial Supernova called La Colera de Akiles. The latter ride is the first of its kind I have come across and I have to say I am thrilled. The ride programme is quite well done for a park, only the swing could be a bit higher.

Rapidos de Argos

Furthermore, there are two rafting rides in close proximity to each other, while the Intamin ride is intended to get you wet, the Hafema ride called La Rescate de Ulises functions as a dark ride, which unfortunately was closed at the time of the visit. The Rapidos de Argos, on the other hand, ran without any problems and can wet you quite well, which was mainly due to the continuous waves sloshing into the boat. The concrete channel, as with the park’s spillwater, shines in a strong shade of blue, which reduces the visual impact of the rafting, which in itself is quite beautiful.

Pictures Terra Mítica

Conclusion Terra Mítica

In general, Terra Mítica looks like new paint everywhere, everything is well maintained and clean. Except for the lack of interaction during the interactive dark ride, everything is in more than good condition, the atmosphere in the park is top notch, the dispatch is surprisingly fast and at every corner there are opportunities to cool off, which by the way could not hurt a certain park in Salou. If you are ever in the vicinity, you should definitely visit this park, the airport of Alicante is not far away.

 

What is your opinion about Terra Mítica theme park? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Terra Mítica

A few hours on the unmagical island

itemprop="discussionURL"1

Isla Mágica

Located in the centre of the city of Seville, on a large part of the former 1992 World Exposition site, is the Isla Mágica theme park. This park, existing since 1997, offers a few rides, but a lot of shows, food stalls and a lot of vegetation combined with many thematic elements.

The first impression you get in this park is quite positive, but this changes relatively quickly when you take a closer look at the park’s manageable rides portfolio.

The park itself is built around a lake, on which there are two attractions, a boat ride and a self-built splash battle, probably one of the newer rides in the park. Similarly cheap is the boat swing, which was apparently lovelessly smacked onto the lake.

Anaconda

The first big attraction you will come across is the log flume Anaconda from Mack Rides. It has three shots of not exactly low altitude and has been wonderfully integrated with the park area and the waiting areas of the log flume. The wetness level seemed to be quite dry from the outside, we unfortunately did without a ride at the beginning of the day, a few hours later we stood here for half an eternity.

Tren de Potosi

A few metres further on you will find the park’s first roller coaster, the Tren de Potosi. This roller coaster of the company C&S is quite close to a Big Apple, but has a downward helix after the, here at least, funny hills. The ride itself is a lot of fun and is not only an enrichment for the small kids.

Llamas

It takes quite a long walk until you reach the next attraction, the more disappointed you are that the Llamas are only allowed to be ridden by children, after all, this ride is quite original for an electronic horse track.

Iguazú

Right next to it, you will find Iguazú, a spillwater of Intamin, which makes very good use of its surroundings, but does absolutely nothing at all. From the water, which the boat (by the way the same construction as already known from the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid) diverts to the side, you will only get drops inside the boat.

Jaguar

Located in a dead-end street you can ride the second roller coaster of the park. The ride, named Jaguar, has not only a surprisingly open area below the roller coaster, but also the latest generation of trains by Vekoma. Although the ride is absolutely no good and the bonus helix just deserves the label “nice”, the train is simply ingenious. It is not only absolutely comfortable, but can also keep its head from all side blows thanks to the new brackets. The waistcoats themselves are a little more comfortable than on the MK1200 trains, as used for example in Gardaland and Walibi Holland. At least the trains are a worthwhile investment for any reasonable park, only here in Isla Mágica they are a complete waste.

Capitán Balas

Passing the tea cups, we go to some ugly concrete buildings that date back to 1992. In the basement of one of the buildings is the pirate darkride Capitán Balas. This is an interactive ride by Mack, which can also be found in a similar form in the Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. The scenes themselves are beautiful and detailed, moreover, you can get your inmates wet at the right moment, unfortunately only yourself at the wrong moment.

Rapidos del Orinoco

Back out of this concrete complex, where there are also two cinemas, we now enter an area where the vegetation seems to have taken over. Here you will find the Rapidos del Orinoco, the last major attraction of the park and one of the most beautiful rapid rides in Europe. The beauty of the park is not necessarily wet, as is often the case in Europe, despite the waterfalls that are still sticking out into the boat. The curve around the wave flyer is particularly worth mentioning.

El Desafío and Ciklón

Apart from a children’s land, a merry-go-round and the Power Tower El Desafío by Maurer Söhne – which has different programmes running at different times, but even in the most intensive version can do less than the prototype in Hansa-Park -, as well as the beautiful Giant Disk’o Ciklón by Zamperla, there is basically nothing left here. The only, more or less, traditional dark ride of the park has been replaced by a Maze that costs 5€ entrance fee and is probably not worth the extra charge, even if you get a voucher at the park entrance.

Pictures Isla Mágica

Conclusion Isla Mágica

For those who love a theme park for its shows and theming, Isla Mágica is certainly a really good and successful park. For all the other park guests the offer of the park is simply too low and the price compared to the other Spanish parks is simply too high, even though you don’t even have to pay the full entrance fee until the age of 25. In my ranking of the worst amusement parks Jaderpark was knocked from its throne, because I don’t want to go here a second time voluntarily.

 

What is your opinion about the Spanish theme park Isla Mágica? Just write it here below the report in the comment field or visit or our social media channels:

 

          

Isla Mágica