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Drayton Manor 2018 Coaster Rumour

Chris Brown said:
Good digging though ATI, well done for finding that! S&S sounds interesting, think family thrill sounds about right. Maybe they could have a stab at a juvelen or wave breaker style ride, would work well over the lake!
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I also noticed it had a height requirement of 1 metre, but if it has LSMs then who cares! 1994 all over again!
 
Chris Brown said:
Where did you find that height requirement?
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On Towers Street - Here's the post:-
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While YouTube comments are by no means the most reliable source of all time. I have just read the following comment:
"As a member of the RCCGB, I can confirm that Drayton Manor is getting a new coaster in 2018. Its an S&S LIM Launch coaster with a 1.0 metre height restriction. (To replace the Buffalo.)"

Now we already now it will replace the Buffalo and be from S&S. So could be a new family launch coaster?
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I presume they mean LSM because LIMs aren't used anymore...
 
Yeah, just because they attended a meeting or luncheon with an extremely senior member of Drayton does NOT mean this is happening.

Think logically - why on earth would Drayton invest in a coaster in 2018 when a much bigger park extremely close by is investing in a new wooden roller coaster. Yes, Drayton's coaster may be much much better than Alton's investment - but Alton's marketing budget will stand head and shoulders above Drayton's, and so, the promotion of Alton's woodie would absolutely flood the market and bury Drayton's investment. The most logical thing to do would be to open the coaster in 2019 when the area is receiving a higher number of attendances, but the promotion of Alton's coaster has had it's majority the year before - think of it as 'streamlining', letting Alton take the path in 2018, then you slip behind them and sail on their promotion of the year before.

I'm not saying this is what's happening, but it's most certainly what I'd do if I was in a higher position in those parks.
 
What would the competition between the parks have been like in 1994 then? Was Shockwave a big enough investment for Drayton Manor, that people would have looked past Nemesis for it, or did Alton not have the much larger market share that it enjoys today?
 
Alton didn't have Merlin behind it, but was still much better known than Drayton even then. Nemesis and The Big One got a lot more attention than Shockwave, but not a massive amount of that was down to paid advertising. They were appearing on the likes of Blue Peter, for example, but it was because the parks were already well known enough to be familiar.

Now, Alton doesn't need a high quality product since Merlin will already factor in millions for advertising. Drayton can't do that, so even if they have a better product, it won't get the attention.

Also, I'm not sure that back in the early 90s that the parks would know to the same extent that they do now what each other were doing. The days of the big reveal are over, and everyone knows years in advance what everyone else is up to.
 
jayjay said:
What would the competition between the parks have been like in 1994 then? Was Shockwave a big enough investment for Drayton Manor, that people would have looked past Nemesis for it, or did Alton not have the much larger market share that it enjoys today?
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As Gavin has pointed out - the difference from then and now in terms of marketing and advertising being so imperative to a park's successful investment is absolutely astronomical. Rarely is the product as important as the marketing behind it in terms of the investments for parks. Look at Thirteen for example, that goes the complete opposite way - the marketing was much better than the product and that had such a massive hindrance to the guest feedback of the coaster and many believed it to be misleading. That shows exactly how important it is to have your marketing and advertising 'just right' for your investment. Which explains my reasoning behind why I think the cleverest way of Drayton investing is to roll on the back of Alton's success rather than going against it.
 
ATI said:
On Towers Street - Here's the post:-
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presume they mean LSM because LIMs aren't used anymore...
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Not quite true. They are still cheaper and have a faster acceleration. Granted they aren't used as much, but they till can be installed.
 
ATI said:
Since when has either of those companies used LIMs? Name ONE ride from each company that uses them...
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Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars - Vekoma

I was mistaken about Gerstlauer. Currently, Vekoma, Intamin, and Premier, are the only major manufacturers who still use LIMs.
 
ATI, you only need to use one '.' when ending a sentence.

Anyway, here is a concept that was floating around a few months ago:
FM7YRxD.jpg

I'm sure they've also considered a proposal from S&S, a Free-Spin I would presume. This doesn't mean either is happening.
 
Almost any replacement for the Buffalo coaster would be a good thing, but if that's the proposed spot they'd be insane not to have it go out over the lake! A family launched or inverted coaster would seem the best option for Drayton's target audience these days.
 
Perhaps but "Europe's First Vertical Launch" has a nice (and very "Drayton") ring to it. More importantly, we may see a coaster that actually runs more than one train!
 
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