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Drayton Manor | Gold Rush | Intamin Family Coaster | 2024

VonRolland said:
Where've you heard that from? I'm pretty sure its supposed to be random throughout the day
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That was the original plan and will probably be once the opening dies down a bit but so people can get both cycles they have said morning cycle one ( straight on over lift hill) then afternoons cycle 2 as seen in the POV
 
Went on Gold Rush on Tuesday. It was OK for family ride but operations were annoyingly slow. Each train ended up sat on the brake run for up to several minutes waiting for the other train to dispatch. An advertised 35-minute queue took 1 hour 15 minutes.

And they were only running Cycle 1 for the whole day.
 
This coaster looks like a lovely addition and probably rides well from what I've seen. However if I hear another YouTuber claim that the theming around it is "world class" I might have a stroke! Have they tried? Yes, but I just don't see what they're seeing? It's not even on a European level let alone a world class level.
 
Ethan said:
This coaster looks like a lovely addition and probably rides well from what I've seen. However if I hear another YouTuber claim that the theming around it is "world class" I might have a stroke! Have they tried? Yes, but I just don't see what they're seeing? It's not even on a European level let alone a world class level.
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Isn't European theming World class? I would suggest its better than I have experienced/seen elsewhere (excluding the UK for the most part!).
 
Munchy Road Hippopotamus said:
Isn't European theming World class? I would suggest its better than I have experienced/seen elsewhere (excluding the UK for the most part!).
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As in I don’t think it’s even on par with other parks in Europe, let alone outside of that.
I don’t know if you can say “European theming is world class” when there’s hundreds of theme parks with varying budgets and offerings. PHL, Europa Park and Efteling world class? Absolutely. Drayton Manor building a wooden shed for a station and repainting some bland facades? Not world class in my eyes, but again, I’m not saying they didn’t at least try.
 
Yesterday & Today Goldrush experienced breakdowns and evacs which closed the ride for the rest of the day, interestingly both times the train was facing down the lift both times
Evacs took about 1hr 30m/2hrs from what I recall

Hopefully the Intamin gods look down more favourably from this point on
 
Rode today, was alright, definitely better during the sequence where the train rolls back from the first hill climb.

I think there are better family coasters out there, but it's decently long and a perfect fit for the park.

I wasn't overly impressed with park operations today though. Investment wise the park is on a great trajectory, but they're short staffed and it shows. Also, single train ops on Good Rush today, single train ops on Shockwave (did they buy a second? Controversial, but with Lapbars I think it's better now than it was as a standup...) and general slow load. It could be great, but it is falling short.
 
Tonkso said:
Rode today, was alright, definitely better during the sequence where the train rolls back from the first hill climb.

I think there are better family coasters out there, but it's decently long and a perfect fit for the park.

I wasn't overly impressed with park operations today though. Investment wise the park is on a great trajectory, but they're short staffed and it shows. Also, single train ops on Good Rush today, single train ops on Shockwave (did they buy a second? Controversial, but with Lapbars I think it's better now than it was as a standup...) and general slow load. It could be great, but it is falling short.
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No second train for the Wave unfortunately, those lap bars look a pain to check
 
Tonkso said:
Rode today, was alright, definitely better during the sequence where the train rolls back from the first hill climb.

I think there are better family coasters out there, but it's decently long and a perfect fit for the park.

I wasn't overly impressed with park operations today though. Investment wise the park is on a great trajectory, but they're short staffed and it shows. Also, single train ops on Good Rush today, single train ops on Shockwave (did they buy a second? Controversial, but with Lapbars I think it's better now than it was as a standup...) and general slow load. It could be great, but it is falling short.
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Park operations really do let the park down. The new additions are great and I love the direction the park is heading, although I do want them to not lose sight of the Thrill market.

One train ops on Gold Rush is annoying. It was slow with two trains so dread to think how one would have been.

The ops on Wave are known about and apparently they are still working with ART Engineering to smoothen them out and speed them up. In regards to a second train, we were told at an event a few weeks back that they haven't ruled out the possibility of buying a second one but would only make that decision once the first one is running efficiently.
 
Ah, so they did only buy one train. They definitely should purchase the second for next season, whilst they're not pretty, they're comfortable and do the job. Lapbars are a definite win on that ride. It's popular too, I queued for an hour yesterday, which is the longest I've ever queued for anything at Drayton.

Hopefully they can get Gold Rush running reliably on two trains soon, it's a new ride at the end of the day and show me any Intamin that has opened without any issues.

I don't want to sound overly negative because the park is looking good. Vikings has started to bed in well now and nobody is going to complain about the addition of two new flats and a tracked ride (Sleipnir), Thomas is thriving and the new mini-flume is popular, Adventure Cove is looking really good and everything works together cohesively. The rethemed area around Gold Rush looks good, not Disney good but the standard that you should expect from a regional park. The food was actually alright, I really enjoyed my Pizza yesterday. All of the effects are working, which is especially good for the likes of Sheriff's Showdown, there are entertainers roaming the park... lots to be happy about.

But, upon arrival, the bins weren't emptied at the front gate and nobody knew what to do about Tesco tickets. This was an AWFUL first impression. The lady sorting the Tesco tickets was clearly overworked due to lack of staff, not her fault and I sympathise with her. I am hesitant to complain about lack of staff too much because for all I know, the park is trying to fill roles but can't, given this is a common problem in hospitality since Brexit and Covid. Gold Rush not opening for the first 2 hours, and then on one train ops was bad, but I can be a little forgiving for a brand new Intamin. Great rides, but teething problems are pretty common. I'd be less annoyed if Shockwave didn't fail to open for the first couple of hours too, and whilst we personally had no plans to ride it (got the cred), Troublesome Trucks was closed all day.

Also, no app. Why do they no longer have an app? I asked this back in 2022 as well, this is crazy. A park app is a standard now, not a shiny new thing to show off, it's the standard. Especially when queue times are not available anywhere in the park, even on attraction entrances. I find it beyond comprehension that a park in 2024 has no indication of queue times.

Some of the staff just couldn't be arsed, which annoys me. I get it, it's probably not the best job in the world, I've done the min-wage thing, but it's a lot nicer if you at least try to be positive. The day goes quicker, you're happier, and your customers are happier. I appreciate that there are many other factors here though, bad management can really ruin your existence in these sorts of roles and understaffing just puts the pressure on. Though one of the guys really dropped the ball on something so obvious in my opinion. Disabled lady had to queue, was not allowed to use the fast pass entrance (this is on the little gondola chair-swing type thing behind Accelerator). She could have been allowed to wait where it was easier for her, and use the exit gate which again would have been easier for her, but no. I found that really odd to be honest. Dining areas could be cleaner, but it's hard to have someone roaming round clearing tables when you don't have the staff I guess.

To summarise, the park needs to:
ort out staffing issues, it's clearly understaffed. Not just front-of-house, but engineering too.
  • Sort out the 'welcome' procedure. Overflowing bins and no information for affiliate tickets is a poor first impression.
  • Be more on the ball with smoking/vaping guests. I didn't mention this above, but there were many guests flouting the rules (even vaping by the animals...) with nobody telling them to stop. (Merlin are actually really good with this).
  • Get an App, seriously, it's 2024.
  • Get that second train for The Wave, the ride is popular again. (well done on giving it a new lease of life in its 30th year, and I mean that).
  • Keep doing the other good stuff you're doing, because it is working.

Anyway, some more positive to finish on as that was a lot of negative. Gold Rush is a solid addition, they've made an effort to theme it and even threw in a little nod to Apocalypse. It's clear that Drayton doesn't want to be a top-thrill park anymore, but that's okay, it clearly has a market and serves it well. The new branding is cohesive and works with their new direction. The park has some of the best vistas in any UK park with that wonderful view over the lake. Stormforce is still absolutely fantastic and in my opinion, is the jewel in the park's crown. The investment cycle leaves me confident that there will be more big rides to come too.
 
Tonkso said:
Rode today, was alright, definitely better during the sequence where the train rolls back from the first hill climb.

I think there are better family coasters out there, but it's decently long and a perfect fit for the park.

I wasn't overly impressed with park operations today though. Investment wise the park is on a great trajectory, but they're short staffed and it shows. Also, single train ops on Good Rush today, single train ops on Shockwave (did they buy a second? Controversial, but with Lapbars I think it's better now than it was as a standup...) and general slow load. It could be great, but it is falling short.
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I was going to write my own thoughts having ridden both Gold Rush and The Wave on Saturday, but you've pretty much said everything I was going to here :D I may as well anyway though...

Got 2 rides on Gold Rush, luckily getting one of each cycle and it's a decent family coaster and a great addition for the park, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be. Very little airtime to be had given that there are a couple of hills that look like they should deliver some. The launches were pretty good though, especially the rolling one, and the overall theming across the area was done to a high standard. I also enjoyed the music in the queue line, even if it was just soundalikes of well known Wild West type tunes like Ecstasy of Gold.

The Wave was OK, definitely more comfortable than it was as a stand-up, but it's still a bit rough and the Zero-G offers nothing with the new trains. The trains look crap but they are fairly comfortable, though we saw a lot of occasions where a lap bar got stuck down when they were unloading the train, so they may have issues to resolve there.

Overall the park is looking great compared to a few years ago, with fresh, consistently themed areas. Ops were not great though as others have mentioned. For example they had one person loading and unloading the Zamperla Nebulaz, meaning the downtime between cycles was at least 5 or 6 minutes, not helped by the way that ride works of course.

Also, no app. Why do they no longer have an app? I asked this back in 2022 as well, this is crazy. A park app is a standard now, not a shiny new thing to show off, it's the standard. Especially when queue times are not available anywhere in the park, even on attraction entrances. I find it beyond comprehension that a park in 2024 has no indication of queue times.
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They do now have a basic app I believe, but no queue times on it yet. There were a few screens around the park with queue times on them, but not in every area, so I guess they are working on that.

Agree about the entrance, it was a mess on Saturday morning too.
 
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I actually somehow missed these screens entirely, so surprised to hear they have them. I did try the basic app (which is actually content delivered through a tickets app) and it offers an out-of-date park map (including a blocked out area where Gold Rush is stating 'Under Construction, Opening 2024' and another low res pixel map which is just odd.

Yes, I forgot the Nebulez was running on a 5-6 minute cycle, which is a shame. Yes they're slower to load due to their split-level nature, but not that slow.

Ops on Maelstrom were lightning quick, weirdly.

Blue sky thinking and I've said it before, but now they've got new trains, I REALLY want to see that straight bit of Shockwave/The Wave turned into a bunny hop. It's a short ride and that one extra element could really improve it. That's totally unrealistic though, when they'd rather spend the cash on something new.
 
I’ll do a longer review later, but I’ve had my first ride on Gold Rush… what a fab little family coaster!

Given some of the muted initial reviews, I went in with quite low expectations, but on first impressions, I thought it was great fun! It’s definitely not the most intense coaster, but it’s got some fun twists and turns and some surprisingly vigorous sections, it’s a long ride, the theming is lovely, and overall, I just thought it was really good fun and I think it suits the park down to the ground!

I also struck very lucky riding it when I did, as when I tried to go around for a second go straight after, it broke down and they evacuated the queue!
 
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