Thrillography Goes to Drayton Manor: My Smashing ACE UK Tour Trip Report - Part VII

Awww……. What better way to start Day 1 of the ACE UK Tour Add-on than with a nap? :}

Welcome back, Thrillographers! The core portion of the ACE UK Tour 2015 may have concluded, but the party is far from over! Just think of this as the extensive bonus material at the end of the Deluxe Edition of your favorite album! Sometimes the best songs are bonus tracks, after all :}

Our first of six parks composing the add-on is Drayton Manor, Birmingham's second-largest regional park behind Alton Towers.

We were granted access to the park via the side entrance.

Drayton Manor hasn't grown with quite the same fervor as its Merlin neighbor, but things are always changing at the Manor. 

First up is ERT on Drayton Manor's newest coaster, Ben 10 - Ultimate Mission!

Drayton Manor has never been much for following trends. Many of their attractions are either the first or the only of their kind. Ben 10, for example, is Vekoma's first Family Boomerang!

They did a great job weaving the ride through the queue building. Everything for the ride was built from the ground up. 

I don't know a damn thing about the Ben 10 TV show, but I'm still impressed by the attention to detail.

Pretty nice digs for a kiddie coaster.

Here they come!

The next generation Roller Skater trains are wonderfully spacious. :}

#Ben10Selfie

The ride is quite entertaining. Looking forward to seeing more in the future. :}

Ben 10 isn't the only ERT coaster this morning!

Drayton Manor pays tribute to Native Americans with "Buffalo Mountain Coaster," which is basically a giant custom powered Dragon Wagon with some…interesting…rolling stock. 

Buffalo "Mountain" (there is literally no mountain present) Coaster is gentle even by the standards of powered coasters and feels more like a monorail. :}

As always, Thrillography would like to remind its readers to heed all amusement park loose article policies and to practice safe snaps when filming on rides! 

Shockwave! We'll be over to ride this quirky thing in a moment.

Drayton Manor looks quite lovely. :}

Oddball flume credit soon!

Hi guys! :D

Buffalo "Mountain" Coaster is a big hit with ACE!

Drayton Manor has been a major client of Intamin. They haven't built a new Intamin ride since this Bounty ride in 2007, but at that point in time Intamin made up roughly half of the park's major rides.

I'm tickled by how many modern Intamin rides were built before they went back and added a traditional swinging ship (which Intamin invented and first offered in 1979).

This tall glass of water is called Apocalypse! More on this nightmare later.

Oddball coaster #3 of the day is the custom Maurer Söhne "G-Force!"

Transferring the train for operation!

Since just about everyone in attendance had piled up in the queue for G-Force, it made for great opportunity to do the day's plaque ceremony. 

When Drayton Manor retired their Pinfari Looping Star in 2003, Maurer Söhne was given the task of building a unique signature coaster in an impossibly small space.

Short and sweet, G-Force features three inversions and a delicious camelback hump.  Maurer's X-Cars are some of the most comfortable trains in the industry, which helps bring out the best of G-Force's quirky layout.

This is called a "Humpty Bump" lift (yes, that is a technical term). It's basically a jellybean-shaped vertical loop that serves as the lift hill and first drop of G-Force.

G-Force's 3-story station has a great view! 

Perfect for photographers. 

It's not obvious in this picture, but the rain is really starting to come down!

Here on the left is Maelstrom, an Intamin Gyro Swing. It was the very first outside-facing Frisbee-style ride when it opened in 2002. :}

Next up is oddball coaster #4!

Does anyone know what this ride is called?

I wish there was a sign saying what this ride is called. 

Watching the strange G-Force coaster is a good way to pass time waiting for Shockwave to open. :}

So, I don't know what it is about stand-up coasters and the name "Shockwave," but this is the third stand-up coaster to feature the moniker, following the Intamin stand-up at Six Flags Magic Mountain/Six Flags Great Adventure and the recently retired Togo stand-up at Kings Dominion.

This inversion is called a "Bent Cuban 8." Aside from the sole clone of this ride (in Iraq of all places), this is the only example of such an element. :}

Hangtime is the name of the game here. Good thing X-Cars are so secure!

It's go time!

What's wrong with this picture?

Drayton Manor loves their elevated stations. 

This, the last remaining Shockwave stand-up, is particularly unique. Built in 1994, it was Intamin's final stand-up and also their only custom layout. It was built in conjunction with the rapids ride to maximize space, which lead to some interesting supports and nice visuals. 

Looks like someone has had enough. 

Shockwave features the only zero-g roll and the only double corkscrew ever built on a stand-up. :}

And, along with Cobra at La Ronde, Shockwave features the last of the first generation 4-across stand-up trains, which feature this weird-ass shoulder harness configuration. 

If you can get past the sensation of having your abdomen squished in a vise, G-Force is a delight.

(Note: do not ride if you have to pee)

Woohoo! Major credits are complete, so now time to take in some sights. :}

Most Bounty rides have lost their sails after decades of operation, but these sails are still kickin'!

At first we assumed that this was an Intamin flume (seems like a logical conclusion, right?). Turns out it's actually by a small company called BEAR (BEst Amusement Rides).

Drayton Manor just has to be different. 

When Ben 10 stalls out on the spike, it makes this super-cool laser blast sound. :}

Passing through the center of the park.

Time for the highlight attraction of the day! Apocalypse is an Intamin Giant Drop, but not just any Intamin Giant Drop!

Apocalypse is a 5-side Giant Drop that offers THREE WAYS TO RIDE!

-Sit-down (traditional)

-Standing (w/ floor)

-Floorless (standing w/o floor)

Floorless drop towers like Acrophobia at Six Flags Over Georgia provide an incredible thrill but are somewhat uncomfortable. Apocalypse's one-of-a-kind standing seats give the same incredible sensation as Acrophobia without all the pressure on your nether region. 

Between Apocalypse and Shockwave, it's clear that Drayton Manor has an affinity for stand-up Intamin rides. In fact, no park in the world has a higher percentage of stand-up rides!

The boys watch in awe and apprehension. 

Making peace with our inevitable downfall!

Apocalypse is one of the best drop rides I've ever ridden. It is so outrageously intense that we simply had to ride twice!

Their faces say it all. 

Like on Acrophobia, the seats tilt forward about 5 degrees. Spook your friends by kicking your legs out and letting them dangle for a bit! I got scolded for doing it. x}

Terry didn't feel like putting himself through the trauma of Apocalypse, so we designated him the official Apocalypse bag lady. ;}

Riders saying their last goodbyes. 

Anyone need the loo after that?

*GASP*

What's this??

IT'S AN (amazingly beautiful) INTAMIN DRUNKEN BARRELS RIDE!!!

Once a staple at U.S. regional parks, all Intamin Drunken Barrels rides in North America have long since been retired. I had no idea this was here! 

I found out after the fact that, like Bounty, this classic Intamin attraction was added to Drayton Manor in the last ten years - over three decades after it was first developed! 

Jeff relived his childhood memories of riding the Drunken Barrels at Magic Mountain. :}

Most installations of this ride were simple outdoor rides with minimal theming. None of them looked anywhere near as amazing as this one!

There's even a giant German barmaid!

This is true excitement. 

The floor pops up and down and goes up surprisingly high!

How you doin? ;} ;}

I'm so amazed this ride was built in 2006. It looks like an incredibly well-maintained marquee attraction from the 70s. Way to go, Drayton Manor! 

Next up is "The Haunting," which is the obligatory Vekoma Madhouse.

However, the atmosphere in Drayton's Madhouse is certainly above par. There's a nice Haunted Mansion-esque pre show.

Plus some nice details between rooms.

The ride itself is stunning inside!

After being rained on for several hours straight, we needed hot coffee to carry on.

Quite impressed with the quality and value of goods at the Cartoon Network Café.

GAY CAKE!

You know what's next, right?

It's time to get wet!

Stormforce 10 is themed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Naturally.

Mat and John were smart and put their jackets in their waterproof bags!

Everything was fine until we took a drop backward and the whole boat took on water.  Then the ride broke down and we sat outside the station freezing our butts off for a while.

Still worth it. 

Twenty minutes later and completely soaked, we finally disembark from Stormforce 10.

Sitting in wet clothes in the cold rain is how people get pneumonia n' stuff, but we're too stubborn to care.

Let's get even more wet! Splash Canyon it is!

This turned out to be a much dryer experience than Stormforce 10, but we were still quivering like blades of grass in the wind. No effs given. 

Under Shockwave!

Splash Canyon's station can be seen through the cracks in the floor of Shockwave's station. Down here you can hear the footsteps of queuing guests above!

I rather like Shockwave and Splash Canyon's whimsical-for-no-explicit-reason station woodwork.

Kind of reminds me of a video game or something. :}

Like its fellow British Class of '94 major marquee coasters Nemesis and Pepsi Max Big One, I have wanted to ride Shockwave since I was in preschool. It is twenty-year dream #3 of the trip. :}

I had a theory that only one stand-up zero-g roll exists because maybe it isn't a particularly pleasant experience. As it turns out, my theory was totally wrong because the zero-g roll feels amazing on this ride. 

A little rain never hurt nobody. :}

Take a moment to appreciate Shockwave's first drop, which is just a strange and lovely thing.

(also, notice how far the lift is from the station. This is, of course, in order to clear the enormous rapids ride station directly below us)

Stand-ups are famous for being uncomfortable at best and painful at worst, but Shockwave proved itself to be a pleasant and inoffensive ride. Much of this is due to having a mere 4 directional transitions throughout the entire ride. 

At this point most of my group had bailed to dry off in the coaches. I still needed to get a few more rides in before I could call it a day!

Another ride on G-Force was a must.

This is one of those rides where every time you watch it you think "this time it's going to valley." 

That guy's like YOU WANT SOME OF DIS, M8?

The out-of-station-drop has a nice kick to it.

And no, I didn't ride the Zamperla AirVomitRace

Much of the ride looms overhead in a sort of ominous way. 

The Bent Cuban 8 in all its glory! 

Bye G-Force! It's been real. 

And finally, a whirlwind tour of Drayton Manor's 1-acre kiddie-park-within-a-park, Thomas Land!

We've been transported to the Island of Sodor, where Thomas and his pals compose over a dozen rides and attractions!

Game prize win.

Sir Topham Hatt (aka "The Fat Controller") statue!

There's some very well-themed rides in Thomas Land, like this Zamperla Barnstormer themed to a very apprehensive-looking Toby.

Barnstormers are normally themed to barns (fancy that), but this one painstakingly recreates the #7 tank engine with incredible accuracy.

Sadly we missed out on the Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster, which can't run in heavy rain. It's a Gerstlauer, after all. ;}

Here we see some of the small diesel engines remained as a cuddle-up ride! Splendid!

Ever-dainty Lady serves as Thomas Land's carousel. 

And Bertie the bus is, of course, a crazy bus.

But where is Thomas???

Here he is! He's chugging his way around the park to tell people about Thomas Land!

Alright! I think that just about covers it. Let's go back to the coach before I get hypothermia. 

Before we go, feast your eyes on Drayton's first Intamin ride! The 1983 Flying Dutchman! :}

Can we talk about how amazingly circular Shockwave's loop is?

Bye Drayton Manor! So nice to finally pay you a visit. :}

Today went at a bit more relaxed pace, but tomorrow we have a CRAZY-PACKED DAY at two amazing London-area theme parks!

AND!

and. 

I get to show you my FAVORITE roller coaster in the country!!

So excited. :}