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Elephant Pond

Harry

Harry

There are a lot of hidden gems scattered around the whole of Drayton Manor Park including the zoo. With a lot of history there have been many stuff that have come and gone over the years, one for example was an Elephant animatronic that can be located by the entrance gate to the zoo. Even though the animatronic has been removed, it’s a shame the pond hasn’t been looked after and make the area really nice and appealing.

Hopefully there could be some sort of TLC or development work that may happen in the upcoming winter season. It’s the small things like this that can make the zoo and park look nice.

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This was a really nice area out the front of the Safari Pizza and Pasta outlet before the new Smoking Area and outdoor eateries were added.

I'll describe the theming as though you're looking out of the zoo towards the Safari Pizza & Pasta outlet, to the left were waterfalls in the rockwork which still stands next to the greenhouse, this filled a pond which had a bridge going over it, this linked to a small path which went through where the toilets are now - the bridge is still standing. Adjacent to this the pond opened up with a Hippo bathing before opening up again to the area you see above which had bathing cattle and an elephant in the water.

In the image above you can see the cables which I assume were for the animatronics or some form of electronics, with the drain for the pond waterfalls also being shown. In the bottom picture you can see some of the wooden figures dotted around this area.

It's a real shame that the park decided to fill this in, it was a lovely bit of theming and helped create a nice transition from the Zoo to the Theme Park, it was an impressive bit of theming and helped add to the whole atmosphere and immersive nature of Safari Pizza & Pasta. I'd love the park to consider reinstating this area because it could be great and the foundations are still there.
 
I remember the pond structure when I was younger, it was always a very pleasant area of the park and something I would like to see them restore to its former glory, it fits with the family direction they are taking and would help to make the outlet more popular and appealing, it's currently very nondescript. Would also make a nice fade between the Zoo and Park as mentioned above.

Dont think the park would even think about putting animatronics back because they seem to break them constantly, but definiteley the pond back as it was a very pleasant area and this wouldn't be too costly considering they are investing so much in the zoo of late.
 
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