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Pirate Adventure

If the ride been left drained since 2015 then really just needs new motors and pumps as they were at there end of there life and a chain. If Mack can make the original boats again then if the system works no problem then it’s just theming it inside. The queue line looks still in. Good Nick.
 
I personally don’t see the animatronics at Pirate Adventure returning, even Merlin Parks don’t use loads of animatronics because of the reason of the cost of the upkeep. An odd animatronic is rare in itself. But, Drayton still use animatronics for Sheriff Showdown so that is pretty cool, but with pirate adventure with the amount on animatronics they would need to be doing regular repairs in closed season. And they would also have to buy NEW animatronics as i’m pretty sure the other animatronics were sold in the auction.
 
To be fair, the Animatronics in Pirate Adventure were stupidly simply, even by the 1990s. I think there was only one proper animatronic, that being the Pirate Captain in the Ship who could move his mouth. The rest had very simple movement, such as moving an arm, heads moving left and right, etc. I think they were pneumatic powered too, so quite robust and more reliable than modern electric motor ones. Some of them were simple figures stuck on pneumatic cylinders, like the Pirate that would try and get the woman with the broom. Quite obviously just a figure on a stick.

40 simple animatronics from Pirate Adventure would most likely be a lot easier to maintain than 10 highly complex and advanced ones, especially in a moist environment that of a water ride.

One thing I do worry though if they want to bring it back is that the new scenes would be really generic, realistic looking to it with the figures looking like something from Madame Tussauds. The original scenery and figures had a very cartoony-like look and feel to them intentionally with their caricature expressions. Maybe they could get former Space Leisure members to help with bringing back the original style and flair the ride had.
 
Ollie said:
I personally don’t see the animatronics at Pirate Adventure returning, even Merlin Parks don’t use loads of animatronics because of the reason of the cost of the upkeep. An odd animatronic is rare in itself. But, Drayton still use animatronics for Sheriff Showdown so that is pretty cool, but with pirate adventure with the amount on animatronics they would need to be doing regular repairs in closed season. And they would also have to buy NEW animatronics as i’m pretty sure the other animatronics were sold in the auction.
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I was at that auction and only the animatronics that didn’t work was sold. I know staff brought some of the figures with the heads of the pirates also sold so the figures main frame must still be in storage in the building. Looking at the Auction book it shows that scenes have been stripped back to there original frames so the looping group got a blank canvas to work with and I know the Bryan’s spend 3 million on the ride which is worth £8545545.35 now so with the building already there and if the ride system works then I reckon 5 million will give u a good themed dark ride.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
I was at that auction and only the animatronics that didn’t work was sold. I know staff brought some of the figures with the heads of the pirates also sold so the figures main frame must still be in storage in the building. Looking at the Auction book it shows that scenes have been stripped back to there original frames so the looping group got a blank canvas to work with and I know the Bryan’s spend 3 million on the ride which is worth £8545545.35 now so with the building already there and if the ride system works then I reckon 5 million will give u a good themed dark ride.
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Didn’t they spend 1m on the new coaster? And that was the biggest investment in years. So if that was the cost of pirate adventure don’t expect it for many years yet
 
Ollie said:
Didn’t they spend 1m on the new coaster? And that was the biggest investment in years. So if that was the cost of pirate adventure don’t expect it for many years yet
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I think £1million would be a very cheap ride, since Looping has taken over they spent £3.3 million in 2021 (Adventure Cove), £7.1 million in 2022 (Vikings), £3.9 million in 2023 (Thomas plus work on Drunken Barrels) with a commitment of £2.5 million.

If memory serves me right, there was a publicised commitment to support the regeneration of the Manor of £5 million per year for the first 5 years before this drops to £3 million per year. Therefore I am thinking the cost of this new ride would be significantly higher. The above information is taken from their financial statements.
 
Does anyone besides Myself feel that the work currently being undertaken in and around Pirate Adventure is because of a reopening next year. I suspect that the work has been started early so the Ride is ready for Theming up and testing over the Closed Season. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year sees the reopening of Pirate Adventure,Retheming of Accelerator to fit into Frontier Falls and Relocation of The Flying Dutchmen to Pirate Cove or the Vikings Area.
 
The Hedgenator said:
Does anyone besides Myself feel that the work currently being undertaken in and around Pirate Adventure is because of a reopening next year. I suspect that the work has been started early so the Ride is ready for Theming up and testing over the Closed Season. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year sees the reopening of Pirate Adventure,Retheming of Accelerator to fit into Frontier Falls and Relocation of The Flying Dutchmen to Pirate Cove or the Vikings Area.
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Pirate Adventure will most likely not be opening next year. I suspect 2026 or 2027, as they have just had a massive investment this year, i don’t know how they would be able to afford that. I most definitely think Flying Dutchman will be moved and the Accelerator retheme.
 
My suspicions are rather when the building was damaged externally they decided to fix it up inside and out.
But I’m still dreaming and hoping
 
If Pirate Adventure did reopen next year who would attend the reopening day?

If Pirate Adventure was at another Theme Park particularly one owned by Merlin I’d say it would be demolished. Drayton Manor however do things differently they listen to customers requests and since owned The Looping Group take pride in maintaining and opening world class Rides.

A prime example is The Buffalo Rollercoaster. Prior to The Looping Group’s involvement the Ride was on the chopping board. Fortunately when The Looping Group bought Drayton Manor The Buffalo Rollercoaster was reimagined and incorporated into the Viking Area.

Another example of this is Splash Canyon or Adventure Cove River Rapids as they are now called.
 
I started visiting the park regularly in 2016. So Pirates adventure doesn't really mean anything to me.

One thing that I think is not considered in the discussions that keep going around is that it doesn't really mean anything to the kids in the families that are now the parks key audience.
 
The park are currently in the phase of working out what is coming next. There is no solid plan - or not anything they can tell us just yet.
This year was a major development and is Drayton's "Biggest year ever" - The next year or few will see smaller investments as they cannot make major investments every year (Other parks in the Looping family are waiting their turn for their big investments).

However, I am fairly confident the next "Major" investment area will be either our Pirate themed area or the back of the Zoo where the old Thomas Exhibition was as that area has been closed off for some time.

I know everyone gets excited for the next "big" thing, and parks would love to go big every time, but it isn't financially viable.

Also, it may be cheaper to keep a building up than demolish.
Merlin parks have a habit of hiding old buildings / reusing them for storage (E.g the old 4D cinema which is now storage in Alton Towers)

Just know one thing, Drayton are listening. They know what the guests want and what they miss most. For example, they put a memorial down for Apocalypse as they acknowledged how much it meant to guests. Unfortunately, Apocalypse was not able to be saved because it was an end of life ride. It was no longer cost effective to try and repair/maintain with outdated parts. They also know people want to see another dark ride in the park.


But to answer the question. If we see the day where a new dark ride takes the place of Pirate Adventure, I will be there on opening day and covering all aspects of the construction I possibly can.
 
Elise said:
The park are currently in the phase of working out what is coming next. There is no solid plan - or not anything they can tell us just yet.
This year was a major development and is Drayton's "Biggest year ever" - The next year or few will see smaller investments as they cannot make major investments every year (Other parks in the Looping family are waiting their turn for their big investments).

However, I am fairly confident the next "Major" investment area will be either our Pirate themed area or the back of the Zoo where the old Thomas Exhibition was as that area has been closed off for some time.

I know everyone gets excited for the next "big" thing, and parks would love to go big every time, but it isn't financially viable.

Also, it may be cheaper to keep a building up than demolish.
Merlin parks have a habit of hiding old buildings / reusing them for storage (E.g the old 4D cinema which is now storage in Alton Towers)

Just know one thing, Drayton are listening. They know what the guests want and what they miss most. For example, they put a memorial down for Apocalypse as they acknowledged how much it meant to guests. Unfortunately, Apocalypse was not able to be saved because it was an end of life ride. It was no longer cost effective to try and repair/maintain with outdated parts. They also know people want to see another dark ride in the park.


But to answer the question. If we see the day where a new dark ride takes the place of Pirate Adventure, I will be there on opening day and covering all aspects of the construction I possibly can.
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waiting for their big investments.. pleasurewood hills * wink wink *
 
Ollie said:
waiting for their big investments.. pleasurewood hills * wink wink *
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Pleasurewood Hills is next for the "big investment" out of the UK based Looping group parks from what I was told :)
(I met with some of their team during my visit earlier this year )
 
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