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Victorian Funfair Area Idea

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Themeparksandy1981

I had this idea once for cloud cuckoo land at Alton Towers.
Now I would move Air Race on the Flying Dutchman site and put the Flying Dutchman on the Carousel site then the carousel on to the Air Race site. I would remove the chicken Diner and replace it with old sweet shop, old style games and chips in newspaper. They also could buy a helter skelter and bring a big wheel back and maybe a Waltzers.
 
That's a very complicated idea but it could work. I'd more think of relocating Air Race to the Flying Dutchman site and placing the Flying Dutchman behind or next to Apocalypse, relocating the Chicken Diner and leaving a load of space open for a new family/thrill roller-coaster.
 
Something like a Helter Skelter or a Waltzer could work for the park, as they both suit their target market, and are cheap rides to buy (I’m sure there’s many second hand ones ready to buy online in good condition). Obviously, they had the Black Revolver (Waltzers in the dark) many years ago now, so would that type of ride work for the park again?

A fairground area would be great for a permenant G Force replacement, and if they made it look decent, it would fit within that seaside area they’re trying to make in that section of the park. You could easily stick 3-4 rides on that spot, and it would hardly cost them anything. If you want to see what a well presented, traditional fairground looks like, check out Carters Steam Fair, or the fairground at Butlins Minehead. It works well for them, it could work well for Drayton.
 
AvalancheAttractionsUK said:
Something like a Helter Skelter or a Waltzer could work for the park, as they both suit their target market, and are cheap rides to buy (I’m sure there’s many second hand ones ready to buy online in good condition). Obviously, they had the Black Revolver (Waltzers in the dark) many years ago now, so would that type of ride work for the park again?

A fairground area would be great for a permenant G Force replacement, and if they made it look decent, it would fit within that seaside area they’re trying to make in that section of the park. You could easily stick 3-4 rides on that spot, and it would hardly cost them anything. If you want to see what a well presented, traditional fairground looks like, check out Carters Steam Fair, or the fairground at Butlins Minehead. It works well for them, it could work well for Drayton.
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Funfair rides with a twist, Drayton have always added some sort of "twist" to set them apart from other rides, which whilst not being impressive hardware, are made special by this twist. Black Revolver - waltzers in the dark, Shockwave - rollercoaster but standing up, G Force - rollercoaster but with lapbars, Apocalypse - drop tower but standing up with no floor, Drunken Barrels - tea cups but with a raising plate. The park have had tonnes of ride hardware which alone may not be insanely impressive, but have made it effective with some form of twist.

I'd like to see something like you mention, a fairground with fairground rides, but add some sort of in-house twist.
 
I can't see Drayton doing something as ambitious as that. Mainly because the ideas you suggest would also require a wider masterplan, landscaping, and lots of work on converting buildings and adding new theming and props. If the last 4 years are anything to go by (unfortunate issues put aside in some cases), Drayton would appear to be cautious investors and I'm not convinced they are capable of producing large scale themed attractions or even themed areas like they were starting to in days gone by. Whether this is down to financial circumstances or not is irrelevant; it is merely an unfortunate observation.

At best, some new 'fairground' flats could appear, but I imagine they would be very standard and placed more randomly without large work like Air Race was.
 
if you were to use funfair style rides they would need to make them less tacky and temporary looking (as most funfair rides often look)
 
God knows I'd love to see Drayton Manor just take a whole chunk of the park and redevelop it into a theme, with nothing out of place and engaging you in the atmosphere. The problem is if they go with a fairground theme whilst having that mindset of "This'll be easy and cheap to do" it'll fail.

Like Kam said, if they don't take that big risk then they'll end up with a few flat rides placed randomly which I honestly think people will see as a regression rather than adding anything to the park. If they went into this with a hefty investment, even if the rides are a little cheap, but focused on landscaping, architecture and environmental graphics, then it could really bring in a crowd. Despite that, it's a huge risk and like people have said, Drayton Manor are unfortunately not in a position to do that.
 
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