Drayton Manor's Opening Weekend Faces Heavy Criticism from Disappointed Visitors
Drayton Manor theme park has come under fire from visitors during its summer reopening weekend, with many describing the experience as deeply unsatisfactory. The event, marketed as 'The Big Restart' on the resort's website, promised to kick off the season with a bang from March 27 to March 29 at the West Midlands site, advertising all rides open and discounted tickets available.
Visitor Outcry Over Ride Closures and Poor Operations
Dozens of families flocked to Drayton Manor on March 27 expecting a fun-filled day, but instead, some claimed to have been left "really disappointed." Regular social media influencers, Theme Park Worldwide, were among the first to share their negative experience online. The family published a social media post and YouTube video alleging the opening was "one of the worst opening days [...] ever seen at a theme park."
Writing on social media, the channel stated: "Unfortunately it feels like Drayton Manor aren’t ready for the start of the season with 11 rides closed all day. Along with that, poor ride availability on open attractions and reduced capacity on other rides. We’ve left the park after just one hour and will come back another time. Sadly this is the worst opening day that we have ever seen at a theme park."
Influencers and Visitors Voice Their Frustrations
On YouTube, the influencer Shawn Sanbrooke, whose real name is Shawn Sanbrooke, said: "This has got to be one of the worst opening days I've ever seen at a theme park." His partner, Charlotte, added: "Part of me feels like this park should not even be open. It doesn't even feel ready. There's a lot of people here today and everyone's just walking around 'cause all the rides are shut. It's just not good."
Shawn continued: "This is officially my shortest day ever at Drayton Manor. We've not even been in the park an hour and we're done. We're just going to call it quits." He expressed his disappointment, noting his long history with the park: "I do love Drayton Manor. I grew up coming here, but I've never seen it quite like today before. I am really disappointed in Drayton today, I really do enjoy this park a lot and we've had some really great visits here over the years, but it's been a really poor start to the season."
Another visitor echoed these sentiments, replying: "Absolutely agree, we spent the day there as a family of 10. Waiting times on the limited rides that were available were ridiculous, and it wasn’t even busy."
Park's Response and Compensation Efforts
A Drayton Manor spokesperson addressed the issues, stating: "Our opening weekend, known as 'The Big Restart', offers guests a specially reduced ticket price to celebrate the start of the new season, and we always advise that queues may be a little longer than usual as our team settles back into the rhythm of the season."
The spokesperson added: "Ahead of last weekend, our team worked hard to open all rides and attractions. Unfortunately, we are susceptible to ride downtime, which is never our intention. As soon as we became aware there would be some exceptions, we updated our website to help manage guest expectations ahead of their arrival."
In an effort to make amends, the park announced: "We’re disappointed that we couldn’t offer the best experience for our visitors, and our team continues to work tirelessly to get rides operational as quickly as possible. We pride ourselves on offering a fun, affordable and epic day of family fun. As such, everyone who visited the park last weekend has received free tickets to return to Drayton Manor, so they can enjoy the full experience at a later date."
