To me Pirate Adventure is about more than just Swashbuckling, pillaging and looting. She first set sail in 1990 as Drayton Manors first major custom ride and was then the signature ride in the park. Not only did Pirate Adventure (or PA for short) form the centre piece for the new Pirate Cove area which in turn formed the park largo of that period, but she paved the way for all later rides. It is equally hard to overstate her timing, which had things been delayed by as little as a couple of years could have rewritten most of what we know of the park today.
Over in nearby Derbyshire residence were celebrating the arrival of American Adventure, a park that had potential to topple even park ace Alton Towers from the top of the pack. Alton Towers herself was being fired up by heavy weight Tuassauds who were ready to take on this new arrival. Rides like the Runaway Train, Haunted House and Thunder Loopers seemed to ridicule Drayton Manor’s motley collection of mostly unthemed portable rides. Luckily for Drayton Manor they had their own project brewing, a vast custom designed dark ride.
Guests, whether they be a die hard pirate or complete land lubber enter a fought. Yet our scalley wags the pirates couldn’t defend so much as a kennel. As we are guided through to the loading platform signs introduce our sword wielding friends inadequacies. A sign declaring “correct speling only” makes full use of the dry British sense of humour.
But despite their faults Pirate vessels are launched with due haste making the Generation Game conveyor look a drag. We race past some of the pirate brutes, which is just as well as they do not appear to be the sort to make polite conversation. Despite the ruthlessness of these villains Drayton Manor make the whole thing jolly and candid.
A shallow drop throws us into the midst of pirate life as we pass through a town. The technique of false perspective, a device used by theme parks to make scenes and views appear to be artificially larger than reality, is successfully employed. A pirate craftily chases a woman out onto a balcony while another pirate guzzles alcohol. Luckily instead of becoming drunk and disorderly as today’s youth no doubt would, he instead appears to be about to fall asleep. Welcome to the good old days…
The adventure continues through smaller scenes until opening out into a raging sea battle. Unfortunately there are a couple of points where animatronics show their age, for example the ragamuffins who wield swords above us on a bridge have certainly had too much to drink as the swords come no where near close enough together to be convincing. On a plus note it is a refreshing change from many of the dark rides that parks install today that become so absorbed in the multitude of effects they can perform before their guests they simply forget such simple devices. The sheer number of moving models ensure guests need not feast their eyes on any one long enough to grow board.
The battle itself is dramatic and has clearly benefited from the care put into creating all the models. It must also be recognised how perfect the lighting appears to be. While the opening is bright enough to allow us to enjoy the splendour of the scene we are later pitched into a darker environment effectively allowing tension to mount before PA reveals her final. To add a more intimate aspect to this larger scene geysers blast up next to the boat giving an illusion that our pirates are in fact attempting to hamper our journey, maybe trying to maroon us ready for what ever pirates like to do to unworthy land lubbers, which surely we are.
Ironically the only ones who appear to have survived the battle are those most defenceless-us! We pass a murky scene depicting skeleton pirates somehow managing to just about survive. The rides final is an eerie image of the pirates souls, most probably doomed to haunt the ride for ever more.
So many years on-is PA still worthy of the title of Drayton Manors greatest ride? Perhaps now it would be best to give my keyboard a rest and allow you to pay the park a visit and form your own judgment, but then again I can’t resist adding my two cents.
It’s definitely a sterling effort. Arguably it is a cheap rip off from Disneys more famous take, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. However this has its advantages, while larger versions can feel rather industrial (most notably Europa Parks version) the smaller scenes that together form Drayton Manors advantage make for a more intimate feeling. Like Disneys master copy PA is riddled with humorous touches and quirks. It is fair to say PA is hardly ‘hide behind the sofa’ style material, yet the humour makes up for this. Finally its simplicity works in the rides favour. Instead of relying on large set pieces, PA relies more on a larger medley of smaller touches. For instance not all the effects need to be works for PA to provide an enjoyable journey as there are so many of them, and even if an effect is dated there are plenty more to feast your eye on instead.
