Ride Guide >> Aerial Park >> Apocalypse
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There is one ride at Drayton Manor that will stand tall in the sky, above anything else the surrounding areas have to offer. Its height may be daunting enough, but its sole purpose is to drop those who dare to face it straight back down to the ground. Why? because this machine wants revenge on the human race; some would call it the Apocalypse. At heights of around 200 feet Apocalypse is the tallest ride at Drayton Manor, and not far from being the tallest in Britain. If the sound of being forced to the floor in such a way is not enough, then the ride offers a selection of three different ways to face your fate. You could go for simple sit down, or take it a little further by conquering the stand-up side, and if you're daring enough you can go for the more recent stand-up floorless. |
Sit-Down By choosing the path on the right-hand side where the queue splits just before the steps up to the loading bay, you will be taken to the sit-down sides of the tower. After travelling through a corridor you will end up in the loading bay, where you will queue half way round the hexagonal station at a raised level, before coming down some steps onto the floor, ready to board. Two sides of the tower are taken up for the sit-down elements, which means eight people go up and come down at once. This may seem not very many, but as long as you do not join the queue outside of the station, then it shouldn't be too long of a wait, though be warned, it is a short ride. The sit-down sides usually work up the biggest queues. |
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Stand-up After taking a left at the split in the queue, you will end up going down the same route as the sit-down, except you will travel the opposite way around the station. Awaiting at the end of the queue will be two more gondolas, each holding four passengers. However, getting into the restraints on the stand-up is very different to the normal experience of the sit down, which works like every other over-the-shoulder-restraint. This time there is a bar in-between your legs which is adjustable to different heights for different leg sizes. When the bar goes up/down, your restraint will follow it up/down so you get it to your height. You can do this before the restraints are locked in place-just put all your weight on the bar to push it down, and push up into the top of the restraint with your shoulders to push it up. The stand-up side is also tilted! |
Stand-up floorless The stand-up floorless element was added in 2000 to the previously unused fifth side of the tower. This therefore means that there is only one gondola for it. To reach this element, you will need to take the stand-up route, then instead of queueing for the normal stand-up, go ahead where you'll find the entrance to stand-up floorless. Although you are in standing position, there is no complicated restraint system as there is no floor- you just sit on the bar between your legs (it isn't as painful as it may seem, unless you are unprepared for the brakes). Like the stand-up element, you will be tilted forward and forced to look downwards at the shrinking floor. |
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The Experience As you approach the queue line, the steel beast starts to tower above you as it seems to be bigger than it did when you first entered the park. This accompanied with the sight of the tiny carriages and innocent victims sat at the top, waiting to be hurtled back down. As you near the station you are confronted with a choice of two ways to ride- whatever you decide, your next stage will be up a set of steps into the indoor section. Once inside, the atmosphere should really start to build with the thunder of the car coming back to the ground, and the screech of the brakes. Yet this is broken by the radio playing to |
you. After a little soothing, the music starts to die out as you enter the actual station building. A siren sounds and screams round the building signalling the take off of one of the gondolas. The flashing light ceases and you watch the passengers as they travel skyward up to the top of the tower. After a short wait, clicking of its release is heard and the ground starts to shake as the riders come back down to Earth and offload. A journey down some metal steps later, your ride awaits. Board the ride and the safety check commences, then the siren sounds and you are slowly lifted upwards. A little while after leaving the safety of the ground, the stand-up sides are tilted forwards and the ascent continues out of the building where it begins to speed up. With the rides below increasingly becoming smaller it becomes a question of 'are we at the top yet?' The fear really starts to kick |
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in as the cameras which hang down from the top of the tower come into view slightly above. The carriage comes to a near halt as you continue to drift very slowly upwards, until it stops. For once during your visit to Drayton Manor almost silence is heard as you sit at the top of a 200 foot tower looking down on the ant-like rides below. Mixed emotions can pass peoples' minds, some face fear while others are purely excited, and there are those who are wondering what to do for the cameras. The following few seconds will blow all emotions away as adrenalin comes in straight from the release. From the top you are pushed downwards during the release, sending you straight into the top of your restraint with still almost 200 feet to freefall. With the gradually increasing speed, all the air gets trapped in your clothes, inflating them and sending them wild. As you plummet towards the station building your speed seems to keep increasing until very near the bottom, when you slam into some very sharp |
brakes sending you straight back into the seat/floor/bar. Riding free-hand (particularily on the standing sides) provides an ultimate experence where you feel completely not in control, like you have really just jumped off the top of a 12 storey building. The combination of fear and nerves etc during the climb to the top of the tower mixed with the adrenalin and the thrill of the drop straight afterwards makes for a perfect ride experience. It goes form one extreme to the other, and puts your body through a lot of different emotions that come together to make Apocalypse what it is. |
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