Pirate Adventure POV @ Drayton Manor Park

Pirate Adventure + POV @ Drayton Manor Park.
Arguably the UKs best dark boat ride, pre Valhalla! Drayton Manor Park opened the Pirate Adventure in 1990. My guess is that with EuroDisney set to open in 1992 with their 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ride, Drayton needed a signature attraction, and wanted to get their version open first! Sadly, over time the animatronics seized up, and bits fell off! Fewer boats were used as the ride became less popular, until the ride fell into such disrepair it became obsolete in 2020.

[@thatkindofguy234]

Mate, this is childhood nostalgia right here

[@Farzlepot]

Man, I can still *smell* that place.

[@Greatwhite22]

It's the smell that makes it so good

[@holdtightriders]

Brilliant footage, miss this ride - we were lucky to have something like it over here!

[@ukridesinfo]

hey HTR! Yeah, it was 1990 and Euro Disney was nearing completion. The reaction was for Alton to add the mine train and haunted house, while Drayton copied Pirates of the Caribbean! While the runaway train didn't really compete with Big Thunder Mountain, the haunted house and pirates here were of Disney standards. How things have changed!!

[@marybradley7791]

Hopefully Looping Group will renovate and modernise this ride and re open it. They could do wonders with new audio, special effects and some screen scences and some upgrading of the movement in some of the scenes and some new bits of scenery or characters.

[@mattball7362]

I knew there was that bit at the end with the ghost pirates! I remember going on this not long before it closed and it was just empty/dark. Thanks for putting this up :)

[@ukridesinfo]

Hi Matt. Yes, it was never looked after, by the end much of it didn't work!

[@Buzzelll]

I’m sure I read somewhere that that end part of the ride got damaged by fire.

[@loulove321]

This was one of my favourites to ride as a kid, and I do hope that Drayton Manor use the huge show building to make another dark ride someday. I think the last time I went on this in maybe 2012, most of it wasn't working anymore and the ending was nearly all pitch black as they must've turned all of the animatronics and lighting off/it was probably fully broken.

[@simonp7095]

I live by Drayton manor and went alot in 90s and this ride was always closed when I went so never got to go on it

[@Couch_potato123-w5g]

I hope pirates adventure returns in 2025

[@mikekaraoke]

One of my fav Dark Rides, Do you have any POV from the other Dark Ride they had there well before Pirate Adventure opened-The Crypt??
I do somewhere on VHS!

[@limitedonyt1660]

where has the time gone😢

[@xdumplin5]

Just a shell of itself now 2024

[@josephallington6838]

Hopefully one day a new dark ride can take its place. No dark rides worth riding in the UK anymore. River caves is one of the very few left

[@Playful_Robin]

This is so sad seeing it progressively decay, my heart breaks. This was the first ride when I was 6 years old that got me into dark rides. Can this be saved or is it closed now?

[@louiswright8282]

Unfortunately the park confirmed its closure a couple of years ago. Most of the props were auctioned around late 2019, then the remain themig inside was stripped. All that remains of this classic is the building and the ride system sadly :(

[@81to33]

@@louiswright8282 There has been a couple of recent signs that it may return.

[@Lol-s4c7b]

I heard noises when I went

[@craigthompson8924]

Hi, when was this recorded?

[@F1RacerDan]

Jonny Bravo here! i would say it was 2004 ish?