The Wave at Drayton Manor reviews, ride information and photo gallery

theme park	Drayton Manor
park area	adventure bay
type	roller coaster
audience	Older families and thrill seekers
Already activated	March 26, 1994 (Original work “Shock Wave”) April 26, 2024 (like “wave”) (Replace with shock wave)
manufacturer	Netamin (track) art project (by train)
high	120 feet
length	1640 feet
reverse	4
maximum speed	53 mph

brave wave

The Wave is the world’s largest roller coaster with a surfing adventure theme. Drayton Manor Park.

Originally opened in 1994 shock wavethe coaster was the only stand-up coaster in the UK until the 2024 season when it was converted into a wave coaster and equipped with a new sit-down coaster from ART Engineering.

While the track remains the same, the replacement of the trains completely transforms the coaster from the uncomfortable ride it was known for in the past (especially for gentlemen!) to a smooth and exciting experience.

The Wave features four inversions, starting with a vertical loop that results in a zero-gravity roll and a double helix near the end of the track. Although it’s short, it offers an exciting and empowering ride, even if it doesn’t have much more to it than the twist itself.

Some of the design decisions on the new trains are a little confusing – lap restraints are very popular and very comfortable to ride, but the mechanism itself seems overly cumbersome and complex. There’s also something wrong with the huge yellow bar at the front of the train, which makes it look more like a shopping cart than a roller coaster. Overall, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s tied together with spare parts. Thankfully though, it rides much better than it looks.

The original Shockwave was a coaster that you could only ride once (or better not if you didn’t want a headache!), but as The Wave, the ride is smooth, fun, and perhaps most importantly, re-ridable. Overall, this is a significant improvement and much better than scrapping the coaster entirely.