Drayton Manor (Drayton Manor)

Member Name: shellyuk1000

Product:	Drayton Manor
Date:	19/06/09 (271 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great place to visit

Disadvantages: Tickets are a bit expensive

We took our son to Drayton Manor in May last year. We had heard about the new Thomas Land and thought it would be good to see what he thought.

Drayton Manor:

Drayton Manor is based in Staffordshire near Tamworth. As well as having a Theme Park it has a Zoo and is open from March to November, 9.30am - 6pm. It has a Thomas Land designed especially for young families with 12 Thomas the Tank themed rides, an indoor play area and a Thomas shop. There is the main theme park, complete with everything you would expect from thrill seeking rides to spinning, make yourself sick rides. The more popular ones include Apocalypse, Shockwave, G Force and Stormforce 10. The Zoo has over 100 species, it is well kept, clean and in my experience the animals look as healthy and as happy as animals can look when kept in a Zoo.

Drayton Manor also has the usual gift shops, restaurants, picnic area, arcades, sweet shops, ice cream stalls, fair stalls and all toilet facilities including changing facilities for babies. I'm not sure if they were prepared to warm baby bottles or baby food up as we took our own flask.

Prices:

The prices are a bit high but there are always offers available in newspapers, the internet, supermarkets or in coupon books.

Adult Ticket = £25.00 (Adults are classed as 12+)
Child Ticket = £21.00
Older Person = £12.00 (60+)
Under 4 = Free
Disabled person + Visitor = £19.00
3 Family Members = £60.00
4 Family Members = £80.00
5 Family Members = £100.00
Adult & Toddler = £15.00 (toddler is child under 4)
Grandee & Toddler = £12.00

We paid the Adult and Toddler price twice, so once for my son and his Dad and once for our newborn child and me. This works out cheaper than buying 2 adults tickets. We made a saving of £20.

We visited the park in school time so there were less school age children there but because the Thomas Land was new there were quite a few parents and toddlers there. Having said that we hardly had to queue and if we did, it wasn't for very long. We found the park to be clean and very baby friendly, offering places to breastfeed or bottle feed young babies.

Thomas Land:
We mainly used this area as our son was only 3 at the time, he was big enough to have a go on every ride and although they are made for younger children they are exciting and fast and definitely provide huge fun factor. We spent most of the time at this part of the park. It is colourful, clean, plenty of places to keep undercover, well spaced and fun to be around. The Thomas theme helps the children to identify with it and feel more confident trying the rides. Parents are allowed to ride with children.

The Zoo:
My son found this entertaining to walk around, he was enthralled by all the animals and enjoyed hearing the names and trying to spot them through the fences. I always get the impression Drayton Manor is a theme park firstly with a Zoo thrown in. Its not the best Zoo, not worth making a special trip for but worth seeing if your there anyway.

Main Theme Park:
Obviously we couldn't use this area too much because its not very toddler friendly. We did go on a few rides, mainly pirate themed ones but they were lacking in colour and fun after being in the Thomas Land. On previous visits I have always found this area fun and the log flume Stormforce 10 is great.

Eating:
We took a picnic and after seeing the price and quality of the food they serve we were pleased with our choice. They have a burger bar, pizza place and a restaurant (as well as a few food stalls!). The picnic area is at the entrance to the zoo and very relaxing, nice benches, good view. I would recommend taking a picnic!

Area:
Drayton Manor has a beautiful lake in the middle of the park, which provides nice scenery. The park itself is clean and the only hill is the one at the main theme park entrance. It is mainly flat and easy to navigate around.

Overall:
Drayton Manor is a great family freindly place to visit as a family or with a group of friends. I would recommend going when everyone is at school and always look for vouchers or money off. Its not Alton Towers, but if you are after a place to entertain toddlers you cant go wrong. My son was so tired when we left, he slept all the way home and kept shouted out "weeeeee" in his sleep! He had a great day and I cant wait to take him back.

Summary: Great place for young families!