Drayton Manor (Drayton Manor)

Member Name: jacqueline101

Product:	Drayton Manor
Date:	18/10/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thomas Land, zoo

Disadvantages: Quite expensive

Drayton Manor is a theme park situated in Staffordshire, just north of Birmingham. It is close to Junction 9 of the M42 on the A4091 and Exit T2 of the M6 Toll. The address is:
Drayton Manor Park,
Nr. Tamworth,
Staffordshire,
B78 3TW.

The park is split into three sections - the main theme park, with more adult-type rollercoaster rides, the zoo and Thomas Land. We went mainly for Thomas Land, as we have a two year old daughter, who is mad about Thomas and his friends. Thomas Land is quite new and is specifically aimed at young children, so most of the rides are suitable for them, with an accompanying adult. I went with my husband, daughter and my parents. The day that we went was a Saturday in September this year, as this was the only day that my husband could get off work. It was also a very sunny, warm day, which meant that the park was crowded, and queues were very long, especially in Thomas Land.

We went to Thomas Land first, as this was our main reason for visiting Drayton Manor. It was very busy, and my husband and daughter waited for about 30 minutes to go on the Rockin' Bulstrode ride, which is a barge that spins around, and was enjoyed by my daughter. We then queued for at least another 30 minutes to go on the Thomas Train (similar to the one at Drusillas Zoo in Sussex, but on this one there is a carriage to put buggies in, as it is not a return journey, but takes you to the zoo area). My daughter was extremely excited at being able to ride on Clarabel. When we got off, we went to look at the Thomas exhibition, which is a collection of sets from the original Thomas the Tank Engine television series. The zoo was in this area, so we went to have a look, though we didn't spend that long there, due to the time spent queuing for the rides. The zoo is quite small, but works well as part of the whole park and it's attractions. We saw some tigers, penguins, owls, llamas, parrots, red squirrels and our daughter's favourite, meerkats, who were attracting quite a crowd.

Next, we made our way into the main part of the park. Some of the rides here looked quite old and a little tired, but they had a traditional, retro quality that I rather like. We took our daughter on the Ferris Wheel, which was quite gentle, and enjoyed by all of us. I noticed that, even though it was a Saturday, a lot of the rides in this part of the park didn't have massive queues.

By this time we were getting hungry, so we went to eat in a self-service cafeteria in the main park. It wasn't too crowded, but the food was of average quality, and quite traditional. We ordered dishes such as fish, chips and mushy peas, beef pie with vegetables and chips and a roast dinner. My daughter struggles to finish child sized meals, so we just gave her bits of our food on her own plate, rather than spend money on another meal that would be wasted. The price paid for the food was about average, but the quality wasn't the best.

After lunch we went back to Thomas Land to try some more of the rides. My husband took our daughter on the Sodor Classic Cars, which was a very gentle ride, suitable even for babies. There was a long queue for this, too, and I noticed that most of the cars only had two people in them, even though they had four seats, making the wait to get on it even longer. One ride that didn't have much of a queue was the Crazy Bertie Bus ride, which I took my daughter on. There are lots of other Thomas themed rides, but we didn't have time to go on them, as it was so busy, so we plan to visit again next year, at a less busy time.

We went into the Thomas Shop next, and bought a few items to keep for our daughter's birthday and Christmas. The shop has a massive selection of Thomas and Friends merchandise, and some of it is quite expensive. It was of course very popular with all the young Thomas fans. By this time it was getting quite late and we decided to go home before the park closed, and there was a big rush of people leaving all at the same time.

The admission prices for Drayton Manor are -
Adult and over 12 years - £25.00
Age 4 -11 -£21.00
Grandee (over 60) - £12.00
Disabled person and helper - £19.00
Under 4 years - free

You can also save by buying family tickets. I booked online and paid £18.00 per adult and £12.00 per Grandee, so this saved us some money, though it is still quite expensive. You can also use Tesco Clubcard Deals Vouchers (£7.00 of vouchers for one adult entry) and I intend to do this next time we go, probably next Spring.

I really enjoyed Drayton Manor, and especially Thomas Land. Next time we go, it will be on a weekday, and during term-time, as the queues will be shorter and it will be quieter. The park is open from 09.30, with rides from 10.30, and closes at 5 or 6pm.

www.thomasland.co.uk
www.draytonmanor.co.uk

Summary: Great place to take toddlers