I'm a big fan of theme parks and fairground amusements in general, and it seems my daughters have followed suit. I try to visit at least one UK theme park every year, and this year we choose to go to Drayton Manor Park in Staffordshire. I wanted to go here for two reasons, firstly it is home to Thomasland, a part of the park themed around the Thomas and Friends franchise which would be a lovely treat for my Thomas-mad eldest daughter. Secondly, purely for selfish reasons, I'm a big roller coaster nut and have been wanting to ride The Shockwave, the parks signature ride, for many years. I made it a small break, and took a few members of my family along. Here are my ...  Read the complete review

**** This review is based on Thomas land situated in Drayton Manor **** Once you enter the main gates of Drayton manor on the left hand side about a 2 minute walk is the entrance to Thomas land with grand gates building the excitement for little ones and once you enter these you are in the main heart of Thomas land itself. Rides All rides are situated in the same area apart from the odd few that are either accessible by riding the Thomas train or they are just outside the Thomas land entrance itself. Thomas the Tank Engine - Riders less than 1 metre must be accompanied by an adult. This is a train line that runs ...  Read the complete review

In June this year we had a look at the variety of Tesco rewards available and decided we would head towards Birmingham for Drayton Manor and Cadbury World (review to follow) We found a place to stay at the Travelodge on the M42 and were all set with Drayton Manor about 15 minutes away. Tesco Clubcard rewards allow you to triple your usual Tesco Vouchers and therefore making them worth much more if you use them in this way, you have to exchange your vouchers over the Tesco internet site and they will send you your selection through the post for you to take to the attraction with you. We had to exchange £11 of Clubcard vouchers for each person to have a ticket ...  Read the complete review

It's a shame but I never actually do anything on bank holidays. I just roll out of bed at whatever time I feel like and waste the entire day doing nothing, I don't even bother to get dressed most of the time. This bank holiday weekend, however, I decided would be different. I would go and do something, have some fun and fully enjoy one of my very rare days off. Knowing that I had a tight budget to stick to I decided to take advantage of Drayton Manor's current '2 for 1' ticket offer. This voucher, available to download and then print from www.draytonmanor.co.uk, allows you to purchase two adult tickets into the park for the price of one up until the 11th ...  Read the complete review

We only live about 1/2 hour drive from Drayton Manor so when we have visited before it tends to be a last minute decision. We have always found a massive queue when we have gone and I think it can be overpriced. I would say this theme park is more for the young children, there are plenty of rides for the little ones but think there could be more thrill rides for adults and older children, shockwave is amazing and is well worth going onto but be prepared for a queue. We have never actually spent a full day there as there is no where near as many good rides as Alton Towers, but as it's just a short distance to us which is why we have been ...  Read the complete review