Thomas Land and Drayton Manor Theme Park – Your Complete Guide!
Thank you for coming to read our Thomas Land and Drayton Manor Theme Park – Your Complete Guide blog. We recently spent the weekend at Drayton Manor Theme Park and it was great! Our first visit we spent two action packed days going on (almost all!) of the brilliant rides there. Drayton Manor has just won 3rd prize as one of the best theme parks in the UK 2022 which shows how fantastic it is (it came only behind Alton Towers and Paultons Park). Their new area of Vikings won silver in the New Attractions category.
Where is Drayton Manor Theme Park?
Drayton Manor Dr,
Fazeley,
Mile Oak,
Tamworth
United Kingdom
B78 3TW
Opening Times
This varies throughout the year so it is best to click here to see the opening times for the day you are planning to visit.
Costs
Adults Age 4+ £29 (pre-booked)
Under 4 (age 2-3) £15 (pre-booked)
Under 2’s go free.
There are also concessions for over 60s, expectant mothers and carers – £27 (pre-booked).
For more details on tickets click here.
Car Parking
There is a huge car park (£6 per car) available and we bought this at the same time as our theme park tickets.
What is there to do at Drayton Manor Park?
There are loads of rides, for all ages, at Drayton Manor. My daughter is 7 and 135cm in height, she could go on all but 1 ride in the whole park – so was a fairly ideal visitor to this theme park. What she also enjoyed was that for some of the smaller rides (those in Thomas Land in particular) she could ride by herself with her friends. We all know how much children of this age like a little bit of independence!
As we were visiting with children of various heights I’d made a note (using their website) of who could ride what rides in advance. I highly recommend doing this so you can manage expectations and plan accordingly.
Tell me more about the rides….
The rides were really varied, from calmer family rides like the carousel and jolly buccaneer to the more daring (and frankly quite scary!) rides like Air Race and the Bounty Pirate Ship. There are also some water rides; Stormforce, which looked like a very wet ride (we didn’t go on it because it was cold and you have to be 130cm to ride) and River Rapids. Unless you’re happy being wet or have a waterproof, then maybe save these for the end of the day! The biggest thrill ride at Paultons Park (and the only ride where you have to be 140cm) was truly terrifying but a brilliant roller coaster. The ride staff allowed our children to wait with them whilst the adults rode.
One of the best things about Drayton Manor, in comparison, for example, to Alton Towers – is the much shorter queues. We went on a weekend in September so still in the main park season and the longest we queued was about 45 minutes.
The only ride my daughter had any doubt about was the Haunted House. It’s very spooky and she wanted to leave when we got in – so the friendly staff whisked us out a secret exit with no fuss. If you are going to Drayton Manor with a tall, but young, child be mindful that this ride might be a bit scary for them.
What is there to do at Thomas Land?
With 25 rides Thomas Land was so much more than we had expected. To be honest, with a group of 6 and 7 year olds we didn’t think they’d be that interested in it. Well, we were wrong! It’s a very cute little land with rides like Flynn’s fire rescue, James and the Red Balloon, Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster, Tobys Tram Express and Bertie Bus.
Thomas Land has so much to do for young children and you could probably spend the whole day just exploring this part of the park. I know that my two girls would have loved it there as toddlers.
Full details on all ride height restrictions can be found here.
What else is there to do at Drayton Manor Theme Park?
There is a Dino Trail, Crazy Golf, a 15-acre Zoo (which is nice to stroll around whilst having an ice cream!) from where you can get the train ride back to Thomas Land if you like. You could probably almost spend a full day in the zoo if you wanted, with dozens of animals including red pandas and other exotic animals.
There is also Drayton Manor hotel, which has themed rooms which look a lot of fun, where you can have an overnight stay if you want to extend your visit. If you stay at the Hotel you get 30 minutes exclusive early riding time. This allows you some precious time to get on some family favourites before the crowds arrive. The hotel also has family rooms, executive rooms and triple rooms so something for the whole family.
Throughout the year they do special events at Halloween, Christmas and Easter as well as lots more. For full details look here.
Food and Drink
There were loads of options for food and drink, from more formal restaurants to fish and chips, a burger kitchen or snack bars.
Can I get a Fast Pass?
Yes! Whilst we didn’t feel the need for a fast pass as it wasn’t busy when we went (I expect it would be busier in school holidays), you CAN purchase these. They come in bundles:
Bronze £20 for 2 rides
Silver £24 for 3 rides
Gold £30 for 5 rides
Platinum £100 for unlimited
These are sold on a first come first served basis from Guest Services.
Summary
We really enjoyed our two days at Drayton Manor. If you can, I do recommend going for 2 days – especially if you have children who can ride the majority of rides. It meant we could go at a bit of a slower pace and really take in what the park has to offer, and go on some rides twice! We didn’t stay on site at the hotel, instead we chose the Holiday Inn in Tamworth which was significantly cheaper and only about 5 minutes away.
We had so much fun, it is the perfect place to go with friends or family. Thanks for coming to read Thomas Land and Drayton Manor Theme Park – Your Complete Guide! We hope you found it helpful. If you would like to visit other Theme Parks in the UK then check out our reviews here of:
Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World
Chessington World of Adventures
