We started off our family Halloween October half term holiday by going to the spooktacular Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire.
The girls are big theme park fans and were so excited when we told them that we were visiting Drayton Manor.
From the moment we entered Drayton Manor the girls were in their element. The Halloween decorations throughout the park were themed perfectly and just added to their excitement.
The park was decorated with giant pumpkins, scarecrows and bunting everywhere which all looked fantastic and had great attention to detail.
As rides don’t open until 10.30am, we used this time to enjoy wandering around the Zoo. The Zoo is set over 15 acres of land with over 100 animals to look at. Some of our favourites were the meerkats, black leopards and the monkeys.
As part of the Halloween event there were arts and crafts workshops that the girls enjoyed such as making their own broomsticks located in the Discovery Centre as you leave the Zoo area of the park.
On our way to catch the train back into Thomas Land we walked through the excellent dinosaur trail and there was also a fantastic children’s play park called Spencer’s playground.
Something I really enjoyed was the “discover Thomas” exhibition. Sadly it is somewhat hidden and out the way but it contains a large portion of the original TV set and is great to see some of the characters such as Thomas and Trevor. The girls enjoyed watching the trains disappear into the tunnels and then running around the train set to see where they would reappear.
My youngest daughter loved the Terrence Driving School ride before we took the train ride back into the main station at Thomas Land to start enjoying the fantastic range of rides on offer for children.
One of the main reasons why Drayton Manor is so popular especially with families of all ages is because of Thomas Land. This area of the park is a must for any Thomas the Tank fan as a lot of rides incorporate many of the characters and it’s a perfect place for children, but it’s appeal goes way beyond that with the wide variety of age-appropriate rides on offer .
Most rides are suitable from children 90cm in height, with some requiring an adult to accompany children under 120cm.
My children are 5 and 8 and some of their favourite rides within Thomas Land were Cranky’s Crane Drop, Rocking Bulstrode, Jeremy Jet’s, Troublesome Trucks and Toby’s Tram Express.
Thomas Land is great as it offers a great selection of rides perfect for infants to primary school children.
This section of the park is very well themed and the attractions within the Thomas land section itself are all within close proximity to one another which is good for your little ones and their little legs!
The park is well maintained with a good selection of eateries and places to get drinks but at peak times can get busy so packed lunches or snacks are a good idea. We had lunch at Safari Pizza and Pasta, which is a rain forest themed restaurant.
There were various meal options or a family meal deal which was £22.00 for a family of 4 but we opted for an individual pizza, drink and potato wedges meal. The food was of a good standard if a little pricey but that is to be expected in a theme park.
There were other restaurants to choose from such as the Burger Kitchen, Fish and Chips and the Lakeside Teashop.
We also had a hot chocolate and Halloween cupcake from Knapford Station Cafe in Thomas Land. The park was clean and tidy and there were many areas to sit and have a picnic.
I love that we could go on a number of the rides all together. My eldest daughter is now becoming more adventurous and enjoyed the Ben 10 rollercoaster, having tricked her daddy in getting onboard saying it was a children’s ride!
The Jolly Buccaneer was another favourite ride of the girls.
Another ride that we all really enjoyed is the Drunken Barrels ride which many may miss as it’s tucked away from the main thoroughfare of the park. This was so much fun and as it was really quiet we got to ride this several times with no queue. The big wheel gave fantastic views of the park and surrounding areas.
My youngest daughter enjoyed the 4D Yogi Bear movie. You put on your 3D glasses and your seat will move in time to the comical short movie but expect to get a little wet from the special effects.
For older children and adults there are some great thrill rides and water rides. Shockwave a stand-up roller coaster and Storm force 10 a log flume, Pandemonium, Maelstrom, Apocalypse, Air Race and The Bounty Pirate Ship.
What’s great about this park is that there is something for all ages and all levels of thrill seeking. Rides can get busy so do expect some long queues in high season and special events.
We visited at the start of Halloween half term and the queues were not too bad for that time of year. The girls thoroughly enjoyed and spent most of the time in the Thomas land area although there were other rides they could go on throughout the park.
We redeemed our Tesco Clubcard vouchers to pay for our tickets for the park. If you don’t have the option of using your Clubcard points then for the best priced tickets always book online in advance as you can save a considerable amount on both individual and family tickets.
What was great with this visit was that the old car parking charge has now been incorporated into the ticket price.
Overall we had an amazing day at Drayton Manor and it’s a perfect place to visit for families with kids. The girls are already asking when can they go back as it’s one of the favourite theme parks.