Drayton Manor has been one of our go to Theme parks with Joshua for many many years and last week we finally got time to go as a family and take the Jacob for his first proper visit. Something we have been meaning to do for the last 18 months.
When we arrived we knew we shouldn’t have waited so long as we enjoyed every single minute of it and are already planning another visit. So I thought I would share with you why Drayton Manor is a must to visit.
1 – It really is for all ages
Many theme parks claim that there is something for everyone but in the past we have been disappointed with having children with many years between them. However Drayton Manor has the dedicated Thomas Land for those toddlers and preschoolers and then a really wide range of tradition fairground rides along with some amazingly scary older kids and adult rides.
2 – It has a rainy day guarantee
Yep, thats right this wonderful theme park. If you visit from 28th March – 3rd September 2018 and experience continuous rain for 2 or more hours between 10am – 5pm, The Rainy Day Guarantee will mean that you can return to the park free of charge either within September 2018, which I think is fantastic!
3 – Bringing your own food is acceptable
No really, you can and Drayton Manor doesn’t make life awkward if you do choose to bring your own with easy to access car parks, lockers you can hire during your day (at a fee) and to top it off there is plenty of space, including benches you can choose to use.
4 – No badly overpriced food or beverages
If you choose to eat on site there are numerous eateries that cater for differencing budgets. We adore the Pizza and Pasta place which on our recent visit cost £23 for a family of 4 for a family meal deal that included 4 pizzas, 2 sides, 4 drinks and 4 portions of the most delicious potato wedges which I didn’t think was too bad. Especially since I have visited other locations and paid nearly £6 for a drink!
5 – Clean facilities
Every time we have visited the toilet and baby changing facilities have been really clean and well maintained. I know this probably is not a great reason in itself, however I always think that a well maintained toilet block means people care and for me thats a good start. The park in general is really well kept too!
6 – Car parking
How would you like to not have to think about paying a car parking fee? Well, at Drayton Manor there is no car parking fee, something that is not lost on me after the last visit to another theme park that left me £12 lighter, not including the ticket entry price! So if you intend to visit you only have to consider the entry cost and if you visit their Facebook page or website you might just bag yourself an even better bargain as they often run super offers on entry.
7 – The zoo
It might sound silly saying this but having the zoo onsite was really helpful for us to let the kids calm down mentally while stretching their legs. The peace of the zoo (OK, maybe not the parrots)
8 – The 4D Cinema
This is an utterly epic ride for the whole family, we adore this attraction on site and no matter what we see there its always fantastic!
9 – They have fantastic events
Over the years we have been to several of their official events from the fireworks extravaganza to the magical christmas santa trips, which is one of our favourite trips of the year. No matter what event they host they do it with a bang!
10 – Thomas Land
With indoor soft play and masses of outdoor toddler friendly rides this is our favourite area of the park, besides the 4D theatre. The rides, although have queues they are only short and tolerable unlike some other venues we have visited. With so many rides available we find that if we start there at opening time and work our way round we can get our favourites all completed before lunch which is great as there is time to go back and redo the favourites!
Have you ever visited Drayton Manor?
Disclaimer: We were given a complimentary ticket for the purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions were independently formed by members of The Oliver’s Madhouse
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