Thomas Land Weekends at Drayton Manor 2016 Review

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Abi

Thomas Land Weekends at Drayton Manor 2016 Review

I can’t be the only one who is willing Spring to hurry up and make an appearance!! Warmer days, longer evenings and the chance for more family days out, I can’t wait! Thomas Land and Drayton Manor’s 2016 season is about to start in earnest (the full park reopens 12th March) but before all the thrill rides are back Drayton is hosting two Thomas & Friends Weekends events. Last Saturday the park invited lots of bloggers including my family to the first weekend, so today is our Thomas Land Weekends at Drayton Manor 2016 Review!

As usual we had a wonderful time, despite a chilly start. The park is looking as good as ever and there’s loads of new additions coming soon. The Tamarin Trail opens just before Easter and offers you the chance to get up close to some moustached marmosets as you walk through the new enclosure, so this year promises to be better than ever!

The park partially reopened for the Thomas and friends Weekends event which is also running on the 5th & 6th March. Thanks to Thomas Land’s expansion in 2015 plus the zoo, farm, cinema, carousel and so on there’s still plenty to do, in fact we were exhausted when we got back home.

Thomas Land Weekends at Drayton Manor 2016 Review

Thomas Land is great for all ages but it’s really aimed at families (and kids at heart) so here’s what my mini train conductors thought:

Little Miss Train Driver:

There are loads of animals at Drayton, I love riding Thomas and watching the other trains. Rides like Jeremy (Jeremy’s Flying School) and Troublesome Trucks are really epic! They always make me laugh and Troublesome Trucks makes my eyes water when you go round the fast bit! Toby’s amazing because he swings round and goes up and down, once I went on him seven times in a row! I really want to go back soon, especially when the new monkey trail opens in the zoo 🙂

Mini Controller

Thomas Land has a water bit which is really fun because you spray water at a house which is on fire (Flynn’s Fire & Rescue). Then there’s also another water ride that you can go on (Captain’s Seas Adventure) and sometimes you can spray onto the walls and sometimes you can get really wet! There’s a driving school (Terrence’s Driving School) where you can drive Terrence around a track, I’m the only one small enough to go on it and it’s great.

The Biggest Signalman (who in the pic above is illustrating how not to dismount a horse)

The rollercoasters are great, Cranky is awesome when you drop up and down fast, that’s definitely one of my favourite rides. I really like Rocking Bulstrode the Tug Boat as well, it spins really fast which make us laugh. Although the first ride I always go on is Troublesome Trucks, they go really fast and I love rollercoasters! Plus Mummy loves the Carousel (it’s true I do!)

As you can tell we always have a great time when we visit but just in case you need more convincing watch our short video which captures some of our favourite rides, plus a flamingo or two and a talking Cockatoo!

For more information

Tickets for the Thomas & Friends Weekends Events are priced at just £15 (pre-booked) for ages 12-59 with concessions available. Check out the event page here.

Visit Drayton Manor online for more details of upcoming events and attractions and to book early bird price tickets.

Disclaimer: We were provided free tickets to the event but all opinions are my own.

40 Comments (Leave a comment)

Drayton Manor’s Magical Christmas Review

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Abi

Drayton Manor reopened yesterday resplendent in Christmas finery. We’d been counting down the days (in a super excited style) and can now finally bring you our Drayton Manor’s Magical Christmas review.

We arrived just after lunch and made our way through to Thomas Land. Everywhere you turn there’s snow (the non-melting, permanently fluffy variety) glittery lights and Christmas music.

The kids were particularly excited to try out the indoor ice-rink (called Slide & Glide) and had oodles of fun whizzing (& falling) round the rink. It isn’t a real ‘ice’ rink but one of the plastic gliding kind (I’m not sure if there is a technical name for that kind of rink) but that did nothing to damper their enthusiasm. The ice-rink is one of the few attractions that has an extra charge (£2 per person for 15mins) but it’s certainly a lot of fun.

Thomas the Tank has had a festive makeover and his track has been strewn with snow. Take a trip on his carriages and you might even catch a glimpse of Santa’s reindeer at the farm park!

The 4d cinema is playing a special 15 minute version of the Polar Express complete with snow that splashes you in the face!

Then every half an hour the large Christmas tree at the centre of the park plays a wondrous light show which looks fantastic once the daylight fades (see the vid below).

Of course the main event has to be a trip to see Santa in his Castle of Dreams! We had a bit of a wait but thankfully the queue has overhead heaters and there are TV screens playing Christmas songs to keep you amused.

Once at the head of the queue we were greeted by a jolly elf who gave each of the kids a fabulous medal from Santa. Then we went into the castle to meet the big man himself.

After some very important present talk, Santa took a pic and gave each child a giftbag (I’ll leave the contents a secret!)

After saying our goodbyes (until Christmas Eve) we left to view the pics. Incidentally all photo orders come with a free digital download which I thought was a really nice touch.

Before the exit there’s an area with seats, various props and crafts, there’s even some Princesses sitting on thrones!

But our day wasn’t over yet, we made our way to the lake and waited with anticipation for the festive fireworks. I love the fact that they end every day with this festive display, it really ends your time there with style.

Given that we had high expectations before our visit (which is sometimes a recipe for disaster) we loved our day at Drayton’s Magical Christmas. There’s a fabulous atmosphere in the park and despite the larger rides being closed there’s so much on offer (we missed the snow shows and various performances due to lack of time). See my previous post to get an idea of what else there is to see, I’ve also made a little video which gives you a sneak peek of features like the Christmas tree light show.

The event is on until 31st December For full details and to book tickets visit Drayton’s website.

10 Comments (Leave a comment)

#Littlemoments at Drayton Manor Theme Park

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Abi

For dedicated readers it should come as no surprise when I say that I love Drayton Manor theme park. It’s a wonderful family day out and as a proud blog ambassador I get to experience the park on a regular basis. I visited just a couple of weeks ago for a Blogger Ambassador Day where we learnt all about future events and special days out. We also watched Drayton’s new TV advert where they talk about the wondrous #littlemoments that can be had at the park. Of course little moments matter in everyday life as well and you can use the hashtag on Twitter and Instagram to let everyone know what touching little moment you’ve experienced recently.

Incidentally I had to show the little moment we had at Drayton Manor, we had arrived early and on a tip from one of the Drayton team headed straight for the zoo. Apparently this is the best time to see the Tigers and various other big cats. We’ve failed on every other occasion and the Tigers and Lynx have eluded us. Not this time…

As if that wasn’t enough I also have the crème dela creme of #littlemoments we managed to see the new Lynx cubs playing with their parents!

Cue huge smiles all round.

The zoo is a really fantastic part of the park and definitely worth an early visit if you want to catch some of the more shy animals. All this week 3-7th August is the Big Bug Bonanza where you can find fascinating facts, photos and videos of your favourite bugs.

Also coming up this month on Sunday 16th August is Roller Coaster Day. Experience the best thrill rides with fellow enthusiasts. Chest mount Go Pro cameras are allowed on all the rides which means you can take the moment home with you.

There’s plenty more on the horizon which I’ll share with you soon. But I thought I’d finish by showing you a peek of the VIP rooms which are located above Sodor Airport in Thomas Land. The themed rooms are fantastic spaces and each opens out to a balcony which overlooks the park.

23 Comments (Leave a comment)

Angel Eden Blog

The home of creative blogging!

Tag Archives: thomas land

Thomas Land Weekends at Drayton Manor 2016 Review