written by MrsNLewis on 10/10/2014
Managed to get 2 for 1 tickets so entry price was very reasonable. Had a lovely day perfect for families with children of different ages. Queues for big rides were too long, would benefit from queue jump system or VIP tickets. Perfect range of rides for the family. Good food options available.
written by Mr.Abu.Ayub on 11/11/2013
When I visited the UK, drayton manor was one of the places the kids wanted to go to purely to visit THOMAS LAND! They loved it! There was a guy dressed up as the fat controller who was happy to take lots of pictures and took the roll upon himself brilliantly. The train ride was kool for the kids too! It was easy to find a 2 for 1 offer on groupon (a UK offer site) which meant we all had fun for half the price! The rest of the theme park was also very enjoyable! Attentive staff, A good atmosphere and not too many cues!
written by _und3rc0v3r on 11/09/2013
It was a fantastic day out with me and my family and the rides were really kool. The on site toilets were vile and unbearable and the food available was disgusting. On the plus side, the shops were very low priced considering it's a tourist attraction and we had a great day out at a low price.
written by on 15/02/2013
drayton manor is perfect for all ages the stafe is so kind and helpful;.
written by on 01/11/2012
Today my sister and I took my 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter to Drayton Manor for the first time (for them) as we usually go to Alton Towers (which is much better and the same price!) I'll start with the cons.. Some things are waaay over priced like the hot chocolate a £2.50 a cup! The bumper cars were an issue as they have far too many cars and hardly room to move, they could do with taking 4 or 5 out. At lunch time we ate at the cartoon network resturant and the only seats were by the doors which were open and it was cold. There was a young lad who was a member of staff standing by the doors so I went over and asked him if we could close them as they were wedged open, and he replied 'I dunno, and walked off! Charming! Watch out on G Force! Really badly designed in terms of safety restraints! You're held in by with a bar across your stomach which really hurts when you go upside down! An over head restraint would have been a better option!Lastly for the cons, you get more for your money at Alton Towers which is the same price as Drayton Manor, ESPECIALLY if you're an adult! OK, now for the pros! Book online for cheaper prices before you go! Don't pay for the carpark as there's no one on the gates when you leave, and it wasn't clear at all where to pay anyway so we didn't! The park is great for children and if they're the same age as min(8 and 11) they will get on most things like mine did. It's also great for children as it's not very big so easy to walk around, unlike Alton Towers, which is massive, but fantastic for all! The children's meals were reasonably priced at around £4.30 for a hot dinner and a drink. The staff, bar a couple were all very friendly and polite, the toilets were clean as was the park itself. We expected it to be rammed with it been half term, but the most we qued was around 15 for one ride which was the haunting! We didn't really get a chance to see the zoo as we left it a bit late, but the monkeys were cute! The 4d show was fantastic, including the seating so make sure you see that! Over all, a great day out if you have children with you, If you're an adult only party then go to Alton Towers! :)
written by SquareHairBear on 16/07/2012
Just back from a weekend at Drayton Manor with my sister, nephew etc. We stayed at the Hotel which was great. The staff really went out of their way, the hotel was spotless and the breky was yummy! In terms of the park; it was smaller than I was expecting. I think that without Thomas (the tank) they would probably struggle to compete with the bigger parks - There are a few reasonable adult rides clustered together, but Drayton is really about the kids. To that end, the Zoo was very welcome and surprisingly good (albeit a little tired). Overall we had a great time. Without the kids there we wouldn't have gone, but they loved it.
written by jibrishboy on 20/06/2012
Its a good place to visit with family. I've been there like 10 times. love the rides and the surroundings. very beautiful
written by on 20/05/2012
THE HOTEL we went to drayton manor a couple of weeks ago, we stayed at the hotel, it was nice and clean, the staff were friendly and helpful, the free breakfast was also fresh and warm, i was a little disapointed that the hotel advertises a thomas theatre, when we went to find the theatre we we told if wasnt on and insted they were playing childrens bingo, my two children are under 4, and looking forward so were very disapoint that it wasnt on but that was the only bad thing about the hotel. DRAYTON MANOR: we only really visited for Thomas land which i was very impressed with, my children had such a good time, and even though we only got back from disney florida in feb, they still talk about thomas land much more and always say they want to go back. so with little one who love thomas, its a big hit. The zoo had some nice looking animals in it and although i wasnt very impressed with the enclosures, the animals all seemed in good health.The zoo could do with a bit of jazzing up, but we wasnt going for the zoo so really it was a bonus it being there. My husband and i love theme parks, have been to loads, i am glad we never visited drayton manor until we had the kids , because with out thomas land there is hardly anything for adults to do, the park is alot amller than i was expecting. all big rides close together, we went during term time and the park was sooo quiet, and if we didnt have the kids could have done the park in an hour and half MAX! so id give drayton manor 4 stars for families but just for adults i wouldnt bother going.
written by marcelogbh3 on 26/02/2012
Had an excellent time, a great day out, loved the rides!
written by on 19/09/2011
We used a voucher which meant that the day was good value, the park was great our son (aged 2 years) loved it all. Thomas Land was a big hit so much so we are going back at Christmas, I can not rate this park enough however the food was poor and very expensive it cost £16.00 for 3 meals one of these was a kids meal, most of the meal we put in the bin. It was cold, greasy and I would not feed it to my dog..... Just down the road is a really nice M&S food hall, I would sugguest going there before hand, spending the same money but getting really nice food or taking a pinic which we will do next time..... It is a shame because that part really let the park down.....
written by Britainboy on 11/06/2011
My family and best friend went for a day out at Drayton Manor theme park in the August of 2010. When first arriving at the entrance I was faced with my worst enemy. There seemed to be a fairly high quantity of wasps. Being terrified of wasps, I thought the enjoyment of this day would be completely ruined! Fortunately, this didn't turn out to be the case. This has probably been the only theme park I've been to where they seem to have their wasp problem under control, which is excellent considering that so many people are scared of wasps. To relieve my fear, I just made sure I stayed away from rubbish bins and didn't buy anything with a high sugar content and would recommend others with a fear of wasps to do the same. The queueing times for the majority of rides is very good. We were probably their for a total of 7 to 8 hours and managed around 12 to 15 rides, cosidering meal times, visits to shops and toilet stops, queueing times for rides are very low, perhaps on average about 20 to 30 minutes although like most theme parks, the large rides like Stormforce 10 and Shockwave have considerably longer queueing times. If you're brave enough to go on he main ride, Shockwave, then you should most definitely get to the theme park prior to opening and go on as soon as the park opens to minimise queueing times, by doing this, we've discovered you virtually get straight on it. Queuing for this ride at peak times can be as high as 90 mniutes where the ride only lasts for about 90 seconds!!! The vast number of rides, shops and other attractions suitable for all ages makes Drayton Manor a brilliant place for a brilliant day out for both families and friends, of all ages!
written by dodd97 on 23/12/2010
We have visited drayton manor on many occasions.This year I took a load of teenagers for my daughters birthday party.They had a great time.The rides vary from ages.Some suitable for younger children most being for older.The staff are all very friendly and helpful.The ride queues are not bad either.I don't tend to go to the zoo very often when I go;But from what I remember it is clean and friendly.Nothing to spectacular though.The parking is good and getting away is easy too.There is various places to purchase food and stalls which you can play games on these seem helpful.The 4d cinema is very good as well.I wouldn't recommend it for children with very young children,or anybody too old,But I certainly am going to recommend it to other friends and will definitely visit again
written by on 19/09/2010
We visited Drayton Manor with our son 5, and daughter 11. We had a brilliant day and as we went on a school day it was fairly quiet and we did not have to que for any of the rides (except the Thomas train ride itself). My son is a Thomas fanatic and was thrilled with Thomas Land, there was also plenty for my daughter to enjoy as well as some rides for us all to do together. There was so much to do we would probably go for 2 days next time. The staff were surprisingly friendly and the park fairly clean and tidy. I would recommend you keep your mouth firmly closed on the water rides as the water was filthy but we have not suffered any ill effects. The day was good value for money and the gift shops were reasonably priced. If you can go during term time do as the lack of ques definetly enhanced the experience. I am not a fan of zoos generally but this was was ok with the animals ( especially the tigers) in nice condition so they probably were fairly happy.
written by bidbox on 05/05/2010
Drayton Manor Park was a fairly long drive (around 120 miles) for us three adults and two under-4-year-old children. Being our first visit to the park and having been made aware prior that this was "no Alton Towers" I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
Unlike Alton Towers all of the major attractions are in one place - no need for cable cars or negotiating vast Oriental Gardens that no-one actually visits. The thrill rides are of a high standard, "Shockwave" being the park's previous flagship now, in my opinion, out-shone by the 180ft tower-drop terror of "Apocalypse" and the short but adrenalin-pumpingly sweet "G-Force", all of which are within a hundred yards of eachother.
Thomas Land is a massive hit with the youngsters (and needless to say us parents!) and is packed with all of the kiddies favourite Thomas the Tank Engine characters and themed rides. All of which I might add were suitable for my son and his cousin (ages 3 and 4 respectively). There's also a fairly large zoo with lots too look at and enjoy.
The overall care taken of the park was of an equally high calibre to that of (and forgive me for using this example yet again, but..) Alton Towers and the staff appeared to be well trained, professional and polite. There are also alot of places to eat and drink, albeit mostly fast food, but again very well presented and clean/tidy etc.
With packed-luches this trip (including fuel costs) came to no more that £160 for all of us which is excellent value for money.
The only slight downside to the experience of visiting Drayton Manor was that a very small percentage of the rides and shops didn't appear to be open during the entire length of our visit - this maybe could have been made better by longer peak functioning times (currently 9:30am to 5pm).
Although we may have been lucky that the park was fairly quiet given that we visited mid-week during school term time, overall our experience of Drayton Manor Park was excellent.
I personally would recommend this to anyone (young or old) looking for an alternative to the usual day-trips.
written by on 07/02/2010
Drayton Manor is a great park. The queing times are quite short (10-30 mins) but rides like Stormforce 10 will take AGES to get on. It's also very bad to go there on weekends or summer holidays or normal holidays. Otherwise, it's really good. Thomas Land is really great for kids (I liked Thomas when I was young) and scary rides like Apocalypse and G-force are fun too. Yes, there are wasps. A lot.
Just ignore them and you have a perfect place. Problem is, the staff aren't very friendly. They have piercings, tattoos etc. and just kept laughing when people was scared and talking to friends. Food is expensive, so bring your own food and go for a picnic. Good choice though!
written by on 29/09/2009
Had a fab day at Drayton Manor Theme Park and Zoo yesterday, we are a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children ages 5, 10 and 15) there was rides to suit all ages, thomas land was great, the bigger rides were also great for my eldest and his dad, my son who is 10 and small for his ages managed to get on to some of the bigger rides as there height restriction for most of the bigger rides is over 1.3 m unlike Alton Towers where the heigh restriction is 1.4 m so he was happy also, all in all a good day had by all.
written by on 26/08/2009
We had a great day at Drayton manor. Got there early 9.30 was able to go on Thomas land straight away. Most time we queued through the day was between 10 -30 mins. Excellent park for all ages. Mine are 4, 8 & 13. Take a rain coat get very wet on splash rides great fun !!
Take a picnic, able to return to car.
This park has something for everyone so much better than Legoland queue lenghts and many more staff.
Down side quite a few wasps but is in the country side !! Also was not too keen on the Zoo.
Even better value if you use your Tesco clubcard vouchers.
We will be going again next year for sure
written by on 22/05/2009
Came down from Lanarkshire all 300miles(ish) to go to Drayton Manor with my wife and 2 and a half year old son.
the boy loved thomasland although doesnt understand the meaning of waiting his turn to go on something....which was a little stress at times....but seeing as we went outwith the usual holiday period he never had to wait more than 5 minutes for any ride.the rides are all good in thomasland and very suitable for the kids.
the zoo is cool......if you like zoo's.
wait till late afternoon .... thats when most kids are hacked off from going on the rollercoasters since 1030am.....so i was able to get on them ...sometimes three times in a row with zero waiting. just as well ......the big rides are all great!! but over in less than 1 minute!! apocalypse must be ridden in the different modes to fully appreciate it. these are sitting/standing/free standing (nothing underfoot/legs dangling)
if you cant get on this ride for these due to the queues ....then your missing out!!
to get on it enough..go off peak holiday times....go later in afternoon...... then go on it 5 time in a row or so!!! mega!!!
the other rollercoasters are great too.....gforce was memorable .....again go off peak.....dont queue .....go on it a few times.
written by themepark on 14/04/2009
Drayton Manor Theme Park and Zoo is easy to find and well sign posted, the staff are friendly enougth but could do with making a bit more effert assisting you on the rides and when asked for directions, the park is well worth a visit even if your traveling as far from liverpool, the park also has a zoo witch is open even when the themepark is shut
written by frederick watt on 28/01/2009
Drayton Manor Theme Park and Zoo has a good camping site. The rides are good the stand up coaster is one ride will never get tired off and when you need a rest go to the zoo. We go there every year in May or June mid week no Q's here's to this year. Camp site good the first night there the water was cold but they fix that the next day. there is a ASDA with in a 10 min drive for drink, food and ice we had a great time the frist time we went it rain every day but good times had by all and we will be going back.
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