Erin is quite the thrillseeker, and so for her fourth birthday this year we wanted to take her for a day out that would let her embrace her more adventurous side. We are lucky enough that Tamworth is quite literally on our doorstep, and as such, a trip to Drayton Manor’s Thomas Land was the obvious choice.
I hadn’t been to Drayton Manor since I was about eight years old(!), and was looking forward to introducing Erin to some of the rides that I remembered fondly from my childhood!
About Thomas Land
With over 25 rides and attractions, Thomas Land recently went through a huge £2.5million expansion in 2015, with new rides such as Flynn’s Fire Rescue, Toby’s Tram Express and Captain’s Seas Adventure. The attraction is now 3,200 square metres bigger, allowing visitors to move around more freely and rider capacity has surged by 23% to a whopping 5,130 people per hour. A separate area of the park, perfect for young and young at heart, there really is something for everyone.
Our Experience
We had a fantastic day at Drayton Manor, and can’t wait to go back again for a return visit. The day was described by Erin as “The best Day EVER” which as responses go, is a pretty good one from a four year old!
We visited the park on a Monday during term time (one of the benefits of having a pre-schooler!) and as such the park was relatively quiet. This was a huge bonus as we didn’t have to queue very long (if at all) for any of the rides, which meant Erin didn’t get impatient or frustrated.
Parking is free, on a large overflow fielded area a short walk from the park.
Once you enter the main park, Thomas Land itself is extremely easy to find, clearly sign posted and with an arch entrance on the left hand side.
For Thomas the Tank Engine fans like Erin, the world of Sodor comes to life almost as soon as you walk through the door. With live shows on the hour, as well as life size models of her favourite characters and a photo opportunity with the Fat Controller, it really was a magical experience.
There was so much to see and do that despite being at the park for almost 6 hours, we didn’t fit everything in, and are keen to return for another visit so we can go on the rides we missed as well as check out the Zoo and Dino park.
Here are some of Erin’s favourite rides from the day:
Troublesome Trucks Runaway Rollercoaster
In my opinion, this was the most adventurous ride in Thomasland itself, a rollercoaster with two cycles around a track of twists, turns and drops. Erin LOVED it even if I was a little bit scared 🙂 A perfect first rollercoaster for young children, the Troublesome Trucks, twist and turn and tilt around the track before returning to the station. (Minimum height of 1m, and children under 1.2m need to be accompanied by an adult).
Flynn’s Fire Rescue
This was a really fun interactive ride. Climbing into your own little fireman’s lift, you are lifted up and down and round the engulfed building, using your water canons to spray water and put out a (make believe) fire! Daddy got a bit silly on this one and as such Erin came off a little bit wet, so may be a good idea to pack a change of clothes to be on the safe side!
Jeremy Jet’s Flying Academy
This was my favourite ride – a gentle pace ride but exciting none the less for younger visitors. Using the button on the front of the plane we could decide how high or how low we wanted our plane to fly, or even rise and drop as we flew past Daddy and Neve on the ground below. Erin loved looking down and waving, and pretending to steer using the little wheel on the front!
Terrance’s Driving School
This was hilarious to watch. In Terrance’s Driving School young guests can get behind the wheel of their very own tractor, being totally in control whilst driving round a clockwise track. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to the time when Erin takes driving lessons, as she was a little stop start to say the least! Eventually she got the hang of it, and was soon whizzing around the track, proud as punch to be driving all by herself.
There are plenty of places to eat on the park, including Sodor Coffee Shop – a child friendly cafe in Thomasland itself, as well as a number of ‘fast food’ style eateries on the main park. As it was Erin’s birthday we decided to eat at the Grill Inn – a more formal restaurant on site. The meal was reasonably priced and food was of a good standard (whilst nothing special). They did forget Erin’s dinner due to a problem with their full system, but this was quickly resolved and a complimentary birthday girl fruit cocktail bought out for her whilst she waited!
There are a number of games and interactive displays in Thomas Land including hook the duck, where Daddy and Erin managed to get enough points to win a giant fluffy duck to take home!
The thing that scared me most about my entire visit is that I learnt something new about my daughter. She is not scared of ANYTHING. As the afternoon progressed, Erin decided she wanted to go and explore the wider park before venturing off to go on The Accelerator. I watched in horror and panic as the two of them went off to the queue, fully expecting tears at this more grown up rollercoaster, but instead, we got chants of AGAIN AGAIN!!
The most bizarre part of our visit, was the fact that Erin shrunk during the day. In the morning, she was tall enough to go on two of the rides, but in the afternoon was just shy of the height limitations. Clearly I need to teach her about posture when she is tired! The prospect of being big enough to go back on the Accelerator is now enough to have made Erin eat vegetables with every single meal, on the promise of it making her grow big and strong – a definite yet unexpected silver lining.
Overall we had a wonderful time at Drayton Manor and are already planning our next visit. With rides to suit everything from the adventurous to the mild (like me), you can’t go wrong with a day trip during the summer. We just might need to put Erin in thicker soled shoes next time!!!
*Disclosure – we were given complimentary tickets to Drayton Manor in exchange for our honest review. All thoughts and opinions are our own*
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