DRAYTON MANOR PARK, TAMWORTH
(Jul 13) We were invited on a press trip to Drayton Manor Park and an overnight stay at the Drayton Manor Hotel.
We arrived on a Saturday around 11am, after a 2.5 hour drive from Kent. We left our bags with the hotel with the intention to check in at 3pm, and headed on into the park. First stop was Thomas Land (of course) where 3yo DS was ecstatic to see all his favourite characters, and even the Fat Controller. It was quite busy, and Thomas Land was definitely one of the busier areas of the park, so we didn't mange to go on some of the rides. DS is one metre tall, so he could only go on a handful of rides. He thoroughly enjoyed Diesels Locomotion Mayhem but I think Crazy Bertie Bus (where the bus rotates up into the air forwards, and then backwards) was probably a bit too much for him. We would have liked to go on the Blue Mountain Engines, but the queue was ridiculously long. My 8yo sister went on the Cranky the Crane Drop Tower with DH (a ride where you're taken up into the air and it drops down), and they enjoyed that. We took a break at Knapford Station where there was a cafe, so we bought some ice-creams, which were on average £1.55 each.
Next we visited the onsite zoo. When you first walk in, it doesn't look very big, however it does cover quite a large area. The enclosures appeared to be quite small, although some of the animals weren't too bothered; the monkeys were very animated and entertaining the watch. A pair were chasing each other and one would put a hat on and run around the cage! It wasn't a huge zoo, but big enough to have a reptile centre, monkeys, tigers, parrots and many other animals.
We went on to explore other areas of the park and went on the Vintage Carousel, Wild West Shoot Out and the Splash Canyon. We couldn't go on any of the thrill rides because of the children, but we could see many rollercosters across the park. the Splash Canyon was probably the favourite, and so refreshing to get soaking wet on such a hot summer's day! We had a snack at the Central Plaza, where we bought a sausage roll each for around £2.50.
It was heading towards dinner time and the children were hungry, so we decided to find somewhere to eat. We decided to venture out of the park to find something cheaper and drove five minutes down the road to Longwood pub, where they had reasonably priced meals. After, we picked up our luggage and checked into the Drayton Manor hotel, where we were given a standard family room. There was the option to upgrade to a Thomas themed room for an additional £60 but we decided not to. Our standard room was an average sized room with one double bed and a sofa bed pulled out. They had a TV and a fridge, along with an iron and an ironing board, a hairdryer and a thermostat in the room. We couldn't work out how to turn off the air conditioning so it was a bit chilly in the room. The bathroom was clean, with a shower over the bath. We didn't have any hotel toiletries, only the soap dispenser attached to the wall in the bath. It was a bit odd (or one might even say good hotel management) that the soap couldn't be removed, the iron was stuck to the ironing board and the hair dryer couldn't be used elsewhere in the room.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. It was a buffet, which included your standard fry-up, toast and pastries, cereals, yoghurts and fruits. This was really good start to the day, as the kids had a huge variety. Once they had finished eating, they were able to play on the Thomas tracks whilst we were still eating. Just outside the back of the hotel, they had a small park with a slide, a large swing and climbing frames. Also, just in the hotel lobby, they had Thomas tracks for the kids to play with - however, there weren't any trains. Conveniently, this was placed in front of the Thomas gift shop...
Tickets to Drayton Manor Park costs £25 online (£36 at the gate) for over 12s, and £20 online (£27 at the gate) for 4-11 year olds and over 60's, £5 for 2-3 year olds and under 2's go free. A standard family room at the Drayton Manor Hotel start around £120 a night. Overall we had a great time at Drayton Manor, but we probably would have enjoyed it more if the kids were a bit older and if we had gone mid-week, when it would have been less busy.
7/10 (from KatGransnet)