Reviewed by Kelsey Pate
We were delighted to be chosen to write a review for this Magical Christmas at Drayton Manor on Saturday 23rd November 2019.
My husband, myself, 9-year-old son and 7-year-old boy & girl twins arrived just before 10am on the morning. The theme park was easy to find, no queues or hold up’s and straightforward. You arrive at some barriers where you take a ticket for the car park. Follow the road (well signposted) to the main entrance car park. It was good hard standing and despite all the wet weather we have had recently it was good to see it wasn’t waterlogged!! Lots of parking attendants available to direct you to your parking space. The parking lanes are all marked with large clear signs and are marked A-Z for ease of finding your car later in the day.
We took a short walk to the main entrance of the park and was greeted at the booths by some lovely members of staff who quickly got us our tickets and gave the kids some lanyards to wear for the day. We were also given a few of the usual leaflets containing the park map and information. I didn’t use it, but I notice they do have an App you can download which I am sure will be very useful for most.
We moved on to the turnstiles next for entry to the park and handed over our tickets for scanning. There was a bit of a wait here as they struggled to get the barcodes to scan (perhaps it was the cold weather)! Anyone we were soon let through and was greeted immediately by 2 showman stilt walkers, a very jolly elf and a lion mascot. They made lots of fuss of the children and spent time having some fun with them. They said they would see us lots throughout the day.
We knew we had 2 hours to explore at our leisure before we need to be at our scheduled lunch stop, so we took a little time getting our bearings. I have to say that the park is nicely enclosed and easy to find your way around. There are lots of places to stop for refreshments if required, and plenty of toilet facilities. We located the Guest Services and ensured the children knew if they happened to get separated from us at any point or lost then they should head for this building to get help. We noticed lots of machines dotted around the park to enable you to pay for your parking. This can be paid cash or card easily and cost us £5 for the full day.
We didn’t need to use, but there were lockers available to store your bags in if required. This would be really handy if you took a picnic with you for lunch as would save you carrying around all morning or taking the walk back to your car. I believe the cost ranges depending on size of locker chosen and length of time needed. Prices from £1-£6. Lots of picnic areas to use to eat lunch if that’s what you prefer, but if not there are lots of eateries to tempt your taste buds and from what we saw not extortionate in price like a lot of theme parks!
We took in the beautiful Christmas decorations, including the 30ft Christmas tree lightshow, which was set to festive music. The children were all amazed by the size of it and enjoyed having some family snaps standing by the side of it. The buildings were all decorated with a Christmas theme and there were decorated trees and lights everywhere. Even the rooftops were decorated with faux snow, which really got us all in the Christmas spirit.
We decided to head over to the 15-acre open plan zoo next, and we arrived at Meerkat Manor first, much to our kids delight! Being so cold I think they were all staying inside, and we couldn’t blame them! We were able to go inside their enclosure and observe them playing. Lots of giggles!
We then headed over to the reindeer enclosure, were there was 2 of them just having their breakfast. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get a great view of these due to the fencing surrounding the enclosure, but we all enjoyed seeing them all the same. I do think more could have been made of the enclosure to make it more special. The children were excited to see them, but they all felt a little underwhelmed, which was a shame.
We continued to explore the zoo and came across all sorts of unusual creatures! We all really enjoyed seeing the different monkeys and we were impressed by the gorgeous Red Panda’s. We came across the Dino Trail next and we all had fun following the trail and learning some facts about each type of dinosaur on display.
We next headed to Terence’s Driving School. On our way over there we caught sight of Percy sitting in the station waiting to leave. The kids wanted to go on it immediately, but he was just about to leave so we were too late. The lady turned to us and said not to worry as the star of the show was heading into the station shortly and they are sure would enjoy riding on him just as much. She was right, only a few moments later and the blue engine came in to view. Thomas had been decorated with antlers and festive lights. Our children are a little old for Thomas & Friends, but they were still very excited to see him and couldn’t wait to have a ride on him.
We decided we would continue exploring this area before catching the next train back to Thomas Land. The kids had fun at Terence’s Driving School and enjoyed meeting the Ostrich, Rhea, Kangaroo, Emu and others in that area. The Ostrich were amusing and very inquisitive! We had a look in the Thomas & Friends Exhibition building. There was a large model railway scene set up in there, and we all enjoyed finding the trains and watching them moving around the model set.
We headed back to the station and found Percy waiting to take us back to Thomas Land. We had no waiting as there wasn’t a queue, so hopped straight on board. We were soon on our way, and we all enjoyed taking in the sights as we steadily passed through the park. There were lots of festive scenes, including snow on our journey and this all made for a magical arrival in Thomas Land.
We enjoyed a few of the fantastic rides in Thomas Land. All 3 of my children enjoyed the rides and there was something for all ages. Even us adults had fun, particularly on the Troublesome Trucks Runaway Rollercoaster, we had such fun on that and we rode it several times!
We headed over to Eat, Drink, Enjoy for our lunch. We had fresh sandwiches, posh crisps, fruit, biscuits, hot & cold drinks and lots more. We were entertained by the elf and lion characters to begin with and enjoyed lots of singalongs. This was followed by the 2 showmen who we had previously met on stilts. They put on a fabulous show of juggling, plate spinning (which the children were invited to have a go at), balloon modelling and a very daring juggling with knives show, which was very impressive and there were lots of gasps from the crowd!
While watching the entertainment I took a few moments to have a look at what was on offer for sale in the café. Here is a photo of the counter to give an idea of what’s on offer and prices. I was particularly impressed with the excellent food labelling and how well they catered for food allergies/intolerances. Having a child with a nut allergy, I spend a lot of time checking foods when eating out.
There was also a ‘Kelly’s’ ice cream counter, offering lots of enticing flavour ice cream along with slushies. They were fairly reasonably priced too. In fact, I was surprised that everything was reasonable at Drayton Manor, unlike Alton Towers which cost us an arm and 10 legs when we visited there in the summer!
Once everyone had finished lunch the entertainers requested we follow them outside and one of the showmen hopped up onto a giant unicycle and began juggling. They had us all join in a parade through the park headed for Thomas Land. We were entertained the whole way and was even treated to a live performance by a brass band, which was lovely and festive.
Our next experience was the Jolly Fat Controllers Christmas Show. We had a great sing along (with actions) and all enjoyed watching Thomas and Percy turning around on the turntable in front of us. There was lots of faux snow showered over us all and we all loved it. We didn’t partake, but there was a photo opportunity with the Fat Controller after the show, which I am sure lots of children would enjoy.
We headed into Thomas Land to enjoy some more rides before heading over to The Castle of Dreams to meet Santa. We had quite a wait in the queue there, but we were well entertained by the elves the whole time. The kids were so excited to see what was at the other side of those doors! We were soon shown into Santa’s room and greeted by a very welcoming Santa. He was lovely and had a lovely chat with all 3 of our children. It never felt rushed at all and he really engaged with them. We had opportunity to have photos taken (1 with the children and then 1 with us parents). The children were then handed a lovely gift bag and left promising they would be super good! Once outside they dived into their bags and found a gorgeous teddy bear inside along with a certificate to name their bear, a free entry ticket for 2020 and a voucher for free ice cream! What a wonderful gift for them all.
We followed the walkway back inside and we found the photo booth to order our special snaps with Santa. Here is a photo of the pricelist for photos.
Inside the castle there was a reindeer and sleigh prop for photo opportunities, free face painting and crafts. This lead into a gift shop area, which we didn’t stop to look at as the kids wanted to get back to the rides! There seemed a lot of lovely gifts on offer though and from what I saw, not extortionately priced.
We continued on exploring the rides and then headed over to the Slide & Glide Ice skating arena. We probably only had about 15 minutes here, but what a laugh we all had. It’s only basic, but still fun and it’s FREE!
We had just enough time to get over to the Magical Parade at the Carousel Stage next but we were a little late I think as there was a huge crowd and we couldn’t get near enough to get a clear view for the children unfortunately. Definitely recommend giving yourself plenty of time and be there early to get a good view. We still enjoyed the music and entertainment though and with us being at the back, we were lucky to be right up close to Santa arriving on his train! The parade then headed back toward the Christmas Tree and we were entertained some more with singing and dancing and lots of snow before turning around to face the lake to watch the grand finale of the day… FIREWORKS! What an amazing finish to the day this was. We can’t usually watch the big fireworks as my son doesn’t like the loud bangs. We were very impressed to see that Drayton Manor had used fireworks that were not too loud and it meant that everyone could enjoy them.
Even though it was quite a wet and miserable day, it did not bother us at all. We had a fantastic day, and we all said we cannot wait to go back. The kids are even after booking birthday outings there! They all said they preferred it to Alton Towers and that they loved the Christmas experience. Even though they have outgrown Thomas & Friends they still loved everything. All the staff at the park were friendly and welcoming. The park was clean and tidy and we saw staff regularly sweeping and cleaning throughout the day. Prices were reasonable for a theme park and it was so refreshing to find extra activities that were free of charge inside the park. Like the face painting and ice skating. The Santa experience was one of the best we have seen and the gifts given were very generous. Our children will treasure those bears for years to come I am sure and they will remember the wonderful day out they had at Drayton Manor.
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £5 to £26 per person
For more information or to book tickets visit www.draytonmanor.co.uk/magical-christmas.
Drayton Manor, Drayton Manor Drive, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B78 3TW
