Its Me Chrissy J

We had a last minute trip to Drayton Manor Theme Park at the weekend – our friends are annual passholders so they invited us along for the day.

We are avid Merlin attraction fans (and annual passholders) and we have only visited Drayton Manor maybe once before and don’t remember it living up to our expections verses other parks we visited.

Updated 1st June 2024 – As we visited again I have updated some sections with bits from this visit you can find these with 2024 Update : before them.

Here are our thoughts on our visit to Drayton Manor

Booking Our Tickets

The Drayton Manor website is really easy to navigate and booking our tickets was really simple. We did have a choice between booking online which would save us 30% off the on the day gate price, or we could have used our Clubcard rewards to buy our tickets on the day.

2024 Update : We visted a 2nd time using our clubcard vouchers – You need to go to the customer services in this building. You can use multiple vouchers in one transaction (we had 2)

We decided to buy online as along with the early booker discount we could also get cashback via TopCashBack

You have a few different options for tickets

Annual Passes

These are 3 different annual pass options and the passes include:

Silver Annual Pass

Cost: 4yrs + : £79, 2-3yrs : £45

Unlimited use on restricted dates
10% off at onsite retail and catering outlets.
20% off animal encounters
10% off Hotel Bed & Breakfast
Exclusive Offers
£25 tickets for friends & family
Discounts on photos

Gold Annual Pass

Cost: 4yrs + : £99, 2-3yrs : £65

In addition to the above
Unrestricted date access to the park
Free Car parking
20% off at onsite retail and catering outlets.
1 Free entry ticket to pleasurewood hills

Two Park Annual Pass

Cost: 4yrs + : £175, 2-3yrs : Included

In addition to the above
Free access to under 3’s
Entry to West Midlands Safari Park
West Midlands Safari Park Ride Wristband
10% off West Midlands Safari Park Lodges
20% off public events in Treetops Pavilion

The Annual Pass will be valid for a full 12 months from the day you purchase your pass.

Drayton Manor Day tickets

You can book and download your tickets right away there is no need to print them off. Although if you prefer having them printed off you can of course do this!

Either way the barcode will be scanned on the gate to allow you access

The cost for day tickets is;

Adult

Aged 4+ | Pre-book to save up to 35%*

• Fixed Date £29.50 – £39 Pre-booked (Cheaper the more in advance you book)
• Flexible – £45
• £45 On the gate

Under 4

Aged 2-3 and 0-23months

• £15 Pre-booked/Flexible/On the gate (aged 2-3)
• Free Pre-booked/On the gate (under 2’s)

Adult + Toddler

Monday to Friday in term time you can get an adult and under 4 entry for £29.50

You can use Clubcard vouchers against the cost of an on the gate day ticket only (Currently £45 for 4yr + and £15 for 2-3yrs.

Rainy Day Guarantee

I really like the idea of this added extra. You can purchase a Rainy Day Guarantee for £2 per person.

This means if more than 4mm of rain falls during opening hours they will email you a code to book a return visit free of charge.

Parent and Toddler Ticket

During term time weekdays you can get an adult and toddler ticket (child must be under 4) for just £29.50

Parking at Drayton Manor

You won’t be short of a space there is loads of parking! We arrived early enough to be on the fields right next to the entrance but there is further parking a short walk away.

There are disabled bays also located near the main entrance.

All the parking has markers to tell you where you have parked so make sure you take note (or take a photo!) of the marker so you can find your car at the end of the day.

Parking costs £6 per car for the day.

Drayton Manor Main Park

I like the way the park is quite compact, meaning less walking for little legs!

We went straight to accelorator as my friend said the queue for this one gets quite long later in the day.

There aren’t many ‘big’ rides here and actually the park isn’t too appealing for those over 1.2m who like faster riders.

It is however perfect for those who couldn’t do the 1.2m+ rides at the bigger parks as most of these were 0.9m or 1m with a parent.

Accelerator (Ride Photo available)

Minimum height 1.0m. Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied.

Holly loved accelerator her first proper roller coaster. It’s actually pretty quick and also goes backwards!

The queue wasn’t too bad but it was alot longer later in the day.

2024 Update: Holly is tall enough to ride this on her own now and she went on several time! She absolutely loved it

The Wave formerly Shockwave (Ride Photo available)

Minimum height of 1.2m – Guests under 1.32m must be accompanied by a responsible person aged 16+.

Shockwave had a redesign over the winter and launched as The Wave, with a new lower height restriction (hurrah!) Holly was super excited to be able to go on it.

It is no longer a standing coaster and instead now has a lapbar only, as you can see I was hanging onto Holly, she’s so small to be going upside down but she thought it was amazing.

Wave Swinger

Minimum height to ride 1.0m. Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied by an adult on a double seat.

This one took a bit of coordination! Oscar was too small to ride and both Holly and Jess needed me to sit next to them.

Chloe waited with Jess while I took Holly and Bradley on and then Chloe and Jess came on. So I did 2 back to back rides on a ride which made me feel super sick, but they kids enjoyed it.

Carousel

Children under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult.

Flying Dutchman

Guests under 1.0m must be accompanied by an adult

Oscar was so excited he could do on this one and was shouting WOW WINDY all the way round.

It does go quite high and its a bit of a bumpy landing too which he loved.

Air Race

Minimum height of 1.2m

We didn’t go on this as none of them are tall enough but Bradley went on the week before with his uncle and loved it!

2024 Update: Last time we visited none of ours were tall enough but this time Chloe, Lottie and Holly all went on!

Jolly Buccaneer

Minimum height of 1.0m – Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied by an adult

Another one of my not favourite types of ride and I also got to goo n this one twice, back to back as Holly and Jess needed someone with them but it is only 2 per car.

2024 Update : Another Holly is now tall enough to ride on her own!

Photo Opportunities

The lion mascot was wandering round the park (mainly near the entrance) ready for photos with the visitors, we were disappointed we didn’t spot the team who make all the tiktoks as we would have loved to have snuck into one!

In Thomas Land you’ll find the Thomas characters dotted about and also the Fat Controller and some of his team (who will sing Happy Birthday to you!)

2024 Update : We didn’t see as many walkabouts apart from the fat controller (who Holly informed me is now known as Sir Topham Hatt!) They did have a few cute phot frames and backdrops to take photos too.

Tidal Towers Playground

Suitable for children 6+ 

Although this said suitable for ages 6+ Oscar (2), Holly (4) and Jess (4) were fine playing in there. It is unsupervised and there is seating available right next to it for picnics.

2024 Update : Oscar loved playing on here while the girls were on the air race. They have added some more seating around too.

Vikings Area – Now Open!

Drayton Manor are also working on a new section in the park (which is now open) – Vikings Land!

We are massive Vikings fans and can’t wait to see what this will bring to the overall experience of Drayton Manor.

2024 Update : Having just missed the opening on our last visit it was great to get to ride everything this time!

Jormungandr (Ride Photo Available)

Minimum height of 1.05m – Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied by an adult

We headed straight over to the Vikings area first as we knew it was likely to get very busy later, all the rides were pretty much walk on so we got on all 3 quite quickly.

Loki

Minimum height of 1.05m – Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied by an adult

This ride is brilliant even to watch! The only down side is it takes so so so long to load. They load one section, swap the carriages so those who are loaded are up in the air while the bottom carriages are loaded.

Although we did get some great views while we were up there waiting!

Thor

Minimum height of 1.2m

Again Holly was allowed to go on this one, so the girls went on while I waited with Oscar and then we swapped over so I could go on. Oscar wasn’t the least bit bothered about not being able to go on it.

It’s my Birthday!

If you are lucky enough to visit Drayton Manor on your birthday pop in to guest services on your way in.

You’ll be given a sticker to wear to show it’s your Birthday and staff will sing Happy Birthday to you and you might even bag some free pin badges.

Thomas Land

We spent most of our day in here, there are alot more attractions than when we last visited and Holly was big enough for all of them. We still struggled a little for the things Oscar could go on unfortunately even though he is over 0.9m

There is a handy height chart board to the left when you enter Thomas Land which gives you all the restrictions – Take a photo of this for quick refrence while you are looking at what to go on!

Each ride also has all the requirements and a height stick at the queue entrance, but we tried to just avoid the ones we knew he couldn’t go on.

2024 Update : Doesn’t look like they have added the new ride to the restrictions yet

Jeremy Jets Fying Academy

Guests under 1.2 must be accompanied.

Luckily I was allowed to take both of them on this together as neither were tall enough to go on without me. Holly claimed the front seat and Oscar wanted to sit with me in the back. Each plane can hold up to 4 people.

2024 Update : As noone else wanted to go on this, Oscar and I went on while the others went back to the Vikings land.

Cranky’s Drop Tower

Minimum height of 1.05m

It took a bit of convincing to get Holly on this one, but once she was on she loved it and wanted to go again!

It is a mini drop tower and it bounces up and down rather than just a single up and drop.

2024 Update : Another one for Oscar, he loves that he can go on so much without me!

Troublesome Trucks Runaway Rollercoaster (Ride Photo available)

Minimum height of 1m – Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied

Oscar was too small for this one so Chloe went on alone first and then we parent swapped so she could watch Oscar while I took Holly on.

I bet Holly if she could do the whole ride with her arms up then she could have an Ice Cream and here is the photo proof of her doing it – Ice cream prize down below!

2024 Update : We all went on this, it goes round twice and Oscar said it is very fast!

Toby’s Tram Express

Min 0.95m – Guests 0.95m to 1.05m must be accompanied

Another one Oscar couldn’t ride, but silly me didn’t notice it was 0.95 not 0.9 and he was just too short and they wouldn’t let him on. Full on trantrum followed while everyone else got to ride. Note to self : read signage better!

All the others could ride without me thankfully!

2024 Update : Another one I wasn’t needed for Oscar loved this one too!

Blue Mountain Engines

Guests under 0.9m need to be accompanied

I got away with not having to go on this one at all as the train only holds 4 people and as they are all over 0.9m they didn’t need an adult so I sent them all on together.

2024 Update : Holly wanted to go on this and then sulked the whole ride because it was too slow.

Flynn’s Fire Rescue

Guests under 0.9m need to be accompanied

Holly went on with Bradley first and I took Oscar on later on in the day as I didn’t want to walk round soaking wet!

I knew he would love it and he did, although he found it quite difficult to press for the water to come out.

Sodors Classic Cars (Ride Photo available)

Guests under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult

This was another ride we could all go on including Jacob – however we didn’t realise there was a camera and not one of us was looking at it!

2024 Update : Holly didn’t want to ride with us, she wanted her own car

Diesels Locomotive Mayhem

Guests under 1.2m must be accompanied by an adult

I sat this one out because things that spin in small circles (give me a proper rollercoaster any day of the week!) and Amanda was allowed to take Holly, Jess and Oscar in the one car together.

Harolds Helicoptor Tours

Guests under 1.05m must be accompanied by an adult

I couldn’t escape this one as we needed 2 cars so I took Holly and Oscar and Amanda took Bradley, Jess and Jacob.

The helicoptors actually go quite high! Oscar loved it, you can see quite a lot of the park from the highest point

Rocking Bulstrode

Guests under 1.05m must be accompanied by an adult

This was quite wild considering the low restriction on it! Holly was holding on tight and Oscar thought it was great!

All the below is from our 2024 Update :

James and the red balloon

Guests under 1m must be accompanied by an adult

Terence’s Driving School

Guests must be between 1m – 1.4m

Winston’s Whistle-stop tour

Guests under 1.05m must be accompanied by an adult

Lottie and Oscar went on this one together while Holly, Chloe and I went on the carousel.

Submarine Splash

Guests must be over 0.9m / 2 years old guests under 1.2m/6 years need to be accompanied

This is a new ride from 2023, we avoided it, water rides are not our thing.

Drayton Manor Zoo

I have been to Drayton Manor maybe 2 or 3 times in my adult life and I never knew it had a zoo. I don’t know whether I just didn’t pay attention to that information or I just wasn’t interested so chose not to retain it! However either way, there is in fact a 15 acre zoo at Drayton Manor!

First you’ll get to see the meercats before heading into the reptile area. It is very hot in here, even more so when it is full of people!

Oscar was fascinated by all the tanks full of lizards, snakes and frogs. Although he was adamant that it was just snakes in every single one!

Further round there were lots more tamarins and this beautiful Northern Lynx which posed perfectly for us!

Drayton Manor Dino Trail

I love dinosaurs, if you know me at all you will know I am obsessed! So I was pretty excited to be able to spend some time talking about Dinosaurs to the kids.

Oscar has for sure inherited my Dinosaur obsession and we had lots of WOW BIG! and squealing with excitement, he especially liked the 2 Pachycephalosaurus butting heads on the way out.

Spencers Outdoor Adventure Play

You’ll find this between the Dinosaur trail and the train station. There is loads of space for them all to run off some steam. You’ll also find seating and a smoking area off to the side.

There are toilets located right by this next door to the cafe opposite the train station entrance.

Train between Thomas Land and the Zoo

You can jump on the train between Thomas Land and the Zoo (it stops by the cafe at the far end of the zoo) It’s only a few minute train ride but the kids loved it.

You don’t even need to fold up your strollers as they have a couple of sections to park them in.

We typically ended up on the train and it stopped half way because of a fault so we got some extra time to take some pictures.

Baby Change Facilities

I was really excited when I took Oscar to get changed and noticed the family room has a split toilet search with a toddler seat built in! This is so helpful when you have small children with you.

The changing areas are all really roomy too, much better than just a small pull down after thought changing station stuck on a wall.

It was really helpful that within the baby change this toilet also has room for a pushchair so you don’t have to leave it / your child outside while you use the bathroom.

Drayton Manor Food Options

We actually decided to bring along our own picnics so that we didn’t have to stop and think about food too much they could just eat. constantly. all day. as kids do!

I did treat myself to a slice of Angel Cake from the Sodor Airport Coffee Shop – It was sooooo sickly sweet I couldn’t eat it and even Oscar pulled a face but it was still nice.

And we did head over to the dessert stand once all the rides closed at 5pm. Over at Fun Foods they have a selection including bubble waffles, ice cream, doughnuts and lots of other treats!

I was pleasantly surprised by the cost – We had 5 doughnuts, 2 whippy ice creams with flakes in tubs and a Calippo and it was around £11, which I even checked he had added everything to our order as it sounded too cheap! The kids loved the ice cream and the doughnuts were really good.

Annual Passholders get up to 20% off of food and drink too so don’t forget to show your pass if you have one.

If you do want to eat at the park though you won’t be short of places to eat

I also really liked this drinks offer and that you are also incentivised to keep the cup for your next visit.

Buy your cup for £7.50 and you can have free hot drink refills all day (excluding deluxe hot chocolate) and if you bring it back on your next visit you can reactivate it for £6.75 for the day.

I do love branded cups so if Gaz comes with us I will definitely get him one for all the coffee he would drink!

The restaurants include

Located between Shockwave and Towers

Chicken Diner

Chicken Fillet Bites
Hot & Spicy Chicken Burger
Falafel Burger
Chicken Fillet Salad
Fries, Sides & Drinks

Funky Fries

On the side of the Chicken Diner is a Funky Fries quick serve window where you can grab loaded fries, loaded nachos and drinks.

Sodor Airport Coffee Shop

Sandwiches & Baguettes
Cakes & Desserts
Hot Snacks
Breakfast until 11.30am
Hot & Cold Drinks

Safari Pizza & Pasta

Located at the Zoo entrance

Freshly made Pizzas
Tasty Pastas
Hot & Cold Sides
Hot & Cold Drinks

Lunch (no reservation required) 12.00pm until 5:00pm
Dinner (prebooked tables only) 5.00pm until 8.00pm

Full menu can be viewed on the Drayton Manor Website

Souvenir Reusable Cup

£4.50 for any 16oz draught soft drink and then £2.50 per refill (£2.75 for full fat coke)

Drayton’s Fish & Chips

Located next to the lake between Accelerator and the new Vikings area – this had quite a bit of bench seating over looking the lake which was nice

Battered Fish
Battered Fish Goujons
Jumbo Sausage
Jumbo Battered Sausage
Cone of Chips
Regular Chips
Mushy Peas, Curry Sauce & Gravy
Cold Drinks

The Burger Kitchen

Loctated next to the Jolly Buccaneer and Dodgems

Cheese Burgers
Hot & Spicy Burgers
Bacon & Cheese Burgers
Falafal Burgers and Fries
Sides & Drinks

Parklands Bar and Restaurant

Parkland is a proper sit down restaurant and reservations are required for breakfast and dinner – It is optional for lunch but it is recommended as it can get quite busy.

It’s opening times are;

Breakfast : 6.30am until 10.00am Monday – Friday, 7.00am until 10.30am Saturday & Sunday
Lunch : 12.00pm until 5:00pm
Dinner : 5.00pm until 9.30pm

Full menu can be viewed on the Drayton Manor Website

Ride Photos

All the rides where we could get ride photos I have marked above with (Ride Photo Available). To purchase these they are available individually, any 4 printed for £20 or you can buy a digital photopass and get all your groups photos for £20.

Unlike the Merlin photo pass this isn’t tied to 1 person, you just pay once for your whole group!

We thought this was a bargain as we got around 20 photos in total across the day.

Parent Swap

If like us, you have too many little ones to take on all at once you can do parent swap. Depending on the ride and who can / can’t go on, you can either let one parent go on with their child(ren) while you wait at the exit to ‘swap’ over the ones who can’t go on so you can go on with yours or as I did with Chloe, I sent chloe on herself while I waited with Holly and Oscar and then she waited with Oscar while I took Holly on.

There is no card or anything for this so just let the staff know you will need to do a parent swap and they will let you on when the first rider(s) have been on.

Pay as you play games

I try to avoid these mainly because I don’t want to be stuck carrying a huge teddy round all day! But they are dotted around the park if you want to have a go

Drayton Manor Summary

We had a great day out at Drayton Manor , so much more to do than we remember! Oscar was even big enough for the majority of it which made it alot easier.

Definitely worth booking in advance online if you can, or use up those clubcard vouchers on the gate (remember 50p in vouchers = £1.50 off your ticket) or if you think you’ll be back at least 4 times in a year then the annual pass is worth purchasing.

If you’ve been to Drayton Manor let us know what you thought in the comments! And as always please feel free to share this with anyone who may find it useful.

ChrissyJ xxx