Drayton Manor is a theme park resort and zoo in the grounds of the former Drayton Manor, in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England, UK.
The park covers 280 acres (110 ha) of which about 113 acres are in use, and hosts about 1.5 million people each year. Rides at the park include The Shockwave, Europe's only stand up coaster, and Apocalypse, a five-sided drop tower. The park's maximum daily capacity is 15,000 guests, which is set with guest experience and traffic congestion in mind. It is the fourth largest amusement park in the UK by land area at 110 hectacres.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
The land on which the theme park was built belonged to the Peel family, but the mansion (built in 1835) had been reduced to ruins by 1926. The British Army requisitioned it as a training post during World War II. After the war, entrepreneurs George and Vera Bryan borrowed £6,000 and bought the land (and the 17 huts that the army had constructed during their stay). They opened a small amusement park with just a handful of children's rides in 1949. In 1954 Mrs Molly Badham (who later opened the nearby Twycross Zoo) joined forces with the Bryans and opened a small zoo to complement the fun park. The amusement park grew slowly in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s but in the late 1980s the park began to install bigger and more thrilling rides to attract customers from all over the United Kingdom. Drayton Manor Theme Park is today the fifth most popular theme park in the UK and still managed by Colin Bryan.
Farm Theme For Toddlers Video
The park
Drayton Manor Theme Park is divided into 7 areas: Thomas Land, Action Park, Aerial Park, Fisherman's Wharf, Pirate Cove, The Zoo and Dinotrail, Farmer McColl's Farm.
Main Plaza is the main entrance to the park.
Thomas Land is the park's children's area and draws inspiration from Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends who are quite familiar to both readers of the books and the TV-series. This area, which was called Robinson's Land until 2007, has many rides and attractions that appeal to children.
Action Park Area of the park home to a number of thrill rides. Main attractions include: One of Europe's stand up roller coasters; the Shockwave, a giant gyro swing known as Maelstrom, the X Car roller coaster G Force, the river rapids ride Splash Canyon and a Verizon of Zamperla's Air race
Aerial Park also serves as the park's main throughway, flanked by rides, restaurants and stores. The rides are mostly characterized by their aerial nature - hence the name Aerial Park. Cartoon Network Street is the new name given to the part of the street where the roller coaster that opened in 2011, the Accelerator can be found. Entrance 1 (next door to the hotel) is located here as well. Main attractions include: the drop tower Apocalypse, the mad house The Haunting, the inverted giant swing Pandemonium, the teacup style drunken barrells, the laser shooting game Wild west shootout, The flying Dutchman a swing style ride, the Buffalo rollercoaster and a forementioned Accelerator roller coaster. It also host UK's only Cartoon Network Shop.
Fisherman's Wharf is situated next to the lake - themed to a Cornish seaside village. Attractions include: the super splash Stormforce 10, the Polperro Express, the carousel and the swinging ship The Bounty.
Pirate Cove is themed as a Pirate haven, with 3 appropriately themed rides: the dark ride Pirate Adventure (closed 2015 - removed from ride line up 2017), the Jolly Buccaneer and the Dodgems
The Zoo and Dinotrail offer respite from the amusement park rides; the 15-acre walkthrough zoo (open all year) has quite a few animal enclosures with over 100 different species of animals on display including tigers, meerkats, penguins, parrots, reptiles, owls etc. There is also a Discovery Museum, and then there is a walkthrough Dinosaurland with life-size models of dinosaurs to intrigue and enthral the kids.
Farmer McColl's Farm is an extension of the zoo, but it specialises in domestic farm animals. There is also a Discover Thomas and Friends Exhibition, an outdoor activity area, exotic animal reserve, and Bryan's Slot Machine Museum.
Just outside the park is Peel Plaza where guests can play Miniature Golf. It also has a Caravan and Camp site.
Roller coasters
Thrill rides
Water rides
Other rides
Thomas Land
Set in 3 acres (12,000 m2) of parkland, Thomas Land was re-themed with plenty of new children's rides in 2008, previously it had been called Robinson's Land. In addition to the rides, there are 3 daily live shows, the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition, the Thomas Land Shop and an indoor and an outdoor play area for kids.
Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition
Located in Farmer McColls Farm. In early 2009, HIT Entertainment announced that the original models from the Thomas & Friends television series would be put on display at Thomas Land in an exhibit called "Discover Thomas & Friends", as production was to move to Canada, now that the series is to be animated with CGI. The models were then put on display in 2010. So far, the layout features Great Waterton, a town that first appeared in "The Great Discovery", the Fishing Village and Brendam Docks. Many other buildings have been seen from previous seasons from the show, such as "Neptune's Refreshments", "Ben's Books", Toby's Shed and Bluff's Cove signal box. Models have also appeared in the workshop, including: Bulgy, Terence, Trevor, Elizabeth, Butch, 3 Horrid Lorries, a canal boat, A Tug boat (Top Hat), A Harbour Ship (Izzy Gomez), 2 red and white express carriages, 2 green and cream express carriages, Thomas, Edward, Toby, Stepney, Rosie, Harvey, Bulstrode, Toad the brake van (faceless), and various trucks.
Thomas Land Shop
A large selection of Thomas & Friends toys, games, memorabilia and collectibles available for purchase.
Past rides and attractions
Zoo
Drayton Manor is also home to a 15-acre (6 ha) zoo. It contains over 100 species from all over the world. It is also the only part of Drayton Manor that is open all year round (apart from Christmas Day).
Accommodation
Drayton Manor Hotel In February 2009 revised plans for a hotel at Drayton Manor were submitted to Lichfield District Council. Planning permission for the hotel was granted in 2007 though the applicants felt that the scheme could benefit from further improvements without increasing the site area required.
The 4-star hotel with 150 well-appointed contemporary guest rooms including 15 Thomas & Friends themed bedrooms is designed to primarily meet the demand from park visitors as the theme park is attracting families from all over the UK, particularly since the arrival of Thomas Land.
Camping and Caravanning club Drayton manor The Camping and caravan club have a site at Drayton Manor. On the site there is 90 pitches, Clamping with already set-up tents (available through ReadyCamp) and a children's playground.
Events
The park holds many events throughout the year including fundraising for Birmingham's Children's Hospital and musical projects. An annual fireworks event takes place on the lake.
The Park will also be home to Miss Community UK Grand Finals in 2016. This national UK pageant focuses on community and charity work.
A number of music artists have visited the park including Steps, G4, Hear'Say, and The Vamps.
The park was featured in 2 episodes of Brum in 2001-2002 in which a runaway chair flew onto the buffallo ride and the mayor accidentally malfunctioned the 'old' Polperro express train
Incidents
- On 9 May 2017, an 11-year-old girl Evha Jannath died from her injuries after she fell from the Splash Canyon ride and into the water. This was due to her standing up to change seats on the ride when the boat hit the side.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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