Draytonmanor Reviews 

Arrived yesterday as part of a trip for young teens, No big rides open, only Thomas land which is great for young children hardly no food places open, and still charged full price absolutely would not return nor recommended

I booked the dinosaur breakout as a treat for my son to cheer him up after losing a close family member at Christmas. We seen 2 dinosaurs in total and the second we didn’t even get to see up close because the lady told us nobody else could join the queue. There was no food places open (people were having to go out and get food and then return to the park) and most of the rides were not operating. I paid over £100 to cheer my son up to only end up leaving with a very upset 3 year old, crying asking where the dinosaurs were. Won’t be returning in a hurry👍🏻 The most enjoyable part was leaving.

Leaving a review for staff member- Maximus- known as Max.

His customer service skills, situational awareness, kindness in such a limited interaction on the kids horse go around ride- was second to none.

He has set very pristine standards for others to follow.

I would hire him in a flash!

Cheers Max for dealing my son on the horse ride such mindfulness and care.

To his manager- give him a promotion and pay rise! ♥️

Excellent Santa experience. We were able to listen to story time with Mrs Claus, wrote a letter to Santa and post it, then met Santa himself. We were a group of 8 but he took time to speak to each child individually, then as a group. We did not feel rushed to leave. The elves and helpers were great too.
Children were able to choose their own gift from Santa's workshop and there were a great selection of toys. Adults were treated to hot chocolate and mince pies.
We also decorated a Gingerbread man in the tea shop which the children enjoyed.
Thomas land looked lovely decorated in Christmas lights.
Thank you for a lovely experience, we will return.

We absolutely loved our visit for the Christmas event. The shows and the Grotto were brilliantly organised and everyone was so kind and brilliant with our 4 year old boy. The elf spent a good few minutes speaking to him before we saw Santa. The Mrs Claus story was lovely and so was the letter writing with the elf.

The Thomas Land Chrismas overlay is stunning too with great festive shows and Christmas carols from Sir Topham and Rusty and Dusty.

Came for the Magical Christmas Event with boys aged 6-8 and what a fabulous day we had!

Highlight of the day was 100% the grotto experience - it was so well thought out and giving tokens at the end so children could not only choose their own gift, but so adults could get a hot drink and mince pie was an absolutely fantastic idea, please keep it that way! Every person we met in the grotto was SO friendly, chatty, enthusiastic (in fact all the staff were at the rides too - just the staff at the gingerbread making seemed to want to do their job in silence so we didn't know what the plan was!)

The park didn't feel too busy, so there were minimal queues generally. We knew there were limited ride offerings as advertised on the website, my only gripes were that not all the Vikings area was open (could have been an opportunity to showcase your new Nebulaz!) and that when we headed back to Thomasland for a quick last ride on the Troublesome Trucks just after 5pm, Thomasland was completely closed! Christmas lights off and everything! There was NO indication that this area closed before the advertised park close time of 6pm and so this was the only disappointment of the day.

We will be back, hopefully in the summer (maybe we'll get a clue of what's going on in the Pandemonium/Apocalypse area by then and what all the markings are for near James' red balloon?!)

This is probably one of the worst theme parks in the UK now. Don't bother going,

We went 3 years ago with different families and the park was great then, hence why we went back for Halloween having previously been at other theme park Halloween events.

This was all very average and the park was well over subscribed for the amount of activities on offer so you could not even get on everything. Apocalypse, the drop tower only had one drop open which meant queues were nearly 2 hours so that meant you could not get on all the Halloween events and the ones we did go on were very average and you would be better spending money else where on parks that know how to stage events.

We complained to guest services and nothing was done or offered as an apology and basically said it was it was normal to not be able to get on every ride!

Unless the owners spend a lot of of money on this park, it might as well close as we would never go back. If you have already booked - get a refund and spend your money on a theme park that deserves your well earned money.

Took my family including Autistic children for the rides and fireworks. My children a limited with the ability to enjoy rides and noises so its hard enough to find that most of the rides (not pre warned) were closed. The disabled point for fireworks is not marked out or fenced of so complete total rubbish everyone just piling on top of eah other and put it where there is really uneven ground so people with walking difficulties were tripping up. No organisation with anything. different rules for the same rides from different staff just made up as they go along. hardly anyhwere to sit under shelter to east picnic, forcing us to east in there food places, I complained and they offered a discount but it runs out in summer 23 so i said can you do it for next fireworks and they said no. well we wont bother again, our family and extended were worth around £280 a day so that another load of customers gone, you need to sort this out guys, your going to be shut sooner than you think because people are looking for better offers else ware.

Took my 3 year old nephew to the soft play area. No other children or adults around, no music, dead silence, staff standing staring at him. So uncomfortable. When he wanted to go on the slide, he wanted us with him and didn't want to follow the staff member because he obviously didn't trust her. If he fell and hurt himself, there is no way I am letting a stranger go and get my him. I would get him myself. When we questioned it, a woman called Amy tried to explain their insurance policy (who was actually polite). That it's not built for adults and might break; even though adult staff are allowed on and larger children may weigh more some adults. That was fine until a young girl called Charlotte, who was the least friendliest Child soft play member I've ever seen, rolled her eyes and told us to go to wacky warehouse instead because it's cheaper. Paid £40 for half the rides to be closed and for a soft play prison where the staff tell you to go elsewhere.

I must say it looks pretty ran down. We did not manage to finish all the rides or even visit the zoo. A ride broke down, the food over priced.
Why close the rides 1 hour 30 minutes before fireworks and then when fireworks finish keep half of them closed? The que was silly one que was nearly 1 hour 30 minute wait. Deffo did not my moneys worth (I understand it is Halloween weekend) but honestly the management or who ever in charge need to make it better for when it is packed!

Overpriced and poor quality
Food in hotel is awful
Rooms not cleaned well
Check in difficult
Didn't get our full package so got a full refund and will never be back!
Lego land next time!

We have just returned from a 2 day stay and play at Drayton Manor. What a wonderful time! The hotel and park staff all so helpful friendly and genuinely want you to have a great stay.
Our interconnecting room was spacious clean and comfortable, plenty of space for excited children, added with a park and crazy golf.
A lovely buffet breakfast with plenty to choose from all made better by the welcoming wonderful staff. The bar area also lovely to be in, as was the children's amusements.
Entry to the park was quick, barely any queues so the fast passes weren't needed, day one was pure sunshine, day 2 a washout but we still had a brilliant time.

Did you have to double pay like me!
We're you told you got a free return visit in September October, when going in the summer holidays but then get refused because you used a 5% off kids pass on your original tickets?! And made to fork out full gate price tickets! Absolutely ridiculous place!!

What also ridiculous is the fact that during the summer holidays, ques were made horrendous on purpose! Staff were purposely made to go slower! 20 minutes it took from the pirate ship stopping to it getting loaded and back on again! Once again on another ride an hour and half it took to get on it!
Went on the same ride September on a Saturday, which was equally as busy! Half an hour queuing from exactly the same place we was stood!! This place is an absolute shambles! Would not recommend at all! The only reason we returned was because we got tricked into thinking it was a free return.
It's also unorganised!!!!

You are saying this day and age. Customers themselves couldn't generate a free ticket themselves online to save queuing an HOUR yes an HOUR not for a ride, but just to get in the place. Because they were scanning each separate ticket one by one just to generate a new ticket. I wonder how many people had to pay full gate price I wonder how many people would have not returned if they knew they would have to pay again!
I complained to a member of staff and all I got back was, you're not the only person complaining. But it was in the small terms and conditions online! Oh yeah the ones online which noone would think to get tricked from A FAMILY theme park. A place you expect not to get ripped off!

Avoid this place at all costs!!

Booked for 19th September. Closed for Queens funeral. Told original price could go towards another day. Booked for the Thursday and charged us nearly £6 more! It wasn't our choice to change dates, you gave us no choice! Drayton Manor should be ashamed! Check the terms and conditions before booking, you don't have any comebacks on them.

Drayton Manor is a nice enough park but their guest services are absolutely atrocious. Firstly their is no car park management on the way out. This means you will probably spend at least an hour trying to get out if you arrived early. We didn’t move at all for over 30 mins. This could be avoided with management but they don’t seem to care.
Secondly, 6.5 hours ride time during busy summer holidays is pathetic. They say they review this during the day but our day was very busy and there was no extension. Awful.
Thirdly, they’ve had loads of issues with their free return offer (guest services confirmed) and people invalidating it with a discount code. They could easily rectify this with a warning pop up message if you enter a discount code. Even so they could still rectify the issue by taking a further payment for the difference and issuing the return tickets. But no, they continue to hide behind the ‘it’s in the T&C’s’ and do nothing to resolve.
When giving them a chance to resolve the issue you just get a mostly copy and pasted response. They really don’t deserve our hard earned money. Shame on you Drayton Manor, you should be ashamed with your operations and guest services.

Prices for rooms fluctuating massively in space of a few hours, looked at a stay and play room at 158 at 10am, went to book at 12pm gone upto 218! Lost custom right there

I took my children to DM before the summer holidays, and on a school day. It was a 'teacher training' day. There was no queuing at all for any of the rides. It was a perfect day and the kids loved it. I will definitely be going back.

Took two kids to Thomas Land, 3 and 6 year olds, they absolutely loved it. Did a Stay&Play so had two days in the park. Went on almost every ride the first day, repeated some and then went round the zoo the second day.
There are a good number of eateries although a better selection of gluten free options would be appreciated, otherwise your best option is the pizza at the Safari place. There are also a good number of toilets, so we didn't have to run far.
The hotel room was comfortable and clean, a standard hotel room really, the resturant had a good menu, with a couple of GF options, I recommend the salmon, there was a good range for breakfast too.

We go every year for our family holiday. The hotel rooms are wonderful, breakfast is great and staff can't do enough for you. The theme park is losing some big rides but I am hopeful that they will get some new ones in soon. Thomas land is perfect for my daughter, she's loved Thomas the tank engine for most of her life. It's a great holiday for my family

We tend to go once a year and have been for the past few years now. Queuing during summer season is about an hour on the bigger rides, but that is to be expected. I would recommend as it has something for all ages..