Drayton Manor - 1 day or 2? plus any tips?

[mamabluestar]

We are planning on taking our DD (7) and DS (4) to Drayton Manor in the summer holidays. The original plan was to travel down, which will be about a 3 hour drive, visit somewhere like Cadbury's World then stay overnight and do Drayton Manor the next day. We have visited Alton Towers before and needed 2 full days in the park as DC love rides and attractions. Just wondered how big Drayton Manor is in comparison and if two days are needed to get around Drayton Manor, the zoo and Thomas Land?

As a side I would also be grateful for any tips from a visit to Drayton Manor or suggestions of places to visit on our drive from the North East. Thanks

Hi there

You can do DM in a day, it's a long day but doable! The zoo is good but not huge, although there is a newer dinosaur bit and a large outdoor area.

I haven't been in the main park for years as my eldest is only 6 so it's Thomasland all the way for us, but it is nowhere near the size and scale of AT. The only problem as with anything is queues, lots of long queues and you wouldn't get on all the rides, but actual size of the park isn't massive. There is a hotel or camping on site as well if you wanted to get there the night before.

Personally I wouldn't bother with Cadbury World, I'd go for something like the ThinkTank or Sealife centre and a museum in the centre. There is also the wildlife centre on Pershore Road which is nice for smaller kids and it's right by Cannon Hill park if the dc need to run wild for a bit.

Wow great advice to consider - thank you

We have done dm a few times, dCs are small so. Thomas and a few other bits fit nicely into the day. We stayed at the Holiday inn in Tamworth right next to the snowdome so did swimming and snowplay too shich the kids loved.

Personally, from experience with my own kids, one day was plenty and they were pretty exhausted the next day/we felt we had done everything enough by then so I was glad we only did the one day. I guess it also depends on what day you go, maybe on a busier day you may need to spend longer there, but on a quiet weekday 1 is plenty, as you say, you are going in the summer so it will be busy, difficult to say whether you would need two.

Personally, from experience with my own kids, one day was plenty and they were pretty exhausted the next day/we felt we had done everything enough by then so I was glad we only did the one day. I guess it also depends on what day you go, maybe on a busier day you may need to spend longer there, but on a quiet weekday 1 is plenty, as you say, you are going in the summer so it will be busy, difficult to say whether you would need two.