Did you go when there were people dressed up walking the gardens? We used to go there a lot as children as it is fairly local and my Dad would get free passes (teachers can get these if you say you are planning a school trip)
No we went to Drayton Mannor Park. Tesco vouchers £7 each instead of £80 family ticket. It is smaller than A T but they have a Thomas land which was great for the kids. Even though Ds is all big and grown up and despises Thomas now, he still managed to get in a mini sulk when Rosie picked us up instead of Thomas. The kiddi rides were just the right amount of scariness for me but still made me sick We went on a pirate boat ride which they hated. DD had her eyes shut all the way round. Dd made me go on a big wheel which had rocking carriages. I forgot that I'm not keen on heights and had to concentrate really hard not to panic when it stopped while we were at the top and rocked about...shudder.