Draytonmanor Anmeldelser 

We had a great day, the staff were good, we were visiting with young family members and found the park and staff to be generally excellent. shoutout to the gastronomically challenged controller who was on top form handing sweets out to children. Note: I would have given the resort 5 stars but I found it unsettling that drayton manor allows vloggers in (even to thomas land) we saw some weird guy with a camera and it kind of puts you off, as a father with a young child It kind of put me on gaurd. I don't think I'd be out of turn suggesting that to further the resorts positive reputation, they should either let guests know and issue Press id badges to the people (and ensure they actually blur out faces on while they film in the background) or ban it all together in the park if not used for personal use

I was here with my friends all day and it was amazing. My favourite part was Andy working on the ship all day and he made us all laugh. I think I ended up on the ship around 15 times and other rides a lot so I think I went on around 30 rides in total. It wasn't packed at all and was a lovely Saturday. ps Andy is amazing and has really good stories.

Made the most of the day with children it was enjoyable, tho few rides not open, water rides ect..no entertainment on the stage as shown on you tube...park quiet run down in places & toilets filfy & i mean filfy...Thomas land nice, but think rest of park in need of refurb ASAP

My experience was disappointing to say the least.
Me and my husband brought our two daughters for the first time, we stood in the queue for the first ride for over an hour to be then told the ride was faulty, and they did not know when it would be resolved. We then went to queue up for another ride with the same thing happening, we stood in the queue for a long time to be told that the ride was had a fault.

Hours later we went back to the first ride that we tried to go on at the start of the day, we were in the queue for a very long time that we were turned away as the park was closing.

For a first time visit, I can say my experience was disappointing and was not worth it. Leaving the kids feeling disappointed.

For someone that’s not the biggest fan of parks we thought this would be a great day out for the family but ended up being disappointing.

I don’t know what can be done to change my mind but I really don’t think the trip was worth it. We traveled from far for a nice day out.

The overall day was disappointing and the lack of compensation from Drayton manor following our complaints about this, concluded for us that we will never return to the site again.

On arrival, we had to queue on the main road 2 miles up the road. We were due to arrive 10 minutes before opening however it took so long to enter the car park that we ended up actually getting into the main gate 20 minutes after opening.

On the exit, the car park was a free for all. It took us 1 hour to finally exit and I wish I was exaggerating that time!! No one manning the car park and we were absolutely GRID LOCKED. People driving down the wrong way of the road, people cutting through lanes of parking to cut everyone off. I literally felt helpless and trapped. We were also desperate to get out as my son had a football match. This made us late to the game. No one available to call to request assistance with moving the cars on and sorting the back log as all phones shut off after closing. This was disgusting. Happy to take our money but you didn’t actually give a crap about your customers exiting your car park SAFELY and at a reasonable speed. All other parks we’ve been to including Alton towers have security manning the car parks to allow everyone out safely and speedy. You are falling short majorly here. And the cherry on top, we actually paid £10 parking fee for the joy of all this!

Then there was the time we actually spent in the park. Between the long wait times and the rides my children actually wanted to ride being out of order- we were hugely disappointed. My family queued on The Wave for over an hour just to get to the front and be told the ride was now out of service. My family were forced to leave the line due to being in the line for so long and not knowing how much longer they were going to wait, just for the ride to restart after they left.

There was also no convenient way of checking current queue times, other than finding one of the limited screens around the park, some of these did not even work, when they did you had to wait for the queue time screen to come back on a cycle. Other major theme parks we have attended including Disney, Alton Towers, LEGOLAND and Thorpe Park have apps which allow visitors to check live queue times and plan their day accordingly.
There are also wait times listed for rides as you enter the queue at these other theme parks. Some of your rides had sign posted "wait time from here" but not all of them. I found the lack of this facility at Drayton Manor extremely frustrating when queues were so long as we were going in blind to queues not knowing how long we'd be waiting.

Storm Force 10 was closed for the entire day. This was one of the main attractions we had specifically wanted to experience, so having it unavailable for the whole day had a significant impact on our visit.

When we complained in guest services we were offered £15 return tickets which is the stupidest idea of compensation I’ve ever heard of. You think I’m going to pay £15 for my family of 6 to return and do all that over again?? Terrible service and for that, you have lost our custom and we will never return.

I haven't visited for a while and it's sad to see how rundown the place has become . The Zoo is a collection of very sad inactive animals or empty dilapidated pens . The rides are in need of tlc . The staff are the highlight of this place . The facepainter was lovely and the colleague at Castle Bar . The controller in Thomas Land was slso lovely. They are doing the best job they can but Drayton Manor has had its day . Very disappointing.

If I could give zero stars, I would. Our family visit on 12th August 2026 was meant to be a special day out for a group including 6 children and two disabled party members holding access cards. Instead, it turned into an utterly miserable experience that resulted in us leaving early to sit out in the car.

1. Severe Safety Concerns & Equipment Failure

We queued for Gold Rush for over an hour across two separate attempts. Right at the front of the queue, an airline/brake cable burst on the track, making a violent popping and loud hissing noise while flapping around wildly. Knowing my young children were seconds away from boarding was terrifying. When I raised this to management, Customer Relations casually admitted the brake line detached. Defending a major mechanical breakdown as a "safe failure" doesn't change the fact that equipment literally snapped in front of queuing families.

2. Complete Disregard for Accessibility Needs

We entered with official Access Cards for two disabled members of our party. Despite queuing at the entrance, we were denied access wristbands because the front Guest Services / Ticket Office was closed. The park claims Guest Services is open all day in the center of the park, but directing distressed families to hunt down a central office after being turned away at the entrance is unacceptable.

3. Total Mismanagement & Rude Staff

The Zoo Train Breakdown: At 3:00 PM, we were trapped in a cramped, boiling holding area waiting for the train back to Thomas Land. Staff offered zero updates. The prolonged heat and lack of communication overwhelmed our 8-year-old child (who has autism and ADHD) to the point of severe distress. When I politely asked a staff member sitting nearby on a bench for better updates for waiting families, he literally threw his arms up in the air and gave a sarcastic "I'm sooo sorry". Storm Force 10: Queued near the front only to be turned away because the track broke. Closed Attractions: The children's play area was completely dismantled without any prior notice on their website.

4. Refusal to Take Accountability

When formally complaining, Drayton Manor refused to refund our tickets, hiding behind "non-refundable" terms and offering a insulting "discounted return ticket" insult. After driving 3 hours total and spending £40 on petrol, we have zero desire to ever step foot in this park again.

Save your money and take your family somewhere that values basic safety, communication, and accessibility.

⭐ 1 star

Absolutely not worth the money.

We paid around £140 for four people and arrived at 1:30pm, with the park closing at 6pm. We spent over an hour queuing for Stormforce 10, only to be told it was broken. Then we waited another 30–40 minutes for the Wave Swinger, only to be told that was broken too.

Nearly two hours of our visit were wasted, and in the end we only managed to properly experience one ride.

I understand that mechanical problems happen, but when you are charging around £140 for four people, you expect to get a reasonable experience. We certainly didn’t.

What made it worse was the response from Customer Services afterwards. Instead of offering a proper refund or complimentary tickets, we were offered discounted tickets for another visit — meaning we would have to pay even more money to come back and potentially face the same problems again.

Poor experience, poor value for money and a disappointing response from Customer Services. Definitely not somewhere I would recommend, and we won’t be rushing back.

They don’t have refund policy also I tried to contact them but they are not on phone and just on live chat they sent same message also I booked my family tickets and due to bad weather we can’t come as I requested to them and I tried to manage my booking but they said no dates showing and I requested them how can I change if I didn’t change until my visit date so I will lose my money and I can’t change the policy is very very bad even they don’t have refundable policy very bad experience

Rip off prices for drinks ice creams etc
forced to buy a plastic glass for a drink
£1 extra. next drink is only £6.80 if using the same plastic cup🙄

I am extremely disappointed with Drayton manor.
I was charged twice for my fast track wrist bands due to their payment system playing up, I requested a refund on the spot, tapped my card and was given a receipt. It has been over two weeks now and I have not received it. I contacted ocean finance whom I have my credit card with and they have said the merchant has not issued a refund.

So in layman's terms I have been robbed of nearly £100.

On top of that the staff on some of the rides were working in a manner that the fast pass lanes were moving slower than the normal lanes, because if this I did t even get the chance to use all of my 5 passes

Day was ruined by EPT photos failing I bought a digital pass which is meant to utilise facial recognition. It recognised no one in our party and I was left with absolutely no photos at all. Went to Storm 10 photo kiosk to be told there's nothing they can do. I asked if they could print a receipt or a code but she said not and basically seemed completely disinterested so I'm now £20 lighter. It's just daylight robbery.

Very tired-looking theme park with lots of rides closed, dirty toilets and grubby floors in many buildings. Every ride seemed to take ages to get going so the queues were longer than expected. Things seemed poorly organised. We waited almost 20 minutes for a ride on the Thomas train that goes to the zoo to discover that there was some sort of problem with it and we would be waiting at least another 20 minutes. There was no sign or staff member advising us of the problem. We queued for about 50 minutes for the cars that go around a very short track over Thomas Land which was definitely not worth it. The carousel horses are in dire need of a re-paint. The soft play for under 4s is very limited and you’re not allowed to accompany small children so that they can use the bigger soft play. My husband and brother waited over an hour for The Wave and it broke down twice before they got on it. Lots of food places were closed, despite it being the summer holidays. You pay an extra fee to park which seems ridiculous and the prices in the pasta and pizza Safari place were extortionate for the quality of the food. Most of the rides were a variation of a carousel. Not many mid-range or more thrill-seeker time rides. Go to Alton Towers instead.

Awful. Every main ride we queued for (minimum of 45 mins for each) broke down whilst waiting.
Log flume- boats kept getting stuck with riders left still in the boat.
Rapids- boats got stuck
Wave roller coster- cart was getting 'jammed' and 'siezed' and after each ride technicians had to come and reset which took a minimum of 20-30 mins.
Daughter got a concussion for a smack to the head off the one ride.
Major waits, park scruffy, burger restaurant 110 for 7 people (3 of which were kids meals)

A great shame, but would avoid at all costs to those looking to go.

Certainly dont pay for fast pass tickets, couldn't use the rides!!!!

Came for sons 10th birthday. Issues on the gate as we went in, the email or QR code they send when you pay online- apparently it all changed this past week, so you needed to refresh the link from original email to have a new email link sent with the park tickets on. As you can imagine my mother struggled heavily and wasn’t happy at all… then husband struggled himself! Not a great start and everyone behind us seemed to then hit that same issue.

The log flume ride was closed up until midday.. didn’t state it was closed either within the park or online. Each ride was 1hr minimum to queue. The park was dirty, and just dated. Half filled rides as well- what’s with that??

As expected the shop items were extortionate in cost, but no difference to the big theme parks.

Thomas land looks so dated and unloved now.

A play area near the dinosaur loop towards the Thomas station area, had a sign to say it was no longer open and to keep away for safety… why not get rid of it which children are in school to have it reopened for the holidays?? Better still, remove the pieces, it’s like they don’t care. It’s an eyesore! Have some pride in your park.

One thing I will say… the safe were lovely, so you have some good people working for you. Keep that up at least.

2 hr journey, 3 rides gone on… will I return.

Absolutely not.

Should have gone to Wicksteed Park…

4 rides broke down when I was in queue. No joke it was like a joke. You get a feeling they are dated and this absolutely backed that feeling up. Had 2 goes on wave and it took 2 and half hours for 1 go on shockwave. That was it. I was sat in the shockwave car for 1 hour! Not joking when I say I'd literally not go there again if someone paid me. Rubbish.

Truly awful organisation for a theme park. Where to start.
- Costly as expected
- Parking charges on top
- nearly 1hr 40 min wait for rides, managed 3 rides and 1 4D cinema experience in 7 hours
- Every single ride we attempted delayed (on top of the wait time so added on 20 min to 1.5 hr rides) due to a "Technical fault".
- Dirty unclean everywhere
- On exiting the car park, no Marshall just sheer chaos with selfish dangerous drivers speeding to the closest exit.

Overall possibly the worst experience of a theme park.

Paultons Park leads by example of an exemplary Theme park!! We know to never try anywhere else again.

Spent most of the time stood in queues with a man who decided to smoke cannabis within the "Thomasland" section of the park. Already contacted Drayton Manor who quite honestly gave a poor response back to my complaint. Looks like they expect you to resolve issues, there and then, when youve already spent more than average for entry to the park.

Queued for 3 rides to be told they were not working properly. 1 did not open back up. Only 1 set of dryers working after water ride. Queued for 1hr for loki as they were only half filling the seats each time. No time left to visit zoo. Totally overpriced and underwhelming.

We booked to stay at Drayton Manor hotel for one night. 4/adults and one 2 year old. Stay 30 July to 31 July.
We had an interconnecting family room which was excellent. Plenty of room. Very clean and bed so comfortable. Both rooms were en-suite so perfect for us.
Great breakfast too which was included in the price. Staff were lovely. Helpful, friendly and welcoming.
We spent 1 q/2 days in the theme park with our 2 year old grandson. Thomas Land was great. . Yes busy but of course summer hols. It was still great. sir Topham Hat and helpers brilliant.