Drayton Manor have helped us kick off the festive season with a new Christmas tradition. We were invited to Drayton’s Magical Christmas to meet the big fella himself, Santa Claus and enjoy all of our favourite Thomas Land rides.
Drayton Manor
We ventured to Drayton Manor Theme Park on a crisp sunny autumn day in November, with gloves and hats to see what happens when Christmas arrives at our favourite day out. Drayton’s Magical Christmas runs from 21st November to 31st December on selected dates.
Our favourite rides were open, including the carousel which was our first port of call. Princess loves this ride as she is big enough to sit on a horse all by herself. It makes her feel very grown up. She knows she has to hold on very tight!
Visiting Santa
After a quick coffee stop to warm up Mummy and Daddy, it was time to visit the Castle Of Dreams and visit Father Christmas. Our time slot was 11.30, so we joined the other excited children to see Santa.
All together we probably waited about 20 minutes, which wasn’t bad at all. The queue was lined with heaters over head and TV screens playing the very best of Christmas hits, including Mistletoe and Wine! There was also play stations along the way to keep the children busy.
Santa’s elves were waiting to greet us and handed the girls a beautiful comparative medal each. Then they were ready for their meeting with Santa.
Both the girls managed to convince Father Christmas they had been good girls all year round, and told him what they would like for Christmas. We also posed for our picture, that we decided to buy for Christmas gifts. It was Daddy’s idea, as his favourite part of Christmas is cheesy presents.
When we came out from our visit with Santa, the girls were in good spirits. They were keen to explore the zoo and find Santa’s Reindeer. This turned out to work up quite an appetite so we headed to the Burger Kitchen for lunch before a visit to the 4D cinema.
Drayton Manor are showing The Polar Express in the 4D cinema, and we throughly enjoyed this show. The train conductor bears a striking resemblemance to Tom Hanks. It’s an exciting Christmas tale bursting with 4D effects. It was definitely one of the highlights of our Christmas day out.
Thomas Land At Christmas
We headed back to Thomas Land for some more rides and to soak up the Christmas atmosphere. Princess loved how it only snowed in Drayton Manor and loved all the decorations around the park.
Before we left, we managed to catch the show at the Station with the Fat Controller and his helpers. These are on throughout the day so there is plenty of chance to see the performance. With singing and dancing, everyone was getting into the Drayton Manor Christmas spirit.
We had a fantastic day out at Drayton Manor’s Magical Christmas event and would throughly recommend it to families with small children. It would be perfect for Thomas The Tank Engine fans and a lovely way to kick off the festive season too. If your child has a birthday near Christmas a trip to Drayton Manor would make for the perfect treat.
We were invited to Drayton Manor’s Magical Christmas in return for this review but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
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Aw her little face is priceless, it sound as though you had such a brilliant time too x
This looks and sounds like an incredible day. The 4D cinema experience sounds great fun too:)
This sounds like a great day out. I’ve never heard of Thomasland before but my little girl would live it. She is Thomas obsessed and has asked for a Thomas dress for Christmas. No idea where I’m going to get one.
This looks so fun! I love your photos!
Sebby would adore this, such a shame it is so far away for us
Oh I just love Drayton Manor, we have never done Christmas there yet though! Will see if we can get any tickets I think x
Oh I so wish we were going – we were meant to be tomorrow but Pickle is poorly 🙁 It looks amazing – great post. Kaz x
This looks like so much fun – I love the photo of the two of them walking together so cute. you’ve got so many wonderful photos
It’s been so long since I have been here. Looks amazing and must plan a trip soon thanks for reminding me x
Aw we’ve been thinking about booking this, looks like lots of fun was had!
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