Travel A Day Out; Thomas Land

Another day meant another adventure, this time we headed to Thomas Land in Drayton Manor with the toddlers partner in crime Miss S from The 21st Century Mama.  Half the excitement in the car over was the fact that we were seeing Thomas, the rest that we were seeing Miss S after they left Dubai recently.  It would appear expat friendships are strong whatever your age.

Arriving at the park, which is well signposted from the A38 the day was overcast but mild.  Anyway, we came to escape the sun so we weren’t too bothered!  Meeting at the gate we queued for tickets which took about 10 minutes flowing freely.  You pay on a graduated scale from when you reach 2 at Drayton Manor with a ticket costing £5 for those between 2-3.  There is also a special ticket available for adults and toddlers at a price of £20, because let’s face it, if you’re headed into Drayton Manor with a toddler you’re headed to Thomas Land rather than G-Force or Shockwave!

When we first arrived the Toddler was really subdued and didn’t want to go on anything which was a real shame with 17 Thomas themed rides available, I personally was desperate to get on Flynns Fire Rescue (FYI I didn’t get on it), thinking that the Toddler was just being hesitant and would love them when we got on we headed for Blue Mountain.  A gentle train rollercoaster with Merrick the crane as the centrepiece.  The Toddler wasn’t impressed and virtually clambered on my knee as the ride went on, that said as we climbed off the first words out of his mouth were

more train

grrrr.

Instead of more train I spied the Jeremy Jets Flying Academy and given the massive love of planes and all things flying thought we’d give it a go.  We queued patiently.  We were excited.  We climbed on the plane.

And had a bit of a breakdown.

Stiff, screaming toddler that was inconsolable.  After about 30 seconds I gave up on trying to persuade him it would be fun and exited swiftly standing at the sidelines waving to Miss S.

At that point we decided to let them do their own thing which basically involved spinning on the bandstand before declaring they wanted to go on Thomas to see the dinosaurs.

So we went on the train up to the zoo and Spencer’s Adventure playground with no one minding that we were in fact on Rosie instead of Thomas.

*Massive plus points for Thomas Land here, with 2 separate pram carriages that each fit at least 3 prams. Much easier to take the baby out and leave it set up than try to collapse the pram. The whole park in fact is pram friendly.*

We headed up past the animals, jumping in every puddle on the way past **the toddler is very excited by rain and water, Dubai Kid** to check out the miniature railway. I remember viewing so many of these when I was younger having an avid Thomas fan for a younger brother and seeing the one at Thomas Land brought back waves of nostalgia seeing the intricately pieced together village, the engines running on the tracks and through tunnels to squeals of delight

Look its Thomas!

Thomas in the Tunnel

At this point, like the mouse in the Gruffalo, my tummy began to rumble. Having learnt from our other days out in the past week we had brought a picnic with us. Picnic tables were plentiful and when it began to rain we bolted indoors where, again, we didn’t struggle to find a table.

Full of ham sandwiches and a sneaky magnum we bid farewell to Miss S as they had to leave and we continued on with our adventure heading to Spencer’s Adventure Playground. A series of interlinked climbing activities with slides and bridges and all manner of parent heart stopping child excitement equipment. Suitable from toddling tots with supervision up to older adventurers we had a good 40 minutes going on the various slides before deciding to head back to the rides thinking we might call it a day.

Well.

Of course then the toddler decided he wanted to try some rides. A little bit of trepidation had me queuing for Harolds Helicopter Tours thinking he wouldn’t like it and we would have to abandon attempts just as we did over on the planes. We nearly did but the ride started so it was too late and as we spun round and were lifted into the air he got a lot more excited, waving and shouting.

Hello Thomas Land

After that there was no stopping him, we hit the more gentle ride on Lady’s Carousel, he hit Sodors Classic Cars with Grandma while I fed Baby Boy, we raced over to Blue Mountain (again) and Captains Sea Adventure Boats – where you can squirt others with water, we were loving this until we got hit by water. Then we wanted to get off.

And another tour with Harold where we bumped into friends from Dubai so the two little boys rode in the front of the helicopter flying us over Thomas Land.

Coming into land it was the end of the day for us with one very tired out toddler so we said Bye to our friends and called it a day and headed home.

Happy, exhausted, and managing to avoid the gift shop!

Thomas Land is situated in Drayton Manor Theme Park, Tamworth. And there really is something for everyone from the Thomas the Tank Engine enthusiast to the toddler thrill seeker with the rides, to the toddler that hates rides. Thomas Land really has thought of something for everyone.

Prices to enter the theme park are £20 for an adult and a toddler combination ticket. Adult prices start at £36 and children prices from £5, age dependent. Under 2’s are free.

Disclaimer; we received entry to the park for the purposes of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.