A rainy weekday visit at Drayton Manor near the end of the school summer holidays.
A rainy weekday visit at Drayton Manor near the end of the school summer holidays.
I'd usually avoid major theme parks during the school summer holidays, but this year is a bit different as I'm currently between jobs on gardening leave. Therefore, a midweek trip to Drayton Manor in late August seemed a little more appealing to ease the boredom of sitting at home twiddling my thumbs. The rainy weather forecast had kept most of the crowds away, and we had a pretty good day considering the heavens opened part way through!
Drayton Manor on a cloudy, drizzly morning
We started the day with a trip on Winston's Whistle-Stop Tour
Still the world's largest Thomas shop
Time for a morning cup of coffee
Refreshed, we decided to visit the Vicarage ... maybe we could have a cup of tea with the vicar?
The ride was proving popular - it seemed a lot of people wanted to get inside away from the impending rain!
It's all a bit laughable, but The Haunting is still strangely fun
Did we see any paranormal activity? Of course we did!
The old Golden Nuggets ride has had a bit of an upgrade this year, and has been transformed into Sheriff's Showdown
The sets and effects have been upgraded inside, and there's a nice new starry ceiling
Certain targets are worth more points leading to an excited audio track announcing the bonus, although unfortunately it sounds more like "you've got a boner!" ... oooh, matron!
Following a picnic lunch, it was time to explore the zoo
Compare the meerkat with the other meerkat
The old penguin enclosure is now hosting ... ducks.
Are you still reading, or should I give you a moment to CATch up?
Drayton Manor is one of the few places that you can still find live dinosaurs
Look, it's a real life live (plastic) dinosaur!
One of my favourite things to do at Drayton Manor is visit the old fashioned penny arcade machines
So many arcade machines to choose between
The rain had started properly, so we decided it was time for a cuppa at Mrs Kyndley's Tea Rooms (we don't need much excuse!)
My other favourite thing to do at Drayton Manor is sit on my very own seat with my tea at Mrs K's
Something that always impresses me about Drayton's Zoo is the variety of exotic animals on display that you just can't see anywhere else
The model railway inside the Discover Thomas and Friends Exhibition could do with a dusting
Naugthy Thomas didn't stop to pick up the passengers at Dryaw, leaving them standing in the rain
By this time, the rain had really set in
We dove inside the 4D cinema to watch Ice Age
A lot of people had the same idea!
I'd expected the film to be the same as shown at Alton Towers a few years ago, but it was a different one following the Ice Age characters on an adventure with a time machine
We took a second whizz around Sheriff's Showdown as our final ride of the day
The biggest shock of the day: Superloo is no longer super :(
A nice day out at Drayton Manor, probably made more so by avoiding the rollercoasters!
Let's get dry in the (shiny new) car and head for home