It seems, for me anyway, that Drayton Manor has always been in direct competition with Alton…read moreTowers, as to who will succeed and welcome me as a visitor in the summer. For my friends and I, It has always been a 'thing' of ours, to head over to a theme park in the summer months, and with these two the closest/biggest nearby we've always had to make this tough decision. The past few years saw us choose Alton Towers, but this summer we broke from tradition and headed to Tamworth, to Drayton Manor. Paying just over £20 each, this group of 19/20 year old men had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, especially favouring the more thrilling rides such as Apocalypse, Maelstrom and Storm-Force 10. Overall, the day was a success, the weather was on our side and we made the great decision of bringing our own food, avoiding the extortionate prices on offer (may this be a warning to you...)

One of the worst experiences I have ever had here. I been he previously and my experience was fine…read morebut this time was the worst. At the start it was fine. Entered the park with ease and went on the wave and was really fun and enjoyable. The I went on the swing again fun and enjoyable. But now I waited for the accelerator and there was a technical issue which forced us to exit the ride. Then we went to the gold rush and waited there for at least 2 1/2hr and there was also a technical issue multiple times and is making us spend all of our time on this ride and has made this 1 of the worst experience I have ever had a Drayton manor.

It was last August when I had just graduated from university, was in the painful process of looking…read morefor a job and basically had had enough of watching Friends re-runs on the TV, when I decided to do something with my day. That is when I came upon the idea of going to the West Midlands Safari Park. Now living in the Midlands I have been here many a time, in fact I have seen the park every Christmas when we took my sister and my cousins to go to see Santa on the Seven Valley Railway which is located nearby. My boyfriend however had never been and did not know what to expect so for everybody who has never been, here is all the information you need to know. - Location: West Midland Safari and Leisure Park. Spring Grove, Bewdley, Worcestershire, DY12 1LF. 01229 402114. - Price: Adults - £7.99. Children - £7.99. Children under 4 are free. It does seem a bit mad that the child prices are the same as the adult but the price does include a free return visit for all so you can relive the fun for free a second time. Remember that it has to be in the same vehicle though. Your admission fee includes; Drive through Safari, White Lions, Wild dogs, Elephant reserve, Tiger reserve, Lion reserve, discovery trail, seal island, sea aquarium, creepy crawlies, animal encounter, reptile encounter, reptile house, deer park, goat park, sea lion theatre (houses some really good shows in which kids can get involved in), Express train and the hippo lakes. Also there are prices to visit the rides which are £8.75 for people over 1.2 metres tall and £7.25 for people less than 1.2 metres tall. - History: The west Midlands Safari Park has been around for over 15 years and is renowned for being a fun day out. For those people who do not like zoos and believe they are cruel then rest assured that the Safari Park is one of the friendlier zoos in which the animals are kept outside and have lots of space. You drive your car around certain enclosures allowing you to take a good and close look on how the animals act, look and move. - The Safari Park: The actual Park is huge and as soon as you reach it you can see the big colourful signs letting you know you have arrived. On arrival you pay for the amount of people in the car. You have an option to buy animal food as some animals you can feed on your travels. Then off you go in your car discovering the land of the huge animals. Here you will see llamas, elephants and giraffes and if you are brave enough you can drive into the lion and tiger enclosures where you have to keep your windows up and your doors locked to prevent any nasty accidents. Driving around is fun as the animals come right up to your car and with some of them you can feed them. Just remember to wash your hands after which unfortunately I didn't before eating. Ewww!!! Out of your car you have the opportunity to visit the smaller animals which includes the sea lions, reptiles and creepy crawlies. There are also some friendlier animals such as goats and rabbits. Occasionally and you will have to check the times when you visit, you can get to touch the animals and feed them. When you have had enough of looking at the animals you can go on the rides. Although it is always a bit rubbish when there are height restrictions but there are plenty of rides for all. For those over 1.2 metres we have the Jumbo Parade, the tarantula, the rhino coaster and the Zambezi water splash. For those under 1.2 metres we have the Congo carousel, the flying pandas and the animal ark. There are plenty more too so the wrist bands are a good idea as it gives you more reasons to love your day out here. - Eating at the Safari Park: There is a good variety on eating establishments and what you can eat here. We have the following; Candy sweet shop OK maybe not the healthier choice but if you just fancy some sweets while you are walking around then here you go. Port Livingstone Pizza All types of pizzas available here including my favourite the Hawaiian. Also they sell chicken dishes and chips but there is also some vegetarian options including vegetarian pizzas of course. This is where I ate and the pizzas were reasonably priced. I had a slice and it cost around £2 and it was a big and filling slice. Burger Co Great for exactly what it says burgers. Oasis licensed bar and coffee shop Great place to go and sit down if you want a drink or a snack such as a sandwich or a baguette. They also sell food like muffins which is good for a quick bite to eat to fill you up. Prices here were standard at about £1 for a drink and around £2.50 for sandwiches. Hot and Spicy This was my boyfriend's choice of food and he had a jacket potato with cheese which cost around £2.50. They also sold hot dogs and burgers here. Also throughout the Safari Park you will find little snack houses that will sell ice-creams, sweets and drinks for people on the go. Also there is a picnic area so those who wish to

While visiting the UK as a Family we decided on WMSP for a family day out as it was only 90 minutes…read moreaway from where we were staying and the weather looked good. We arrived around 10am ( opens at 9:30am on a Weekday ) and were surprised the parking lot wasn't that busy. We had prepaid our tickets / wristband etc ahead of time so didn't have to waste time there and walked in. We managed to see some of the animal exhibits and ride a few of the rides before our allocated Safari drive through of 12:30pm. Once we lined up and began our drive it took about 2 hours, it also became clear that the drive could be more efficient if people actually paid attention to the rules. If it says traffic on the right side doesn't stop ( It states if you want to see the animals to stay to the left ) then don't stop and hold up the rest, if you do then you're a problem. If it states to keep your windows half way up and not let the animals put their heads inside and you do just that then you're putting the Animals and potentially yourselves in Jeopardy, if you do then you're a problem. If it states not to feed the Giraffes because they're monitoring their diet and you then allow the Giraffe to come inside your car while feeding them then you're a problem. I hope if you're one of the above people that you're reading this because....you're an entitled problem. With that being said, the problem people aren't the fault of WMSP. Once our drive was complete we went to park back up and found the parking lot to be drastically busier than when we left. We would certainly advise you if you want to get more done to try and show up early. Price of tickets wasn't bad considering its a major attraction and the price of food and souvenirs while high didn't seem too high to us. A great day out overall and recommended.

What a cracking day we had even though it had the odd rain shower…read more Spent all day in the park and still didn't see everything. We have 2 daughters 4.5 and 2.5 yrs and they loved it. Most rides are 90cm and above and the indoor play areas certainly test your fitness. Food is not too extortionate and quite nice for where you are and kids enjoyed having sandwiches as a choice rather than a burger :-) My 4 yr old loved the play area and the drop slides and especially the water park - remember your swim suit at least for the kiddies. Adults need to be present to make sure they're ok so a little wading through the water maybe required but great fun :-) Thoroughly great day out and couldn't believe where the time had gone when the park finally closed.

Rides r a complete yawn fest I've had more fun taking my hamster to the vet. Full of screaming kids…read moreand slow walkers you would have to pay me half of bill Gates salary to return to this hell hole id rather jump into two lakes than set foot in this screaming crying kids paradise don't go for your own safety.

We used our clubcard vouchers to go here so we each had a wristband. You can get discount vouchers…read moreonline if you look usually bogof on wristbands. The rides were ideal for usI'm not a fan of big rides so I could enjoy all the younger rides ha. The kids aged 8 and 4 loved itthey went on nearly all the rideswe loved the peddling helicopters and the ice rink was great. It was a nice mix of tradional and current. The staff were friendly and the food was reasonably priced, especially for the portion size and not a rip off like similar places. The 'free' park area is great too. Will definately go back

Really dodgy old amusement park which has not really changed since I was a kid back in the 70s!!!…read moreNot sure how it continues to exist and not been taken over by a big entertainment group. Although not sure whether that would be an improvement. That said, my daughter absolutely loves the place. There are plenty of rides for all ages and although the place has a shabby charm to it you can spend several hours of family fun there. Prices are about the level you would expect although they have an antiquated ticket system which harks back to the 70's. In conclusion this is about as good as it gets in Kettering. Anything better and the locals would just ruin it!

My partner and I spent a good five hours in this arcade. As crazy as it sounds, we loved every…read moreminute of paying 2p machines, collecting tickets, and having a laugh and a joke with the staff. It isn't very often you find arcade staff that genuinely want you to have fun and help you win, working in gambling you'd imagine they would hope you don't win what you want so that you stay longer and spend more money- but they were just as happy as we were when we got our 1000 tickets to claim our prize. They were the kind of people you want to go for a pint with, and made the experience so much better for us. We didn't go on any of the rides because I'm a wimp, but they had plenty, bumper cars, rollercoasters, the biggest slide I've ever seen. It's really quiet in the day time, but come 4pm there are plenty of families enjoying the park. All in all, 37 keyrings, and a cuddly slice of pizza named Paoulo later, it was our favourite day out of our entire holiday.

We have passes for here because we go a lot, my kids love it, we have visited peppa pig, timmy…read moretime, Father Christmas and the moshi monsters here this year, there have been more but we couldn't meet them all, 3 indoor play areas so ideal when it's too cold to be outside, height restrictions are a bit too strict, my 5 and year old is too small to go on the horses without me, when we go to Drayton manor the whole family can go on the horses and a lot more, they have some cars that go round a track and they have seat belts in, my 3 and half year old is too small for this toddler ride at wheelgate and at other parks like Drayton manor my 2 year old can go on these rides, on a warm day they have the water fountains for the kids to run through which they love, a nice little farm on site too, brilliant park decent price just hope don't start getting greedy and charging more as at the moment you get what you pay for

Stumbled on Wheelgate while looking for something to do on a sunny Sunday. We enjoyed the park…read morealtough parts of it were looking a little 'well used'. £32.00 for a family ticket felt slightly high for what you got, but the staff were all very pleasant. Pushing push-chairs around was tricky as many of the paths are gravel.Food wasn't over-priced but basic, if we go back we'll take a picnic. A massive indoor area is opening soon so could be a good bet if the weathers bad. If the price says the same when this opens it will be a good family day out. One word of caution: the zip wire says 14 stone max, i'm 13 stone and won't be sitting down for about a week!

Very tired but loads of fun for younger children. None of the hard sell of more commercial places…read morebut none of the attention to detail either. Friendly staff. Tip: if you're going for a birthday, tell them and they'll announce it at the "closing parade".

Visited Gullivers on the last Sunday in May (09), had never been before and didn't know what to…read moreexpect. Had one 14 year old and a 22 month old, plus one wife 30+! Not too crowded and didn't have to wait long for rides.Only a few rides for bigger kids but we all had fun, got very wet on log fume. Shared large pizza for a 'cheapo' lunch. Dora and other characters were wandering around which pleased little ones. If you've young kids it's a great place to go and at £12.50 good value too. Under 90cm kids free. Just been again 13th September Grandparents Day. Buy one ticket and Grandparents go free! Keep an eye on the web site.

Sherwood Forest Fun Park is located on the edge of Edwinstowe village.It is easily accessed on foot…read morefrom the village or from Sherwood Forest Visior Centre (reviewed seperately) If you've seen the leaflet they produce it lloks like a fun packed place, where you could spend a long time. Well the reality is different. There's probably a dozen rides in total, including a slide, a ghost train, hook-a-bag and some rides for the younger visitor. My daughter spent £1.50 on the hook-a-bag, managed to get the largest bag and inside was four or five items that would probably cost less than £1 in total. They only way I could describe this park is: imagine a the kind of fairground rides you would get at a small village fete.

Fantastic if your children love Thomas. Value for money loads to do.read more

if you have a little thomas the tank fan, then this place is a must…read more they have a full size thomas and percy, which you can take a ride on around the park, which drops you off in the zoo, with a newly built play park area, with seating for picnics. loads of thomas themed rides, including a mini rollercoaster for the kids, which has a photo opportunity, for about £4.50 each, a great momento of your day at thomas land. there is also a gift shop entirely dedicated to thomas, with everything from badges, postcards, to train sets and wallpaper. the fat controller walks around, and you are able to take pictures with him, aswell as a shed, with some of the characters from thomas which you can pose by to take pics.