Festive fun at Drayton’s Magical Christmas // AD

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One of the joys of the festive season is to be able to see the world through the eyes of your children and visiting Drayton’s Magical Christmas is one of the best places to go in Staffordshire. It is the time more than any other in the year to act a little less seriously, have some fun and generally celebrate the end of another year.  Quickly becoming part of our Christmas traditions is a visit to Drayton Manor Theme Park and Thomas Land for Drayton’s Magical Christmas, which our children absolutely love.
This year’s visit was particularly special, as we had invited our good friends to come along with us. Our youngest, Freddie, has got a best friend (also called Freddie) who was born a week earlier than him. We all arrived at the park ready for some festive fun and Christmas cheer!

We got into Thomas Land just before the rides opened, and so when they did, we were fortunate to have the pick of the rides to choose from. Olly made straight for the Jeremy Jets ride and it was Freddie’s first time on the flying ride (I wasn’t completely convinced he enjoyed it, but he gave it a go!). After that we went on a couple more rides before taking a quick shelter from the weather!

Drayton’s Magical Christmas decorations are brilliant

One of the wonderful things about Thomas Land at Christmas time is the decorations, and we all loved seeing the trees, baubles, hanging displays and snow. Not to mention of course the wonderfully festive Thomas train, which was our next attraction. However, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to have a photograph with the main man himself, the Fat Controller!

The Thomas train ride is always a must-do for us when we go to Thomas Land. It is a lovely little train journey that takes you through the park to the zoo area. The boys always love riding on it. Thomas always gets decorated with a big red nose and the route is wonderfully covered with snowy scenery and Christmassy characters.

Once we arrived at the other side of the park, we took a walk through the zoo, where the Freddie’s were able to indulge in a favourite hobby, jumping in muddy puddles! Walking our way to the middle of the park, where we able to see the focal Christmas point of the park, the wonderful tree, to the backdrop of some lovely music played by a brass band nearby. We also got to see the beautiful park reindeer who was seemingly enjoying his sit down while the public took photographs!

We were then able to take some lunch, and enjoyed a lovely buffet of sandwiches, crisps, fruit and drink. During the well-earned break we were able to watch a circus duo. They performed plate spinning, juggling and other tricks for our amusement. After we were all suitably fed and watered, it was back to the Thomas Land park for some more fun on the rides. Olly in particular enjoying Diesel’s Locomotive Mayhem!

Visiting Santa’s Grotto in the Castle of Dreams

It was almost time for our eagerly awaited Santa experience. After a short queueing time, we made our way to the doors of the Castle of Dreams. We were greeted by some of Santa’s elves, who then showed us into the grotto. We spent a lovely few minutes chatting with the man himself. After we all decided we were on the good list, we made our way back out through the castle. The children received a lovely gift from Santa of a small teddy bear each. We couldn’t resist stopping off for a photograph on the beautiful big sleigh.

We headed back into the Thomas Land area once more. While the toddlers napped, Olly and I took the chance to nip on a few more rides; the Sodor Classic Cars, Winston’s Whistle Stop Tour and the Captain’s Sea Adventure. We topped our day off by watching the fantastic Fat Controller’s Jolly Christmas Show. The show was fantastic and culminated in a super snowstorm!

All of us left the park feeling very festive. Although the boys were tired, they really enjoyed their day out at Drayton’s Magical Christmas. We had lots of fun along the way. Our highlight was definitely getting covered in snow and seeing all the happy faces around us enjoying the moment. We can’t wait to come back and visit again soon!

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