Last weekend, we were delighted to be part of the 10th Anniversary of Thomas Land press celebration which has been open at the popular Drayton Manor Theme Park since 2008! Did you know that since its installation, the Thomas engine, which journeys from Knapford Station to Tidmouth Hault, has travelled an incredible 13,799 miles in total? This is the equivalent to travelling from Scotland to London and back nearly 15 times!
Drayton Manor Park is home to a 15-acre Zoo, 4D cinema and the gyro-swing Maelstrom, the 54-metre tower drop Apocalypse and Shockwave rides among others. Plus, it is the home of Europe’s only Thomas Land™, features rides and attractions, such as the Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster, Harold’s Helicopter Tours, Jeremy Jets’ Flying Academy, and James & The Red Balloon.
One of my children’s favourite ride has to be Jeremy Jets’ Flying Academy which they went on three times! They just love being able to fly in the air round and round! Another of our favourite rides has to be the Captain’s Sea Adventure, especially on a hot day! Best time to get wet is on a hot day as you’ll dry in no time! We all had so much fun, just in Thomas Land itself! The rides are very gentle and exciting for all.
After a decade of providing fun and laughter for all the family in its Thomas Land™ attraction, Drayton Manor Park is celebrating this milestone anniversary by releasing some fun facts about the little blue tank engine and his friends!
Drayton Manor Park will be hosting a number of celebratory events, running money-can’t-buy competitions, and launching some not-to-be-missed special offers that honour ten years of the little blue engine and his friends steaming their way into the West Midlands. The park is looking forward to welcoming even more guests throughout the rest of the 2018 season, which includes its Summer Sensation, from Wednesday 25th July to Monday 3rd September.
For further updates about the tenth anniversary celebrations, make sure you follow the attraction on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DraytonManorPark and Twitter www.twitter.com/draytonmanor. To book tickets, or for more information about the park, visit www.draytonmanor.co.uk/tickets-and-prices or call 0844 472 1950.
Of course, the fun didn’t just end in Thomas Land. We were also invited to watch the global premiere of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! movie in their air-conditioned 4D cinema! This is a brand new CG-animated special that will be showing at 400 cinemas throughout the UK from 20th July 2018 onwards.
This movie took 21 months to produce, 9 months to animate and took over 9500 hours of animation to complete! Did you know 25 frames are created per second for Thomas & Friends CGI animation? Also, this movie is the thirteenth Thomas & Friends film to be produced and the longest one to date, running for 80 minutes!
This movie features Peter Andre, who is the latest celebrity to voice a character in Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures. Peter brings to life the central character of Ace, a bright yellow and very cheeky Australian rally car who inspires Thomas to leave his home of Sodor and travel around the world with him. Peter has also recorded a new song for the movie called “Free and Easy” which will be available on Spotify from the 20th July.
Also part of the cast is multi-talented Kenyan actress and voiceover artist, Yvonne Grundy, who voices protagonist Nia, the first African tank engine to join Thomas & Friends. Nia is a strong aspirational character with a great moral compass and sense of fun, with equal competency and capability as Thomas. Her character was specially developed with the help of the UN and experts from the Royal African Society.
In this movie, Thomas undertakes his most epic journey ever as he leaves Sodor to fulfil his dream of seeing the world! The action-packed adventure begins when Ace comes to Sodor and inspires Thomas to embark on an ambitious trip-without the Fat Controller’s permission! This heroic quest takes Thomas across deserts, through jungles and over dangerous mountains as he travels across five continents seeing sights he has never seen before! On his journey to discover new places and cultures, Thomas makes friends with an adventurous, inspiring and fun tank engine from Kenya called Nia. But with so much for Thomas to learn about the world, will Nia be successful in teaching him a lesson about the true meaning of friendship? This is the biggest and best Thomas movie to date and one not to be missed! Both of my children enjoyed watching it! The movie is in cinemas from 20th July and you can book your tickets now at thomasbwbamovie.co.uk
After the movie, we went on to explore the rest of the park. Both of my children are not into thrill rides like the Apocalypse and Shockwave rides, so we spent most of the time inside the arcade, zoo and Thomas Land! There is plenty to explore and have fun! Do check them out!
Disclosure: We were invited to attend the Press event in exchange for our honest review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.