IT'S not because of this!
But we loved this:
WE love a good ride in our house.
My children are 10-years-old and have been to Blackpool four times, Alton Towers once and Drayton Manor, loads of times, too many to count, as it's only half an hour away for us.
We've been back year after year and have the laughter-filled memories to prove it, even going back to me and Neil squabbling over whether we should try and get our daughters in for nothing as they looked so diddy when they were waaay past the cut-off point. (Sorry – I won by the way and I'll let you make your mind up whether I could sleep at night after pulling such a stunt.)
That's from the time they cried on a kiddie pirate ship to our most recent visit, when they held their hands in the air, sitting in the back row of Bounty and shouted 'Get in!' at the top of their voices, because their mum told them to.
This was between giggling heartily, screaming and grabbing the handrail now and again, just to make sure it was still there, I think.
Me and Melissa went on six times, Emily five and Neil a paltry one – he said it 'turned him inside out'. When we stopped laughing at how green he was, we went to sit at the shore of the lake for lunch. That's in between everyone laughing at me instead for thinking a real life Canada goose was a statue and nearly jumping out of my skin when it moved. Honestly all those millions ploughed into the white knuckle rides and all it takes for me to almost wet myself is some blimmin' bird budging an inch.
Inspired by Erica at Littlemummy, we even recorded a video at this point. It has so far been unfortunately censored by the 'Mum looks too fat' thought police (that's me in case you are wondering) but it may see the light of day at some point.
Our favourite ride is Stormforce10. We went on this at the very start of the day, well impressed that we only had to queue 20 minutes. I'd forgotten it goes backwards about half way through. By this point Neil and Melissa were creased up with laughter, I'd broken into spontaneous applause and Emily was shouting "awesome!" at the top of her voice. What joy for the dad and boy behind us – still they were also doubled up in mirth at this point, bless 'em.
As much as we loved Stormforce10 and Bounty, we hated Pandemonium. I pestered Melissa to come on it then swore my head off as it dangled us in the air. Melissa seemed okay, but it's a case of never again for me!
Apocalypse was great – again it was me and Melly who ventured on and we never stopped grinning the whole time, even managing to twist our smiles into a massive scream as our descent began.
We only managed a most cursory of visits to the zoo this time around, we're not the world's biggest zoo fans but were cheered by signs telling us of the park's conservation work.
The newer Thomas Land attractions and area were buzzing and there was a fantastic show in full swing from The Fat Controller singing his little heart out. We rode a Percy train (see left) and Emily and Melissa passed an enjoyable half an hour or so on the adventure playground.
The Sombreros are an old favourite of ours, even if they do now seem a little tame for the likes of us, more used to hurtling at breakneck speed elsewhere.
Splash Canyon (see picture, right) is also great fun and very wet. We also have a soft spot for the Drunken Barrels (about Neil's limit) and the Buffalo rollercoaster – where again, we are all to be found waving our hands in the air like we don't care.
Our only disappointment was the wild-west shoot-out. Having experienced more modern and thrilling versions on a shoot-em-up theme elsewhere, we weren't overly impressed. Maelstrom wasn't open on our visit (which was a shame as Melissa kept saying she wanted to go on it - yeah right) and our kids weren't tall enough to sample G-Force, the stand-up rollercoaster.
Still, we'll try again next time.
* We were invited to a day at Drayton Manor as one of a number of bloggers asked to sample what's on offer and report back. We had a brilliant time, so thank you to the PR team for making that happen.
Check out tips for families visiting Drayton Manor here.
Fact box:
Entrance prices: Under fours go free, children aged four to 11, £21, adults £25, over 60s, £12, disabled and helpers £19 each. Please also see details of family tickets etc here.
Directions provided by Drayton Manor.
No related posts.
-ani.png)
