Drayton Manor unveils new attractions this half term: Blue Mountain Engines steam into Thomas Land™ and Baby Animals at Drayton Manor Zoo
Related: Vekoma Rides Manufacturing proudly presents the brand-new Family Boomerang coaster! / Drayton Manor Theme Park set for momentous 2011
Blue Mountain Engines steam into Thomas Land™
Drayton Manor Theme Park will unveil a new family-friendly ride this half-term (28th May – 5th June).
Opening on Saturday 28th May in its Thomas Land attraction, Blue Mountain Engines is a wonderfully themed ride featuring four carriages, each based on new characters from Skarloey Railway; Sir Handle, Skarloey, Rheneas and Peter Sam. In the wonderful world of Thomas & Friends™, Skarloey Railway runs from Crovan’s Gate to the passenger terminal at Skarloey.
A total of 32 people will be able to go on the ride each time, including 16 adults, which means mums and dads can sit happily in the carriages with their children.
The ride is located near to the entrance of Thomas Land, replacing Terrance’s Driving School, which has been moved to an area near Farmer’s McColl’s Farm.
This will be the first new ride for Thomas Land since the attraction opened in March 2008. Thomas Land currently has a range of family friendly rides based on characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Cranky the Crane and the Troublesome Trucks. There are also indoor and outdoor play areas, as well as a shop and café.
See baby animals at Drayton Manor during Love Your Zoo Week
There’s no better time to see cute baby animals than during Love Your Zoo Week (30th May to 5th June), and Drayton Manor Zoo has had a baby boom.
The new additions to the 15-acre zoo, which is part of Drayton Manor Theme Park, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, include a capybara, twin ring-tailed lemurs and twin cotton topped tamarins.
The zoo is popular with all ages and allows families the chance to relax away from the excitement of the theme park. The zoo is home to more than 100 animal species from around the world, including big cats, monkeys and primates, as well as exotic birds of prey and various reptiles.
Other Attractions
Also new for 2011 is Europe’s first Ben 10 themed roller coaster, Ben 10: Ultimate Mission, which only opened at Easter to a star-studded event, and launches riders forwards on their first tour of the track before they return travelling backwards along the same route.
The coaster is part of a Cartoon Network Street that includes a shop, showcasing an exciting range of Cartoon Network toys and a Cartoon Network diner, thematically decorated both inside and out, where visitors can sit back, feast on sandwiches, snacks and children’s meals and watch Cartoon Network cartoons playing on flat screens around the diner.
For thrill seeking visitors there’s the adrenaline-inducing, 54-metre high drop tower, Apocalypse, the skin-soaking Stormforce 10 and petrifying gondola swing, Pandemonium, which guarantees to turn your world upside down.
Younger visitors will love the 4D Cinema, which is this year showing Marvin the Martian in the 3rd dimension. There’s also a 15-acre zoo, which is popular with all ages.
About Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor Theme Park is one of the UK’s most popular family attractions with over one million visitors a year. Drayton Manor was first opened to the public by the current owners, the Bryan family, in 1950 after husband and wife co-founders, George, OBE, and Vera Bryan, converted 80 acres of derelict land, which once belonged to the former British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and his family, into a wonderful family attraction. Today, set in approximately 280 acres of beautiful woodland and countryside, the family owned and run Drayton Manor Theme Park features some of the biggest, wettest and scariest rides around, including Shock-wave, G-force, Maelstrom, and Apocalypse, as well as a 15-acre zoo, the hugely popular Thomas Land™ attraction, and a 4D Cinema.
For further information about the park or to book tickets go to www.draytonmanor.co.uk or call 0844 472 1960. The Drayton Manor Park Hotel is due to open 15th August 2011, to make room reservations or for more information go to www.draytonmanorhotel.com.
Drayton Manor Theme Park is also on Facebook www.facebook.com/draytonmanorpark and Twitter (@draytonmanor) for regular news, offers and competitions.
About Turner CN Enterprises
Turner CN Enterprises, the licensing division of Turner Broadcasting, is now responsible for six key business areas across the EMEA region including Consumer Products, Events, Brand Licensing, DVD, Non Linear and Mobile. The business is charged with building consumer product franchises for Turners children’s properties and adults brands and characters from the channel’s growing library of award-winning original programming. Turner CN Enterprises also works to secure and support long-term licensee partnerships across all key merchandising categories including DVD and EST (Electronic Sell Through) content on mobile and online platforms. The division currently offers consumer product programs for an array of animation franchises including Ben 10, Generator Rex, Bakuga, Hero 108, The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and Robotboy. It also licenses brands including Adult Swim, CNN and Turner Classic Movies.
About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT’s portfolio includes properties, such as Thomas & Friends™, Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™, Mike the Knight™, Pingu™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, Sprout®. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.
