*AD: The following was a gifted experience*
Back in the day there was a theme park near us called American Adventure. We went there a lot because it was so close. Unfortunately, the most prominent memories I have of it are bad ones. There was the time when me and my Mum got trapped on a turn on the runaway train and had to use a prop ladder to get down. Then there was the time I was at the top of the log flume with my sister about to plunge into water. We had literally just crawled up to the very highest point and it stopped as we looked out over the whole park. After a few minutes, staff joined us and another rescue mission followed.
I don’t think that American Adventure was around for much longer, but our go-to was replaced with the next-nearest, Drayton Manor. It’s the place we ended up for school trips. Drayton Manor’s a bit different to other theme parks in that they cater to kids of all ages. With two under 3, we could still entertain them with Thomas Land and (more importantly) their zoo.
We were niced up with some vouchers, courtesy of Red Letter Days. We just had to pick a day that suited us and head off whenever the time was right. As we’re only really restricted by days that Cameo’s in nursery (or when either me or Hollie haven’t got something going on) so we could be sure to go when as few kids would be there as possible.
So we selected the day, hyped it up from the point Cameo woke up and told him about all the animals he was going to meet. We set off with the pair of them a couple hours later. It’s a quick drive, so we’re in no rush. Just 12 minutes away from our driveway, Cameo’s covered in sick.
Mate.
So back home we go. The Drayton trip is on hold for a couple weeks.
The great thing about Red Letter Days vouchers is that you print off your voucher and it’s completely up to you when you use it. That false start was minor, because we could just leave it for that day, hold out until we knew it was a good day and resume play.
TWO WEEKS LATER…
In the end we got there and this time it really hit the spot. The weather was perfect, the both of them slept on the journey there. That’s how we like it.
There’s so much to explore in that place, but we decided it best to go and meet the animals before we did anything else. Cameo is really inexperienced with other species. He shouts at barking dogs. He grabs cats’ tails when he sees them. He requests that I “clean” any spiders in his vision. We’ve been to the London Aquarium before, but he was a bit too young to really care. Regardless, we had high hopes this time around.
Let me tell you that Cameo was buzzing to meet all the monkeys, he found the tapirs hilarious, and the lizards blew his mind. Unfortunately, the dwarf crocodiles had him shook. I swear he’s even looking at Happy from Hey Duggee differently after seeing it.
After that the two of them had their first train ride, taking them directly to Thomas Land. It was there that Cameo ticked off another major ‘first’. We gave him sized up and it turned out that he qualified to go on any of the rides he wanted within that section. For parents of kids under a meter tall (most under 3s) it means you can still have as much fun at Drayton Manor as you would with older kids. After Cameo went on one ride with me, he was eager for a second, third and a couple of goes with his mum too.
As it’s only an hour away and there’s so much to do there for kids of Cameo’s age (and literally until he’s an adult), we’re probably going to end up in here every summer. I’d say that you’d need to wait until your kids are about 2 before they’ll properly enjoy it here (which will be perfect timing for us next year with Marlo, as this time he basically just watched Cameo have fun all day.)
We had a drama-free fun day out in Staffordshire with two under 3s, and we can’t wait to do it again. Fancy doing the same? There’s plenty to explore here.
