This park is in fact two separate attractions. As well as the park with all it's rides, there is also a zoo, which unlike a lot of park zoos or farms feels like a separate and legitimate attraction in it's own right. I'd definitely recommend trying to spend an hour or two at the zoo on a visit to the park. The fact you get entrance to the zoo, and a great selection of family rides included in the entrance price makes this an excellent value attraction for groups with young children.

As well as a good collection of kiddie rides orientated and family roller coasters there are also some great scenic rides to try, like the Pirate Adventure, and The Golden Nugget Shoot Out.

Looking at the parks layout is quite interesting. It manages to have a good selection of rides, in what isn't that large an area, and most of the rides are well themed. There is a lack of themed areas in the park though, with most rides being individually themed instead. This gives it a feel reminiscent of a friendly well themed amusement park, it's a cosy and welcoming atmosphere.

Obviously with all this going for it Drayton Manor caters well for families, don't be fooled though, it also does a great job of catering for thrill seekers as well.

For a start it has two of the highest quality water rides in the country. Both Storm Force 10 and the Splash Canyon rapids are excellent examples of there type of water ride, and outshine many other similar types of ride.

It also has some good thrill rides. It has the tower drop ride, the Apocalypse, a ride that does live up to it's claim of being one of Britain's scariest rides. It also has a nice selection of whirl and hurl style thrill rides, such as a floorless inverted pirate ship called Pandemonium, and an excellent swinging discuss ride, Maelstrom.

Perhaps my only minor problem is the food on offer. Quality wise, it ranges from reasonable to great, that isn't the problem. The trouble I found is the lack of places you can go to get a satisfying meal. The majority of places just seemed to sell large snacks without any side orders, and you may find yourself having to go out your way to get to one of only a few places where you can get what feels like a whole meal.

Food issues aside this is a great park, with some great rides, that I think ranks as one of the countries better parks. This fact brings me to an interesting issue, this park despite being one of the countries best doesn't seem to generate the same name recognition  as a lot of the other top parks get. Part of the issue is not being able to spend on publicity what a lot of other parks do, but I think there is another issue here as well.

This park is one in the top 3 parks in the country for scenic rides, water rides and thrill rides, not something I can say about any other park, however for roller coasters it ranks somewhere in the bottom half of the top 10. Don't get me wrong, the roller coaster collection here is nothing to be ashamed of. As well as two family orientated coasters there are two good white knuckle coasters. There's Europe's only stand up roller coaster Shockwave, and the recently added G-Force, notorious for it's half loop hill lift that turns you upside down. This is a good set of coasters, and there are many parks with worse selections of roller coasters than this, but I think it falls short of the standards set by most other big name parks. This is a shame, as I think this results in Drayton Manor not having the drawing power it really deserves given the number of other great family and white knuckle rides on offer.

My advice is don't overlook this park. I'd highly recommend making an effort to visit this park. It's worth remembering that it's within easy reach from Alton Towers, making a trip to both these parks a great short break for any theme park enthusiast. It might not quite have the same drawing power as some of the other big names, but it's still not one to miss.