Thomas Land (Drayton Manor)

Thomas Land
Drayton Manor
Coordinates 52°36′46″N 1°42′48″W / 52.6128°N 1.7133°W / 52.6128; -1.7133Coordinates: 52°36′46″N 1°42′48″W / 52.6128°N 1.7133°W / 52.6128; -1.7133
Opening date 10 June 2008 (2008-06-10)
Staffordshire, England, U.K.
Replaced Robinsons Land
General statistics
Attraction type Themed area
Theme Thomas and Friends
Rides 18
Website Official website

Thomas Land is a themed area at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire, England, based on the children's television series Thomas and Friends. It stands on the former site of Robinsons Land, a themed area sponsored by the soft drinks brand of the same name. The construction began while the park was still open in September 2007, and many of the Robinsons Land rides were moved to other areas of the park for the remainder of the season. Many of the rides housed in Robinsons Land except the Veteran Cars (now Sodor's Classic Cars) were sold to Funland in Hayling Island. Thomas Land officially opened to the public on 10 June 2008. An expansion of Thomas Land with additional attractions and private party rooms opened on 8 April 2015.[1]

Rides

Thomas Land is set in 3 acres (12,000 m2) of parkland and features 18 themed rides.

  • Thomas, Rosie and Percy engine tours (Opened 2008 as Thomas and Percy engine tours / Renamed 2009 when Rosie was added)
  • Troublesome Trucks roller coaster (Opened in 2008)
  • Jeremy's Flying Academy (Opened in 2008 / Relocated in 2015)
  • Terence's Driving School (Opened in 2008 / Relocated in 2011)
  • Diesel's Locomotion Mayhem (Opened in 2008)
  • Bertie Bus (Opened in 2008)
  • Lady's Carousel (Opened in 2008)
  • Sodor's Classic Cars (Opened in 2008)
  • Harold's Heli-Tours (Opened in 2008)
  • Cranky's Drop Tower (Opened in 2008)
  • Emily's Indoor Play Area (Opened in 2008)
  • Spencer's Outdoor play area (Opened in 2008)
  • Rockin' Bulstrode (Opened in 2008)
  • Blue Mountain Engines (Opened in 2011 / Relocated and Merrick was added in 2015)
  • Winston's Whistle Stop Tour (Opened in 2013)
  • Captain’s Sea Adventure (Opened in 2015)
  • Flynn's Fire Rescue (Opened in 2015)
  • Toby’s Tram Express (Opened in 2015)
  • James and the Red Balloon (Opened in 2017)

Train rides

Thomas at Knapford Station

Models of Thomas, Percy and Rosie are used on a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge[2] railway that takes visitors through the park. The line features Tidmouth Sheds with stationary facades of other engines, Knapford Station, which serves as the main station and a refreshment stand, Dryaw and Tidmouth Hault. It also has many sidings and sheds along the way, one of which used to feature a "sleeping" model of James.

Discover Thomas & Friends

In early 2009, HIT Entertainment announced that the original models from the television series would be put on display at Thomas Land in an exhibit called "Discover Thomas & Friends", as production was to move to Canada, now that the series was to be animated with full CGI. The models were then put on display in 2009. So far, the layout features Great Waterton, a town that first appeared in "The Great Discovery", and the Fishing Village. Many other buildings have been seen from previous seasons from the show, such as "Neptune's Refreshments", "Ben's Books", Toby's Shed, the Windmill, Castle Loch, the ruined Castle and Bluff's Cove signal box. Models have also appeared in the workshop, including: Bulgy, Terence, Trevor, Elizabeth, Butch, 3 Horrid Lorries, a canal boat, A Tug boat (Lucinda), A Harbour Ship, 2 red and white express carriages, 2 green and cream express carriages, Thomas, Edward, Toby (stolen or put into storage or taken back) Stepney, a blue narrow engine, Rosie, Harvey (Taken back to HIT Entertainment in 2012), Bulstrode, Toad the brake van (faceless), and various trucks. Also, under the layout, in storage are models of Gordon and Diesel along with assortment of props.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Thomas Expansion Announcement". Drayton Manor website. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ Tourist and Enthusiast Railways - West Midlands

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