If you haven’t guessed by now our website is theme park/attractions related and this article hopes to provide you with the top 10 UK theme parks that you absolutely must visit!
From adrenaline junkie experiences to your standard family thrills we have carefully chosen just 10 of our favourite UK theme parks and in no particular order listed them below for you to see.
Theme park days out are memories that last a lifetime, I can remember a trip to Alton Towers when I was 9 as clearly as I remember what I did yesterday.
Make your own memories to last a lifetime with these wonderful UK theme parks.
Alton Towers
Up first on our list of the top 10 UK theme parks you absolutely must visit is none other than the king himself. Alton Towers.
Alton Towers is the perfect blend of thrill rides and family-friendly fun.
From the rip-roaring Nemesis coaster that will pump your veins with high-octane adrenaline in no time to the more family-friendly yet highly themed Wicker Man ride the park consists of a broad range of rides to cater for all sorts of rollercoaster enthusiasts.
Alton Towers is also home to CBeebies Land full of rides for younger children including an Into the Night Garden boat ride and a wonderful children’s first coaster themed around Octonaughts.
In May 2021 the park will also be opening David Walliams World including brand new for 2021 rides including a Royal Carousel, Raj’s Bouncy Burp, Flavio’s Fabulous Fandango and the flagship 4D immersive ride of the area, Gangsta Granny: The Ride. A 360-degree experience consisting of sounds, smells, effects, illusions and more as you dive headfirst into the story riding on a royal carriage.
Alton Towers is also home to some beautiful gardens and being the UK’s largest theme park there are always things to see and do.
Alton Towers have also added a garden centre within the gardens themselves for 2021 so if you have green fingers why not pop down and shop around before you head on home. The pricing is very competitive and there are some great little garden ornaments to pick up.
Alton Towers is also a resort consisting of numerous hotels and over accommodation stays including Stargazing Pods, luxury lodges and more!
Our Top 3 Rides You MUST do when visiting!
Nemesis
Wicker Man
The Smiler
Thorpe Park
Next on our list of top 10 UK theme parks, you must visit is the Chertsey based Thorpe Park.
I’d definitely say that Thorpe Park was a more adult-themed thrill-seekers theme park with little in the way of children’s attractions of not.
Angry Birds 4D is catered to a younger audience and there is Amity Beach with a water playground for children and a small selection of rides but the park is generally targeted towards a much older audience.
The coasters are some of the best in the country and being much smaller than that of Alton Towers there is much less walking to do between attractions.
With one of Europe’s fastest roller coasters in Stealth and the UK’s only winged coaster in The Swarm, not to mention the world’s first horror movie rollercoaster in Saw the Ride and the world’s first 10-looping rollercoaster Colossus Thorpe Park has a whole host of great coasters and scary flat rides that will satisfy even the most diehard thrill seeker.
Accommodation is few and far between at Thorpe Park with only shipping container Shark Cabins providing an overnight stay at a very affordable price but with the only window in your room being a porthole and the rooms being rather cramped in size it’s not the most ideal family accommodation although the free breakfast and early entry into to the park the morning after is not to be sniffed at.
Our Top 3 Rides You MUST do when visiting!
The Swarm
Stealth
Nemesis Inferno
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
A park that celebrates its old fashioned heritage whilst also bringing new and thrilling rides to the park.
I’d certainly put Blackpool Pleasure Beach in my favourite top 10 UK theme parks list that’s for sure!
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is the most ride intensive theme park in the country where you only need to step a few paces left or right and you’ll be on the next attraction.
With coasters that intertwine with one another and with much love and care put into their classics such as wooden rollercoasters that are approaching 100 years old, Blackpool Pleasure Beach is the must-visit attraction for me in the UK.
A new launch coaster was added by the name of ICON, this Mack Rides manufactured coaster is one impressive ride experience indeed and if you’re feeling brave you can ride the UK’s tallest coaster Big One.
Overlook the sea before plummeting towards the ground in one of the quickest accelerating, tallest and one of the longest coasters in the country!
The park is celebrating its 125th Anniversary this year and has a whole lot of celebrations planned and 2022 will bring the return of Valhalla the award-winning dark ride that has been out for a season or two undergoing refurbishments.
Valhalla: Brave the Adventure will return in 2022 with projection mapping, new sustainable effects, a bit of a retrack and more!
Our Top 3 Rides You MUST do when visiting!
Big One
ICON
Big Dipper
https://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/
Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor, for the most part, is a family targeted theme park and for the younger audiences, there is Thomas Land equipped with many rides and a wonderful and surprisingly quick children coaster named Troublesome Trucks.
Drayton Manor was taken over by The Looping Group in 2020 and have a 5-year plan to transform the park.
Work was undertaken over winter 2020 and into 2021 for a whole new area retheme by the name of Adventure Cove. A nautical adventure-themed area with numerous rides and a brand new Adventure Cove Rapids Ride from Intamin that will take guests through a wonderful cartoon styled nautical journey.
Thrill-seekers still have a few rides to choose from including the stand-up rollercoaster Shockwave which absolutely terrifies me every single time, drop tower Apocalypse and a few good flat rides.
Apocalypse is a wonderful drop tower ride but make the most of it in 2021 as the ride is up for sale and this may be the last season you get to ride it.
Drayton Manor is also home to a 15-acre zoo with tigers, meerkats and more for you to enjoy! It really is an all-round family-fun park.
Drayton Manor has an on-site hotel and one particular room of note is the Presidential Suite which is absolutely beautiful and is cheaper than £150 a night.
The room is elegant and decadent above and beyond anything I’ve seen in that price range and for a theme park room, the size, the quality of furnishings and more make this one of the most affordable Presidential Suites in the UK.
Our Top 3 Rides You MUST do when visiting!
Shockwave
Adventure Cover River Rapids (When officially open)
Accelerator
https://www.draytonmanor.co.uk/
Chessington World of Adventures
Consisting of ten themed lands and the brand new for 2021 drop tower Croc Drop, Chessington World of Adventures combines a zoo and heavily themed theme park for a wonderfully immersive experience.
Don’t forget to check out the Sea Life Centre on-site and choose from not one but two incredibly themed hotels with one overlooking the Wanyama nature reserve full of Ostrich, Zebra and more!
Chessington has an abundance of family-friendly rained including a new Rainforest area complete with a log flume guaranteed to give you a soaking but for the older kids, there are such rides as Rattlesnake, Dragon’s Fury and even the horror-themed Vampire ride which is celebrating its 31st birthday this year!
Our Top 3 Rides You MUST do when visiting!
Tiger Rock
Vampire
Dragon’s Fury
LEGOLAND Windsor
A park that exclusively caters for children but I’m sure even adults will enjoy themselves at this wonderful little attraction.
From MiniLand showcasing global attractions in LEGO form to the brand new Mythica expansion opening in May consisting of the UK’s first flying theatre, there is something for everyone at LEGOLAND.
Get your first ‘Driving License’ at the LEGOLAND Driving School or explore underwater creatures in a submarine with Deep Sea Adventure or immerse yourself in the world of Ninjago with a fun interactive dark ride.
The possibilities and fun are endless at LEGOLAND Windsor but with it being the UK’s busiest theme park try and choose your days wisely or you’re going to be stuck in plenty of queues all day!
Our Top 3 Rides You MUST do when visiting!
Flight of the Sky Lion
Pirate Falls
The Dragon
Flamingo Land
With one of the most impressive theme park zoos in the UK packed full of lions, tigers, zebra and more this park has so much for such a broad range.
A children’s section with kids only coasters, dark rides for older children, intimidatingly scary coasters such as the Vekoma SLC Kumali or race on a motorbike as you launch 0.60mph in 2.8 seconds!
Flamingo Land is an all-around experience and is certainly jam-packed full of activities for all the family.
Sadly, a new 2021 roller coaster has been delayed due to the pandemic but 2022 will see a brand new 10-looping coaster opened at the park with a pirate theme. It looks absolutely incredible but there’s more than enough to do around the park before that opens.
What I will suggest though is that you bring a packed lunch as having eaten at every single place at Flamingo Land, quality food really isn’t their strong point!
Paultons Park
Paultons Park is arguably the UK’s best family park. Hands down the best family park in our top 10 UK theme parks list.
Home to Peppa Pig World and over 70 rides and attractions there’s something for everyone at this Southampton based park.
New for 2021 is the addition of Tornado Springs which is the parks biggest investment to date bringing in brand new rides and attractions in an Americana themed area of the park.
The brand new addition will see the UK’s first Mack spinning coaster Stormchaser spinning guests around a track and the intimidating gyro swing Cyclonator which is definitely for the brave big kids and adults.
With American themed diners and a whole host of attractions for all ages, Paultons Park are certainly bringing well-themed areas, superb marketing and great offerings combined for one hell of a family day out!
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is a unique park indeed and fully deserving of being in the top 10 UK theme parks list!
After walking through a market you enter a world of coasters, flat rides, water rides and indoor immersive experiences within a giant pyramid.
2021 has seen the addition of numerous rides at the park including a brand new spinning coaster and two indoor virtual experiences.
Fantasy Island is also home to two Vekoma coasters and the tallest SLC Vekoma in the world (Odyssey).
If you’re not a fan of heights you’ll definitely need to be wearing your big boy (or girl) pants for that one!
Fantasy Island have a wonderful array of rides to suit all ages and the atmosphere is always very funfair esque.
2021 looks to be a great year for Fantasy Island and their Halloween events are certainly not to be missed.
The company Atmosfear design all the mazes at Fantasy Island for their Halloween Fear Island celebration and they’re some of the most immersive and detailed mazes in the country.
Atmosfear also create the mazes at Scare Kingdom, easily one of the best Halloween attractions in the UK.
https://www.fantasyislandresort.co.uk
Southport Pleasureland
Whilst, not a theme park per se It still deserved a place on my top 10 UK theme parks list regardless.
Certainly more amusement park than theme park but I just had to add it to the list as the remaining options just aren’t up to scratch for me personally.
Southport Pleasureland contains a whole host of flat rides for all ages and some really ride intensive experiences.
Their log flume is certainly one of the most fun I’ve ever been on and on a warm day in Southport, Pleasureland really is the place to be.
I thoroughly enjoyed the food especially the fish and chips which were divine and with an old wobbly Pinfari looping coaster towards the back of the park even a diehard thrillseeker can brave that rickety and wonderful experience.
Southport Pleasureland is planning a huge expansion in the years to come including an on-site hotel and crazy golf experience, the plans look promising and the future is looking bright for the Southport adventure playground.
Southport Pleasureland Website
So there are our Top 10 theme parks that you absolutely must visit!
