We love theme parks and being a parent of tots, tweens and teens we have been to a fair few but none really cater for every age group perfectly.
Best for Under 5’s:
My favourite theme park for under 5’s is Paultons Park, home of Peppa Pig World. Any Peppa fan will adore it, although beware, you will be humming the Peppa theme tune all day. There is also the rest of the park to explore with animals to see and more rides that suit both little ones and under 10’s.
Best for Under 10’s.
I have two favourites for this age group, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland.
Chessington has a couple of thrill rides for teens but not enough to keep them happy all day, however it has so much to do for younger children. With a large zoo, a sealife centre, play area and lots of more gentle rides it is a brilliant all-rounder.
Legoland does have the ability to capture the imagination of Lego loving teens with its Star Wars and country displays and building area, however, again it is best for the under 10’s with gentle rides, shows from Lego Friends and the infamous Pirates
Best for Teens
Without a shadow of a doubt it has to be Thorpe Park. With huge rollercoasters, Ministry of Sound Nights, Fright Nights and Pop acts popping in to perform, it is a teenagers idea of heaven. There are a few rides for children over 0.9m but not enough to keep them happy all day, although in the summer months they do have an artificial beach where the kids can play.
Best All Rounders
There are two theme parks that I feel do a good job of keeping all ages happy, Drayton Manor and Alton Towers.
Drayton Manor has Thomas Land for train loving toddlers, where they can spend all day enjoying the delights of the island of Sodor and its residents, yet for the teens you have big rollercoasters like G-Force, Shockwave, Air Race and many more.
Alton Towers used to be my choice for teens but having recently opened CBeebies Land it now appeals to all ages. With my old favourite rollercoasters Nemesis and Air being joined by a host of scary new ones including Rita (yes its a daft name), Thirteen and the Smiler.
There is even a water park and a great choice of hotels to stay at if you fancy making a weekend of it.
What are you waiting for, load the kids in the car, occupy them with some games on the tablet, like these from Poki, whilst you travel and enjoy a great day out.
Which is your favourite theme park to take the kids?
Great round up of all the different choices which could come in very handy for me as I have a big age gap and often struggle to find places that cater to both my kids.
We loved Drayton Manor too, and you’re right, it’s hard to cater for all ages. We never made it to Paultons Park, and we’re too old now, but it always sounds super-lovely for little ones!
This is a fab round-up of the parks for all ages! We visited Thorpe Park most recently, it was brilliant and had loads for my teenager to do!
Really useful roundup – will be bookmarking and popping back to it nearer the kids summer hol’s
I think it depends heavily on your child’s height too. I would like to see more rides for the kids between 1.2-1.4 at Alton Towers. The ones too old for CBeebies land but not tall enough for the thrill rides. Let’s hope the new ride they are replacing the log flume caters for them.
Again Thomas Land is a bit young for my little ones (ages 7 & 8) but they aren’t big enough for the big rides. Chessington is our favourite currently for that reason (in the UK at least)
Fab roundup – I like Drayton Manor and it’s the closest to us which is always a bonus. We like places that have a range of things to do and not just big thrill rides.
Ooh we’ve not done Drayton Manor yet, maybe we should! Our girl is off to Thorpe Park with school in 3 weeks, lucky her! 🙂
I would add Drayon Mannor and we have Flamingoland and Lightwater Valley near us which are both super!
I’ve not taken Blake to any yet but really want to take him to cbeebies land and Lego land in the future.
We really like Drayton Manor and as we are Thorpe Park Ambassadors this year so I’m excited about going there too for the first time! x
These are all great. They are just all so far away from us. Thorpe park is great for older children and we loved peppa pig world x
I am so desperate to take my girls to Drayton Manor. My toddler loves Thomas! She would adore it there!
Our favourite theme park is Thorpe Park which we love but there are also a couple near where we are that are great too x
Brilliant list – we loved Peppa Pig World, and Lego Land years ago. We have been to Thomas Land but not really the main Drayton Manor park. I would love to go to Chessington and Thorpe Park. Kaz x
What a brilliant round up! We love our theme parks too and I love how they are catering for all age groups.
I have to admit we have not taken the kids to any of these yet – I have been to Alton Towers before kids and we are planning to go to Legoland this year…and possibly Peppa Pig world as well – so will tick them off slowly but surely
Laura x
Wow! Great post! Great lists!
The great lists you share about the best theme parks in UK for Under 5’s, Under 10’s, Under teens, and for all rounders is really comprehensive！
I am really fond of these posts like yours and hope to read more your blogs in the future! 🙂