Thomas Land is a themed area at
Drayton Manor Resort in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
, England, based on the popular long-running children's television series, ''
Thomas & Friends
''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...
''. It stands on the former site of Robinsons Land, a themed area sponsored by the soft drinks brand of the
same name
''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...
. 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
Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth.
History
An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island, later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st cent ...
. Thomas Land officially opened to the public on 15 March 2008. An expansion of Thomas Land with additional attractions and private party rooms opened on 8 April 2015.
Rides
Thomas Land is set in of parkland and features many themed rides, alongside outdoor and indoor play areas and the "Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition".
Train rides
Models of
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
,
Percy and Rosie are used on a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
Tourist and Enthusiast Railways - West Midlands
/ref> 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
James may refer to:
People
* James (given name)
* James (surname)
* James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician
* James, brother of Jesus
* King James (disambiguation), various kings named James
* Prince Ja ...
, which was moved near to the James and the Red Balloon ride in 2017.
See also
* List of theme parks in the United Kingdom
* Thomas Land (Fuji-Q Highland), a ''Thomas & Friends'' theme park in Japan
References
External links
* https://www.draytonmanor.co.uk/explore/thomas-land
{{Thomas
Thomas & Friends
Tourist attractions in Staffordshire
Amusement rides introduced in 2008
2 ft gauge railways in England