Hosts Drayton Manor picked up six awards, including a gold award for Best Value Credit: UK Theme Park Awards
Alton Towers has been named the UK’s best theme park for 2022 with more than 200,000 people voting in this year’s UK Theme Park Awards.
Organised by ThemeParks-UK.com and hosted by Drayton Manor, the third annual UK Theme Park Awards saw the British public vote over 22 different categories, with 204,501 votes cast alongside scores from an expert judging panel to determine the winners in each category.
Alton Towers picked up the gold award for Theme Park of the Year, with Paultons Park and Drayton Manor finishing in second and third place respectively.
Elsewhere, Flamingo Land’s new world-record equalling 10 inversion coaster Sik was named the best new attraction, with Drayton Manor’s Vikings land and Crealy’s new Sooty Land coming in second and third place with the silver and bronze awards.
When it comes to value for money, Drayton Manor is the UK’s favourite theme park, wth the attraction picking up the gold award for Best Value, followed by Paultons Park with the silver award and Adventure Island with bronze.
For the first time, the awards also recognised content creators, with awards for Blogger of the Year, YouTuber of the Year and Instagrammer of the Year being picked up by Theme Park Guide, Theme Park Worldwide and Thrill Riders respectively.
All in all, 18 different theme parks across the UK took home awards, with more than 100 representatives from the UK theme park industry in attendance for the special event.
“We’re thrilled to have hosted the UK Theme Park Awards this year, and equally delighted to have been shortlisted for 13 awards ourselves,” said Victoria Lynn, managing director at Drayton Manor.
“The UK Theme Park Awards are a fantastic opportunity for parks and attractions across the country to come together to celebrate, learn and champion one another, while also recognising the efforts of the teams working hard behind the scenes to ensure the UK’s theme parks are some of the top destinations for a day out.
“Here at Drayton Manor Resort, we work incredibly hard to ensure our guests enjoy a fun-filled day out each time they visit, and to see this recognised by the public vote, allowing us to take home six awards this year, really is fantastic.”
This year’s winners are as follows
Best New Attraction presented by Convious
GOLD: Sik (Flamingo Land)
SILVER: Vikings (Drayton Manor)
BRONZE: Sooty Land (Crealy)
Best Theme Park for Families (Large) presented by Vennersys
GOLD: Alton Towers
SILVER: Chessington World of Adventures
BRONZE: Paultons Park
Best Theme Park for Families (Small) presented by BoldMove Nation
GOLD: Gulliver’s Theme Parks
SILVER: Adventure Island
BRONZE: Crealy
Best Theme Park for Toddlers presented by BALPPA
GOLD: Paultons Park
SILVER: Legoland Windsor
BRONZE: Alton Towers
Best Theme Park for Thrills presented by Guinness World Records
GOLD: Thorpe Park
SILVER: Alton Towers
BRONZE: Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Best Seaside Park presented by Semnox
GOLD: Blackpool Pleasure Beach
SILVER: Fantasy Island
BRONZE: Adventure Island
Best Mascot
GOLD: Ollie the Dragon (Legoland Windsor)
SILVER: Rory the Lion (Drayton Manor)
BRONZE: Woody Bear (Pleasurewood Hills)
Best Steel Coaster presented by the European Coaster Club
GOLD: Nemesis (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Icon (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
BRONZE: The Swarm (Thorpe Park)
Best Wooden Coaster presented by the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain
GOLD: Wicker Man (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Grand National (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
BRONZE: Megafobia (Oakwood Theme Park)
Best Live Entertainment presented by TAG Live
GOLD: Hot Ice (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
SILVER: Return to Skeleton Bay (Legoland Windsor)
BRONZE: The Sooty Show (Crealy)
Best Play Experience presented by Be.EV
GOLD: Duplo Valley (Legoland Windsor)
SILVER: Hey Duggee’s Big Adventure Badge (Alton Towers)
BRONZE: Angry Birds Activity Park (Sundown Adventureland)
Hosts Drayton Manor picked up six awards, including a gold award for Best Value Credit: UK Theme Park Awards
Alton Towers has been named the UK’s best theme park for 2022 with more than 200,000 people voting in this year’s UK Theme Park Awards.
Organised by ThemeParks-UK.com and hosted by Drayton Manor, the third annual UK Theme Park Awards saw the British public vote over 22 different categories, with 204,501 votes cast alongside scores from an expert judging panel to determine the winners in each category.
Alton Towers picked up the gold award for Theme Park of the Year, with Paultons Park and Drayton Manor finishing in second and third place respectively.
Elsewhere, Flamingo Land’s new world-record equalling 10 inversion coaster Sik was named the best new attraction, with Drayton Manor’s Vikings land and Crealy’s new Sooty Land coming in second and third place with the silver and bronze awards.
When it comes to value for money, Drayton Manor is the UK’s favourite theme park, wth the attraction picking up the gold award for Best Value, followed by Paultons Park with the silver award and Adventure Island with bronze.
For the first time, the awards also recognised content creators, with awards for Blogger of the Year, YouTuber of the Year and Instagrammer of the Year being picked up by Theme Park Guide, Theme Park Worldwide and Thrill Riders respectively.
All in all, 18 different theme parks across the UK took home awards, with more than 100 representatives from the UK theme park industry in attendance for the special event.
“We’re thrilled to have hosted the UK Theme Park Awards this year, and equally delighted to have been shortlisted for 13 awards ourselves,” said Victoria Lynn, managing director at Drayton Manor.
“The UK Theme Park Awards are a fantastic opportunity for parks and attractions across the country to come together to celebrate, learn and champion one another, while also recognising the efforts of the teams working hard behind the scenes to ensure the UK’s theme parks are some of the top destinations for a day out.
“Here at Drayton Manor Resort, we work incredibly hard to ensure our guests enjoy a fun-filled day out each time they visit, and to see this recognised by the public vote, allowing us to take home six awards this year, really is fantastic.”
This year’s winners are as follows
Best New Attraction presented by Convious
GOLD: Sik (Flamingo Land)
SILVER: Vikings (Drayton Manor)
BRONZE: Sooty Land (Crealy)
Best Theme Park for Families (Large) presented by Vennersys
GOLD: Alton Towers
SILVER: Chessington World of Adventures
BRONZE: Paultons Park
Best Theme Park for Families (Small) presented by BoldMove Nation
GOLD: Gulliver’s Theme Parks
SILVER: Adventure Island
BRONZE: Crealy
Best Theme Park for Toddlers presented by BALPPA
GOLD: Paultons Park
SILVER: Legoland Windsor
BRONZE: Alton Towers
Best Theme Park for Thrills presented by Guinness World Records
GOLD: Thorpe Park
SILVER: Alton Towers
BRONZE: Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Best Seaside Park presented by Semnox
GOLD: Blackpool Pleasure Beach
SILVER: Fantasy Island
BRONZE: Adventure Island
Best Mascot
GOLD: Ollie the Dragon (Legoland Windsor)
SILVER: Rory the Lion (Drayton Manor)
BRONZE: Woody Bear (Pleasurewood Hills)
Best Steel Coaster presented by the European Coaster Club
GOLD: Nemesis (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Icon (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
BRONZE: The Swarm (Thorpe Park)
Best Wooden Coaster presented by the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain
GOLD: Wicker Man (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Grand National (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
BRONZE: Megafobia (Oakwood Theme Park)
Best Live Entertainment presented by TAG Live
GOLD: Hot Ice (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
SILVER: Return to Skeleton Bay (Legoland Windsor)
BRONZE: The Sooty Show (Crealy)
Best Play Experience presented by Be.EV
GOLD: Duplo Valley (Legoland Windsor)
SILVER: Hey Duggee’s Big Adventure Badge (Alton Towers)
BRONZE: Angry Birds Activity Park (Sundown Adventureland)
