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Chesington named UK’s best theme park as UK Theme Park Award winners revealed

Chessington World of Adventures is your 2023 UK Theme Park of the Year, with Alton Towers, Drayton Manor and Blackpool Pleasure Beach also picking up big wins in this year’s UK Theme Park Awards

Representatives from across the country were in attendance at this year’s UK Theme Park Awards

The winners of the fourth annual UK Theme Park Awards have been announced, with Alton Towers, Drayton Manor and Blackpool Pleasure Beach among the big winners at this year’s event.

Organised by ThemeParks-UK, 229,427 public votes were combined with scores from a judging panel including Planet Attractions Editor-in-Chief, Tom Anstey, with winners announced across 22 categories.

Hosted at Chessington World of Adventures and attended by more than 100 representatives from theme parks and attractions suppliers across the UK, Alton Towers picked up the most awards, with 11, while Drayton Manor and Blackpool Pleasure Beach both picked up eight.

Chessington, which opened its new Jumanji-themed area earlier this year, was named the Theme Park of the Year, with Alton Towers coming in second and Paultons Park finishing third.

Chessington also picked up the gold award for best new attraction with World of Jumanji, while Thomas & Percy’s Submarine Splash at Drayton manor picked up the silver and Lego Ferrari Build & Race at Legoland Windsor won bronze.

Presented by Planet Attractions, the Best Theme Park for Thrills was Thorpe Park, with Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach earning silver and bronze recognition respectively in the category.

For Best New Event, Night at the Manor at Drayton Manor and Festival of the Dead at Robin Hill, picked up the gold awards for large and small parks respectively.

The highly-coveted Content Creator of the Year award went to DigitalDan, with Theme Park Worldwide finishing second and Diary of a RollerCoaster Girl coming in third.

“It was fantastic to have hosted the UK Theme Park Awards 2023 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort this year, alongside being shortlisted for a number of accolades, too,” said Ramesh Ganeson, divisional director at Chessington World of Adventures Resort.

“We were delighted to have welcomed a wide range of industry professionals to the Resort whilst celebrating the most important thing - fun!

“We are over the moon to have won a range of awards, including Theme Park of the Year, after launching an incredible new investment at the Resort this season in World of Jumanji. Here’s to 2024.”



Theme Park of the Year presented by ADIPS

GOLD: Chessington World of Adventures
SILVER: Alton Towers
BRONZE: Paultons Park

Best New Attraction presented by LEAPS

GOLD: World of Jumanji (Chessington World of Adventures)
SILVER: Thomas & Percy’s Submarine Splash (Drayton Manor)
BRONZE: LEGO Ferrari Build & Race (LEGOLAND Windsor)

Best Reimagined Attraction presented by Katapult

GOLD: The Curse at Alton Manor (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Valhalla (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
BRONZE: Nemesis Sub-Terra (Alton Towers)

Best Theme Park for Families presented by Vennersys

Large:
GOLD: Alton Towers
SILVER: Paultons Park
BRONZE: Chessington World of Adventures

Small:
GOLD: Gulliver’s Theme Parks
SILVER: Adventure Island
BRONZE: ROARR! Dinosaur Adventure

Best Theme Park for Toddlers presented by BALPPA

Large:
GOLD: Paultons Park
SILVER: Drayton Manor
BRONZE: LEGOLAND Windsor

Small:
GOLD: Sundown Adventureland
SILVER: Blackgang Chine
BRONZE: Crealy

Best Theme Park for Thrills presented by Planet Attractions

GOLD: Thorpe Park
SILVER: Alton Towers
BRONZE: Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Best Theme Park with Animals presented by Attractions.io

GOLD: Chessington World of Adventures
SILVER: Flamingo Land
BRONZE: West Midland Safari Park

Best Seaside Park presented by Ride and Park Media

North:
GOLD: Blackpool Pleasure Beach
SILVER: Fantasy Island
BRONZE: Ocean Beach Pleasure Park

South:
GOLD: Adventure Island
SILVER: Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
BRONZE: Dreamland Margate

Best Themed Coaster presented by the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain

GOLD: Wicker Man (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Mandrill Mayhem (Chessington World of Adventures)
BRONZE: The Swarm (Thorpe Park)

Best Thrill Ride presented by Attraction Source

GOLD: Maelstrom (Drayton Manor)
SILVER: Samurai (Thorpe Park)
BRONZE: Red Arrows Skyforce (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

Best Water Ride presented by InterPark

GOLD: Valhalla (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
SILVER: Stormforce 10 (Drayton Manor)
BRONZE: Tidal Wave (Thorpe Park)

Best New Event presented by The Business Creative

Large:
GOLD: Night at the Manor (Drayton Manor)
SILVER: Eggsplorers (Chessington World of Adventures)
BRONZE: Springfest (LEGOLAND Windsor)

Small:
GOLD: Festival of the Dead (Robin Hill)
SILVER: BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas (BeWILDerwood)
BRONZE: Jurassic June (Pleasurewood Hills)

Best Live Entertainment presented by TAG Live

GOLD: Hot Ice (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
SILVER: Return to Skeleton Bay (LEGOLAND Windsor)
BRONZE: Sooty's Big Top Showtime (Crealy)

Seasonal:

GOLD: Amity High vs LycanThorpe (Thorpe Park)
SILVER: Banyan - The Circle of 8 (Chessington World of Adventures)

Best Adventure Golf

GOLD: Extraordinary Golf (Alton Towers)
SILVER: Lava Creek Adventure Golf (Fantasy Island)
BRONZE: Adventure Golf (Adventure Island)

Best Theme Park Food presented by Rollover

GOLD: Route 83 Diner (Paultons Park)
SILVER: Rollercoaster Restaurant (Alton Towers)
BRONZE: Loki's Après Ski Bar (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

Best Theme Park Hotel presented by Pure Entertainment Group

GOLD: Boulevard Hotel (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
SILVER: LEGOLAND Castle Hotel (LEGOLAND Windsor)
BRONZE: Chessington Safari Hotel (Chessington World of Adventures)

Best Theme Park Music

GOLD: The Curse at Alton Manor (Alton Towers)
SILVER: World of Jumanji (Chessington World of Adventures)
BRONZE: Haunted House Monster Party (LEGOLAND Windsor)

Best Customer Service presented by Convious

GOLD: Paultons Park
SILVER: Adventure Island
BRONZE: Drayton Manor

Best Value Theme Park presented by Rose Events

GOLD: Drayton Manor
SILVER: Paultons Park
BRONZE: Crealy

Best Marketing Campaign presented by Agility

GOLD: World of Jumanji (Chessington World of Adventures)
SILVER: The Curse at Alton Manor (Alton Towers)
BRONZE: Rebuilding Nemesis (Alton Towers)

Best Social Media Content presented by Rubber Cheese

GOLD: Drayton Manor
SILVER: Thorpe Park
BRONZE: Chessington World of Adventures

Content Creator of the Year

GOLD: DigitalDan
SILVER: Theme Park Worldwide
BRONZE: Diary of a RollerCoaster Girl



Tom Anstey (Editor In Chief - Planet Attractions)
Chris Belvin-Bailey (Founder - Attraction Source)
Dawn Foote (Co-Founder & CEO - Katapult)
Marcus Gaines (Owner - Ride and Park Media)
Andy Hine MBE (Chairman - Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain)
Paul Kelly (Chief Executive - British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions)
Mark Locker (Founder & CEO - Attractions.io)
Lawrence Roots (Founder - ThemeParks-UK.com)
Beth Whitaker (Editor - InterPark)