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More than 330,000 public votes helped decide the winners of this year’s UK Theme Park Awards, with Paultons Park taking home the top prize of Theme Park of the Year
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 22 Sep 2025
Paultons Park was crowned Theme Park of the Year while Ghostly Manor was named Best New Attraction Credit: Paultons Park
The UK Theme Park Awards returned for its sixth year with a packed ceremony at Wicksteed Park that saw Paultons Park named the Theme Park of the Year for 2025.
Organised by ThemeParks-UK.com and presented in association with AttractionTickets.com, the awards drew more than 334,000 public votes, which were combined with scores from an expert judging panel to determine winners across 22 categories. Of the 35 nominated parks, 24 were recognised with at least one award.
This year, the awards introduced new categories, including Best Use of IP in an Attraction, Best Queue Line Experience or Pre-Show, and Best Integration of Technology in a Guest Experience. Respectively, those awards went to Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park, Wicker Man at Alton Towers Resort, and The Curse at Alton Manor at Alton Towers Resort.
The big winner on the night was Paultons Park, which claimed 10 awards across the day on the way to picking up the coveted Theme Park of the Year award. The park also won gold for Best New Attraction with Ghostly Manor and received further recognition for Peppa Pig World, which won Best Use of IP.
“These awards are testament to the hard work and dedication of our whole team at Paultons,” said Lawrence Mancey, marketing and technology director at Paultons Park.
“We're looking forward to building on our success next year with the opening of our first inverting rollercoaster, Drakon, in our new immersive world Valgard: Realm of the Vikings opening May 2026."
Other standout performers included Alton Towers, with nine awards, Drayton Manor with six, Legoland Windsor with six, Thorpe Park with four, and Pleasure Beach Resort with four.
Several smaller and regional attractions also celebrated success, with first-time winners including Bottons Pleasure Beach in Lincolnshire, Drusillas Park in East Sussex, Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire, and The Big Sheep in Devon. Awards also extended beyond the parks themselves, with categories recognising food and beverage, retail, green initiatives, accessibility and social media content and content creators across YouTube, TikTok and other platforms.
Hosted by TV presenter Naomi Wilkinson and awards host Dave Payne, the event welcomed more than 180 representatives from the UK’s theme park industry. This year’s judging panel comprised nine industry experts, including Planet Attractions’ own Lauren Heath-Jones.
Since its launch in 2020, the UK Theme Park Awards has grown into a highlight of the attractions calendar, giving both established operators and emerging parks a platform to showcase their achievements. With more than 330,000 members of the public casting their votes this year, the awards continue to underline the strength and popularity of the UK’s theme park sector.
A full list of winners can be found at ukthemeparkawards.com
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