For the third year, the British public were able to vote for their favourite theme parks in these national awards recognising the best rides and attractions, shows and events.

The awards were organised by ThemeParks-UK.com, an independent consumer guide to UK theme parks. This year, the awards were presented in association with AttractionTickets.com.

There were 22 categories this year, including Theme Park of the Year, Best Customer Service and Best Value. New categories included Best Steel Coaster, Best Wooden Coaster and Best Mascot.

204,501 public votes were combined with the scores from a judging panel to determine the winners in each category. Of the 30 theme parks that received nominations, 18 won awards.

The awards ceremony was held at Drayton Manor on 22nd September and was attended by more than 100 representatives from the UK theme park industry. A recording of the event is available to watch here.

The biggest winners in the awards included Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in Staffordshire (with 11 and 6 awards respectively), Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire (7), LEGOLAND Windsor in Berkshire (6), Paultons Park in Hampshire (4) and Thorpe Park in Surrey (5). Other UK theme parks with multiple awards included Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey (2), Crealy in Devon (3), Adventure Island in Essex (3) and the various Gulliver’s Theme Parks (2).

Also winning awards this year: Fantasy Island in Lincolnshire, Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, Joyland in Norfolk, Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Pleasurewood Hills in Suffolk, Sundown Adventureland in Nottinghamshire, Twinlakes in Leicestershire, Wicksteed Park Northamptonshire.

For theme park content creators, there were also awards for Blogger of the Year, YouTuber of the Year and Instagrammer of the Year.

Meet the Judges

The winners of the UK Theme Park Awards were determined by combining public votes with the scores from our judging panel - find out more about them.

• Andy Hine MBE (Chairman - Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain)
• Dawn Foote (Co-Founder & CEO - Katapult)
• Justin Garvanovic (Editor - First Drop)
• Lawrence Roots (Editor - ThemeParks-UK.com)
• Mark Locker (Founder & CEO - Attractions.io)
• Paul Kelly (Chief Executive - British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions)

Partners in 2022

We would like to thank our key partners for making the UK Theme Park Awards 2022 possible - find out more about them.

Winners

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)

Best Dark Ride presented by Katapult

• GOLD: Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
• SILVER: Flight of the Sky Lion (LEGOLAND Windsor)
• BRONZE: The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure (Chessington World of Adventures)

Best Historic Ride presented by Rubber Cheese

• GOLD: Water Chute (Wicksteed Park)
• SILVER: Ghost Train (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
• BRONZE: Snails (Joyland)

Best Halloween Event presented by The Business Creative

• GOLD: Fright Nights (Thorpe Park)
• SILVER: Scarefest (Alton Towers)
• BRONZE: Xtreme Scream Park (Twinlakes)

Best Christmas Event presented by Blachere Illumination

• GOLD: Lightopia (Alton Towers)
• SILVER: LEGOLAND at Christmas (LEGOLAND Windsor)
• BRONZE: Magical Christmas (Drayton Manor)

Best Value presented by Rollover

• GOLD: Drayton Manor
• SILVER: Gulliver’s Theme Parks
• BRONZE: Adventure Island

Best Customer Service presented by Attractions.io

• GOLD: Alton Towers
• SILVER: Paultons Park
• BRONZE: Thorpe Park

Best Social Media Engagement presented by Convious

• GOLD: Alton Towers
• SILVER: Drayton Manor
• BRONZE: Thorpe Park

Blogger of the Year

• GOLD: Theme Park Guide
• SILVER: Cupcakes & Coasters
• BRONZE: Thrill Nation

YouTuber of the Year

• GOLD: Theme Park Worldwide
• SILVER: TheJackSilkstone
• BRONZE: DigitalDan

Instagrammer of the Year

• GOLD: Thrill Riders
• SILVER: Roller Coaster Rachel
• BRONZE: Cupcakes & Coasters

Theme Park of the Year presented by ADIPS

• GOLD: Alton Towers
• SILVER: Paultons Park
• BRONZE: Drayton Manor

Nominees

See the full list of nominees.