MAKING TRACKS TO THOMAS LAND AT DRAYTON MANOR PARK IN THE UK

Europe’s first Thomas Land will open at the award-winning Drayton Manor Theme Park, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, this Easter.

The £4.5m (US $10 million) attraction, based on the popular Thomas & Friends™ books, is set within three acres of beautiful parkland that has been transformed into the magical Island of Sodor.

The attraction will open with eleven new Thomas & Friends themed rides based on popular characters from the books by the Reverend W. Awdry, including Cranky the Crane, Harold the Helicopter and the Troublesome Trucks with special guest appearances by the Fat Controller.  Central to the attraction will be a 600 metre long railway track carrying visitors on an enchanted Thomas and Percy train ride from their base at Knapford Station through Sodor and out to the Drayton Manor Zoo.

Carefully created in partnership with HIT Entertainment, the producers and rights owners of Thomas & Friends, no detail has been overlooked in the effort to authentically replicate Sodor at Drayton Manor.  Everything fromsourcing soot coloured brickwork within Knapford Station to commissioning hand painted murals of views across Sodor, has been lovingly considered to ensure fans and their families experience a complete immersion into Thomas Land.

Alongside this, the attraction will also boast the ultimate retail store, brimming with exclusive Thomas & Friends merchandise, plus a soft-play centre for younger visitors, new restaurants and private function space.

Promising fun and adventure for the young and young at heart, Thomas Land will be a first for Europe and follows the huge success of Thomas Land in Japan which currently attracts over 1.7 million visitors per year.  Speaking about the creation of Thomas Land in the Midlands, Colin Bryan, managing director of Drayton Manor Theme Park comments:

“The Thomas & Friends brand has endured for over sixty years and continues to captivate children with adventures of discovery, friendship and cooperation.  It is a truly iconic brand and one which we are delighted to be bringing to Drayton Manor in order to create an area within the park which will truly enchant our younger visitors.  Thomas & Friends has been the number one licensed pre-school toy brand for the past nine years and we simply cannot wait to see how children react to being able to visit Thomas Land for the first time in the UK.”

All of the Thomas Land rides have been designed so that parents and grandparents can sit with their children and share the experience.  Set within over 280 acres of beautiful lakes and parkland, older children and family members can also enjoy the many other attractions which Drayton Manor Theme Park has to offer from the thrill seeking Apocalypse tower drop ride and stand-up Shockwave roller coaster, to Splash Canyon white water rapids and The Wild West Shoot Out.  Visitors can also explore Drayton Manor Zoo, home to over a hundred species from all over the world, including big cats, reptiles, monkeys, owls, eagles, parrots-plus an exotic creature reserve and educational Discovery Centre.

Construction will begin in 2009 on the Drayton Manor Hotel, offering 140 bedrooms, some of which will be Thomas and Friends themed, plus a restaurant and banqueting facilities.  A further residential element offering 40 wooden cottages and a woodland spa is also in the pipeline.  Drayton Manor currently has a camping and caravanning site situated within the Park and priced from £11 per night.

Drayton Manor Theme Park and Thomas Land will open to the public for the 2008 season on 15 March.  Entrance to Drayton Manor including Thomas Land is free for children under 4 years. Advanced ticket purchases are available at a discounted cost via the website www.draytonmanor.co.uk and Ticket Hotline 0870 240 69 50.

About Drayton Manor Park

Drayton Manor Park was first opened to the public by the Bryan family in 1949, after co-founders, husband and wife, George and Vera Bryan, converted 80 acres of land into a wonderful family attraction. Today, the park boasts over 280 acres of beautiful lakes and parkland, packed with great rides and attractions for everyone to enjoy. The family owned theme park is one of the Midland’s most popular attractions with a million people visiting annually. Drayton Manor also features a first class 15-acre zoo that is home to more than a hundred different animal species from around the world. In 2006, Drayton Manor was awarded the Best UK Attraction at The Group Leisure Industry Awards 2006. Every category is voted for by readers of Group Leisure magazine, who are mainly in the group travel sector throughout the UK and abroad. Drayton Manor was also named the 2006 Coach Tourism UK Attraction of the Year after being voted for by the readers of routeone and Coach Monthly magazines. As well as these two prestigious prizes, further recognition also came in the form of the Silver award at the Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards 2006 in the category of Visitor Attraction of the Year (large). The park opens 15th March to 2nd November 2008. The park’s full address is Drayton Manor Theme Park, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, B78 3TW.  Website: www.draytonmanor.co.uk .

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners, is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Fifi and the Flowertots™ in North America and Japan and acts as a worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands and as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. HIT also owns the Guinness World Records™ publishing and television property. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production (including studios in the US and the UK), publishing, consumer products licensing and live events. With a catalogue of more than 1,000 hours of young children's programming, HIT sells its shows to more than 240 countries worldwide, in more than 40 different languages and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. In 2005, the Company joined Comcast Corporation, PBS and Sesame Workshop to launch PBS KIDS SproutSM, a 24-hour digital cable channel and VOD service for preschoolers.  In 2007, HIT and Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global, Inc and its subsidiary ChelloZone, announced a joint venture to launch and distribute JimJam, an international pre-school TV channel (excludes the US, UK and China). For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.