Crealy, a Devon theme park that has been open since the 1980s, has won six titles at the UK Theme Park Awards. It beat competition from larger attractions across the country.
The park took the award for best small Theme Park for Toddlers thanks to its Sooty Land attraction, based on the decades-old puppet show. It also won silver for Best New Attraction among small parks with under one million visitors, for its Rotor ride, which is the only inverted ride in the South West and spins riders upside down. Crealy also earned silver as Best Theme Park for Families, narrowly losing to Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts.
Another silver award came for Best Halloween Event, for its annual Spookfest, which returns on selected weekends in October and during half term. Attractions include the Creaky Hotel, a Scarecrow Scare Maze, and Buddy's Spook Maze for younger children.
Crealy also won silver for Best New Accessibility Initiative for its SEND Days. The park's website says: "Our specially designed days offer a range of accessibility features and inclusive support for visitors with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)." These days include pre-visit support, reduced prices, quiet areas, and a SEND-aware team.
The park's director, Josh Haywood, received an Outstanding Achievement award for his work at Crealy.
The awards ceremony took place at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on September 10, with attendees from across the tourism and leisure industries. Paultons Park, about two hours from Devon, was another major winner, taking 11 awards overall. Paultons won Theme Park of the Year for parks with over one million visitors a year, and also picked up a prize for Drakon, a new ride in a Viking-themed land that opened in May.
In the large parks category, Paultons won Best Theme Park for Toddlers for Peppa Pig World, which opened in 2011 and features rides like Grandpa Pig's Little Train and Miss Rabbit's Helicopter Ride. Best Christmas Event went to A Celebration of Christmas at Paultons, running again from December 5, with Santa's Storytime and Frosty the Snowman. Peppa Pig World will be decorated for Christmas, with Peppa and George holding meet-and-greets in festive outfits.
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Devon Theme Park Wins Six Awards Over Bigger UK Rivals