- Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea ranks as the UK’s best value theme park with a score of 65 out of 100.
- The Dinosaur Park in Tenby and Paultons Park in Romsey complete the top three with scores of 60.61 and 60.59, respectively.
- GreenWood Family Park in Y Felinheli ranks as the worst value theme park with a score of 33.13.
A new study has revealed that Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea offers the best value for money among UK theme parks.
The research conducted by VIP Grinders, analysed 47 theme parks across the UK to determine which provides visitors with the best experience for the most affordable price.
The study examined various factors, including online ticket prices, number of rides and attractions, review ratings, and the number of good value-related terms in customer reviews to create an overall score out of 100 for each park. These results were then used to create a ranking of the best to worst value theme parks in the UK.
Adventure Island topped the rankings as the UK’s best value theme park, with a score of 65.00. The Southend-on-Sea park has a combination of affordable day tickets (£25.00) and annual passes (£40.00), plus a substantial offering of 33 rides. The park also performed well in value perception, with 22.10% of its Tripadvisor reviews mentioning “value,” one of the highest percentages in the study.
The Dinosaur Park in Tenby, Wales secured the second-best spot with a score of 60.61. The park offers day tickets at the low price of £18.95 and features 26 attractions despite having just 12 rides compared to other top-ranking parks. A significant 26.14% of its reviews mention the word “free” which indicates visitors appreciate complimentary features within the park.
Paultons Park in Romsey ranked third with a score of 60.59. While its day ticket price of £45.00 is relatively higher than many other parks, it achieved excellent review ratings of 4.55 out of 5 on Tripadvisor and 4.7 out of 5 on Google. The park offers an impressive 37 rides and 27 attractions to help justify the cost to visitors.
The Web Adventure Park in Wigginton placed fourth with a score of 60.14, with day tickets priced at a mere £12.50, the lowest among the top-ranked parks. The park has a decent balance of 11 rides and 15 attractions, and it also scored highly for value perception, with 21.03% of reviews mentioning “value” and 10.44% mentioning “cheap.”
Alton Towers Resort, one of the UK’s most famous theme parks, rounded out the top five with a score of 60.09. Despite charging £29.00 for day tickets, it has an average Google rating of 4.4 and a whopping 40 rides, the highest number in the study. Well-known rollercoasters such as The Smiler and Oblivion are extremely popular with adrenaline junkies, which helped secure its position as one of the best value parks.
Best Value UK Theme Parks
| Rank | Theme Park | Location | Day Ticket Price | Number of Rides | Number of Attractions | Index Score |
| 1. | Adventure Island | Southend-on-Sea | £25.00 | 33 | 6 | 65.00 |
| 2. | The Dinosaur Park | Tenby | £18.95 | 12 | 26 | 60.61 |
| 3. | Paultons Park | Romsey | £45.00 | 37 | 27 | 60.59 |
| 4. | The Web Adventure Park | Wigginton | £12.50 | 11 | 15 | 60.14 |
| 5. | Alton Towers Resort | Alton | £29.00 | 40 | 17 | 60.09 |
At the other end of the spectrum, GreenWood Family Park in Y Felinheli, Wales, ranked as the UK’s worst value theme park with a score of 33.13. Despite good review ratings (4.5 on Tripadvisor and 4.6 on Google), the park offers only 3 rides for its £25.00 day ticket price, significantly less than higher-ranking parks.
Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester placed second to last with a score of 34.34. The park received the second-lowest Tripadvisor rating after Flamingo Land, at 3.51 out of 5. While its £20.00 day ticket is relatively affordable, the limited offering of just 3 rides and 9 attractions contributed to its low ranking, as you don’t get much for your money.
Robin Hoods Wheelgate Park in Farnsfield earned the third-lowest score at 36.36, with only 3 rides available despite a day ticket price of £23.49. The park did score well for value perception, with 40.46% of reviews mentioning “value,” the second-highest percentage in the study.
ROARR! in Lenwade comes in fourth with a score of 38.20. Despite good review ratings and 15 attractions, its offering of just 4 rides for a £21.95 day ticket contributed to its low value ranking.
Thorpe Park in Chertsey, despite being one of the UK’s most popular theme parks, comes in fifth to last, with a score of 38.41. Its day ticket price of £29.00 offers access to 22 rides, but it scored poorly for value perception, with only 2.10% of reviews mentioning “value,” among the lowest in the study.
Worst Value UK Theme Parks
| Rank | Theme Park | Location | Day Ticket Price | Number of Rides | Number of Attractions | Index Score |
| 1. | GreenWood Family Park | Y Felinheli | £25.00 | 3 | 4 | 33.13 |
| 2. | Legoland Discovery Centre | Manchester | £20.00 | 3 | 9 | 34.34 |
| 3. | Robin Hoods Wheelgate Park | Farnsfield | £23.49 | 3 | 12 | 36.36 |
| 4. | ROARR! | Lenwade | £21.95 | 3 | 15 | 38.20 |
| 5. | Thorpe Park | Chertsey | £29.00 | 22 | 4 | 38.41 |
Telma Casaca, Head of Publishing at VIP Grinders, commented on the findings:
“It is interesting to see that the best value theme parks aren’t necessarily the most well-known. The data clearly indicates that parks which offer an excellent combination of affordable pricing and many rides are better value compared to those with fewer rides and higher prices.
“Most well-known parks like Thorpe Park and Legoland Discovery Centre rank relatively poorly in overall value. This suggests that visitors may be paying a premium for the brand name rather than the actual experience, and as a result, are disappointed with the overall experience.
“For families looking for a great day out whilst out on a budget, considering smaller parks like The Web Adventure Park or The Dinosaur Park could offer better value than the more heavily advertised options. With day tickets under £20, these parks prove that a great day out doesn’t have to break the bank.”
