These are the UK’s best theme parks for families, toddlers and thrills, according to the 2026 awards

Paultons Park, LEGOLAND Windsor and Thorpe Park are among the big winners at the UK Theme Park Awards 2026.

Teenage girls on a theme park ride.

Getty/Elizaveta Starkova

Published: September 15, 2026 at 10:46 AM

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Paultons Park has been crowned Theme Park of the Year at the UK Theme Park Awards 2026, taking home a whopping 11 awards in total.

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The Hampshire theme park, home to Peppa Pig World, was named the winner in the over one million visitors category, while Pleasurewood Hills in Suffolk took the top prize for parks welcoming fewer than one million visitors.

The awards, now in their seventh year, were decided using 267,982 public votes combined with scores from an expert judging panel. With plenty of family favourites among the winners, there are some useful ideas here if you're planning your next UK day out.

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The best UK theme parks for families and toddlers

For families with younger children, Paultons Park came out on top in both the Best Theme Park for Families and Best Theme Park for Toddlers categories.

Peppa Pig World, unsurprisingly, was named the gold winner for large theme parks in the toddler category. LEGOLAND Windsor's DUPLO Valley took silver, while Drayton Manor's Thomas Land was awarded bronze.

Grandpa Pigs Train Ride at Peppa Pig World

Among smaller parks, Crealy Theme Park & Resort's Sooty Land won gold, followed by Gulliver's Theme Park Resorts and Sundown Adventureland.

Paultons Park also took gold for Best Customer Service and Best New Attraction, with its new Drakon ride.

The park's Marketing & Technology Director, Lawrence Mancey, who was also named Theme Park Personality of the Year, said the awards reflected the work of the whole team.

Thorpe Park wins for thrill-seekers

If your family is more interested in big coasters than Peppa Pig, Thorpe Park was crowned Best Theme Park for Thrills.

Alton Towers took silver in the category, while Blackpool's Pleasure Beach Resort took bronze.

Alton Towers nevertheless had a very successful night, collecting nine awards. Its Minecraft: Meet the Mobs experience won gold for Best Brand Activation, while the park also took gold for Best Landscaped Theme Park.

It also won silver for Best Social Media Content, as well as bronze for Best New Attraction with Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies! and bronze for Best New Entertainment with Dark Hollow.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has plenty to celebrate

Blackpool's Pleasure Beach Resort was named Best Seaside Park in the North and also won gold for Best New Entertainment for Alice Frozen in a Wonderland of Dreams.

An entrance sign for Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with part of The Pepsi Max Big One rollercoaster behind. Blackpool is a traditional seaside town in Lancashire, UK.

Its new ride, Aviktas, took silver in the large Best New Attraction category, behind Paultons Park's Drakon.

The resort also picked up silver awards for Best Value Theme Park and Best Customer Service.

Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort, said 2026 had been a landmark year for the park as it celebrated its 130th anniversary.

More winners worth knowing about

There were 22 publicly voted categories in this year's awards, with 24 of the 36 nominated theme parks receiving at least one award.

LEGOLAND Windsor was another big winner, collecting six awards, including silver for Best Theme Park for Families and Best Theme Park for Toddlers, as well as silver for its LEGO NINJAGO Celebration.

Other notable winners included:

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The awards ceremony took place at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach Resort on 10 September, with more than 220 representatives from the UK theme park industry attending. TV presenter Naomi Wilkinson and awards host Dave Payne presented the event.

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