Winners of the UK Theme Park Awards 2026

Written by: Lawrence Roots

The winners of the UK Theme Park Awards have been announced, with Paultons Park and Pleasurewood Hills crowned Theme Park of the Year.

For the seventh year, the British public were able to vote for their favourite theme parks in these prestigious national awards.

The awards are organised by Theme Parks UK, an independent consumer guide to UK theme parks. In 2026, the awards are presented in association with AttractionTickets.com and TAG Live®.

There were 22 publicly-voted categories in total, including Best New Attraction, Best Theme Park for Families, for Toddlers and for Thrills, the Best Seaside Park and Theme Park of the Year. 10 new categories for this year included Waterpark of the Year, Scream Park of the Year and Theme Park Personality of the Year.

267,982 public votes were combined with the scores from the judging panel to determine the winners in each category. Of the 36 theme parks that received nominations, 24 won awards.

The awards ceremony took place at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach Resort on 10 September and was attended by more than 230 representatives from the UK theme park industry. Naomi Wilkinson, TV presenter and children’s entertainment favourite, and Dave Payne, renowned presenter and master of awards ceremonies, hosted the event.

A recording of the awards ceremony is available to watch at ukthemeparkawards.com/watch.

The biggest winners in the awards include Paultons Park in Hampshire (11), Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in Staffordshire (with 9 and 3 awards respectively), Blackpool's Pleasure Beach in Lancashire (8), LEGOLAND Windsor in Berkshire (6), and Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park in Surrey (with 3 and 4 awards respectively).

The other British theme parks winning multiple awards include Adventure Island in Essex (5), Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight (3), Crealy in Devon (5), Fantasy Island in Lincolnshire (2), Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach in Norfolk (2), Sundown Adventureland in Nottinghamshire (2), West Midlands Safari Park in Worcestershire (2) and the many Gulliver's Theme Parks (2).

Also winning awards this year: Flamingo Land and Lightwater Valley in Yorkshire (1 each), M&D's Scotland's Theme Park (1), Pleasurewood Hills in Suffolk (1), ROARR! in Norfolk (1), Twinlakes in Leicestershire (1), Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire (1) and Woodlands in Devon (1).

There was also an award for Content Creator of the Year, which includes bloggers, vloggers and podcasters, as well as those creating content on other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort said:

"The UK Theme Park Awards provide a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on the hard work, talent and innovation across our industry, recognising and celebrating the very best experiences it has to offer. Hosting the 2026 awards has been a great privilege, and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase everything that makes Pleasure Beach so special.

"It's been a landmark year for the park - we've marked our 130th year and welcomed many exciting new additions, including our brand new-ride Aviktas. Hosting this event is yet another proud moment for 2026, and I hope everyone who has joined us can see our commitment to both our present and future."

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.

Sponsors

We would like to thank our sponsors for making the UK Theme Park Awards 2026 possible - find out more about them.

Winners

Theme Park of the Year presented by AttractionTickets.com

  • WINNER (over 1m visitors): Paultons Park
  • WINNER (under 1m visitors): Pleasurewood Hills

Best New Attraction presented by Attractions.io

  • GOLD (Large): Drakon (Paultons Park)
  • SILVER (Large): Aviktas (Pleasure Beach Resort)
  • BRONZE (Large): Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies! (Alton Towers Resort)

  • GOLD (Small): Spinning Racer (Lightwater Valley)
  • SILVER (Small): Rotor (Crealy Theme Park & Resort)
  • BRONZE (Small): Fossil Falls (ROARR!)

Best Theme Park for Families presented by RWS Global

  • GOLD (Large): Paultons Park
  • SILVER (Large): LEGOLAND Windsor Resort
  • BRONZE (Large): Chessington World of Adventures Resort

  • GOLD (Small): Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts
  • SILVER (Small): Crealy Theme Park & Resort
  • BRONZE (Small): Adventure Island

Best Theme Park for Thrills presented by LOOP by Semantic

  • GOLD: Thorpe Park
  • SILVER: Alton Towers Resort
  • BRONZE: Pleasure Beach Resort

Best Theme Park for Toddlers presented by Avius

  • GOLD (Large): Paultons Park (Peppa Pig World)
  • SILVER (Large): LEGOLAND Windsor Resort (DUPLO Valley)
  • BRONZE (Large): Drayton Manor Resort (Thomas Land)

  • GOLD (Small): Crealy Theme Park & Resort (Sooty Land)
  • SILVER (Small): Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts
  • BRONZE (Small): Sundown Adventureland

Best Seaside Park presented by presented by Froneri

  • GOLD (North): Pleasure Beach Resort
  • SILVER (North): Fantasy Island
  • BRONZE (North): Skegness Pleasure Beach

  • GOLD (South): Adventure Island
  • SILVER (South): Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
  • BRONZE (South): Blackgang Chine

Waterpark of the Year presented by Semnox

  • GOLD: Sandcastle Waterpark
  • SILVER: Alton Towers Waterpark
  • BRONZE: Subtropical Swimming Paradise (Center Parcs)

Scream Park of the Year presented by Framestore

  • GOLD: Tulleys Shocktober Fest
  • SILVER: Screamfest
  • BRONZE: Xtreme Scream Park

Best Halloween Event presented by KA Creative

  • GOLD (Large): Fright Nights (Thorpe Park)
  • SILVER (Large): Scarefest (Alton Towers Resort)
  • BRONZE (Large): Journey to Hell (Pleasure Beach Resort)

  • GOLD (Small): Fear Island (Fantasy Island)
  • SILVER (Small): Spookfest (Crealy Theme Park & Resort)
  • BRONZE (Small): Fairground Frights (Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach)

Best Christmas Event presented by Photo Experience

  • GOLD (Large): A Celebration of Christmas (Paultons Park)
  • SILVER (Large): Christmas Wonderland (Drayton Manor Resort)
  • BRONZE (Large): LEGOLAND at Christmas (LEGOLAND Windsor Resort)

  • GOLD (Small): Christmas Spectacular (Sundown Adventureland)
  • SILVER (Small): Santa Safari (West Midlands Safari Park)
  • BRONZE (Small): Magical Christmas Nights (Woodlands)

Best New Entertainment presented by TAG Live®

  • GOLD: Alice Frozen in a Wonderland of Dreams (Pleasure Beach Resort)
  • SILVER: A Celebration of Valgard (Paultons Park)
  • BRONZE: Dark Hollow (Alton Towers Resort)

Best Brand Activation presented by Katapult

  • GOLD: Minecraft: Meet the Mobs (Alton Towers Resort)
  • SILVER: LEGO NINJAGO Celebration (LEGOLAND Windsor Resort)
  • BRONZE: PAW Patrol Autumn Adventure (Chessington World of Adventures Resort)

Best Landscaped Theme Park presented by TouchWood Play

  • GOLD: Alton Towers Resort
  • SILVER: Paultons Park
  • BRONZE: Blackgang Chine

Best Theme Park Animal Exhibit presented by BoldFrame

  • GOLD: ZUFARI: Ride into Africa (Chessington World of Adventures Resort)
  • SILVER: LEGO City Deep Sea Adventure (LEGOLAND Windsor Resort)
  • BRONZE: Lion Coast (Flamingo Land Resort)

Best Theme Park Holiday Village presented by Cocktail Machine

  • GOLD: Safari Lodges (West Midlands Safari Park)
  • SILVER: Alton Towers Enchanted Village
  • BRONZE: LEGOLAND Woodland Village

Best New Accessibility Initiative presented by Nimbus Disability

  • GOLD: Wheelchair Adapted Ride Vehicles (Merlin Entertainments)
  • SILVER: SEND Days (Crealy Theme Park & Resort)
  • BRONZE: ASN Family Festival (M&D's Scotland's Theme Park)

Best Customer Service presented by Merac

  • GOLD: Paultons Park
  • SILVER: Adventure Island
  • BRONZE: Pleasure Beach Resort

Best Value Theme Park presented by TEP Technica

  • GOLD: Adventure Island
  • SILVER: Pleasure Beach Resort
  • BRONZE: Drayton Manor Resort

Best Marketing Campaign presented by Agility Marketing

  • GOLD: Valgard (Paultons Park)
  • SILVER: Aviktas (Pleasure Beach Resort)
  • BRONZE: Fright Nights (Thorpe Park)

Best Social Media Content presented by Studio Free

  • GOLD (Large): Paultons Park
  • SILVER (Large): Alton Towers Resort
  • BRONZE (Large): Thorpe Park

  • GOLD (Small): Adventure Island
  • SILVER (Small): Wicksteed Park
  • BRONZE (Small): Blackgang Chine

Theme Park Personality of the Year presented by kahani

  • WINNER: Lawrence Mancey (Paultons Park)

Content Creator of the Year

  • WINNER: Coastertog

Industry Excellence Awards

  • Outstanding Achievement: Josh Haywood (Crealy Theme Park & Resort)
  • Rising Star: Sarah Smith (ROARR!)

Nominees

See the full list of nominees.

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