SITTING pride of place in my three-year-old daughter's bedroom is now a little Thomas the Tank Engine snow globe.

This morning she picked it up and said how much it meant to her.

She treasured this new possession because it reminded her of all the fun we had at Drayton Manor's Magical Christmas.

Of course, it had been handed over by Father Christmas in his magical castle making it an extra special treat.

It wasn't just Daisy who had brought back happy memories from the day - I think we all had kick started the Christmas period with style.

A sprinkling of fairy dust has transformed the park into a winter wonderland with thousands of twinkling fairy lights, baubles, spectacular trees and all those well-loved Christmas classics sounding out.

We arrived at the park to find the Fat Controller singing and dancing above Knapford railway station before flurries of snow fell down on delighted children.

Thomas Land was especially festive, the popular books and television series lending itself perfectly to being given a Christmas makeover.

Lights festooned the engines and, as the sun began to set, the fairy lights began to twinkle away making it even more magical.

We tried all the favourites, Diesel's Locomotion Mayhem, Sodor Classic Cars and Winston's Whistle-stop Tours which gave us a wonderful bird's eye view of the park below.

We also went on the more heart stopping rides - quickly discovering that the usually shy and retiring Daisy was in fact a daredevil.

The Troublesome Trucks Coaster was a hit with my eldest Jacob who made us go on three times in a row sitting at the front.

There was also repeat rides on Rocking Bulstrode and -much to my chagrin - the Cranky the Crane Drop Tower which I managed to squeal my way through.

Afterwards it was all aboard the Polar Express, one of my favourite Christmas films, in the 4D cinema and we also wandered around the zoo before making our way back to Thomas Land aboard Percy.

As the wintery chill began to set in and darkness descended, we made our way to the enchanted Castle of Dreams where we were greeted by elves before being taken in to see the big man himself - Father Christmas.

Present lists reeled off, it was time to be handed their presents - the magical snow globe.

Let the countdown to Christmas begin.

Drayton’s Magical Christmas will be open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays until Monday, December 15 then every day from Friday, December 19 to Tuesday, December 23 and Saturday, December 27 to Wednesday, December 31.

Pre booking Christmas tickets is essential due to demand via draytonmanor.co.uk or call 0844 472 1960.