Peppa Pig World
Having twin granddaughters who are three years old makes our family prime candidates for Peppa Pig World. So, we decided to go this year, rather than leave it to next summer, only to find that the twin’s tastes have changed. Today was a beautiful autumnal day with plenty of sunshine, making it ideal for adventures in a theme park. Peppa Pig World is actually just part of Paultons Park, which has a broad variety of rides and entertainment. However, the girls age restricts them from a lot of these, so we remained at Peppa Pig World which proved sufficient to keep children and adults busy. We ended up spending seven hours, perusing the park and went on most rides. Despite the lateness of the season, Peppa Pig World was still well attended and there was a large crowd throughout the day. However, the theme park is very well organised and run so there were no major problems.
Like most outdoor events, if you arrive early then you get the best parking. We secured places near to the entrance. Parking is martialled by stewards who are polite and helpful. We had pre-booked our tickets and received a substantial discount. There were four adults in our party which cost £110 and the children being under 1 metre, got in free. Regular tickets bought at the gate cost £34.25 each. On arrival the granddaughters were given green wristbands that designated which rides were suitable, through a colour code system. It was then a short five-minute walk through parts of Paultons Park before we got to Peppa Pig World which is a separate enclave. The moment you cross over the threshold, you’re acutely aware of various jingles, incidental music and of course the theme tune from Peppa Pig. Most children seem unconcerned by this pervasiveness. Adults may require opiates.
Some rides are more popular than others, so my advice to any family planning on visiting is to determine which ones are most important and go there first. For the first couple of hours of the day the average queue time is about 10 to 15 minutes but eventually this goes up to about 30 minutes by sheer weight of numbers. The rides are all fairly straight forward, sedate and very child friendly. They are mainly permutations of riding around in a themed vehicle or conveyance, through a semi interactive environment. The water-based rides such as Grandpa Pig’s Boat Trip and Grampy Rabbit’s Sailing Club are especially enjoyable, offering a more dynamic mode of transport. Peppa Pig’s Balloon Ride is also quite exciting, offering great views of the park and immediate area. Personally, I thought the most complex and involving ride was the Windy Castle. It lasted the longest, mainly to accommodate getting passengers on and off their respective “clouds.
As well as rides there are other attractions. There is a “meet and greet” with Peppa and George along with an accompanying stage show. As you can imagine, this is very popular, so if you arrive late, you’ll find yourself at the back of a large crowd, struggling to see. There are numerous photo opportunity such as Peppa Pig’s House and various animatronic displays. There also a soft play area that is very well provided for. As part of the wider attractions of Paultons Park, there is a penguin enclosure, which is directly adjacent to Peppa Pig World. The is a talk at feeding time, twice daily that is most informative. Like any theme park, there are numerous gift shops, eateries and kiosks, all designed to separate adults from their hard-earned cash. Sadly, the prices here are somewhat high and so feeding your family may prove expensive. We also noticed that the regular exits were closed, and we had to vacate the park via the gift shop, which was a little pervasive.
Overall, Peppa Pig World is a good day out for those with appropriately aged children. As we stayed from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, I felt is was value for money. We certainly didn’t run out of things to do and the queue times were not too excessive. The staff were very friendly, helpful and above all, good at their jobs. The logistical facilities, such toilets, information and “lost children” collection centres where all top notch and it would seem that the park can deal with any issues quickly. Unless you live relatively locally, I would advise potential guests to come down a day early and stay in one of the numerous hotels in the area. Hampshire has a good tourist industry and there’s accommodation available to suit all budgets. Certainly, our granddaughter had a great day out, but as I mentioned earlier, many theme parks are governed by a specific age window. I suspect that our visit was exactly at the “right time” and Disneyland Paris will more than likely be the next destination.
