When we asked the girls which theme park in the UK they wanted to revisit, without a moment’s thought they both replied Paulton’s Park and Peppa Pig World, a theme park tucked away in the beautiful location of The New Forest in Hampshire. Since our younger daughter, Holly, was a baby, she is one of the many thousands of children worldwide who has been obsessed with Peppa Pig.
It’s been over 2 years since our last visit to Paulton’s Park and a lot has changed since then so we were really excited to see what was new for families and what changes the park has in store for 2020.
Peppa Pig World is just as I remembered it, with colourful rides, manicured gardens and the Peppa Pig theme park on continuous loop – it’s the closest place you will come to stepping inside the actual Peppa Pig cartoon.
It’s also just as busy as I remember it, if you go on a weekend or during the school holidays expect to queue, although there are ways to get around this which I will explain later in the article.
Tip – I would highly recommend getting to the park for opening at 10am and make your way to Peppa Pig World before the queues start to build up.
If you have young children, there is no better theme park for them to visit and they will want to return again and again. For a toddler who loves Peppa Pig it must be more magical than Disneyworld.
The reason why Peppa Pig World attracts so many families is because the majority of the rides here can by enjoyed by all the family whatever their age, Holly had her first Peppa Pig ride experience at 16 weeks old and has been enchanted ever since.
Tip – Download the free Paulton’s Park app before your visit which provides a map and real time updates on queue times and can help you plan which ride to visit next.
Even with Chloe and Holly getting older, there was still something magical about Peppa Pig World, not only did it bring back memories of the girls having fun from previous visits, we were excited to try out the two latest Peppa additions to this part of the park.
We started our Peppa Pig adventure at the new Grampy Rabbit’s Sailing Club, a water based sailing ride at the base of the Queen’s castle where you can discover Pirate Island. This was one of my personal favourites and as we sat in our covered raft on this water adventure Holly provided my husband and I with a running commentary of a who‘s who on each of the Peppa Pig characters that we came across on our cruise – look out for the Queen and muddy puddles.
Next up was the other new ride The Queen’s Flying Coach Ride, a monorail which travels around the Peppa Pig World section of the park providing great views of the colourful landscape of Peppa and her friends below.
We couldn’t wait to try out some of our Peppa favourites which included Grandpa Pig’s Boat Trip , Daddy Pig’s Car Rides and Windy Castle, where you sit in a little cloud as you gently float above the park providing the best bird’s eye view on what to visit next.
If you want to skip the queues here, which can typically be 60 minutes plus for the most popular rides, Paulton’s Park don’t offer fast passes but do offer a Peppa Pig World early pass that allows entry to guests between 9.00 and 10.00am and early ride access for 15 minutes from 9.45am. (Adults £14.25 Children aged 13-35 months £18.75, Children aged 6-12 months £9.75, Children 3+ £24.95)
15 minutes doesn’t sound much time, but at Peppa Pig World this could save you 2 hours during the day especially if you choose the rides where crowds build up quickly such as George the Dinosaur Ride, The Queen’s Flying Coach Ride and Miss Rabbit’s Helicopter Flight.
If money is no object then the little known VIP packages (starting from £190 per person) are the perfect way to experience Peppa Pig World especially as it comes with unlimited fast track access, priority parking, a Paulton’s host and your entry ticket into the park. It’s not cheap but it’s not fun waiting in long queues especially in the heat of summer with little ones.
For families with younger children, if Peppa Pig is getting busy another area of the park worth visiting to escape the crowds is the fun themed Critter Creek, here you will find the junior coaster Cat-O-Pillar Coaster and Prof.Blasts Expedition Express.
Tip – When booking tickets take a look at the official Paulton’s Breaks website you can pick up some great deals on partner hotels which come with breakfast plus you get a two day ticket – which can typically offer good savings compared to booking it separately.
Away from the world of Peppa Pig World, Paulton’s Park is also home to many more themed lands perfect for older children.
What got us really excited is that a huge new themed attraction is opening in May 2020 called Tornado Springs and had a quick sneak peek.
This will be the largest themed attraction at the park based on 1950’s Americana and we are so looking forward to visiting because it widens the appeal of the park for families whose children might have outgrown Peppa Pig World.
Included in this new land will be eight new rides for children of the ages three to fourteen. The feature ride will be the Storm Chaser rollercoaster, a free spinning ride the first of its kind in the UK travelling 20 metres above the ground.
Other attractions include Al’s auto academy driving school, Buffalo Falls water raft ride and the scary sounding ‘Cyclonator’ a pendulum ride for up to 30 people.
Both Chloe and Holly are becoming thrill seekers and the Lost Kingdom, the dinosaur themed land at the park had some of our favourite rides of the day such as The Flight of the Pterosaur, a mighty and unique 395m suspended rollercoaster.
Next up we took on the Velociraptor, another dino themed coaster that zoom you around bends at up to 40mph, forwards and backwards. It looked scarier than it was and we were all soon hooked on the adrenaline rush from riding, we lost count how many times the girls went on this.
Once we had our fix of the Lost Kingdom, we wandered over to the older sections of the park which might get overlooked but it’s great for families with older children especially the fast spinning moving Edge ride and the coaster Cobra which was Chloe’s personal favourite ride during our visit.
Tip – Bring your swimsuits with you in warmer weather, as there are two great water splash parks here – one at Peppa Pig World and the larger 8,500 square foot splash zone near the Lost Kingdom entrance.
Little Africa is another recent addition to the park where we got to meet some of the continents smaller inhabitants including porcupines, fennec foxes and our favourites the meerkats.
We finished our visit walking through the peaceful gardens here, which often get overlooked with the lure of the rides but it’s worth stopping by to see the stunning displays of flowers, flamingos, tropical birds and the gorgeous Japanese garden.
Like previous visits to Paulton’s Park we all had a wonderful day and there was still so much we didn’t manage to squeeze in.
The mix of rides on offer for all the family make this theme park one of the very best in the country, and with the new Tornado Springs opening next year it’s going to get even better. The girls are already talking about their return visit next year.