Paulton’s Park is a family theme park near Southampton which is best known as being home to the world’s only Peppa Pig theme park.
We have been visiting Peppa Pig World and Paulton’s Park since Holly was just 16 weeks old and Chloe was 2. They are now 6 and 8 respectively, and the excited look on their faces hasn’t changed since our last visit two years ago.
The Peppa Pig character is widely popular and one that most families will be familiar with. Even if you are not a Peppa Pig fan it would be difficult not to enjoy this magical area.
We have visited many theme parks around the world, but Peppa Pig World at Paulton’s Park is one of the very best theme parks for families with younger children. Unlike many other theme parks, Peppa Pig World is truly an immersive experience.
The theming is superb, and as you walk through the little town it feels as if you have walked onto the set of the TV show, with nearly every iconic character featured.
Peppa Pig World is the most popular part of Paulton’s Park so it can get extremely busy, especially during weekends and school holidays so be prepared for long wait times for some of the attractions.
However you can pre book Peppa’s Early Play & Ride Pass which provides an opportunity to meet Peppa Pig and George personally before the Park opens between 9.00 – 10.00am and enjoy the rides in Peppa Pig World from 9.45am (although it would be more appealing if you had early ride access from 9.00 am, rather than just an extra 15 minutes).
During our visit as soon as the park opened we headed straight to Peppa Pig World (taking a shortcut past the Flamingo’s) to maximise our chances of making the most of our day – escaping the long lines that can build up during the day.
As we walked under the Peppa Pig sign, with Peppa music playing in the background the girls excitedly ran to the first ride that caught their attention.
With seven Peppa Pig themed rides to enjoy our first stop was to take to the skies on Peppa’s Big Balloon Ride, which provided amazing views over Peppa Pig World. To make it more thrilling there’s even the option of using a wheel in the centre of the basket to make it spin, much to the delight of the girls.
One of the favourite rides for the girls was riding on the back of George the Dinosaur as they met Peppa Pig’s friends and trotted past smoking volcanoes on their journey.
The attention to detail walking around Peppa Pig World is very impressive with themed houses, rides and décor.
The queues for each ride can vary and during our visit, Grandpa Pig’s Boat Trip queue was quieter and the girls managed to ride this a few times in a row. Miss Rabbit’s Helicopter Flight is a slow-moving ride and the queues are generally long.
You can even drive Daddy Pig’s car, brave the heights on the Windy Castle or travel on Grandpa Pig’s Little Train, which comes complete with the theme music . “Grandpa’s little train goes Choo Choo Choo”.
What’s great about Peppa Pig World is that apart from the George the Dinosaur ride (which has a minimum height of 850mm), there are no height restrictions on the rides meaning that children of all ages can enjoy the rides.
What’s great about Paulton’s Park is that they continue to invest and grow the theme park. We could see the expansion to Peppa Pig world coming along well, we spent time guessing what the buildings could be, and Holly thinks it’s going to be Peppa’s Palace.
As well as seven Peppa Pig featured rides there is also an indoor play zone called George’s Spaceship and Mr Potato’s Outdoor Adventure Playground is always a favourite with the girls.
For warmer weather there is Muddy Puddles Water Splash Park and you can even see inside Peppa’s House. Several times throughout the day there are also meet and greets with Peppa and George outside the school house.
Not that we needed any more Peppa Pig toys this visit, there was a giant Peppa’s Toy Shop if you did want to take home a souvenir.
The park is signposted well from the M3 motorway and is easy to find. We arrived just before the park opened at 10am to beat most of the queues. It’s nice that Paulton’s Park still don’t charge for car parking, which was organised and well planned out.
I would recommend looking at booking a package on the official Paulton’ Breaks website as it works out excellent value for money with 2 days park entry and the hotels are within 20 minutes travel time of Paultons Park.
Booking tickets in advance is the cheaper option if you do not want to book a hotel break. A family of 4 advanced rate ticket for one day is £105, on the gate is £123. A two day advanced rate ticket is £196 or £226 on the gate. Children less than 1 metre tall get into Paulton’s Park for free.
We stayed at the Hilton Ageas Bowl the night before our visit and the Macdonald Botley Park after our day at Peppa Pig World. Both of these hotels are partner hotels for Paulton’s Park and are highly recommended. Alternatively if you book in advance or stay on a Sunday night you can get a reduced rate especially when Premier Inn run their frequent sales events.
Overall
Peppa Pig World is a must visit theme park if you have young children. It brings the iconic children’s TV show to life, and the look on your children’s faces especially the first time you visit will be worth the cost of the entrance fee.
We had such a brilliant time – Holly loves Peppa Pig and although Chloe did enjoy accompanying her little sister, she was looking forward to visiting the rest of the park to try out the older more thrill seeking rides, especially the new Lost Kingdom (you can read our review here).