Mini Cheddar Does Peppa Pig World!

On Thursday last week the sun was shining, it was gorgeously warm and we were in good spirits.  Why? Because we were down in Hampshire to visit the newly opened Peppa Pig World at Paultons Family Theme Park!

I know a few of you have asked what we thought so here is a full-on account of our experience.

It was a long drive (240 miles) down to Hampshire on the Wednesday as we live in North Wales - just outside Chester - but it was totally worth it.  We'd been telling Mini Cheddar for a couple of weeks we were off to visit Peppa Pig and she was just as excited as we were - I'm not going to deny it, my husband and I are big kids!

We got to the park at 10am when the gates opened (rides were due to open at 10.30am), collected our tickets and walked towards Peppa Pig World.

As soon as we got there we could see just how lovely it was and the attention to detail that the people at Paultons Park had gone to. The atmosphere was fantastic and the place was immaculately clean. All the music and voices piped around the park just added to the whole experience.  Now we were even more excited.

We had a wander around before the rides opened and first stop was Peppa Pigs House, of course!  Here we could step inside Peppa's kitchen with George, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and Peppa herself and listen to them talk about making pancakes.

       



Mini Cheddar loved it and just kept screaming "Mummy Pig" or "Daddy Pig" whenever one of them spoke!

Then the rides opened and the real fun commenced.

First 'up' (excuse the pun) was 'Miss Rabbit's Helicopter Flight' where up to 4 people could take a ride. I thought Mini Cheddar would be a little nervous but she loved it - which bodes well for our forthcoming holiday abroad!

What is great about all the rides at Peppa Pig World is they are designed for little kids (and adults) to enjoy and there appears to be literally no minimum or maximum age limit. The only ride that we couldn't go on at the park was 'George's Dinosaur Adventure as Mini Cheddar was about 4mm (achingly close) too short to ride.  I was gutted as it was the one I really wanted to go on.  My husband said I should have gone on it alone but can you imagine what a narner I would have looked?

Nevermind, we settled for a go on Grandpa Pig's Little Train instead.

Mini Cheddar waited patiently for her turn.  She decided she wanted the yellow car at the back and her wish was granted and her and Daddy admired the park on their travels.

I loved watching Mini Cheddars face as she noticed little things around park and would squeal with delight. She was always so eager to go on all the rides too which was fantastic.



Then it was time for a go on the 'Windy Castle' ride which takes you up the side of a castle in a cloud car.  It's fairly obvious from the picture on the left what Mini Cheddar made of it all.

Once up on the Windy Castle we were able to get a great aerial overview of the park...
         


This is only a section of the park, there's so much more to it.  Like 'Mr. Potato's Playground' which we had great difficulty persuading Mini Cheddar to leave she loved it so much.

Again, the attention to detail and the purpose-built equipment for the real young ones is great. They even have small water fountains where youngsters can pretend to splash in muddy puddles!

There are colourful rainbow pathways that lead you through the park and it is surrounded by little houses and picket fences which make it just adorable.

You can see from the photos how cute it is.

The floor is made from that fake grass which is really soft and spongey - perfect for when the little ones take a tumble which is pretty much inevitable with Mini Cheddar around.

Across from the playground is the largest Peppa Pig shop in the world.  Just be warned - it's lethal letting your kids loose in there.  Even I wanted to buy everything.  Mini Cheddar walked away with a Candy Cat cuddly toy, some stickers and some colouring items but we could have spent so much more!

After a spell in the shop and trying to drag Mini Cheddar away from the array of toys, games and clothes it was time for lunch and what better place to grab a bite to eat than 'Daddy Pig's Big Tummy Cafe' (yes, you read that right).  We were expecting the food to be over-priced (as often found in theme parks) but we pleasantly surprised that they had only added on a slight premium for the captured audience.

Call us slightly mad but we decided to let Mini Cheddar run riot in the toddler section of 'George's Spaceship Play Zone' after lunch.

Put Mini Cheddar anywhere like this and she's in her element! I had to go in and retrieve her (and the large smelly deposit in her nappy) in the end.

The park provides good toilets and baby change facilities.  I loved how the toilets had extra seats that you could pull down for small bottoms. Too cute!

After a clean up it was back out into the sunshine and a chance to try out Grandpa Pig's Boat Ride.  I loved this so much, as did Mini Cheddar.  So my husband and I both had a go to get some good photos. Yes, big kids as I said earlier!

See my bra strap sticking out of my vest top?  Well that bra strap is still visible when I take my bra off now. Must always remember to put sun cream on myself after applying Mini Cheddars!

Then the highlight of Mini Cheddars day...she got to actually meet Peppa Pig and hold her hand.  Too cute.
I bet the poor person in the costume was roasting though.

After so much excitement it was time to head inside Madame Gazelle's School House to join in the class.  Mini Cheddar fitted right in!




Seeing her standing there in the school holding Peppa and George's hand almost made all the emotions of the school form hand-in come flooding back.  See, I told you all I was emotional at the moment!

After lessons it was time for a well deserved ice cream from 'Miss Rabbit's Ice Cream Parlour'.  If only to ply Mini Cheddar with some sugar to keep her going.  Not that she needed it.  I was surprised as she normally has a nap between 1.15pm and 3pm every day but she didn't even start to get crabby at all.  The sheer excitement of the park kept her a happy little bunny and we didn't leave the park until 3pm.

Before we left the park though there was plenty of time to have a go on 'Daddy Pig's Car Ride' where Mini Cheddar could sit in the front and pretend to steer the car around the road (without mowing down Rebecca Rabbit and George Pig!)

We actually went on most of the rides twice during the day and Mini Cheddar would tell us where she wanted to go next.  We only had to queue for about a maximum of 5 minutes which was great, even though we thought it was quite busy for a Thursday in school term.  I would imagine that it will be very busy in the school holidays but the ride turnarounds seem pretty quick.  Also, there is so much going on in the park that I don't think it would be too much trouble to entertain the kids in the queues.

Before we left there was a final chance to go on 'Peppa's Big Balloon Ride' and go "up sky" as Mini Cheddar says.

All the rides are really great and the park has been extremely well planned with clearly a large amount of money put into it.  As I mentioned earlier, the attention to detail is fabulous and there is so much there for the family.  There are also plenty of other rides within Paultons Park itself that there is literally something for everyone.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from Paultons Park website at a reduced rate (children under 1 metre go free) and for a family of 3 you can expect to pay £56.00.  That gives you access to the whole of Paultons Family Theme Park though and we think it's good value for a day out.

I honestly can't fault Peppa Pig World at all. I would go back there in a heartbeat - it's just a shame it's so far away for us. It is definitely worth making the journey though - the pure enjoyment that Mini Cheddar got from the day is so heart-warming. She keeps saying "Go back to Peppa Pig World please".  We just wish we could take her there more often.  If only for this scene afterwards...

Just because it would be rude not to - here are a couple of short videos from our day out!

This is not a sponsored post.  

We did receive free entry to Peppa Pig World but all views,

opinions, photographs and videos are entirely my own.