I feel like Peppa Pig is the Marmite of children’s TV and so a trip to Peppa Pig World may just be your worst nightmare. We on the other hand were just as excited to take Lily for her second birthday as she was to visit “Peppa’s House” as we’re those type of parents who secretly love singing to “Bing bong bing” in the car!!

Set in Hampshire, a visit to Paultons Park is a bit of a mission no matter which part of the country you’re travelling from but we had confidence it would be worth the three hour trip for us from Swansea.

The Park

Our first impressions of the park was that it was very well organised and much bigger than we expected, mainly as we didn’t actually realise that Peppa Pig World shares the land with the Lost Kingdom, Critter Creek & Little Africa.

On arrival on day one we headed straight for Peppa Pig World, it was so cute & very clean. Meeting Peppa & George was definitely top of our priority list but unfortunately we’d missed the meet & greet that day and so we just saw them at their afternoon appearance where they wave from the balcony of The School House. Never fear, when we returned the following day (a Monday) we got our photo shoot!!

One of the best things we found about Peppa Pig World was that there was no height restrictions on most of the rides so we could all enjoy them together whilst the theme tune played in the background. We also loved that characters would be randomly dotted around for photo opportunities.

On day two we explored the Lost Kingdom, which Lily still talks about now as she loved how the dinosaur squirted her with water on The Dinosaur Tour Co. and how “scare-dey” the T-Rex was at the Alive Dinosaur Encounter (she was very brave, no tears & he roared in her face!).

Must Do

Character meet & greet

Grampy Rabbit’s Sailing Club

George’s Dinosaur Adventure

Grandpa Pig’s Little Train

The Dinosaur Tour Co. (Lost Kingdom)

Alive Dinosaur Encounter

Top Tips

1. Take swim stuff for your little ones as if it’s warm enough the splash parks are fab!! Head to these just before lunch time when they’re quieter, dry off & grab some a burger from the Pavillion Kiosk next to it. The splash parks get much busier late afternoon when people have done all the rides.
2. Pick up a leaflet at the main entrance for character appearance times, talks, shows etc so you can plan your day around the activities you want to do.
3. Don’t rush to get to the park for when it opens as you may queue anywhere between 30-50 minutes for each ride. Use the morning to wander, visit the soft play centre in Peppa Pig World, ride the Victorian Carousel in the Dinosaur Kingdom and come back to the rides after lunch. If you can last until 4pm you may not even queue at all!!! This is when we did most of the rides and it was perfect as the park is open until 5.30pm.
4. Look out for the Baby Centres where they have mulitple changing tables & vending machines to buy nappies should you forget yours like me #mumfail
5. Don’t spend a fortune eating in the Wild Forest Restaurant, each meal is around £11 and really isn’t great quality. Instead pick up a slice of pizza just as you enter the park or locate one of the cafes inside the park itself serving fast food, coffee, ice-creams etc.

The Hotel

We booked our tickets as part of a package with a one night’s stay and breakfast via the Paultons Park website. As this was a mini-break to celebrate Lily’s birthday we wanted a hotel that was a little bit special so we decided on the Bartley Lodge Hotel and it didn’t disappoint. Set in rural grounds, we even encountered a baby deer on the long drive way to the manor house style hotel.

The ultimate winning factor for me – white bath robes hanging in the wardrobe, there’s just something about getting a shower in a hotel & putting a robe on that makes me feel like I’m being totally pampered. We did consider ordering room service but it was such a lovely evening that Lee headed down before us to book a table for dinner in the main restaurant (and grab a cheeky pint in the small bar area next to reception).

We both chose the sirloin steak which was delicious & Lily’s fish fingers were home made! The staff were absolutely amazing and said “no problem” when I asked if they could possibly make Lily a hot chocolate in her bottle using our own almond milk and despite it not being on their menu they made me a blended iced Americano. Breakfast was in the grand main restaurant, with a selection of pastries, cereal, jams etc and a choice of hot breakfast from the menu. I was very impressed that they catered so well for allergies & dietary requirements so I had salmon & scrambled eggs on gluten-free toast. We would certainly recommend this hotel and would definitely like to stay here again in the future.

 

Hope you found this post helpful, if you have any other questions at all feel free to contact me on jane.copeland@outlook.com or you can send me a message via Instagram @jane_copeland

Thanks for reading, wishing you all a fab weekend!

“Oink Oink”

J x