Paulton’s Park is a popular family friendly theme park located in Romsey (near Southampton) and is the home of the highly coveted ‘Peppa Pig World‘. It is a brilliant place to visit particularly for young children as there is so much for them to enjoy (more so than any other theme park we’ve experienced) and whilst this may be widely appreciated, contrary to many perceptions, Paulton’s Park has so much more to offer and is far from being exclusively for the tiniest among us...
This was our second visit, with a now 3 year old in tow, and although we thoroughly loved our first visit, we had spent it almost entirely in Peppa Pig World thinking that this would be the only part suitable for her age. We were completely unaware of the additional delights that lay beyond as it wasn’t until the very end of our first visit that we ventured further afield and were amazed by how much more there actually was! So this time we tweaked our approach and were blown away by the experience. Read on to find out more about what this little gem has to offer and how we made the most of our trip.
WHO IS IT PERFECT FOR?
Not only is Paulton’s Park perfect for very young children, it is impressive how well they cater to the whole family and have intentionally created rides that are simultaneously enjoyable for both children and adults alike. The obvious target for Peppa Pig World are those from birth to pre-school who will absolutely adore the vivid scenery, jonty songs and gentle rides available, whilst still being a great experience for the junior kids too. But what if you have teens and other adults (including you) who may want more exhilaration than a leisurely trip around Grampy Rabbits Sailing Club? Thankfully there are plenty of nail biting attractions beyond the borders of PPW for both respective groups to enjoy!
With Peppa Pig World as a main attraction, understandably it draws crowds from all over the country and many of those include very young babies, so it was refreshing to see a wide selection of rides that are fully inclusive and accommodating of this. I honestly don’t know many other similar attractions that have this much on offer for children so young, which is why it is so popular with this particular demographic. Attributed to this you will find plenty of facilities specifically designed with this in mind including a Baby Care Centre, bottle warming services in all restaurants, as well as child friendly toilet seats integrated into all toilets throughout the park. I must say it was so helpful not having to repeatedly balance a small child multiple times a day!
A particularly handy time to attend is with those around 2-3 years old that meet the 0.9m-1m threshold, as not only will they love PP World but they will also benefit from many other rides outside of this area. Additionally, this age is great because unlike many other theme parks that charge for a full price ticket from the moment they turn 3, here the children are free under 1m tall (although this must include shoes) and so won’t cost you a penny for them to enter. Hence it’s the maximum fun, minimal cost sweet spot!
However, if they have surpassed the 1m height and do incur a charge, don’t despair! Unlike many other theme parks where it seems ridiculous to pay full price for someone who isn’t necessarily going to get the benefit, let me reassure you that the pay off here is that they really can enjoy a greater thrill seeking experience, and are surprisingly able to access most of rides in the park including what I would describe as some of the best rollercoasters they have, even by adult standards! This means that you will legitimately be able to enjoy the ride experiences all together as a family upwards from around 3-4 years old, and therefore won’t need to spend the entire day feigning enthusiasm when you‘re secretly wishing you were hurtling round on something more exciting (Come on, we’ve all done it 😆) as this park genuinely gives you the absolute best of both.
TOP TIP - Measure your child! Do this before booking and again before attending to make sure you know the height of each child, but make sure they have their shoes on when you do this. This will save you buying a ticket unnecessarily upon booking if they measure under 1m, but also so that once you’re there you don’t queue for up, brimming with excitement only for the children end up disappointed if the don’t quite meet the requirements as they are rigorous in checking this. Moreover, you can intentionally shepherd your children away from the rides that they may be turned away from, saving you from avoidable tears.
PEPPA PIG WORLD
Whether you love or hate the cartoon (I’ll admit we’re in the latter group) there is no escaping how fantastic the design and creation of Peppa Pig World is. The vibrant colours, the attention to detail and the big, bold displays are extremely well thought out with the distinctive characters clearly visible throughout the park. This is topped off by the recognisable upbeat tunes playing overhead to add to the multi-sensory experience, fully immersing you in the joviality of Peppatown.
With a fantastic selection of rides and attractions suitable for all ages, families tend to come flocking to this zone as soon as they enter. Therefore, it‘s no surprise to find that this area gets very busy, very quickly....We noticed this on our previous visit but also noticed that the queues generally eased over the course of the day, with waiting times reduced by the afternoon. As expected on this occasion, we arrived around 10.45am (on a Saturday) and many of the queues in Peppa Pig World were already around 50 minutes. Thankfully now that our little Bumble Bee was well over 0.9m tall we knew she could access a lot more in other areas and having anticipated this we decided to flip it on its head…
TOP TIP - Go backwards! If you have toddlers who meet the 0.9m requirement then don’t necessarily head straight for Peppa Pig World. There are so many other fantastic things to see and do here, so head LEFT once inside the park (the opposite way to PPW) and then work around the park clockwise. This meant that waiting times in these areas were a lot lower and for many of the rides we pretty much walked straight on, since most people were make a beeline for Peppatown. By doing this we were able to get so much more out of the day and if you are prepared to stay right to the very end like we were, you’ll still enjoy an ample amount of time in PPW in the latter half but without wasting ridiculous amounts of time in the queues. This worked so well for us and I recently recommended it to friend who said it worked absolute wonders for her family too, and that they discovered so much more than they would have had they have gone straight to PPW as originally intended.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
As brilliant as PPW is, there is so much more to this theme park beyond the realms of Peppatown that you may not be aware of….
Not only does it have some of the most lush and beautifully maintained gardens which are lovely to walk around, they are surrounded by an abundance of aviaries and animals bringing an unexpected zoo like quality to the park. They also have a series of themed adventure playgrounds which are all meticulously designed with specific age ranges in mind and in excellent condition, as well as a larger wet-play area called the Water Kingdom - all of which are fun, clean, and safe places for children to play.
TOP TIP - Pack some swim wear and a towel for the kids to play in the splash park if the weather seems ok. You may also want to consider your own clothes and having something shorter in the leg (or to bring an alternative) as you will get wet when walking around with little ones. Lockers are available so there’s also no need to worry about having to lug too much around all day. Yay.
THE LOST WORLD
If you have a mini human that is slightly obsessed with dinosaurs then they (alongside the adults) will LOVE the Lost World. With its magnificent Dino displays, interactive rides and exhibits this is a firm favourite for all the family with something for everyone. For the little ones there’s a mini jeep tour of the various dinosaurs famously modelled on the Jurassic Park films, (just watch out for one in the dark that might make you jump a little!). For those wanting to dip a toe into the more exhilarating rides, try the Lost Temple (which our daughter affectionately named as the flying sofa ride! 😆) and the Dino Chase which is more of a traditional rollercoaster but on a small scale, perfect for testing out with the toddlers to see how well they take to it. For the 1m and above crew seeking even greater thrills there are two of the biggies here; Velociraptor and Flight of the Pterosaur, both look super scary at first glance but are surprisingly short, sweet and totally awesome! How often have you been able to share the experience of a legitimately thrilling ride side-by-side with your small child? We couldn’t believe that children so young were able to ride them at first glance as they looked far too grown up, but the seats are well designed, well harnessed and it’s actually not as fast as it initially seems, although it certainly feels it! For someone who has avoided rollercoasters his whole life Chris finally decided to face his fears and hop on the Flight of the Pterosaur...it certainly made him feel a lot braver knowing that there would be 4 year olds happily coming along with us. He loved it by the way!
TOP TIP - Get the App. Download this before you go so that you can see live updates of the queue times. We could only find one digital board in each zone which might not always be visible and the rides don’t all have them at the entrance, so to quote Elsa from Frozen, without it you’ll be going “into the unknown”. This way you can be selective about which rides are best to go to next and minimise the time wasted in longer queues.
CRITTER CREEK
Imagine colourful scenes from Alice and Wonderland and the Mad Hatters tea party, this will give you a feel for Critter Creek! It’s very bright, creative and wonderfully abstract. Adding to this theme, our favourite ride here is ‘the Cat-o-pillar Coaster’ which looks just like the grinning Cheshire Cat. It was our daughters first rollercoaster experience the last time we came (she was only JUST on the borderline of 0.9m then) and was the one she was most looking forward to on our return. It certainly didn’t disappoint her this time round either.
TORNADO SPRINGS
This area is the newest addition to the park and such a brilliant one too. It has a very distinctive American Midwest feel and a selection of cracking rides not to be missed! Some great options inclusive of the pre-schoolers are Buffalo Falls, which is similar to a log flume (except you’re in a dingy) and brings a competitive edge as you can race down the four slides simultaneously. Windmill Towers is also great if you don’t mind heights and that feeling of a stomach drop, but thrown in are some calmer kids activities including Al‘s AutoCars driving circuit, the Parking Lot Tots play area and Junkyard Junction multilevel playground.
For those brave souls wanting to take on the parks finest of thrill seeking offerings, the Cyclonator is one of them. Picture a pendulum style ride, similar in motion to a traditional pirate ship, except this circular-based nail-biter rotates on its axis at the same time, spinning you round whilst sweeping you 25m into the air and inverting you upside down! This has to be the most brilliantly terrifying ride they have, (That, and possibly EDGE) yet once again we could not believe that in order to ride this incredible tummy tipper you only had to be over six years old! SIX! So if your child has no fear then you can face this one together. Hats off to those kids brave enough to take on this challenge as most adults I know would be hesitant....we certainly were!!
TOP TIP - LOCKERS
There are lockers available by the Water Kingdom and in the Lost World at a cost of £1 per use if you need them, particularly handy if you just want to pop things away and keep things dry whilst engaging in the wet play. Alternatively there are others that cost £4/£6 to rent, but are reusable so that you can come and go as you please without additional charge. These are available at Guest Services as well as on the border between Peppa Pig World and Tornado Springs.
TICKETS & PRICING
Tickets can be booked via https://paultonspark.co.uk and prices are from £37.75 each, with additional family group discounts and senior discounts available. Don’t forget that children under 1m are absolutely free!
Another added bonus is that also unlike some other theme parks, parking is also completely free! This means there’s no hassle at the end of your long and exhausting day of fun, which quite honestly is last thing anyone wants to be faffing with at this point, so this was very much appreciated. Consequently, the traffic seems to flow freely towards the exit as there aren’t any barriers or gates obstructing your path, thus avoiding the dreaded car-to-car backlog and the subsequent frustration when all you want to do is hit the road. This is another small but powerful detail that really makes a difference to the overall quality of your day. TOP TIP - Don’t book a ticket online for children under 1m, they DO NOT NEED ONE. If you do accidentally pay of for one unnecessarily I was amazed to hear the staff will provide a complimentary ticket for a return visit, which I found impressive as I can’t imagine many other places would be proactive in offering something like this.
SUMMARY
This has to be our most highly recommended theme park for families to visit. It‘s not intimidating in any way (as many can be) and genuinely provides excellent fun for all ages and tastes. Unsurprisingly it is a family run park and the thought as well as the effort they put in to making this a clean, safe environment for everyone to enjoy is evident. Having initially felt that Peppa Pig was the star of the show and everything else was just subsidiary, I thoroughly stand corrected as the remainder of the park is absolutely fantastic in its own right, and well worth the time to explore.
HIGHLIGHTS
Surprisingly great for adults!
Families with older toddlers can ride together on most attractions here
Favourite zones: Tornado Springs and Lost World
The setup is so well designed for families with young children
Great for the bravest above 6yrs: The Cyclonator! Just watch a clip and you’ll see...
Free for children under 1m and free parking
Beautifully maintained gardens, lake and extensive grounds blending the fun of rides with the opportunity for respite if you need it.
As always, we really hope this has been helpful and if you have any further questions, comments or requests for future reviews please don’t hesitate to pop us a message via our Facebook page or Instagram account (@butterflyandbeeteam). All of your feedback is hugely appreciated and we thank you for taking the time to read this with us today.
Wishing you and your family lots of fun and adventure, whatever you choose to get up to!
Hannah & Chris x
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