This is the kind blog post heading you read and think, wow… this blog has really gone downhill, huh? Because yes lol, I did used to fill the virtual pages of this website with backpacking adventures in Southeast Asia, living abroad in Australia, road tripping the USA and jetting off for glam city break weekenders. And now I go to theme parks aimed at 1-4 year olds. Hello Peppa Pig World.
But hey, that is the beauty of life. Things are always changing and evolving! And when you have kids, what you want from a few days off work changes considerably. Not because I’m any different of a person. I still love adventure and beaches and cool bars and street food. But I also want to see my kid’s face light up. And I want a getaway to be easy. Travelling with kids can just be so much work sometimes, so finding a kid-friendly Airbnb in the UK and packing up the car is sometimes the answer.
And so that’s what we did earlier this month. We headed to a very nice Airbnb I found in Winchester with some friends of ours that also have a little girl, and had a very chill, kid-friendly few days away, including a visit to Peppa Pig World.
The Airbnb was perfect for the 6 of us. We all had our own space, there was a nice living area and it even had a trampoline in the garden for the kids. I’ll pop some photos below and link it here because I think it was quite a nice find if you’re thinking of doing a similar trip. It also meant that we could put the kids to bed, get a takeaway and play cards on the dining table with wine. Which sounds like we’re so old, but was honestly a really nice time.
But let’s cut to the chase. Was Peppa Pig World worth it?
Well, it was really nice to go somewhere that is specifically catered to toddlers. You don’t find many places like that, other than soft play I guess. But the whole of Peppa Pig World was made up of rides for young children, colourful houses and characters for them to see – and the best thing ever if you are currently potty-training a 2 year old – all the toilets had pull-down kids seats. Boom.
I was way too excited about that part. But it was our first full-day outing without nappies and I was nervous about it. So yay to those bad boys.
The rides were good too. Of course they’re for younger kids so they’re not fast or particularly thrilling. More like driving round in Daddy Pig’s car, pointing out the characters we see. Or the hot air ballons that go up in the sky and spin round slowly. It was cute for the kids, y’know? It’s very colourful as well, so if you have babies, they’d like it too.
I did think there would be more on though. You know like some kind of Peppa Pig show, or more non-ride things to see? It was just a theme park where the rides are themed like Peppa Pig. Which I know is the point, and I did enjoy it, I just want to manage expectations here. It is just a theme park.
Peppa Pig World is part of a larger theme park called Paulton’s Park and honestly I didn’t really know what to expect from it. But there was actually lots more to do here. Just outside the PPW entrance was a food court area we went to for lunch and it was ever-so-conveniently right next to a stage where they were putting on a pirate show. It meant the kids stayed completely still watching the show and eating their lunches so that the parents could chill and eat their lunches with minimal fuss made. Pure genius.
There were also more kids rides in the rest of Paulton’s Park. There’s actually an area that had two really small rides – a mini log ride and a digger ride and both were for toddlers to go on ALONE. I was actually a bit stressed about it at the time, but they’re really small and Indi absolutely loved it. Just wanted to point out that if you go to PPW, definitely check out the rest of the park if you can. There’s even some animals you can go see.
Aaaaand if you’re travelling with big kids (the dads) there are some decent rollercoasters about. And the crazy thing is because this theme park is targetted at little children, the big rides have ZERO QUEUES. You’ll queue half an hour for the tiny Peppa Pig boat ride, but the awesome Storm Chaser is 5 minutes! Mad.
Oh and one more top tip: If you visit, make sure you hire one of their strollers. They’re just like big plastic prams but it meant we could push the kids around the park without them getting tired. And when we left the stroller outside a ride, I wasn’t worried about it like I would’ve been if I had left our pram, y’know?
So all in all we had a good time. I wouldn’t say it’s a lot better than other theme parks. For example we went to Gulliver’s Land in Milton Keynes last year with the kids and I’d say they liked it just as much. But if you’ve got a hardcore Peppa fan in the family, it’s definitely worth going.
Now, I promise my next trip will be more exciting… You just gotta do these trips when you have little ones!
Have you been to the big P-P-W? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below of head over to my Instagram for regular updates on my travels, millennial motherhood and life in general.
I used to go to Paulton’s Park when I was little, when the Astroglide (six lane massive slide) and the bumper-boats were the most exciting things there. And the animatronic dinosaurs? Was that Paulton’s? So weird that it’s now so well-known for PPW now. I see it’s now ten years old but it feels like it was just added last week. Anyway, fun to see what it’s all like these days! Maybe I’d better take my Brownies there as an excuse to see it myself for the first time in twenty years.