insideKENT Magazine Issue 56 - November 2016 | Page 115

All-age attractions, theme park rides, family-friendly location and a certain
little pig – the ultimate family day out awaits at

PAULTONS PARK
by Samantha Ready
Parenting is a fab job, albeit one filled with sleep
deprivation, constant nagging and of course the
unwitting dilemma of planning ‘a great family day
out’. It should be easy, but all too often perfectly
laid plans give way to tiresome journeys, claims
of boredom, and the ability of children to eat an
entire day’s food supply all before you’ve even
left your street.
So for my latest headache – I mean ‘heralded
time-together family day’ – we searched for
something that would not only appease the
attention span of a whirlwind toddler, but would
also eliminate the boredom of a nine year old;
and as if that wasn’t enough, not feel like a day
out to hell for two slightly ragged parents. Easier
said than done? Well actually, and relievingly, no!
The answer to my parental prayers came in the
guise of a trip to Paultons Park – a true familyorientated park, offering more than 60 rides and
attractions, set in 140 acres of parkland on the
edge of the New Forest National Park.
Now admittedly, Paultons appeared on our horizon
as it is home to Peppa Pig World, and possibly
everyone with a toddler will have been bombarded
with that “dun, dun, dun, dun, daaah, dun dun
dun dun dun daaaaaah”, theme tune. With claims
that Peppa Pig is her MOST favourite thing EVER
in the WORLD, it seemed like an obvious choice,
especially with the added bonus of free entry for
my little Peppa enthusiast as all children under
one metre are admitted free of charge.
But I was a little skeptical – would it really be an
ultimate toddler-friendly place? And what about

my nine year old? Is there enough for her too?
Resoundingly, yes! A fact backed up (tellingly!)
by the readers of Netmums, Which? and
Mumsnet who have all voted Paultons Park the
number one UK theme park for families.
Even visiting on the busiest day of the week, it
was literally a minutes until we were through the
ticket barriers and, having downloaded the
Paultons Park app in advance (thoroughly
recommended for day planning) heading straight
to Peppa Pig World.
Ears ringing with catchy theme tunes, eyes wide
in wonderment and gaping mouths giving way
to full-on happy smiles (and that was just us
parents), we had arrived! Our toddler was
transfixed, shouts of “Peppa”, “Mummy Pig”,
“George”, and “Mr Dinosaur - grrr” filled the air
and even my nine year old was full of smiles as
we headed off on our Peppa adventure.
We flew on Miss Rabbit’s Helicopter, drove Daddy
Pig’s Car, sailed on Grandpa Pig’s Boat and went
on his little train, rode on Mr Dinosaur, went up
in Peppa’s Balloon, and soared to the top of
Windy Castle, all of which offered complete
toddler-friendly fun, with queues aided by sneak
peaks of familiar characters and views of the next
attraction.
Slightly worn out, it was time for a pit stop where
we took full advantage of the abundance of food
and drink options available to rest and refuel
before taking in the rest of the park. Heading
next to Critter Creek, after some mini beasts
exploring in Beastie Burrow, toddler and dad
headed for the calmer train journey of Professor

115

Blast’s Expedition Express whilst mummy and
nine year old stepped up to Cat-o-pillar roller
coaster.
A walk around the central gardens and aviaries
finally led to nap time, and with toddler in the
pushchair we raced ahead to Paultons newest
attraction: the Lost Kingdom – a new dinosaur
theme park world that is set within four acres of
Jurassic landscape and home to a host of
dinosaur themed rides including world-class
family roller coasters including Flight of the
Pterosaur – a foot swinger, 395m suspended
coaster (where cries from the nine year old of
“I’m gonna dieeee” were replaced with “that was
amazing can we go agaiiiinnnnnnn”; and
Velociraptor – a 200m coaster that drops 20m
and sweeps around bends at 40mph!
And the best bit? Paultons offers ‘Tot Swap’ at
the bigger rides, whereby the majority of your
party queue up and enjoy the ride, and request
a ‘Tot Swap’ ticket at the exit, hand this to the
rest of your group (no more than two) and they
can go straight in at the exit and straight on the
ride – genius!
Even now a few weeks on (which is a lifetime
when you are two!) my daughter tells anyone
who will listen about how great it was at Peppa
Pig World – and that for me is the best
recommendation of them all.
www.paultonspark.co.uk
@paultonspark
/paultonspark