I took my kids to Peppa Pig World for the first time – and was surprised how much there was for both toddlers and babies

WHEN Boris Johnson gave a rambling speech to business leaders hailing the wonders of Peppa Pig World in 2021, it was taken as evidence that the then PM was losing his marbles.

Having now visited the park, I think it just might have been the sanest speech he ever gave.

For starters, it’s worth noting that Peppa Pig World is not — as might be assumed — a full theme park in itself.

Instead, it is one of several themed areas within Paultons Park in the New Forest National Park.

There’s also Critter Creek, full of fantastical beasties, as well as the Americana/Wild West-themed Tornado Springs and the Lost Kingdom, chockablock with dinosaurs.

And Paultons’ attractions are so clustered that unlike some theme parks it’s not a huge trek to get from one side to the other, happily for toddler legs.

Yet there’s a good three-dozen rides.

After one day there with my wife, our toddler daughter and her baby sister I felt like I’d only experienced half of what was on offer — it’s hard to imagine anyone could feel short-changed.

Its densely-packed nature can, however, make it a little confusing to navigate — and that’s where the Paultons Park app is invaluable.

Not only does it offer you directions to individual rides, it also shows queue times and you can filter rides by height restrictions.

It’s easy to use even for technophobes.

The queue times during my visit in the summer holidays last year ranged from zero to 25 minutes.

The other misconception I had coming into Peppa Pig World was that it is solely for toddlers.

While PPW itself is tailored towards the little ones, the wider park has enough big rides for thrillseekers of all ages.

Being with the nippers meant that I couldn’t sample about ten adrenaline-rush rides, such as the Storm Chaser and Velociraptor rollercoasters, but there’s still plenty of thrills for youngsters.

To be fair, even some of the smaller rides I went on with my two-year-old packed a wallop — the Kontiki spinning pirate ship was a step too far for her, as we discovered five seconds after the ride started, but she loved all the other rides and so did I.

There’s the log flume and dinghy slide, the Cat-O-Pillar roller-coaster, a Jurassic Park-inspired Jeep tour, the charming Rio Grande train ride and even a ride that lets you climb atop George Pig’s favourite toy Mr Dinosaur as he trots around a track.

Add in live pirate shows, splash parks, soft play areas, zoo animals and chances to meet Peppa, George, and Mummy and Daddy Pig, and you’re going to be left wishing there were more hours in the day.

Splash parks

We stayed at the Leonardo Royal in Southampton, which is a lovely high-end hotel a 25-minute bus ride from the theme park and about a five-minute walk from the city centre.

Just beware that the last direct bus leaves Paultons at 5.35pm, only five minutes after the rides stop, which caught us out and left us with a 20-minute walk to catch another bus back to our hotel.

As we strolled away from Peppa Pig World with my happily exhausted little girl sitting on my shoulders, I felt her chin bobbing on my head.