Prime Minister Boris Johnson has this week sung the praises of Peppa Pig World but Devon Life Editor ANDY COOPER was ahead of him, having been on a family visit just a few weeks before the PM dropped in
It was only the briefest of snapshots, but when I glanced at a picture of our Prime Minister sitting on a floating ride during a day out at a theme park with his family, I could easily identify the location. It was Grampy Rabbit’s Sailing Club.
And I should know because just weeks before Boris Johnson had visited the Hampshire family attraction Peppa Pig World and catapulted it into the national headlines by referring to it during his infamous speech to the CBI, my family and I had trod the very same path.
And, like Boris, I’m a huge fan. But I also need to state something for the record which has been somewhat lost in the fog of publicity and comment since the PM’s speech...this theme park is about so much more than Peppa Pig World.
To be precise, Paultons Park is the actual name of the theme park and Peppa Pig World is but one of seven zones to be seen in its vast acres, featuring over 70 rides and attractions.
There is truly something for everyone at Paultons Park, meaning our party of two grandchildren aged five and two, Mum and Dad and us two grandparents were fully catered for and had a fab old time.
At the time we visited it was around Hallowe'en and the displays of pumpkins as far as the eye could see as soon as we arrived made us instantly realise this was a theme park where great care is taken to enhance the visitor experience.
Of course, as Peppa Pig is just about de rigueur for any self-respecting under six-year-old right now, we did make a beeline for the Peppa Pig World zone on arrival, but frankly it was tempting to stop off at so many of the other areas as we passed them.
There’s the Lost Kingdom with a fantastic assortment of rides and adventures, Critter Creek where you can get up close with lots of beasties and bugs, a whole zone devoted to Animals & Bird encounters and the lovely Gardens & Walks section which offers a peaceful haven from the action-packed areas of the park.
And my absolute favourite zone was Tornado Springs, a new zone opened this year, and born out of a concept born from the imagination of the Paultons Park team and their creative partners. And it’s a theme that is exclusive to the theme park, as it’s the only one in the world.
The Route 83 theme – the road which runs through Tornado Springs - was inspired by the date Paultons Park first opened to the public, May 17, 1983. The zone features 459 metres of rollercoaster track which make up the Storm Chaser rollercoaster - the first free spinning ride of its kind in the UK that takes trains of carriages to an exhilarating height of over 20 metres above ground
There are also 30 themed cars awaiting drivers at Al’s Auto Academy, based on the classic Hudson Hornet which cruised the streets of the USA during the 1950s. Add in the Rio Grande train which takes you on a gentle circuit of the park and the thrill-a-minute Buffalo Falls flume ride and you could spend hours in this zone alone.
A word here too for the general condition of Paultons Park. It was spotless and wonderfully maintained. The biggest compliment we could all pay it on departure was that it was “the same standards as a Disney theme park” - surely the ultimate accolade.
Staff were helpful and plentiful and perhaps one of the telling aspects of our visit which told you the owners of Paultons Park do their very best to give you the best possible visitor experience is the wide range of food options on offer. We were spoilt for choice and when we did sit down for our lunch at the Route 83 Diner for American-style burgers and chicken, we were very impressed.
But back to those seven zones to visit and an admission on our part that one day simply was not enough to see all that the park had to offer. In fact, with the little ones tiring we probably left a third of Paultons Park undiscovered. This had us vowing to a) return soon and b) take advantage of the fabulous family break packages which the park offers.
Boris may have stumbled into his very own Kingdom of the Lost Place In the Speech World when he stood on that podium but, in truth, amid the stumbling there was one truism...we all SHOULD visit Peppa Pig World; it gets my vote every time.
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Paultons Park opens for the 2022 season on 19 February 19th. For details of opening days and times visit here.
Paultons Park has thrilling rides for all the family. (Image: Paultons Park)
