Peppa Pig World
As we all know, my chunky monkey turned two last week, and when you have a big brother who already has everything (and a house bursting at the seams with toys), rather than buy more “stuff” or have a birthday party for him this year, we decided to treat him to a day out to see his idol Peppa Pig. Therefore a visit in Peppa Pig World was in order.
With it being quite a few hours drive from Lincoln (4!), we decided to opt for a 2 for 1 day pass, which meant (in theory) we could do two half days and stay in a hotel in between, breaking it up a bit. We didn’t want it to be too overwhelming, for Larry in particular.
Now. Peppa Pig MAY just be my favourite children’s TV program these days (I KNOW I KNOW I used to slate it, but Mummy Pig is my idol – she wears a bandeau bikini with pride), however, I must admit, the thought of hearing that theme tune for two days did make me want to cry a little bit. But I steeled myself and thought it’s for the children.
So we packed up and headed down south early on Friday morning.
By the time we made it to the park I’d already heard the tune over and over again a MILLION from the car DVD player, it was cold, it was windy and Larry hadn’t slept AT ALL. We were worried that it would all go horribly wrong with two tired over excited boys. However, with our pre-bought tickets, and the children sailing in under the 1m mark (HA SHORT GENES DO WIN SOMETIMES) we were off.
I think I was more excited then the boys to begin with, perhaps they were a little overwhelmed by it all, after all this was Fatty’s first reaction to me pointing out Grandpa Pigs House…
But after the first few minutes they boys took it all in their stride, and really enjoyed the two visits.
I have to say it was done really really well. The staff were (with the exception of a couple), helpful and friendly, they didn’t even bat an eyelid when I had to physically prise Larry’s fingers off each ride because he refused to get off. The queues weren’t bad at all, considering half term, admittedly that’s because anybody who saw Larry striding in made room for him, nobody wants to get in his way. But it went well.
The other thing I was pleased about was that the food wasn’t ridiculously over priced either. Previously, when Matt and I have been to theme parks or other “family” attractions, the food has just been such a rip off it’s left a bad taste in our mouths (BOOM BOOM), however, I wasn’t too offended by it, it was fast food, but it was done well.
We didn’t just stay in Peppa Pig World, we had a wander around the rest of the park, taking The Beast on a few roller-coasters and taking advantage of some coffees in the various play areas and soft play. As you can see, it all went down rather well…
The only really negative thing I have to say…and I do believe it’s important to feedback, is that when it came to meeting Peppa and George, they had “celebrified” them. At 12pm and 3pm they were brought out onto the stage behind some barriers to wave and say hello to their adoring fans.
It’s at this point, you discover when it comes to their kids being happy, parents get NASTY. Elbows at the ready, getting to the front of the queue was a nightmare, it was claustrophobic and even though both boys got to see the furry characters, it was rushed and jostled due to people trying to get their turn. If it were me, and I appreciate you have to think of cost here (but maybe combine a few of your photo booths together…I bet we’d have bought a few more photos if they’d all been in once place you know), I’d have had the characters walking about in the park, making the lines for the ride more bearable, and making photo opportunities more relaxed (again, maybe these could feedback to the booths). It might seem picky, but I think considering the park is so family friendly – and it is, I can’t say enough about how well done it is – this let it down a fair bit.
However saying that, it turned out to be a good trip and a fab family outing. Even the night of sharing a hotel room the four of us turned out well, even though somehow Matt made it down to the bar with a paper and a beer while I dealt with the kids, I have NO idea how that happened.