Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘paultons theme park’

The Friday before Christmas, we went to Paultons Theme Park for the day. We travelled up on the Thursday evening after school and didn’t tell the boys where we were going, so it was a big surprise until Aaron noticed that there were bags in the car at school pickup! They were then all very excited! We stayed in a hotel about 2 mins away from the park and got there nice and early, so we could have a relaxing evening, before the big day on the Friday.

We got up nice and early on the Friday and had some food, which we had brought with us, before heading over to Paultons for opening time at 10am. Although there were a few cars there already, the park itself was nice and quiet so we headed over to Peppa Pig World and went on several of the rides nice and quickly.  There was a new area in Peppa Pig World since we had visited a few years ago, so we made sure we went on those rides! The weather was perfect as well. Nice and sunny and not that cold. We had been worrying for weeks that it would be rainy, but were lucky it was so nice! After we had gone on several of the rides we went to the 4D Cinema to watch the show. It was a bit strange and Coby couldn’t really get on with the 3D glasses and typically, just as he took them off, a squirt of water (part of the experience) shot out of the chair in front and went straight into his eyes! haha He was OK though and managed to watch the rest of the show as best he could. Ben and Aaron enjoyed it as well although I think it made them feel a little sick – it certainly did to me! By the time this was over, we wandered back through the street area and to the restaurant, where we had some dinner. Kelly and I had Roast Turkey, which was very nice, and the boys had other childrens meals. We then walked over to the other side of the park where the more grown up rides were and had a go on a few of those. Not all of the rides were open, due to it being out of season, but all of the rides that we would have gone on were open, so it was perfect for us. So we spent the majority of the afternoon working our way back towards Peppa Pig World from the other side of the park, going on the rides that we wanted to. We were very lucky that it was quiet enough to basically walk on to any ride whenever we wanted to without really queuing. We did have to book the tickets beforehand and there was a limit to how many were sold, but it was ideal. On the way back over, we stopped at the show stage and watched the Christmas show that the park put on, which was a bit of fun. As part of our tickets, Kelly and I could have a free Mulled Wine and chocolate brownie slice, so we had that during the show. We then carried on over to Peppa Pig World and managed to get on a few rides before it was time for the snow in Show Street. The snow wasn’t brilliant but was a bit of fun as well and Coby seemed to love it! Aaron was also playing around in it and having fun, but Ben was in a mood at this point! Tut! We then had to go and see Father Christmas in his grotto, which was awesome. The grotto was amazing as we had to walk through snowy and magical scenes to get to see him and when we saw him, it looked like it was the real Father Christmas! He asked the boys if they had been behaving and what they wanted for Christmas and said they were all on the good list. He then asked my name and said I was on the good list as well, but when he asked Kelly, he said she was on the naughty list before he eventually found her name at the very bottom of the good list! He had a good chat with the boys and they were very polite and looked very nervous but excited as well. He then said that they could all have a present, which we could get from the elves just outside the grotto, but he did give them each a nice Christmas 2018 at Paultons badge. So we said ‘goodbye’ to him and went across and the boys got a present each. Ben got a Magic Set, Aaron got an Egg Splat game and Coby got a cuddly penguin called Pom Pom, which he absolutely loves and takes to bed with him every night! Unfortunately, the magic set was a bit childish for Ben, and he always gets a magic set from Father Christmas when we go to see him.  By this time, it was dark outside so all the Christmas lights were turned on around the park, which made it look very magical! We quickly walked back over to Peppa Pig World but we were too late to go on anymore of the rides as they had all closed for the day but we did stay a little there to take in the lights and magical atmosphere before heading back to the exit via the shop. Unfortunately, the boys were all very naughty in the shop as they wanted to buy things but we kept saying ‘no’ as it was Christmas in a few days time. So that was a bad ending for the day which was a big shame. Eventually they got some pencils and rubbers, etc and we went back to the car and set off for our journey home.

All in all, it was a fantastic day at Paultons.  The park looked magical with all the Christmas lights and trees and the fact it was quiet enough that we didn’t have to queue to get on to any rides was awesome. It was much better than in the Summer when you usually have to queue for ages to get on each ride. We would definitely come again out of season if it was this quiet. The weather was perfect as well – we all had a great time.

This year for our holiday, we went on a bit of a road trip to several places. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great on each day but we all had a great time anyway!

The first place we visited was on Sunday 26th July when we traveled up to Stonehenge in horrible heavy rain. It wasn’t bad getting there but we were hoping for a break in the weather when we did arrive. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, and to make matters worse, they had a power cut when we arrived, so we were unable to use the toilets or anything. Luckily though, we had pre-booked online so had a print out of our tickets, so we were able to carry on and catch the bus from the visitor centre to the stones themselves. If we didn’t have the print out, we would have had to have waited for the electric to come back on as all their machines were out of action. When we got to the stones, the weather was hellish and Coby was playing up as we had to keep him in the buggy with the rain cover over him, otherwise he would have got drenched! About half way through our walk around them, Aaron decided he needed a wee as well, but there was literally no enclosed area for him to do it and to get to the toilets, we would have had to have caught he bus back to the visitor centre and hoped the electric had been fixed. So in the end, he had to go by a small wooden bench! At this point, Coby was being kept quiet with snacks otherwise he would have been shouting and crying. Anyway, the boys did enjoy looking at the stones, and listening to the tour on the speaker phone we had been given each. The entire place was pretty special and you could see how mystical a place it would have been in the past. After we had finished the tour of the stones, we had a look in the shop and the exhibition at the visitor centre. The theatre type section in the exhibition was particular great and depicted how Stonehenge was built all those years ago and what it would look like at certain times of the year.  All three of the boys were mesmerised by this and stood for ages watching it! Once we had finished there, we were soaked through so went back to the car for some snacks and to carry on our trip to the Quality Inn Express that we were staying in for the night in Southampton.

Stonehenge Slideshow

The hotel was really nice and was next to a Hilton and opposite Hampshire Cricket Ground.  That night we went to a local Pizza Hut for tea, which was really nice, and we all scoffed Pizza and ice cream. Coby ate loads and the boys did too, although they felt sick with the ice cream they had as they put loads of sweets over the top of it which made it rather too sickly for them!

The next morning, we got up and went down to our breakfast buffet in the hotel and scoffed loads of food, before making our way to Paultons Theme Park, which is the home of Peppa Pig World. We got there just after opening and there was already a queue to get in the car park. Once we had parked and gone in we headed straight for Peppa Pig World.  It was really good and the boys loved it! There were lots of rides for Ben, Aaron and Coby but as it was quite busy, there were queues to get on them all. We stayed in that section of the park for most of the day (seeing as we were coming back the next day) but towards the end, we did wander over towards the bigger rides, but didn’t make it too far as the park closed before we had chance to have a proper look. The boys had had a great day there and were looking forward to the next day. We had McDonalds for tea that night, before settling back into our hotel room

Paultons Theme Park Slideshow]

The next day, we had our big buffet breakfast again and packed the car up before driving over to Paultons Theme Park again. We were a bit later this time, but only by about 30 minutes, but we ended up in a different car park as the other was already full.  These were massive car parks as well! This time, we headed in the opposite direction and went to the big rides first. We didn’t go on any of them as we are wimps (apart from Kelly) but the boys did go on some of the smaller rides and Kelly and I did as well.  We actually found a whole section of the park that we didn’t realise was there, so that was a pleasant surprise. We then headed back through the section of the park that held birds and some small animals, some nice gardens and a large grass area, to Peppa Pig World, so the boys could have a few more rides over there before the end of the day. As it was later in the day, it was much quieter so the boys went on several rides without too much of a wait. We then nipped in the onsite restaurant for our tea (as we were driving straight to Bath for the next leg of our holiday straight from Paultons) before popping back over, one last time, to Peppa Pig World. We stayed right until the rides closed and then slowly strolled back through the park and out to our car. We all had a really great time there and would definitely return again. There was so much to do for the boys and enough for Kelly and I to be kept entertained as well. It was definitely well worth it!

As mentioned above, we then drove to Bath and went to the Travel Lodge that we were going to stay in. We managed to get the last car parking space and unloaded. Unfortunately, this place was a bit rubbish! The travel cot that they provided collapsed slightly, which was a bit dangerous for Coby, and they couldn’t fix it or give us another one as that was the only one spare that they had. Even though the room was massive (the boys were playing football in it), it wasn’t really up to standards and the bathroom was really not nice with gaps around the bath and black mould in places. It was a shame as it was situated right next to a canal and a large pond area, which looked really nice. We even saw a Kingfisher there which was great!

Anyway, the next day we had our buffet breakfast there and made our way into Bath centre to visit the sites and go on an open top bus ride that we had already booked. We firstly went to the Roman Baths, which were absolutely amazing! The boys enjoyed it to a point as they had an audio tour each which kept them quiet, but towards the end they were getting a little bored. It also got incredibly busy at one point and Coby fell asleep, so we ended up carrying him around asleep as we weren’t allowed the buggy. We then spotted the open tour bus stop and went on that. It took us all around Bath to all the major sites such as The Circus and Royal Crescent, before we got off close to where we got on. We then had to dash back to the hotel as Aaron had had a toilet issue and had to change his trousers! So after that was sorted, we went back and quickly visited the Abbey.  We didn’t stay too long in there as Coby was being naughty and shouting and making too much noise, so we quickly left again. So we decided to go on the open tour bus again (our tickets allowed us to go on as many times during the day) and had another tour of Bath. At this point, we realised that our tickets allowed us to go on another tour which took us out of the centre of Bath and into the surrounding area, so we did this. It was also very good and the boys all loved having rides on the buses, especially as we were at the top! Once that dropped us back we made our way home and decided to have some food in the hotel. This was a bad mistake as it was horrible really. The boys had pizza, beans and chips, which was fine, but Kelly and I had a horrible Chicken Burger that was cold, shriveled up and basically not nice. Our chips were cold as well! So we left there quick and popped to a nearby shop to get some choc and Ice Lollies as the boys wanted one and we weren’t going to have ice cream from the hotel! Once these were bought and scoffed, we packed up and went to bed for the night.

Roman Baths Slideshow

The next morning, we had our usually buffet breakfast before heading to Weston Super Mare for our last stop on our holiday. Typically, the main road to Weston was closed due to an accident, so we were detoured miles in a different direction, so we ended up not getting there till gone 11am, when we wanted to get there much earlier than that.  When we did arrive, we parked in the car park that we had already decided on, as it was meant to stay open 24 hours, only to find that it was only the bottom level that stayed open, with the other levels closing at 7pm. This was useless as it was so busy we couldn’t park on the first level, so I ended up going back during the late afternoon and paying more car parking fees and moving the car to the lower levels as it was quieter by then. Anyway, the weather was nice in Weston albeit quite windy.  We had a look around the shops and had Burger King for dinner, before going over to the Grand Pier. We were quite shocked that we had to pay to actually get on the pier, but were all amazed when we got to the pavilion and saw how huge it was! It was absolutely amazing inside, completely full with arcade games and rides. The boys were completely amazed and got very excited!  So we stayed in there for a while and the boys managed to win enough tickets from the machines to get a prize each. We had a good look around and then had a look around outside at the views.  When we first got there, the tide was literally nowhere to be seen, but it was starting to come back in by now, and the scenery was amazing from the end of the pier. We then tried to go on the beach but it was so windy that the sand was being blown up in our faces, and Coby was getting upset with it as it was going in his eyes, so we decided to have a walk up the other end of the town. We then had to find somewhere to eat and ended up in a Wetherspoons, which was packed out, but we found a table on the 3rd floor, so we sat there and had some food.  By the time we got out, we had a quick wander up the other end and tried to find an Ice Cream, but everywhere was shutting by 8pm, which was crazy for a Summer’s Day! Luckily, we found a shop that was just about to close and nipped in there and got some. We ate this quickly and then finally went on the beach, as it was a lovely evening with hardly any wind by now. All the boys had a good time playing in the sand and making sand castles, and we also had a little paddle in the sea, which was quite cold!! By this time, it was getting late and we had to get back to the car by 21:05, so we headed off to try and find some toilets, but we couldn’t find any. Eventually, we found some further down the beach, after walking all around the town again! We then got back to the car just in time and packed our stuff, before heading home. We had a lovely day in Weston Super Mare, and we would visit again, but perhaps stay over night next time. We didn’t get home till nearly midnight so all the boys were fast asleep by the time we arrived, so they all went straight to bed.

Weston Super Mare Slideshow

We had had a lovely few days on holiday! The weather wasn’t perfect but it was mostly dry, so we were happy enough with it. We visited some great places and the boys had some good fun. As usual though, it all seemed to go too quickly and we were home again before we knew it. Roll on our Butlins weekend in December! 😉