We enjoyed a family day out in London at The Paddington Bear Experience
What is it? This is a multi-sensory walk-through experience spanning multiple themed rooms across 26,000 square feet of London’s iconic County Hall offering hands-on activities and meet and greets with characters from the renowned books and films. Since its first publication, the Paddington books, published by Harper Collins, have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
Where is it?
London’s County Hall on the South Bank.
What age group?
It is for all ages, but families with younger children will get the most out of it. Our multi-generational group all enjoyed our time there. There were some dedicated adult Paddington fans there too who also found it fascinating.
What does the experience promise?
At The Paddington BearTM Experience, visitors are invited to step into Paddington’s world and embark on an exciting immersive adventure through some of the most memorable locations from the Paddington stories. Starting with the hustle and bustle of Paddington Station, guests are greeted by a friendly Station Master and taken on a lively train journey through London’s most famous landmarks all the way to the Browns’ charming house at No. 32 Windsor Gardens.
Once inside the famous tree adorned hallway, the Brown family whisk guests into a whirlwind of multi-sensory activities as they need to help Paddington and his family prepare for a very special occasion – The Marmalade Day Festival.
With numerous themed rooms to explore, interactive games, character interactions, and lots of surprises along the way, the adventure culminates in a very special Windsor Garden Street party where visitors have the chance to enjoy the Marmalade Day festival. A range of food (including Paddington’s famous marmalade sandwich!) and beverages are available to all, as well as an opportunity to enjoy fun and games with the Brown family.
What were the highlights?
For the adults in our group, the fun was watching the delight in our youngster’s eyes as he took part in the activities. We all enjoyed the ‘train’ journey to Windsor Gardens. It was an added bonus that our youngster loves trains. We also found ourselves stepping into a jungle. We all especially enjoyed searching for treasure maps hidden in the trees - lots of clues to follow. This included a sand pit for scooping and digging, so, naturally, our toddler was reluctant to leave! We would have happily spent a lot more time there. We then had the chance to make marmalade on an impressive production line.
Another highlight was being ushered into a kitchen cupboard, yes really, and treated with a beautiful light show. This prompted a “Wow!” from our youngster who loved that experience.
On exit from the themed rooms, ‘Paddington’ thanked us for visiting, but all our fellow visitors were delighted to meet another bigger-than-life-size Paddington for a cuddle and photo opportunity. This was also a chance to play games with hoops and bean bags and have a drink and, of course, marmalade sandwiches in the small cafe area. Once again, our little one did not want to leave and had a great time here.
Overall verdict?
We all enjoyed ourselves, although it was not a very long experience. Expect to be there for about 90 minutes. I would have liked more choice in the cafe, as we had planned to have lunch there but the banana cake was delicious. The games were a good idea and meeting Paddington Bear was fun. The human characters were all enthusiastic and convincing and did a good job in encouraging guests to join in with activities.
By Ruth Brindle
How to book
Tickets for the Paddington BearTM Experience are on sale from www.paddingtonbearexperience.com