Peppa

The park, home to Peppa Pig World, is opening a new land in 2026 with thrill rides and a themed restaurant. Paulton’s Valgard zone is sure to be a hit when it welcomes in the public

Paultons Park, a theme park known for being the home of toddler favourite Peppa Pig World, is set to expand with a new land as part of a whopping £12 million development.

The new addition, Valgard – Realm of the Vikings, is designed for older children and teenagers and is scheduled to open in spring 2026. The Viking-themed land will feature two new adrenaline-pumping rides: the inverting rollercoaster Drakon, and Vild Swing, which will whirl riders 12 metres into the air in a first-of-its-kind ride in the UK.

A sneak peek video on the park’s official YouTube page offers thrill-seekers a taste of what to expect from Drakon, promising plenty of twists and turns. An existing ride, Cobra, is also set for a revamp and will be rebranded as Raven to align with the Viking theme.

The park also plans to add a themed restaurant and a playground for younger guests to Valgard. Further expansion of Valgard is planned for 2027, including a new water ride, although details are currently being kept confidential, according to the Express.

James Mancey, deputy managing director at Paultons Park, expressed his excitement about the project, stating: “We are thrilled to share our plans for our largest and boldest investment to date. As an independent, family-owned theme park, we’re incredibly proud of the investments we make to deliver the very best guest experience. We’ve opened two brand-new rides in the last two years and with the build of Valgard firmly underway, we’re excited to open a further three, bigger-and-better-than-ever-before rides, between now and summer 2027.

“Valgard promises an immersive, atmospheric, and action-packed experience for families and has been specifically designed to grow with our fans. The introduction of inversions and a vertical lift hill on Drakon certainly up the adrenaline levels at Paultons Park, but staying true to our roots, we haven’t forgotten about the little ones and there is something for all of the family in our new Viking village.”

The fresh Viking-themed area will join the park’s existing six themed worlds, including Tornado Springs with its American setting, and Lost Kingdom which focuses on dinosaurs.

Among the park’s most famous attractions is Peppa Pig World, inspired by the beloved children’s cartoon series, which Paultons Park has been crowned the UK’s top theme park, beating out competition from Alton Towers, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Legoland Windsor. The Hampshire-based attraction scooped the prestigious Theme Park of the Year award at the UK Theme Park Awards 2025, as well as being named Best Theme Park for Families (Large), and Best Theme Park for Toddlers (Large).

Its Ghostly Manor ride was also voted Best New Attraction.

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Visitors have been quick to sing the park’s praises on Tripadvisor, with one reviewer, Ste H, describing Paultons Park as a “brilliant” place that is “spotlessly clean”. He added that the staff are “some of the friendliest people” he has ever encountered at such a venue, and that “[G]enuinely everyone we met made it perfectly clear they love working there, which is great to see.”

Another visitor, Lizzie L, shared her experience of visiting midweek, writing: “All the rides in Peppa Pig world were a walk on and the only time we queued was to meet Peppa. The theming is great and perfect for little ones.”

As a parent I have had to take drastic measures and ban Peppa Pig for good after my daughter continued to repeat and awful word

Those of you who have tuned in previously for my Peppa Pig opinion pieces will already know that I am not the show’s biggest supporter.

I have outlined in the past that I would be switching over to Disney’s family fun show Bluey, instead of allowing my two-year-old to follow the likes of Peppa, George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig.

However, there was one occasion since my original statement when we accidentally watched the CBeebies programme. In fairness, it was not intentional, we’d tried desperately hard to find other shows that we felt were more suitable for our toddler. We’d just been watching Justin Fletcher’s Something Special show and before we’d realised, the infamous pigs were next to follow on the channel.

Of course, as Peppa and her family began to chime their snorts in the opening introduction, we were met with a roar of excitement from a toddler – who had not seen the show for sometime now.

I shot a look at my partner, both of us providing a nod of approval that we would make one small allowance – and that she could watch it “just this once”.

What we didn’t realise is that we would pay massively for “just this once,” a mistake that would live with us for weeks to come.

I think it’s worth noting for the record that our daughter, apart from when she’s unwell, is generally a good eater and will chow down most food with minimal fuss. Any way, back to the show and how this all ties together.

We happened to allow our two-year-old to tune into episode 34, of season one, titled ‘lunch”. I would go out on a limb here and say this was probably the worst instalment I’d ever seen and regret deeply ever putting it on now.

In this episode, George, Peppa Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig are visiting Granny and Grandpa Pig, who have collected fresh vegetables from their garden and invited everyone over to sample the goods with them at their table.

As they all dig in, sampling the delicious homegrown produce, George is left looking perplexed. Granny, Grandad, Mummy and Daddy Pig prompt him to try various varieties of salad to which he rudely replies: “Yuck,” and pokes his tongue out, moving his body away from his plate and turning his nose up.

Refusing to try anything put in front of him, he simply tells them: “Yuck,” each time before finally bursting into tears.

Grandad intervene with a clever tactic, turning the salad into a dinosaur, with T-Rex obsessed George eventually lapping up the healthy goods in no time at all.

I can see where the shows creators were going with narrative, that a little bit of creativity goes a long way but to use the word “yuck” in a food environment with impressionable toddlers watching, I simply do not agree with.

As soon as we heard the word “yuck” leave George’s lips, we knew we were in store for trouble. We’re at that age where anything you say aloud will be consumed much like a sponge absorbing water.

Sure enough, even after the episode had concluded, our two-year-old continued to repeat the word “yuck,” finding it utterly hilarious. We’d hoped this would pass but it didn’t.

The next day, we presented our daughter with a homemade lasagne for dinner, a meal I had personally prepared totally from scratch and had probably taken the best part of five hours to cook – over the course of various parts of the day.

As I placed her plate on the table, I was met with the word “yuck,” yet again. I tried to encourage her to eat with playful aeroplane notions and was further shunned as she told me: “Yuck, yuck and yuck,” much like George had done previously during the episode.

It wasn’t just happening in our home and we weren’t the only ones to witness her blatant rudeness. We are fortunate enough that we have parents who help us out with childcare once or twice per week. On a visit, they’d dished up a lunchtime staple, peanut butter sandwiches, but were also met with the exact same response.

On collection, we were left embarrassed as we summarised that George was to blame for her ill-mannered behaviour at meal times. We all mutually agreed that Peppa Pig would now be firmly banned across both households.

Even if Peppa Pig happens to roll onto our screens by accident again, I’ll be lunging for the remote as quicker than Usain Bolt to turn it off because in all honesty, from one parent to another, it’s really not worth the additional stress or red faced apologies.

Peppa Pig currently airs on CBeebies and Netflix.