“A delightfully nostalgic journey into 50s London. There were lots of opportunities for interaction which the children loved.”
The Paddington Bear Experience takes visitors on a journey through the iconic locations of the stories in an immersive 70-minute walk-through experience at County Hall, near Westminster Bridge.
Roxanna Ziolkowska and her seven-year old grandson visited. Here’s what they thought…
Our day at the Paddington Bear Experience began with a “train journey” from Paddington Station to Windsor Gardens to celebrate Marmalade Day. The use of voice over was clever: Paddington led us to the Browns’ home where he was preparing for the party.
Roxanna Ziolkowska
In classic Paddington style, he got into various scrapes and we were invited to help Mrs Brown and Mrs Bird tidy up the mess and pick up the pieces. But oh no! There was a sudden shortage of Peruvian oranges in London! Disaster! You can’t make marmalade without Peruvian oranges. We had to find some. But from where?
When Paddington flooded the bathroom we were quickly ushered into the larder and were then magic-ed into the Peruvian jungle. This was the highlight for my grandson and me. We met Morgan, an explorer who had lost her map.
But it was piecing together sections of Aunt Lucy’s marmalade-making machine design that saved the day. The marmalade was made and the party could take place. Hurrah!
Roxanna Ziolkowska
Back in Windsor Gardens the party was in full swing with music, marmalade sandwiches of course and Paddington himself.
My grandson said that it was best day out so far (besides Legoland, of course!). He wants to return with his mum.
I highly recommend this for children of a range of ages; there were children as young as two and others as old as nine. There were also several childless couples.
The story of the friendly Peruvian bear abandoned in London bearing the sign “Please look after this bear” has obviously great appeal to tourists.
My only criticism was that once we had arrived at County Hall as instructed, there was no signage and we wandered around sometime before we discovered a range of ‘Experiences’ and finally The Paddington Bear one.
Roxanna Ziolkowska
Tickets: £34 per adult, £24 per child; Tickets available now from www.paddingtonbearexperience.com
