ATTRACTIONS PEPPA PIG WORLD
Fans of the hit children’s tv show Peppa Pig will be in their element in a new attraction dedicated to the cartoon. Richard Mancey, managing director of Paultons Park, which operates Peppa Pig World, describes the off er
What is Peppa Pig World? Opened on 9 April, this magical world is a must for any fan of the popular tv show. It offers rides, buildings and ani- mations from the programme, a huge themed indoor play area and two cafés. Covering three acres, it sits within the 65-acre family theme park Paultons Park in Hampshire, UK.
Please describe the park’s content There are seven Peppa Pig-themed rides: Miss Rabbit’s Helicopter Flight; Peppa’s Big Balloon Ride; Daddy Pig’s Car Ride; Grandpa Pig’s Little Train Ride; George’s Dinosaur Adventure; Grandpa Pig’s Boat Trip; and Windy Castle. There’s also a water splash park called Muddy Puddles [jump- ing in them is Peppa Pig’s favourite activity], an outdoor play area – Mr Potato’s Playground – and Paulton’s fi rst indoor play area – George’s Space Ship Play Zone – housed on a 900sq
ABOUT THE COSTUMES Peppa Pig and her brother George both make appearances at the park in costumes created by Rainbow Productions. Simon Foulkes, sales and marketing director, describes the outfi ts that the performers wear. “We’ve created two sets of manufactured costume versions of the licensed properties, Peppa Pig and George. The show is
so popular that the biggest challenge was to capture the essence of the characters and translate how they’re per- ceived in their two dimensional world into larger-than-life three dimensional costume characters. The skin (costume) performers at Paultons received train-
ing from our qualifi ed team of staff. They’re taught how best to portray the characters accurately in order to engage with
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m (9,700sq ft) grass-roofed build- ing. All the rides are heavily themed to closely mirror what viewers see in the tv series. Five of the rides were manu- factured by Metallbau Emmeln and two were produced by Zierer.
Where did the inspiration come from for Peppa Pig World? Paultons was one of the fi rst parks to stage a Peppa Pig Meet and Greet, which we held four years ago. This proved popular with our guests and we’ve seen this popularity gradually increase to where it is today. We were also very impressed with the whole ethos of the tv series. We established a relationship with
Entertainment One (the licence holders of Peppa Pig) over several years while running Peppa Pig character weekends and agreed the exclusive licence to the Peppa Pig theme park concept. The park is solely funded by Paultons.
How did you choose the content? We wanted rides and attractions that would complement those we already had at Paultons. We also wanted to include elements that could easily be themed so that they were integral to the whole of Peppa Pig World. There were many other factors that
were part of the decision-making proc- ess as to what rides and attractions were to be included, such as through- puts, longevity and engineering factors.
Can you describe the design? It’s a totally immersive experience for families with children aged one to six. As well as the rides and attractions, there are numerous themed buildings and animated attractions which will add to the magic of Peppa Pig World. Much time and effort has been spent on the landscaping and planting – a Paultons speciality – which will add to the experience for children and adults
Cool vests with gel packs make the Pig costumes more comfortable to wear
the audience. We also give train- ing in the crucial health and safety aspects of performing as a costume character.
The costumes cover the per-
former’s bodies and heads so we take their welfare very seri-
ously. We manufacture light-weight costumes, fi t head-fans and supply cool vests with gel packs. These sit next to the performer’s body when they’re wearing the costume, making it cooler and more comfortable to wear. We developed this technology when creating the offi cial mascots for the Athens Olympics in 2004 and it’s subsequently been used at theme parks and sporting events around the world.”
ISSUE 2 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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