The Enchanted Kingdom is a new all-weather attraction housed in a large circus-style marquee. It takes children around a path past animatronic displays – including a Teddy Bears' Picnic and jungle scenes, and a land of mirrors, before leading to a Pirates' Cove at its heart. The "real" pirates in Pirates' Cove were rather frightening to Pippa, until that is a friendly pirate called Sophie helped her make a sand castle with the mini buckets provided to collect treasure! Toby was keen to get hunting for lost gold buried in the sand around the centrepiece 40ft pirate galleon, this was an activity he adored and happily traded his buried treasure for chocolate coins.
All the staff in the Enchanted Kingdom were excellent, interacting with children and adults, they came across as a great team.
The children had no desire to leave the sandy cove or the pirates but after two hours Jon and I were ready to head back outside to explore the site. Of course, as soon as we ventured out they were delighted by the next discovery – a very well designed outdoor adventure play area and giant jumping pillows. The Hop Farm team has thought of everything, there is one pillow for under fives and a huge one for older children and game adults. The bouncing pillows burnt off a fantastic amount of energy in utter safety. The play area is surrounded by grass and benches and made the perfect spot for a picnic.
From there we all rode the Victorian carrousel, took a Shire horse and cart ride around the site, visited the miniature farm complete with llamas, rabbits, goats, sheep and donkeys. Toby took a circuit around the children's driving school in a little electric car whilst Pippa loved the independence of riding the mini train and ferris wheel by herself. The joy of paying one entrance fee meant that her desire to run straight for a repeat ride was not a problem. Other attractions both children enjoyed were the rodeo ride and magic factory which was full of tricks one could photograph to amaze unsuspecting friends at home. See Toby levitating in the photo attached!
We spent hours at the Hop Farm but still did not make it to the museum, legends in wax, indoor soft play or the Extreme Zone. The Extreme Zone in particular looked brilliant and would appeal enormously to slightly older children. Activities include archery, air rifles, climbing wall, paintballing, quad biking, canoeing, hydroballing, land zorbing and woodland discovery. A perfect outing to take my sporty eight year old godson back to on another day...Pay once and play all day, The World of Activities entrance price starts from as little as £12.50. Admission includes a choice of the extreme zone or the new Enchanted Kingdom. For an extra £5pp visitors can upgrade to enjoy both activities.
The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6PY: advance booking discount available online. For more information visit www.thehopfarm.co.uk or call 01622 872068
