It doesn’t matter if you are planning on going to Great Lakes Crossing Mall to shop, or as a destination for entertainment on its own, you might find yourself looking for a place for your wee little ones to burn off some steam. Peppa Pig World of Play is just as promising as it sounds. Your young children will play, using their imagination, jumping, crawling and sliding until your play time is up.
Sometimes when we travel, I like to keep my plans a bit of a mystery from the older two, sometimes for the surprise factor, and sometimes to avoid the whine factor of dread. In this case, I knew that we were all about to embark on an adventure that was solidly geared towards Bubba. Each person that enters, must have a child 8 or younger with them, but I would say the target age for this attraction is 2-3 years old.
As we were making our way from the mall entrance to the entrance of Peppa Pig World of Play, the older two caught sight of the advertisements that were all over the mall for this new attraction, and even preemptively pleaded with me not to make them go. As you are about to see, two hours later, as we were leaving, there were tears, and near tears…and they were not from our two-year-old.
After purchasing your admission ticket (or better yet, redeeming your online ticket purchased at least 24 hours in advance, that will not only guarantee your entrance no matter how busy they are, but also saves you money) you will enter the red bus which is actually the portal to the entire world.
The bright cartoon world is immersive, and draws you in as soon as you turn the corner. Each child split in a different direction on their own personal mission. Bubba made a b-line for the balance bikes in the area that was set up like a road with a car wash. They also had tricycles that he got brave enough to try out later, and the pedals were at the perfect length for his two-year-old legs. I was talking with another mom of a two-year-old, and she was so excited that they were just the right size for them to practice this gross motor skill.
He then moved onto the delivery truck with packages to load, unload and stack. He was pretty funny too, because as our time continued, anytime he would find a package in a different part of the room, he would pick it up and run it back to the delivery truck.
In all, there are 14 themed areas of this playland. Each offering simplistic play for the young child.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it is ok to take a step back from your child, and just watch them learn and explore. Yes, it is fine, if you want to get in there and jump on the mud spots to hear the splashing sounds, but it is also just fine if you want to take advantage of the ample adult seating areas all over the attraction to watch, likely in amazement, from afar.
Each area was full of little interactive buttons. As you can see here, even nine-year-olds who allowed themselves to play like toddlers, enjoyed playing with the buttons to see what they would do.
Once per playtime, children will get a chance to meet Peppa herself! Though the adults standing on the floor while Peppa stands on the stage, I recommend standing a little off to the left side to take your photo so that you get a side profile of Peppa, instead of straight on snout.
Though with the two hour play time, I think you could plan your meals around your visit, but in case you or your child suddenly becomes “starving” (trust me, we’ve all been there), there is a camper van food truck that serves up personal cheese pizzas and sweet snacks including granola bars, cookies and ice cream. They were featuring a family meal deal that included 4 personal cheese pizzas, 4 snacks and 4 drinks for $20, which isn’t bad, since it cost our family far more than $20 to eat in the food court before entering. It would still depend on how fast your kids eat to determine if you want to spend that much of your two-hour play time on dining.
If you do have to bring along an older child, the Activity Pack on a lanyard is absolutely worth the $4. It has two pages inside called “Daddy Pig Lost and Found” where you have to use the clues to figure out where each item is hidden. This activity kept Buddy occupied for the entire two hours we were there, including figuring out that one of the clues was not in any of the places listed, and when he inquired at the check out desk, they confirmed that another child stole the object from its intended place, and they hadn’t been able to replace it yet. (I seriously didn’t think we were going to convince him to leave without finding said object!) Once you have completed the scavenger hunt, you can take your Activity Pack to the front checkout desk in the gift shop for a little prize. The rest of the Activity Pack is full of fun activities that can be done at home.
Even though the older two know better than to leave on their own, and they know that we would not leave without them, it was comforting that when we arrived, each person was given a wristband that indicated my name and my phone number just in case we were to become separated and they needed to find us. Though the exit was secured by a button that could not be easily accessed by small children, however, I was hopeful that there would be some sort of double check upon exit to make sure that the child(ren) you were leaving with were the same that you came in with, but it turns out that did not happen, so stay vigilant and keep a keen eye on your kiddos. 
We stayed almost exactly two hours, so by our experience, the two-hour play time is just the perfect amount of time. We left before our wristband color was officially asked to exit, but it was coming soon.
If you are planning Great Lakes Crossing as a destination, then you may want to look into a combo ticket that will include more than one attraction at a reduced price.Check out our Great Lakes Crossing Round-up post to see what else there is to do there. You could make an entire day out of it, or spread it out to fill pockets of time through an entire weekend depending on how energetic your kiddos are. I’m glad we had the opportunity to visit Peppa Pig World of Play before we exit this stage of childhood at our house for good.
Oh were you wondering who was begging to stay at the end of the two hours? Buggie was not ready to give it up! Even she admitted that she didn’t want to go at first, but she was glad that we had the chance to visit!
