Reviewed by Amanda Hayes
Hobbledown is a mysterical adventure park and farm, near the town of Epsom. We made a family afternoon out of the trip, me, my husband, and 4-year-old son as the park is open until 8pm on Saturdays. On arrival we were quite surprised to find the car park very busy although the weather wasn’t great and took this as a sign that Hobbledown is a popular place to visit.
On arrival we took a leaflet that included a map of the park and we set off. The farm area is laid out in a large loop with the animals and adventure play areas set along it and the restaurant, soft play and shop back near the entrance. We followed the gravelled path viewing guinea pigs, otters and meercats on the way before turning the corner to find a huge outdoor play area. My son loves the outdoors and having been to several adventure playgrounds we classed Hobbledown has one of the finest we have seen.
There were plenty of picnic tables throughout the area but I was disappointed to find there were no toilets in the area or café open. The map does show a café but it was shut when I went to buy a cup of tea. If you intend on spending the majority of the day at the playground bring a picnic to save you returning to base for food and drinks.
My 4-year-old wanted to go on everything, and being over 1 metre tall he pretty much could. There were some fantastic looking zip wires but these were only suitable for children over 1.3 metres, otherwise its suitable for all ages. The climbing towers which looked amazing fun, had a height limit of 1.0 metres which we thought was age appropriate as younger children may find it a bit scary while the larger play equipment such as tunnels and cages just states adult supervision required under the age of 5. The playground section covers a large area and has sand pits, slides, tunnels, high wire and bouncing pillows, everything you can imagine you would find and as it is so large it doesn’t feel too crowded.
To the left of this area is wallaby walk-through where you can enter the enclosure and get close to the wallabies, or alternately going straight on into the next field there was a birds of prey display area which had a really good selection of unusual birds. The field also includes a zip wire for younger children, a willow maze and large inflatable zorbs. My son was keen on these but the queue was quite long so we carried on the farm path where we saw camels, rare breed sheep, donkeys, ponies & pigs. There were washing areas dotted around for the children to wash their hands after petting the animals and all had nice hot water, soap and paper towels.
The path took us back to the entrance area where we finally found some toilets and headed to the restaurant for a snack. Being the only one open on site it was packed with long queues and no inside tables free. There were plenty free outside however and several had patio heaters over to keep you warm whilst you ate. There is a large sand play area to the front so whilst we had a rest with tea and cake our 4-year-old enjoyed playing in the sand whilst still in our vision.
Our final stop of the day was the Hobblings play barn, split into two sections a large soft play area and an area full of Hobbit type houses. With plenty to do for both older and younger children it was very busy but did start to quieten down towards 5pm. We managed to get a table then and settled down for the next 45 minutes while our son played until he was exhausted.
Just time then for a quick look around the shop which had a good selection of toys in all price ranges, and it was back to the car with a very tired little boy.
Hobbledown is an excellent adventure playground with indoor soft play and animals thrown in to make a full day’s entertainment. I don’t think its best value for the 2-3 age group as they pay full price whilst under 2’s go free, but for children age 4-12 who can go on everything it’s a great value day out. If you are local I would recommend the yearly pass starting at £6.50 a month which makes it even better value. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4.5/5
Day tickets cost from £7.50 to £14 (2 years +), £6.50 to £13.50 (18 years +).
For more information or to book tickets visit www.hobbledown.com.
Hobbledown, Horton Lane, Horton, Surrey, KT19 8PT | 01372 848990
