The Paddington Bear Experience, Riverside Building, County Hall London Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Amanda Hayes
You are never too old for Paddington so even I was excited to be offered the chance to review the new Paddington Bear Experience on London’s Southbank. The Experience is situated in County Hall, next to other popular attractions such as The London Dungeons and is a short walk from Waterloo overground Station. It is really well served with all types of public transport with Waterloo underground station a few minutes’ walk, other main line stations such as Blackfriars a stroll along the waterfront, and if you prefer a boat the Thames Clipper also arrives & departs from Waterloo Pier.
Being on the run up to Christmas the whole area was busy and despite finding County Hall & the other attractions quickly, The Paddington Bear Experience was a bit harder to find. The signage wasn’t that prominent, and the entrance was fairly small compared to others, we found it when we stopped to take a photo of Big Ben!
Inside you go straight into a gift shop and a waiting line for entry where they call the timed tickets, each ticket has a 15 minute time slot but there did seem to be a little bit of flexibility on this as a few people turned up late because of the travel disruption. Once your time was called you were given a coloured wristband and told to go downstairs and keep an eye on the departure board. None of us knew what to expect, but the lower floor was like a train station waiting room & platform with toilets, a large highly decorated Christmas Tree & Cloakroom (£1.50 per item). The platform also had a departures board showing lots of different trains including our Amber train shown to depart at 3pm. Our ticket was at 2.45pm, so we had a little time to look around, and my son found a phone ringing with a message to pick it up. When he did, he found he was speaking to Paddington himself, which made a great start to the experience. Everyone on the amber train was then called forward and the conductor told us how Paddington needed some help with his Marmalade Day celebration, and we were soon on the train and off to Windsor Gardens!
I’m going to find it hard to write the rest of the 90ish minute journey ahead of us without giving it away, but we went from London to the rainforest & back again!
The attraction was fully immersive, with plenty to keep children, and adults, entertained on our quest to help Paddington. The Paddington Experience is suitable for any age group, with plenty of adult groups so don’t feel embarrassed if you haven’t got children with you, it’s fun for all and as parents we enjoyed it much more than we thought we would. The story finishes at the Marmalade Party where there is the option to buy Marmalade sandwiches, you can also pre order these as part of your ticket at a discount, and hot and cold drinks with some fab sounding orange based concoctions.
You aren’t allowed to take photos within the attraction but at the end there is a meet and greet with Paddington, where unusually you can take your own photos as well as buying some. The photos were normal attraction type prices at £15.00 for one and deals for packages, and with Marmalade sandwiches at £5.00, I’d say things were priced at typical London prices. Entry Prices are a little steep starting at £34.00 for adults, but the attraction is unique.
We all loved the Paddington Bear Experience, it’s like a trip to the Theatre where you walk through the scenes instead of sitting still. Great fun, interactive and suitable for all ages, its only currently available to book until June 2025, so get your tickets booked now.
Rating: 5/5
The Paddington Bear Experience is at Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Rd, London SE1 7PB unit June 2025.
Tickets from £24.00 Child, £34.00 Adult.
Tickets can be purchased from paddingtonbearexperience.com or contact the box office – boxoffice.ldn@paddingtonbearexperience.com or on 020 4592 8671