Paddington Bear is one of the most famous cultural symbols of London. There are three movies, a TV series and a new film and series in development. If you don’t have kids, Paddington Bear may not interest you as much, but it is still something worth watching before London; as for the experience, you don’t want to be a creep and go solo, so watch the movies and skip the experience. But as for Paddington Bear tourism in London, there is a Paddington Bear store in Paddington Station, a Paddington walking tour, a Paddington themed double-decker bus and the Paddington Experience. We chose to visit the store in the station and book the Paddington Experience.
Booking and Cost
If you’re interested in the Paddington Experience, it is recommended to book in advance. We almost considered passing on the experience after looking at the price tag, but figured it’d be worthwhile because of our daughter. Kids under two are free… our daughter had just turned two and we considered lying, but they said that kids under two can’t actually participate and must be held by an adult throughout the experience. However, we saw children under two walking around and participating; they never actually checked/enforced the rule. To pay for our girl it cost us an extra $50-60 CAD… we could have gotten away without paying but oh well. The entire experience was expensive and cost us about $220 CAD with taxes and exchange rates.
Location
The Paddington Experience is located along the Thames and right beside the London Eye, so if interested you could pair the two activities. We took a few photos and skipped the London Eye and headed to the experience. Like most tourist traps, we had to go through a gift shop when entering and exiting. The gift shop was cool, but if you have time, I think the one in Paddington Station is better and cheaper.
The Immersive Experience
When you enter you wait to board the “train” to the Brown’s house at Windsor Garden’s and immediately notice the Paddington themed décor. Once you exit you will see the familiar rooms of the Brown’s house, and for Paddington fans this is awesome!
In the experience, you travel through a series of rooms and meet a number of actors, playing characters from the film. The actors were excellent, and Mrs. Brown probably looked and felt the most real compared to the movies. The rooms give flashbacks from the movies and have interactive activities for the kids. When you enter the entrance hallway with the sweeping staircase and iconic tree mural, you will instantly be travelled into the home of the Brown’s from the film. Then you will be in their living room and kitchen. During one of the tasks we discovered the mess that Paddington had made with paint, we were given the task in groups of putting back together the pictures that Mrs. Brown had painted. I won’t spoil the rest of the experiences, but they were pretty fun.
We were even transported to the jungle in Darkest, Peru where we were given the task to help make marmalade. The whole thing was a lot of fun and we met several of the characters from the film but one complaint was that we never got to meet Paddington during the immersive experience. Once finished we entered the “marmalade day party” where we got to take pictures with Paddington, purchase marmalade sandwiches, listen to music and play some games. The immersive experience only lasted about 45 minutes, but you had unlimited time at the marmalade party. We took the pictures, bought a marmalade sandwich and spent about 15 minutes there. The whole thing was a bit short for the price, but for young kids it is actually probably the perfect amount of time.
The marmalade party was fun with the music and Paddington, but the pictures were a rip off. It was £17 for one printed picture in a Paddington themed book and another £5 for all of the photos in digital form. When they took our picture with Paddington, they only took one picture and clearly didn’t look at it (or didn’t care) because my eyes were closed. But, our baby girl loved seeing Paddington, once our turn with him was finished she kept running back to him. The ladies working there seemed to be getting annoyed and had to act as Paddington’s security guard against a two-year-old girl.
Final Thoughts: Was it Worth it?
Honestly the experience was fun, but it was a lot of money. Adult’s don’t do it… not only will you end up on the front page of the news, but it also isn’t worth the price sole for you. But if you have young children (between 2-5) the experience is a lot of fun for them and to make your kids happy it’s worth the price. The actors were good, the sets were cool and the activities were interactive. But yes, it is too expensive and they will find ways to get extra money out of you; but if you want to have family family fun with your kids and have the money, the Paddington Experience is worth it.
Note: You can't take pictures in the experience so there aren't a lot of photos and the last two are from Paddington Station.
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