REVIEW: THE PADDINGTON BEAR EXPERIENCE
Magical Marmalade Adventure Through London and Peru for a Rare Bear
There is no greater escapism than leaping into the perfect, joyous London of The Paddington Bear Experience, where the biggest life troubles revolve around a lack of oranges for the Marmalade Festival.
The immersive, theatrical experience is forensically faithful to the two much-loved Paddington films - plus a third out this November - with a series of actors, special effects and magical sets inspired by the franchise’s iconic locations, across 26,000 square feet of Southbank’s County Hall.
The squeals of delight as we approach the replica of Gruber’s Antiques Shop come not from the children, but from the adults leading them. This doubles as a merch shop and holding area, before you check into “Paddington Station” to begin the experience.
The Station Master greets children at the station, which is adorned with Marmalade Day posters, luggage, pigeons, half-eaten marmalade sandwiches and a departures board.
Sporadically, the board is filled with the film’s D Lime Calypso band playing London is the Place for Me, and disco lights fill the station as everybody breaks into dance.
Steam puffs from the train and the Station Master leads us into the carriage for our journey. We catch a glimpse of Paddington in the driving carriage, who welcomes us for our journey to his famous 32 Windsor Gardens home.
From this point on, there are no photos or videos allowed until the Marmalade Festival at the end.
The train rumbles as jolly, technicolour London scenes flash past us through the windows, to Calypso music. My daughter delights in pointing out the film’s characters and amusing scenarios playing out on the perfect platforms outside.
At six, she is the perfect age for this experience and throws herself into the adventure, eagerly helping and interacting with the characters.
We step off the train to be greeted by a perfectly cast and loveably eccentric Mrs Brown, outside her iconic pastel townhouse. She warmly welcomes us and explains that she needs our help to prepare for Marmalade Day.
We dutifully hang bunting outside the house, before excitedly heading into the famous, tree-adorned hallway of their home, with Paddington’s red wellies on the spiral staircase, his duffle coat carelessly dropped on the tiled floor and her famous bike, parked by the wall.
Set designer, Rebecca Brower’s astonishing attention to detail creates the thrill of snooping around the iconic house, which is itself an unspoken character in the film.
She leads us into the lounge, and the children gasp at the paint-splattered mess and paw prints Paddington has left, while trying to be helpful. We’re all tasked with helping to tidy, by either putting the giant jigsaw pieces of her Paddington paintings back on her easels or organising mementos from their travels.
Next we meet the fabulously manic old Mrs Bird in the sunshine yellow and blue kitchen, and embark on a breathless succession of daft and fun tasks to help her prepare for the big party.
My daughter helps to make a giant, teetering cake and decorate it with lollipops and cupcakes. Everything in this room is there to be touched and explored, which is fabulous for children - and nosy parents.
We barrel around the kitchen, opening fridges, cupboards and delving into larders to find matching tea sets, while other guests help Mrs Bird fix the fridge or remove keys from the sink with a giant magnet.
Suddenly, there are leaky water drops from above, and the children immediately know that this heralds the ceiling crashing moment of Paddington's bath scene upstairs, so we’re led into the pantry to keep dry.
The shelves are lined with jars of marmalade and the Brown’s messy, middle class paraphernalia. The room darkens, the marmalade jars glow and the magical story of Paddington’s precious marmalade is played out in a dazzling light show on the walls. This amber nectar can only be made from Peruvian oranges and there are none left in London.
An orange tree creeps up the wall before us and the wall splits around it and opens into a lush Peruvian jungle, where we’re greeted by a friendly explorer. You can’t take pictures during the experience, but I take a mental photo of my daughter’s awestruck face, as the jungle opens out before us, and it is delicious.
This was our favourite part of the experience. The children dart across rope jungle bridges, through foliage and trees looking for map pieces - my daughter throws herself into the sand, digs furiously and is the first to find a piece, with great excitement.
We piece the map together and it reveals a blueprint for a marmalade making machine. We’re led deeper into the jungle, where other explorers introduce us to the wonderfully whimsical marmalade making machine itself.
The children run around the jungle, filling wooden boxes with Peruvian oranges and then each take turns on different sections of the marmalade machine.
They drop oranges down a spiral run; use a stationary old bike to power it; turn the handles for the conveyor belt, stamp the fire pump to cook them and finally, pull levers around a barrel, where little windows pop open to reveal perfect, glowing little jars of marmalade.
We leave the jungle to be greeted by a brilliantly realistic, animatronic Paddington, who thanks us all for helping to save the Marmalade Festival.
Then it's time to enjoy the fruits (specifically, Peruvian oranges) of our labour at the big Marmalade Festival party.
This takes place on the immaculate streets of Windsor Gardens, complete with bunting, music, dancing, carnival games, marmalade cocktails, cakes, ice cream and (of course) marmalade sandwiches - these are a less bitter, more child-friendly version, because Paddington is no fool.
There is also a life-sized Paddington to meet kids (and big kids) for photos afterwards.
The Paddington films are an excellent marker of good eggs. If you don’t like them, it’s a big red flag. And if you do, you will love The Paddington Bear Experience.
After all, he’s a very rare sort of bear.
The Paddington Bear™ Experience, London County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB. Adult tickets £34pp. Children (2-15) £24. Under 2s go FREE
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