For many families, Paultons Park still means one thing: Peppa Pig World. In 2026, though, the Hampshire theme park has grown up rather dramatically.

Its new £12 million Valgard: Realm of the Vikings opened in May, bringing a new rollercoaster that goes upside down, a UK-first swing ride, a reworked Paultons favourite, a Viking playground and a huge themed dining hall. The new land has been designed particularly with older children, teenagers and parents in mind.

So, if your children have started to feel a little too old for Peppa, it may be time to take another look. Here are five new reasons to visit Paultons Park in 2026.

1. Brave Paultons Park’s first upside-down rollercoaster

The big new attraction is Drakon, and it represents quite a change of pace for Paultons Park.

It is the park’s first-ever inverting rollercoaster, starting with a vertical lift before plunging riders down a beyond-vertical drop and through two inversions. Paultons describes it as its most thrilling coaster yet.

In other words, this is not one for toddlers.

Riders need to be at least 1.25 metres tall, and children under 1.4 metres need to ride with a responsible adult.

For families whose children have graduated from gentle rides and are beginning to demand something considerably faster, Drakon is probably the biggest reason to return.

And yes, you do go upside down.

2. Try a ride that is a UK first

Drakon may grab the headlines, but Vild Swing could be just as much fun.

The enormous swing sends riders up to 12 metres into the air, repeatedly sweeping backwards and forwards above Valgard. Paultons Park says it is the first installation of this particular ART Engineering Wild Swing attraction in the UK.

It also has a much lower height restriction than Drakon. Children from 95cm can ride, although those under seven need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.

That makes Vild Swing an interesting bridge between children’s rides and the park’s bigger thrill attractions.

It looks relatively innocent from the ground.

It probably feels rather different 12 metres up.

3. Rediscover Cobra – but not as you remember it

Long-time Paultons visitors may recognise another rollercoaster winding its way through the new Viking landscape.

The old Cobra has been transformed into Raven, giving the popular bobsleigh-style family coaster a new identity as part of Valgard.

It still delivers the sweeping drops, tight turns and hills that made Cobra popular, but it now sits within the much more immersive Viking setting.

This is a clever part of the development. Paultons hasn’t simply dropped two new rides into an empty corner of the park. An existing favourite has been incorporated into the new world, with Drakon and Raven twisting through the same landscape.

If you remember riding Cobra on a previous visit, this is your excuse to try it again.

4. Explore a whole Viking world, not just a couple of rides

Valgard is much more than a new rollercoaster.

The area has been built as a complete Viking-themed land, with detailed buildings, a new Viking-inspired playground and a Feasting Hall restaurant. The dining space even includes a life-size Viking longship as part of the experience.

That matters if you are visiting as a family.

One child may be desperate to ride Drakon while a younger brother or sister is nowhere near the 1.25m height restriction. The playground and less intense attractions give the area a broader appeal rather than turning it into a thrill-rides-only corner of the park.

And after several hours of rollercoasters, eating lunch beside a Viking longship sounds suitably excessive.

5. Paultons Park isn’t just for Peppa Pig fans anymore

Peppa Pig World remains a huge part of Paultons Park. It has nine Peppa-themed rides, alongside play areas and other attractions aimed particularly at younger children.

But Valgard makes a much stronger case for keeping Paultons on the family day-out list as children get older.

The park now has more than 70 rides and attractions across 140 acres on the edge of the New Forest, with everything from preschool attractions to family rides and increasingly serious rollercoasters.

That is perhaps the biggest change of all.

A family with a Peppa-obsessed five-year-old and a thrill-seeking teenager can now find very different things to do in the same park.

For parents who visited Paultons several years ago and assumed their children had grown out of it, 2026 could be the year to reconsider.

Paultons Park’s new rides in 2026: what you need to know

Valgard: Realm of the Vikings opened at Paultons Park on 16 May 2026. The new £12 million area includes Drakon, Vild Swing, the transformed Raven coaster, a Viking playground and the Feasting Hall.

Paultons Park is in Hampshire, on the edge of the New Forest, and Peppa Pig World is included within the wider theme park.

And the Viking invasion isn’t finished yet. Paultons has already announced Serpent’s Curse, a new custom-built water coaster planned for Valgard in 2027.

But there is plenty that is new right now.

Drakon alone changes the sort of day you can have at Paultons Park. Add Vild Swing, Raven and the rest of Valgard, and this feels less like a park children eventually grow out of and increasingly like one they can grow up with.

Find tickets, opening times and the latest ride information at Paultons Park.