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Hobbledown Children’s Farm in Epsom

Hobbledown Review. We first visited Hobbledown Farm Epsom over eight years. It was one of our favourite days out in Surrey when Charlie was little and we use to have a membership. Yet for one reason or another probably thanks to lockdown we had not visited for ages. So it seemed fitting that it was how we spent the last day of our Summer Holiday. And we were there literally all day leaving just as the adventure farm in Epsom was shutting having arrived at 9.30 am in the morning. Even as we pulled out of the car park the boys were asking when we could go back. Which is always a sign of a good day out. And the real beauty of a visit to Hobbledown Adventure Farm Park is that there is so much to do, that you are unlikely to have the same day out twice.

AD – We were gifted tickets to Hobbledown Farm Epsom for the purpose of writing a review. All words and opinions are my own – Hobbledown Reviews

Table of Contents

Arriving at Hobbledown Epsom

You need to book tickets in advance via their website. There are a couple of options on ticket prices. You can either book a ticket which costs £17 and gives you a time limit of four hours at the attraction. Or you can book a £22 ticket which does not come with a time limit. I would encourage you to do the latter. We easily spent the whole day and still didn’t get to see everything. When you book you need to select a time slot. The first is at 9 am and the last is at 3.30 pm. We opted for 9.30 am.

Hobbledown Epsom is located on Horton Ln, Epsom, KT19 8PT. Around the back of the David Lloyd sports centre. It is easy to find with brown signs on the main road. The car park is large and free. Which is just as well as it does get busy during school holidays and at the weekends.

When you enter you are given a coloured wristband. This will determine the slot you have for the inside play area. We arrived at 9.30 am and our slot was at 10.00 am. It is worth logging into the app, you are sent a link ahead of your visit. As this will allow you to book any bookable activities and order food. It will also tell you when activities are running throughout the day. However, if you forget or can’t then don’t worry. You are also given a little map when you arrive which has details of what’s going on, on the back. Failing that there are also signs at the entrance which you can take a photo of.

What is there to do at Hobbledown Farm?

There is simply so much to do, all included within the price of your ticket. Although there are a couple of activities which you can do that do cost a little bit extra. Although we did not do these on our visit I have noted them below for you to consider.

The Indoor Play Barn

As mentioned when you arrive you will be given a time slot for the indoor play areas. It is very popular and actually works so much better doing it this way. As there is seating for the parents and plenty of space for the kids to run around. With two main elements, there is a wooden village at one end with trampolines, ball shooters and climbing towers. While at the other end there is a giant soft play hidden behind a castle facade. There is a large slide down one end and also an area for little ones. Your session is for 45 minutes which gives us parents plenty of time to have a coffee and access the free wifi while the children play. The restaurant also backs onto the play barn so bear this in mind if your session runs over lunchtime.

The Imaginarium

This was our first visit to the Imaginarium and it was brilliant! I really did not know what to expect but the boys loved the interactive elements. Our first stop was a large inside water play area which had all manner of elements to it, including water shooters, boats, paddles and a cyclone. There was also a member of staff clearing up the excess water constantly!

In the adjoining room, there are two big sand pits, as you move the sand around it creates mountains, volcanos, lakes and grassland. It is very clever to project the habitat onto the sand depending on its height. In the same space, there is an interactive wall. You can add creatures by way of a scanner or interact with the larger ones on the walls such as an elephant, giraffe and lion cub. But the whole space is interactive including opening flowers.

The last element is towards the back and combines insects and reptiles. With tunnels and climbing ropes. The boys loved this new way of viewing creatures. Thankfully there is also a walkway for the adults!

The Thinkery

This is also a new addition. Set up with raised seating all around th outside it is where performances take place. You get to meet the characters of Hobbledown and listen to their stories. During our visits storytime was on at 11.30 am and 2.30 pm. Unfortunately, we did not make either of these as the boys were too busy in the play areas and did not want to leave! But I did manage to catch th fairies with bubbles over lunch. During peak times the characters also walk around the adventure park so you may catch them there as well.

Courtyard Play Villiage

Don’t forget your bucket and spade! This is a little village built in a sandy area and the best place to hunt for little green stones. These are crystallite! If you can find a handful then it’s possible to exchange them for a lolly pop on the way out in the little shop. Harry who loves anything like this was addicted to finding the little green stones throughout our visit. As well as hunting for crystallite there are plenty of other sand toys to keep them entertained in this area. Which is close to the restaurant and large picnic benches.

The Raptor Centre & Bird of Prey Show

Another new edition the Raptor centre now allows you to see many of the magnificent birds of prey up close. All with their own individual enclosures. It is a lovely area to walk around. Some of the falcons were very sociable although the selection of owls were less so! They also offer during peak times the chance to hold some of the birds or to fly them. There is a whiteboard up which gives you details of the time slots they have avaliable and the number of slots. This does cost extra as the bird of prey centre operates independently to Hobbledown. The price is £25 to hold th birds and £45 for a flying session.

Twice a day there is also a bird of prey show which is held just along from the Raptor Centre. We watched the one in the afternoon and met a falcon and a red-backed hawk. The handler was very knowledgeable and told us all about the beautiful birds. At the end of the session, she let the children pose with her and the hawk. It was a great opportunity to see the bird up close.

Zorbs

As soon as Harry saw these he wanted to go on them! They are extremely popular and are included in the price of your entrance ticket. So my advice would to be either head to these early or late in the day. When it tends to be a bit quiet. Each session lasts for three minutes and you need an adult to help manoeuvre the zorb if you manage to run it outside of the channel. As I was there with the boys on my own it just meant that we had two consecutive goes on the same zorb with the boys swapping over. This worked well and meant that we did not have to queue twice. They really enjoyed it and it was definitely one of Harry’s highlights of the day.

Outside play area

The outside adventure playground at Hobbledown Farm Epsom is vast! It includes various different areas all aimed at slightly different ages. As well as these, there are also two bouncy pillows and a water pillow. The water pillow was a big hit, it is something I have never seen before in a play area. It was a novelty for the boys as well and they spent quite a long time just lying on it. Although I think we spent half the day on the jumping pillows. There is also a giant wicker basket swing which is almost fully enclosed and a double zip wire which is in the field of confusion. The three main play areas are:

Hobbledown Village – A series of wooden build buildings on stilts with climbing opportunities and long metal slides. The wooden towers are all connected by a series of metal wire tunnels which are really quite high above the ground! Not that it stopped the boys. Underneath there are a series of underground tunnels although we did not venture under these on our visit.
Fern’s Castle – Another relatively new edition it looks exactly like a castle with long green metal slides. However, unlike the village, it doesn’t have metal wire tunnels.
Crystallite Mining Village – This area has plenty of sand and water play and is probably aimed at younger visitors. There is the opportunity to find the little green stones as well as play with various sand toys. The mine also has various little houses for small world play and role-playing. It is a lovely area and it holds some very fond memories for us when I use to bring Charlie when he was little.

The Animals

One of the things I really like about the Hobbledown children’s farm is that many of the farm animals enclosures are walk-throughs. Meaning that you can get up close to many of the animals including some rather gorgeous giant rabbits, Wallabies and Mara, Lorikeets, Lemurs, Goats, Sheep and Guineapigs. Hobbledown also runs two meet-and-greet sessions in the Thinkery. In addition to the walk-throughs, you can also see a Camel, Prairie Dogs, Meerkats, Otters, Donkeys, Alpacas, Ponies and Alpacas.

The Field of Confusion

This is basically where any mischief happens as it is located behind th Zorbs. When we visited they had a paint-throwing party! Believe me, I did question my sanity in letting them do it. But they had such a great time and actually, it wasn’t that bad… most of the paint came off of the clothes easily. You did need to buy paint to take part. It was 10 for £7 which seemed quite reasonable as the packets were quite large.

The High Ropes

Across the top of Hobbledown Village is the high ropes course. The entrance to the ropes is at the far end of the play area. These cost £5 a child and are only valid with an admission ticket. There is a minimum height of 1.3m so it is an activity for older children. It is extremely popular with sessions running every ten minutes from 11 am to 5 pm with a break for lunch. You can book on the day by using the QR code next to the hunt where you pick up the harness. When you consider the price of high ropes elsewhere £5 is extremely good value.

Food & Drink Options at Hobbledown Epsom

There are plenty of places to sit and eat a picnic with benches located all around the farm park. There are also two places you can purchase food. Both of these are located near the play barn. Although there is also the snack shack closer to the outside play area which sells refreshments and ice creams.

When we visited we ate at the Pizza Cottage where you can pick up a margarita pizza for £9.50. The pizza easily feeds two and tasted really good. Plus we only needed to wait for a few minutes which is also another bonus when you have two hungry mouths to feed.

There is also the Hobnosh Restaurant which serves a combination of pasta, loaded fries and lunchboxes for kids. I really like that the menus for their restaurants are online as it means if you have fussy eaters, like Harry. That you can work out if there’s something they will eat before you arrive.

What Age is Hobbledown Epsom suitable for?

Charlie was 10 and Harry 6 when we visited Hobbledown Farm and they had a great time. I did wonder if Charlie would now be a bit old but he had a great time and can not wait to go back. On their website, they say it is suitable for children ahead 2-13 and I think this is an accurate age range. There is a lot for the younger children as well and the play areas have something for children of all ages, you can tell they have been thought through.

How long do you need at Hobbledown Epsom?

Well, we stayed all day! Although obviously, you do not need to. Most activities are done twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon. So you could stay for half a day or for four hours and still do and see a lot.

We had great fun at Hobbledown Farm and I am sure will be back very soon. I hope you have enjoyed our Hobbledown Review. Have you visited? Let me know about your Hobbledown experience in the comments below.