I braved the new Ghostly Manor ride at Paultons Park and was shown up by my children

The absolutely brilliant Peppa Pig World area has undoubtedly been the key to the park’s continuing success since it opened in 2011, ensuring Paultons was the go-to theme park for every parent with younger children.

Though of course the trade off for this is the fact you have to listen to that theme tune all day long, which for parents becomes, shall we say, a little wearing by the end of the day where you would trade almost anything not to hear it one more chirpy time!

Luckily my children have outgrown the Peppa Pig section of the park. So our attention is on the other areas which have undergone a more recent transformation too with the inclusion of its American out-back style Tornado Springs and its dinosaur themed Lost Kingdom helping to attract families with older children.

But the Hampshire park wants to do more, and has already began work on its new Viking-themed area which will boost its appeal to those without Peppa Pig-loving children - and I for one can’t wait.

For now though, the park has already taken another small step in this direction with the opening of its new Ghostly Manor ride which is a spooky-themed ‘shooting’ ride suitable for those over the age of five and is (thankfully) just far enough away from the aforementioned Peppa Pig theme tune for my taste.

The ride entrance near the middle of the park is suitably themed in a spooky way with creepy music, pictures which move inside their frames and a chair which swings all my itself to help create the perfect atmosphere.

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When you get inside the mansion, riders are informed that it has been taken over by escaped ghosts and you are recruited to help catch them by shooting them with a special laser. Simple enough, right?

Similar to other rides of its nature at other theme parks you sit in a group of four. But instead of simply travelling forward through the mansion the ride first faces you first to the left, then swings to the right throughout its progression forward.

Unlike other similar rides I have been on, there is no little red guide light to help with your aim and so instead your ‘shots’ land on the screen after they are fired - think more Ninjago at Legoland than Tomb Blaster at Chessington. So I inevitably missed the mark repeatedly, much to the amusement of my children.

As we made our way through the ride my score fell embarrassingly behind, which officially is down to the fact that I was more worried about reviewing it than taking part, but unofficially is just own the fact that I was clearly hopeless.

Was I last out of our team of four? yes. Am I bothered? well, yes. But don’t tell the children who loved this fantastic edition to the park and will certainly want to ride it again - which gives me a second chance to redeem myself (hopefully).

Ghostly Manor is a great addition to Paultons Park and will certainly do no harm to its future plans and ensure it is a destination for all the family.

Watch the video embedded in this story for a taste of what to expect!

For tickets visit paultonspark.co.uk.