snorts and giggles

Peppa Pig reveals all the rides coming to new Dallas-Fort Worth theme park

Peppa Pig Theme Park will open in North Richland Hills in 2024.

Photo courtesy of Peppa Pig Theme Park

Peppa Pig is arriving soon in North Richland Hills, and the beloved British cartoon character is bringing families new ways to soar, sail, slide, and splash around: The new Peppa Pig Theme Park has revealed all the rides and attractions that visitors can expect when it opens in 2024.

According to a release, the "oinktastic experiences" will include five rides, seven themed playscapes, a water play area, and more.

"Designed to be the ultimate experience for little ones, the new theme park combines interactive rides and themed playgrounds with character shows and an indoor cinema for climate-controlled entertainment," park organizers say in the release. "Every corner of the charming new park is crafted with preschoolers in mind, from their first roller coaster rides and fairground games with the whole family, to a pedal path adventure built just for kids, and a colorful splash pad that celebrates 'muddy puddles' jumping fun."

Park attractions will include:

Rides

Daddy Pig's Roller Coaster: A "beginner" roller coaster featuring Daddy Pig driving his iconic red car on a curvy exploration. "This family-friendly thrill ride is the perfect first roller coaster for brave little visitors," the release says.

Peppa Pig's Balloon Ride: A family-friendly aerial carousel ride that takes guests soaring into the sky for thrilling views of the whole theme park.

Grandad Dog's Pirate Boat Ride: A boat ride in search of hidden treasure with Grandad Dog.

Grampy Rabbit's Dinosaur Adventure: An epic dino quest (while riding on a dinosaur) that searches for prehistoric surprises through Grampy Rabbit's Dinosaur Park.

Mr. Bull's High Striker: A hammer hits the bell on Mr. Bull's High Striker, and the whole family bounces up to the sky. "Hold on tight and be prepared for a surprise because, after all, what goes up, must come down," they say.

Peppa Pig Theme Park Ride the roller coaster with Peppa Pig. Photo courtesy of Merlin Entertainments

Play spaces and attractions

Muddy Puddles Splash Pad: A water play area with spouting fountains, slides, and of course, splashing around in "muddy puddles."

Peppa's Pedal Bike Tour and George's Tricycle Trail: A pedal experience that takes kids on camping adventure in the woods, and through mountains and more.

Fun Fair: A fairground adventure with Peppa her friends, filled with free games and rides, including Miss Rabbit's hot air balloon and Mr. Bull's High Striker ride.

George's Fort: A maze through Granny Pig's Garden leads to George's Fort, "just waiting to be explored," they tease.

Grandpa Pig's Greenhouse: A chance to slide around Grandpa Pig's Greenhouse and see what he's growing.

Peppa Pig's Treehouse: Peppa's (not-so-high) treehouse that can be climbed up and then descended via a slide to the bottom, wheeeee!

Rebecca Rabbit's Playground: A playground that encourages kids to get active by finding all the ways to play - jump, crawl, or hop around the rabbit burrows.

Madame Gazelle's Nature Trail: A nature pathway of mysterious footprints to follow and explore with Madame Gazelle.

Mr. Potato's Showtime Arena: Mr. Potato's stage offers live shows featuring songs, games, snorts, and giggles all day long.

The Cinema: Favorite episodes of Peppa Pig will be played on the big screen in an indoor theater.

Announced in spring 2023, the North Richland Hills location (under construction at 8851 26 Blvd.) will be just the second Peppa Pig Theme Park in the world, following one that opened in Lakeland, Florida in early 2022. It will also be an expansion of the Peppa Pig brand in Dallas-Fort Worth, as Peppa Pig World of Play opened at Grapevine Mills in 2019.

"As many preschoolers' first best friend, Peppa encourages kids to explore the world with confidence, treating every first step as a new adventure, from the everyday to the epic," the release says.

The park comes from Merlin Entertainments, which also owns brands like LEGOLAND, Madame Tussauds.

The exact opening date for the park has not yet been revealed, beyond "2024." Fans can sign up for Peppa Pig Theme Park emails at peppapigthemepark.com/dallas-ft-worth to stay up to date.

Peppa Pig Theme Park is not the only major family attraction coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A Universal Studios-branded Universal Kids Resort is also in the works in Frisco.

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Alex Bentley contributed to this story.

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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