We decided to do this trip in a day so did not book any accommodation this time, it is about 2 hours or so to get there from Killingworth so very manageable.  By pure luck, we managed to get a parking space in the car park right next to the attraction, good timing for once.  Our tea party was at 12 noon and the queue inside was horrendous.  Luckily, as we had pre-booked, we were able to skip the wait and go straight into the party.  The most adorable Peter Rabbit was waiting to greet us upon arrival, I instantly fell in love! He gave all the children cuddles and high fives and posed for photographs.

Then it was to our table, we were on Mrs Tiggy-Winkle (my favourite) and we found it all set up with our name card.  On the children’s places there was a little wrapped gift, a sticker and a balloon tied to the chair.  Lovely touches that I wasn’t expecting.  The gift was the Peter Rabbit book which was wonderful, the children were really pleased.  There was also Peter Rabbit ears to colour in and coloured pencils provided.

The food was gorgeous, plenty of sandwiches in ham, cheese and tuna, home-made sausage rolls, bowls of crisps, cheese and pineapple and grapes, fairy-cakes topped with a strawberry and delicious scones filled with strawberry jam. Unlimited juice, tea and water was provided.   Even between the four of us we could not manage everything, I did manage the scones however.

Beatrix Potter herself wandered around the tables meeting the children and chatting, quite an honour to meet such a legend!  She invited the children to listen to a story once we had finished our tea and we did just that.

Storytime was excellent, Beatrix was fabulous and there was lots of interaction with the children, a gorgeous rabbit puppet, lots of singing and throughout the story of Peter Rabbit, the children were asked to  join in with questions and lots of actions.  The adults were not forgotten, Ms Potter was fantastic.  At the end of the story, the star of the show came back for more cuddles and more photographs, I even got a cuddle and Daddy a few high-fives!

After the party had finished, we were then invited to go through into the museum, again by-passing the queue and were able to amble round at our own pace.  All of the characters from the stories are here and there are interactive computer screens dotted about giving more information on the animals and how their stories came about.

There is also an outdoor space, Mr McGregors’ garden which is filled with lots of fruit and vegetables and they use the produce in their tea room.  An activity booklet is provided filled with lots of things for the children to spot and complete as they go round the museum.

The gift shop at the end is fabulous and has all manner of things Peter Rabbit and friends related, my kids chose a talking Peter Rabbit and a talking Lily Bobtail, reasonably priced too, no dearer than say that of Fenwicks.

We had a fantastic time at the tea party and in the museum.  It is a wonderful idea and really accentuates your visit.  The tea party itself is 2 hours long and then time in the attraction is at your leisure.  Unfortunately the tea parties for 2014 are now all sold out, keep an eye on their page for 2015 dates and grab one if you can.