Peanuts gallery

Tucked away on the third floor of Sha Tin's New Town Plaza is Snoopy's World, an amusement centre devoted to Charles Schulz's legendary Peanuts gang. Diehard fans of the cartoon-strip beagle will be in seventh heaven wandering around Snoopy's World and posing for photos with their heroes - and I'm going to be kind mostly because my children had fun there. But to be honest it's nothing more than a glorified playground - and a busy one, at peak times.

Aside from oversized figures of Snoopy and the crew, there are bone-shaped benches, baseball mitt-shaped plant pots, and a faithful replica of the inside of the famous doghouse, complete with Charlie Brown watching TV.

For my little boy and I, the highlight of the park was the life-sized yellow American school bus, empty apart from a steering wheel and an air-conditioning unit. He's 18 months old and fixated on buses; I'm 32 weeks pregnant and fixated on air-conditioners. We were both reluctant to leave the bus, but he was persuaded to try out the Baseball Playground by my four-year-old daughter. It turned out to be a climbing frame decorated with pictures of Woodstock and Snoopy.

The real crowd-puller at Snoopy's World is the Boating Canal, where, according to the park brochure, you can charter a canoe to take you on an exhilarating 'Rocky Rapids' journey around the site. Sadly for us, it was closed (open from midday to 8pm). Oh yes, and be warned: you're only allowed on the ride if you present a receipt showing you've spent $100 at New Town Plaza.

And that's about all you can expect from Snoopy's World unless you count the Peanuts Boulevard, a mock-up of an American street complete with a mini barber shop, cinema, hospital and bank.

According to the brochure, there are Sunday arts and craft lessons in the school bus, and regular musical extravaganzas performed by the Peanuts crew. I came away thinking (and hoping for the sake of any one else venturing there) that we must have been there at the wrong time.

Verdict: A dog's dinner as a destination in its own right, but OK as a short break away from the shopping crowds.

Snoopy's World, open daily 10am to 10pm, Level 3 New Town Plaza, Sha Tin, free.