Chessington World of Adventures

We promised our twins (aged 9) a trip to Chessington at half term. We went on the Friday, an inset day. The entire park was decorated for Halloween with tirelessly enthusiastic actors dressed as witches and zombies. (Two witches chatted to my sons then a few hours later jumped out from a bush and greeted them by name - impressive.)
The queues were quick moving so we managed a total of 16 rides each as well as visits to the zoo, Hocus Pocus Hall, Temple of Mayhem and animal feeding displays.
There was loads to do for junior school age children, so this is a perfect place to go when they've outgrown Legoland but aren't quite up to the white knuckle rides of Thorpe Park. We were there for eight hours and the kids got tired out before we'd exhausted all the rides on offer.
I'd go back.

Tips:

If you can, go on an inset day. We walked onto most rides (longest queue was 15 mins.)
If you get there half an hour before it opens the car park is empty, the queues are shorter and there is a lovely feeling of anticipation as the main gates swing open and the kids flood in.

We used Nectar points to get in free but worked out it would have been far cheaper to pay in cash and use the Nectar points on shopping as they are worth less at Chessington.

Overall, it was a brilliant day out that exceeded our expectations.

i normally buy the merlin pass with my tesco vouchers but i recently found out when the new season starts they have a sale on with about 40% of annual prices so i will get my 2012 tix with this offer.
My 5yr old loves the zoo and the smaller rides and my 10 year old loves the rides. We use the pass when ever we are bored just to get out the house so its really worth it. Food is expensive but they often have afternoon specials on where kids eat free. Your merlin pass also gives your 20% off food.

We went for 2for1 offer and kids were free at that time so iy was worth. The rides are great although waiting time is a nightmare. The great thing was a "Parents Swap Card" and we didn't have to queue twice for the big rides.
The Zoo isn't that great and often we couldn't see the animals.
Food costs a lot so take whatever you can from home.
Overall we did enjoy and kids didn't want to go home.

It's expensive and a bit tatty inplaces but if you have to do a theme park this isn't the worst you can do.

There are a nice range of rides to suit all ages and enough low key areas to occupy you when the park and big rides are busy.

Overall the food is quite expensive but the pizza/pasta buffet is reasonable value (especially of you hold a Merlin card because you get a discount).

We tend to arrive as the park opens and do the rides that the kids like, have an early pizza lunch (it gets very busy in this restaurant) and then spend the afternoon visiting the animals and acquarium.

Lots to do for all ages, animals rides and now the new sea life centre.

Generally the food is quite expensive, but we went to the pizza and pasta bufft which worked out as good value for money.

Went with my 10 year old nephew, 3.8yr old DD1 and 6 month old baby. The 10 year old had the time of his life, DD1 loved watching him on the big rides, and there were plenty of things she could go on. I liked that in each location there were rides for all ages, rather than putting all the toddler rides in one place. All loved the zoo and the sky train ride (you look down on the animals) and the sealife centre. We went on a school day in October (nephew was on holidays here from abroad) and didn't have to queue for anything - great! There is also a toddler & parent discount deal (look on their website) which works out cheaply for under 5s. Would go back all the time if we lived closer! Also tip - instead of leaving at 5pm when the park closes and getting stuck in traffic on the way back, we went to the Beefeater pub down the road and had a good meal with kids before setting back.

Recent visit to the park resulted in rides being unavailable despite paying extra for a fasttrack ticket. Asked for a refund and was flatly refused and basically escorted off the premises by securty in front of 10 year kids. Absolutely appaulling, read the full account at http://dixonjones.com/dixon-jones/bad-chessington-review/

Great day out, lots for little ones to do. Our 2yo was free to get in as under a metre but was still able to go on enough rides to give him an exciting day out. The older kids love it too. Plenty for all ages.

Chessington is great because it appeals to all ages, the zoo is good, there are rides for younger children, but also plenty for older children too. My dd's love The Vampire.

A great park with lots to do and I like the fact they have the zoo part too as when the children get bored of the rides<<ok maybe not!) they can wonder round and look at the animals!

It's a great place for the Under 12's, as it has the zoo as well as suitable rides, but the food is not great and the queues can be appalling.

Excellent for young and old although thrill seekers might be dissapointed as the larger rides are now being built at Thorpe Park. My kids love the animals and they do a great deal for parent and toddlers under 4, £9 on selected days :)

My kids 5 and 2 loved it, supsising amount for them to do. Food is awful though - take your own picnic! Also, always look on line for current discounts - you should never need to pay the full price!!

I have not been to Chessington for a while now, but the last time I went, it was ace! Apart from the long queues for everything, but guess that is standard in most theme parks. It is quite pricey, and is possibly a bit full on for young children, given that you would want to stay there all day to get value for money, but for the older children, and adults, an absolute blast.

I would say this was suitable for children aged 3 upwards. There are some sweet little rides for the young ones. The new Sea Life Centre is really good and the children also loved watching the seals do their show, the staff gave a great little lecture for teh children to sit through. We also managed to see the penguins being fed and some of the larger animals in the zoo bit. It's quite a tiring day to walk round the whole park but we all had good fun. We took a picnic and there was plenty of green space to sit.

I took my 2yr old Chessington in June. We used the parent and toddler club voucher which meant we both went for £12 - bargain!!
Positives are
- lots to do and see
- rides are great as they have low minimum heights so my daredevil daughter went on her first rollercoaster and others.
- new sealife centre is fab and definitely worth a visit

Negatives:
- felt a bit tired and worn - like it needed a new lick of paint
- I personally had issues with the size of the animal cages especially the tigers and lions
- not much food choice - junk food or junk food??
Overall - we had a great time but I think would have disappointed if we had paid full price and gone on a busier day.

We love Chessington. We use our Tesco points to get the tickets, and go twice a year, once in the summer, but the best time is Halloween. Its great as my kids range from 3 - 17 years old, so there are rides to please them all. The new sealife is fantastic, we went last halloween, and my kids visited the sealife twice, thats how much they enjoyed it!!

Chessington is great for children there are lots of rides suitable for younger children and a few faster rides too. Plenty of nice areas for a picnic, I would recommend taking your own food. A few animals which the cildren loved.

Haven't been to Chessington for a few years, so the first thing we noticed was the new Sea Life Centre that's just as you walk in. It's not exactly the London Aquarium - but for its size it is a really decent exhibit. It's very well designed to make the most of the space with loads of different tanks- including a wonderful "walk-through" tunnel that takes you through the middle of the big shark tank. The kids spent a good half an hour here - admittedly, it was tipping it down outside but I don't think that made much of a difference to their attention spans.
Favourite rides of the day were Tomb Blaster (haunted house meets laser quest); Dragon's Fury (quite manic roller-coaster) and Dragon's Falls. The latter is your classic water chute ride and, as the park wasn't busy (dreadful weather), we stayed on for a second go. As we started to climb the final ascent it started to hail heavily. Then, as we reached the very top, the forked lightening started. At this point we adults started to debate the pros and cons of being very, very high on a metallic structure surrounded by water. Our concern was obviously shared by the ride's operators, as they closed it the minute we got off. Still, it added to the overall excitement a bit.

The kids really enjoyed the various play areas - particularly Denis' Madhouse and Canopy Capers. (There's a Cafe Nero right next to the latter, so you can grab a decent coffee while they let off some steam.)

Food's not Chessington's strong point. Think they could do with something like Alton's grill bar. That said, you don't go to a Michelin restaurant for the roller-coasters - and the kids were happy with Burger King.

The one thing that none of us "got" about the place was the zoo. Yes, the animals they have are endangered - Sumatran Tigers, Asiatic Lions etc - and they're part of a successful international breeding programme... but even the kids found the animals' small enclosures deeply depressing. Nowadays we know so much more about how animals should be kept - it just seems pointless to breed animals unless you're going to give them a decent amount of space. It's been a very, very long time since anyone has gone to Chessington for "the zoo" - and we left it wondering why they still bother with it.

One thing we did like - although didn't use as the kids weren't young enough to warrant it - are the new Kidspotter tags you can hire for £3. Basically, it's a tag that uses GPS technology, so if your child gets lost he or she can be located virtually instantly. Plus it will set off an alarm if they go near the exit. Great idea and one that other theme parks should adopt.

Zoo and near death experience aside, we had a great day. Sure, the rides aren't as good as at Alton - but it's a good day out for primary aged kids who aren't solely focused on extreme thrills.

I took my three boys, 5,3 and 2 to Chessington and they absolutely loved it. The layout is very impressive, there were plenty of rides for younger children to partake in, together with a children's zoo and this year a new aquarium. The boys particularly liked the dragon falls, runaway train and bubbleworks, although my main criticsm is that the queues can be absolutely horrendous, especially in the school holidays. We arrived at opening time and headed straight for the most popular rides which towards midday had queues snaking halfway around the park. We avoided the fast food outlets and took a picnic which the boys enjoyed considerably more than the poor fare on offer and kept the cost down. Overall not cheap, but pretty much in line with all the major theme parks and definitely a great day out as a one off treat.

Chessington is overpriced and very grotty. Dont like it at all. Not a pleasant day out at all.

Great fun for all ages, has a zoo and lots of rides suitable for children.