Does anyone live near Chessington world of adventures?.

[autumnalwishing]

In our county, October half term is 21/10-25/10 and DS (autism, goes to SEN school) has an inset day on 28/10 so we were planning a weekend away and visiting a Chessington world of adventures on the 28th on the way home. Having a google - looks like Surrey October half term is w/c 28/10 - can anyone confirm??

If it is half term in the local area, will Chessington be rammed?

Ds loves theme parks and loves them when they have Halloween activities on. He's very high functioning but can lash out/meltdown when having to wait/queue/rush/not know if he can get on rides based on changing queue times etc. There seems to be a disability pass but looks like you need evidence in blood to get one and I can't quite follow what support that gives you either!

Any tips gratefully received - we've never been so quite clueless!

Bumping bump!

I am about 20 mins away, our HT is also WC 21st.

Yes w/c 28th is Surrehy half term. Chessington isn’t actually in Surrey County Council’s area (it’s in Kingston Borough) so not sure what school dates are there but being so close to Surrey is likely to be really busy anyway.

I believe it is also West Sussex half term that week.

Park will be busy, but is generally open until 8pm for Howloween.

He should get a disability pass (and 1 adult in free as a carer). He then queues in the disabled queue line for the major rides (5-15 min queue). You won't be able to go on another major ride for around an hour (they write the queue time on your disabled pass), you can look around the zoo, Sealife or do the minor rides in that time though. The smaller rides he gets straight on at the exit. You need to provide proof of disability. The forms of proof accepted are on their website or twitter/Facebook them during working hours - they're usually good at replying.

W/c 28/10 is half term for Kingston where chessington belongs. Some schools will be closed on the 25th. The queues are long for popular rides even during term time.

It is our half term however Chessington are geared up to cater for people with ASD - if you show a letter that states that your child is unable to queue at Guest Help and Information then they give you a pass that enables you to skip the queue, I think 4 people (the person with ASD plus 3 others) can ride together. It doesn't work exactly like a "fast pass" - how soon you can skip the next queue is determined by how long the queue you skipped on the last ride, so if it was an hour, you have to fill in time doing something that has no queue. (They did this because they have so many visitors that can not queue they were ending up having to queue to skip the queue!).
Hope you enjoy yourselves.

Surrey half-term is w/c 28th October. Kingston is also on half-term that week. Sutton borough has w/c 21st October as half-term.

I live in the area , Chessington is open on Halloween, yes it can get very busy and you can be waiting quite a while, you can get a disabled pass if you have letters from doctors etc there's a site in the park you can get a paper for the day and use for fast track

If you book an overnight stay you get second day free, may be easier to spread the trip out so he doesn’t get too overwhelmed? And YY to asking about a letter to show theme park they’re generally good at catering to additional needs, have fun ! I love chessington smile]

Kingston and Surrey HT dates are both 28th. There are lots of private schools locally and they have two weeks, so they'll clash with you.
Chessington is amazing at Halloween. When we went, a witch accosted us at the entrance and asked my two's names then jumped out at us hours later calling their names. DC were enchanted. They felt so special.

I think you can get queue bots - expensive but helps cut waiting time.

The hotel is lovely if you do stay over. Great pool and play pool and lots of animal themed stuff in the lobby. Friendly staff.

like others are saying about the hotel is lovely if you can budget for it. a stay will include breakfast and tickets to park. means you have somewhere to go back to and chill out if need be. we only live 20 mins away but often stay with kids for a treat

I have been with my brother with ASD and the above info is correct. They used to be happy with just evidence that the child has SEN but what they want now is a letter from a doctor explaining specifically why queuing is a problem for that child with reference to their special need. Nice park though once you get through the faff.

We went last week. Our DD has ADHD and usually we show the current DLA letter and she gets a pass.

Chessington has changed their rules. Look on their website under disability. They now only accept DLA at higher rate mobility. You have to provide a doctor's letter confirming they can't queue.

Don't know about your surgery but ours charges £40 for a letter.

Last weekend they were letting people have passes without the letter, so after a huge queue ironically we did get a pass.

At one point they closed the fast track entrance for the Tomb thing and sent everyone through the disabled entrance. It was awful, so noisy, and all the fast track people trying to get to the front because we were in the disabled queue and they shouldn't be. DD has sensory issues and was losing it with all the shouting.

Thanks all. I have masses of reports from ed psych to consultant psychiatrists but none talk about inability to queue at theme parks or anywhere else! Ds has issues that are very multifactorial and relate to school environment, mental health and social interaction really but has very standard ASD traits of sensory overload in small busy spaces and not coping with the concept of waiting and not knowing how long something is going to take. We probably don't have enough evidence and I wouldn't want to risk it on the day plus it being busy.

We'll probably just stick to a quieter National Trust Halloween trail or something. Not quite as exciting for him but quieter and safer for everyone.

Weasleisrising - cross post! Thanks for the info. What a shame for your daughter and doesn't sound very disability friendly....