Chessington- suitable for DSs aged 8 and 10- just!?

[faraday]

Instead of the party thing we're thinking of taking the DSs to Chessington World of Adventure in June when they have a couple of INSET days.

What do you think? Are they the right age?

Rollercoasters etc are OK (though perhaps not the type you'd find at Magic Mountain, USA!) but I want to avoid TOO many tea-cup rides through enchanted grottoes iykwim.

We live near Southampton and have been to Paultons a couple of times which is bordering on too young for them now, though we had a lot of fun on the family slide (side by side sitting on a sack apiece, racing!).

DS2 also doesn't do too realistic animatronics so good ghost trains are also out!

Any advice or alternatives gratefully received!

My DS is 10 and DD is 8, they both love Chessington, we have annual passes as we are only 2 mins away. Take a look at website for height restrictions for the rides you want to go on, my 10 yr old is just now tall enough to go on the best (scariest) coasters at 1.4m, mine love the Vampire which you only have to be 1.1m for and my 4 yr is approaching that! They also have the zoo (the sea lion show is a must see for Boris the huge old sea lion) and sealife centre too and the food isn't too bad or there are plenty of places to eat a picnic if the weather is ok.

Should also have said Thorpe Park and Legoland not far away, but my 10 yr is finding the rides a bit tame and Thorpe Park tends to cater for older kids with lots of the big stuff!

If you are going on an inset day please don't be fooled into thinking it will be quiet, unless you are lucky enough to have an inset day only a few schools have, not sure how u can check? If it is busy you would be well advised to buy a queue jumper pass, expensive I know but worth it fo a one off day out as you can spend an hour queueing for the best rides otherwise.

Thanks for the input!

I shall research that!

And any more stuff or info happily received.