What we Learnt on our First Trip to Chessington World of Adventures

We love Merlin Attractions, the theme parks especially, so of course we had to tick of all 4 parks and ended on the lovely Chessington World of Adventures. Here are our handy tips that we picked up on our day and night out here in South West London.

This theme park is located south of London or just 10 minutes off of the M25 (Which is the route we took) in a very quiet area, which makes it easy to find and get in and out of on arrival and departure. Its also really close to Thorpe Park so you could easily do a weekend of Merlin Theme Parks for the whole family. Its also really close to Heathrow Airport so anyone visiting from outside the UK could pop for a day here before you head home!

As it's so far away from us, staying over night was a definite. There is 2 options for when staying on property with Chessington, the first is Glamping which looks so fun but you have communal bathrooms with all the guests (so didn't appeal to us in this time of a pandemic, even though Im sure they're thoroughly cleaned). The second is the hotel which was our accommodation of choice. The hotel has 2 sides, the Safari and the Azteca. The Azteca has the Temple Restaurant - a immersive buffet (currently seated due to the pandemic) where you can discover Red Belly Piranhas & Leaf Cutter Ants - which sounds so cool! But we were in the Safari side which has rooms and hallways which look out on the Wanyama Animal Reserve! The Zafari Restaurant also looks out on to it so its great to sit by the window and eat your dinner and breakfast and watch all the animals wandering around. Dinner is a sit down meal but breakfast is still a buffet - both have lots to choose from. You can find sample menus on the website. The safari side also has the Savannah Splash Pool and Gym, which unfortunately we didn't get into as we only stayed the 1 night but it looks awesome with its giant giraffe in the middle!! The rooms themselves are amazing! The whole building is so well themed and the bedrooms are no different! Everything from the wallpaper and artwork down to the carpet is covered and themed to whichever room type you've chosen - of which there are a lot!

• Standard and Accessible Rooms

• Giraffe, Zebra, Penguin or Tiger Themed Rooms

• Monkey Temple Themed

• Safari Adventure Room - This is what we had (picture from Chessington Website)

• Gruffalo or Room on the Broom Themed.

So there's a room for every type of Chessington Explorer!

I loved our Safari Adventure room, it was a perfect mix of fun for the kids and relaxing for the adults and even though we had a window that looks over the car park, the view went on for a long time and the horizon was still a lovely way to wake up. It had all the amenities we needed like tea making and shampoo, it was a great way to get ready for your days in the park. These rooms can actually sleep 5 as there's bunk beds and a trundle bed too, but we do recommend if you're driving to bring your own pillows as these were a little hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbHBom20iSc

The extra benefit of the hotel that I loved was the separate park entrance for hotel guests and the extra early hour that came with it, which they call early ride time! This made us be able to find our way around the park with no crowds and we actually got on 2 rides that ended up having between 40 - 60 minute waits later in the day, so its very worth while. There is also free parking at the hotels so you don't need to worry about driving round to the park entrance, just leave your car there until you come back from the park on your check out day!

There is lots to do inside the parks, from rides to shows and LOTS of animals dotted around the park! Fun Fact: It first opened up just as a zoo in 1931 and got transformed into a theme park and zoo in 1987. There is now over 40 attractions and 1000 animals!

The rides we got on were:

Croc Drop: a 25m drop ride and the newest addition to the park. - You must be over 1.3m tall to ride this one alone.

Vampire: a family friendly rollercoaster which takes you through the trees. Fun Fact: The designer of this ride also worked on Nemisis at Alton Towers. The minimum height for this one is 1.1m but 1.3m to ride alone.

Dragons Fury: a spinning rollercoaster which is very similar and the sister coaster to Spinball Whizzer in Alton Towers. Minimum height is 1.2m and just to be aware you can only have a max of 3 adults in each ride so our group of 4 split into 2. Kobra: a spinning ride that goes backwards and forwards down a 90m track at 40mph! Minimum height of 1.2m, You can actually get a really good view of the Tigers on Tiger Rock from the queue line too!

Tiger Rock: a great log flume ride that would be so refreshing on a hot day. You only really get wet on the front seat but I wouldn't recommend putting your bags on the floor. Its surrounded by a large enclosure for tigers to roam, so keep an eye out as youre going through the ride! Minimum height of 1.2m but 1.3m to ride alone.

Gruffalo River Ride: a beautiful dark ride which takes you through the story of the Gruffalo. You float in a circular boat, it has 1 drop and you go under 2 water tunnels so you do get a little damp, I would put a raincoat on the seat before you sit if you don't want to get a wet bum! Zufari: A fun story lead ride in a jeep though a couple of animal paddocks and a mysterious cave. A great opportunity to see giraffes and rhinos up close. Again I wouldn't put your bags on the floor though as there is a random bit of water that could get your feet. Minimum height of 1m but 1.3m to ride alone.

Tomb Blaster: a super fun laser blast ride where you gain points from blasting the flashing lights! A fun Egyptian story with a Mummy/Indiana Jones feel! Direct from the Chessington Website: FUN FACT: Tomb Blaster originally opened in 1987 and was known as the 5th Dimension until 1993 when it was given a re-theme to Terror Tomb. In 2001, Terror Tomb shut the sarcophegas, and Tomb Blaster opened for the 2002 season. No minimum height but 1.1m to ride alone.

Scorpion Express: A really fun short mine train track that you loop round 3 times, trying to dodge the clutches of the scorpion! This is one of the earliest rides in the park as it was added in its first year but named the Runaway Mine Train. Minimum height of 0.9m but 1.1m to ride alone.

Room of the Broom: Magical Journey: a Magical walk through adventure as you help the Witch find all of her accessories and meet her new friends that need room on the broom. Walk through this lovely story in such an interactive way. No minimum height but must be 1.1m to go alone. Also its said it may not be suitable for under 4's but if they know the story I think they'd still love it. This as recently been added in 2019 in the place of Hocus Pocus Hall.

As well as all the attractions there's lots of eateries to find your lunch, dinner and snacks. We ate at the Smokehouse BBQ and Bar, which was enjoyed all round as we had BBQ ribs and Pulled Pork Burgers. There is allergen menus too as well as lots of ways to customise your meal. As Im writing this you order on your mobile via scanning a QR code and pay for your food online. This is on the corner of each table along with your table number.

Annual Passholders do get a discount so ask a member of the team for the code to input. There is around 14 other places you can grab a bite of anything from Donuts and Burgers to Tortillas and Ice cream, Sandwiches and Churros to Topped Fries and Pick n Mix! Take your pick!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLVgiVsgzOw

All in All, we had a fab day at Chessington! We'd say definitely download the app on your phone to get the map of the park as its a bit of a maze going around to start - but don't worry, you'll figure out your way by the middle of the day! You can also see the wait times on the app though too which is so handy as you can run from ride to ride so easily. We would definitely love to come back and spend more time seeing the animals and doing the Amazu Treetop Adventure which was closed when went. Let us know in the comments whats your favourite thing about Chessington if you've been before?

Thanks so much for reading! X