4 out of 5 from Ye Gads

About the park

Chessington World of Adventures is a theme park approximately 12 miles from London about 2 miles from the A3.It contains a wide variety of theme type rides (both wet and dry) suitable for all members of the family.

Chessington has opened its new Sealife Centre which boosts a 250,000 aquarium.Other major attractions include the Zoo containing a wide range of animals from Tigers,Gorillas and Sealions to Monkeys and Birds in their Monkey and Bird garden.There is also a children's Zoo with baby goats,sheep and rabbits to name but a few.There are the bigger rides to scare you senseless.

Chessington has an on site hotel with leisure facilities and a variety of different fast food and healthy option restaurants and cafes from KFC, burgers and fish and chips to sandwiches,salads and cakes. There is something for all tastes.

Review

We had thought from visits before we had children that this was really for adults only. Not so.We recommend you research the facilities before you go with children but Chessington World of Adventures has loads available. We went with two children a toddler and a baby.

The children loved the children's zoo and all the big animals. It pays to check when the feeding times are because it really is very impressive being able to watch a lion or tiger at feeding time. A privilege to see the animals this close. There are two many to list here but the children loved the sea lions and of course the monkeys. I think they could relate to them! There are also some new Tiger Cubs.

New this year at Chessington is the Sea Life centre. The kids and us loved it. It seems that the general rule is to leave push chairs outside so be prepared 1) to carry your little one 2)have a rain cover handy. Not sure if this is a rule but there were lots of pushchairs outside and none inside. The baby in our group loved looking at all the different fish tanks and seemed to love the Stingrays and Sharks in particular.The interactive rock pool was also great fun and informative. The staff were great especially when our toddler wanted to take a star fish home with him. Bless him!! We moved on (at pace).

We were pleasantly surprised at the number of things the children could do and rides that they could go on. Given their size we held them on each of the rides but both the baby and the toddler loved the Carousel and the Tiny Truckers trucks. The toddler loved the Flying Jumbos and various playing areas in particular. The crazy cars were also a hit. Typically the thing that got the most attention from our toddler wasn't the lions or the vampire ride (one for the dads for sure) but the over ground train (yellow his favourite colour) which goes around the park and enables you to look down at the attractions as you go around. Again you will need to leave your pushchair at the entrance to the "train."

Our 2 tops tips for here are:
1. Take a bike lock so you can lock up your pushchair when you go on the train or into the Sea Life Centre.
2. Take a picnic if you want to keep your costs down. Lockers are available for storage.

There are plenty of toilets dotted around the park and the staff were all generally helpful.

We would suggest you look at the Chessington World of Adventures website www.chessington.co.uk to plan your day but also to pick up on line discounts on entry.
Children under 1 meter go in for free.Children under 12 £21 on the day £16 on line,over 12's £31 on the day £23 on line. There are a whole host of price options,too many in our view, but we think the following offer very good value if theme parks are your thing.

Chessington Annual Pass-Family of 3 - £129 (Family of 4 £172)

Merlin Annual Pass -This allows entry to Chessington World of Adventures,Alton Towers,Legoland,Thorpe Park,Madame Tussauds,The London Eye,Warwick Castle,Sea Life and the Dungeon.Family of 4 £375 (£330 before 30th April on line)