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Picture courtesy of hello18.
| Value for Money | 6.5/10  |
|---|---|
| Reviewer Rating | 6.9/10 |
| Overall Rating | 7.4/10  |
By britcitchris
on 17th Sep 2007
| Date of visit (month/year) | 15/09/2007 |
|---|---|
| Ages suited for | All ages |
| Other info / Tips? | Visit the zoo as well! |
| Value for money | 10/10 |
| Overall value | 10/10 |
 britcitchris's recommendation | |
A very natural park, loads of park areas and greenery used to great effect (especially on Vampire!)
Excellent family friendly schemes such as Parent Swap and Pit Stop Pass.
Ummm, none.
We arrived nice and early and parked near to the exit, Wally World style. For those that have seen National Lampoon's Vacation, you will know what I mean, although we didn't do the running to the entrance in slow motion to the Chariots Of Fire music.
The gates were opened and we wandered in, me and my daughter getting their annual passes first of all. Strangely, we were given tickets to get in and asked to take the tickets to the annual pass section, later in the day. We also collected a Parent Swap voucher as we went in. I really recommend the Parent Swap scheme if you have a young child. One parent stays with the child whilst the other family members ride, then when they exit the ride, they collect the waiting parent at the exit and swap places. The waiting parent then enters the ride via the exit, shows the pass and gets on the ride, without the need to queue. A great idea and even better is that someone can ride with the parent that waited so they don't have to ride alone. Top stuff and this of course means, a family member can get 2 go's on the ride with only having to queue once. Handy.
This is our first outing to Chessington since 2002 so I was curious to see if it had changed much. I think the first thing you notice about this park is the excellent greenery and grounds; it feels a very natural place to visit. It's very family friendly and this impressed me a great deal. As well as the excellent Parent Swap idea, there is also a Pit Stop Pass scheme. If your toddler needs the toilet whilst in the queue, you can go and then return to your place in line (I'm assuming an adult from your party keeps in the queue), by showing the voucher to a member of staff. We didn't use this scheme but it's a great idea.
It was a hot day with a clear blue sky and the queues seemed relatively small. There are plenty of rides for all ages and Britcit Junior had his first introduction to some proper kids rides and multiple riding. Hardcore! Here is a list of attractions from our day:
Skyway Safari, Dragons Fury x4, Tiny Truckers x4, Carousel x2, Billys Whizzer, Vampire x2, Bubble Works, a walk around the Zoo (yes, it was open!), Sea Lions Show, Sea Storm x 1, Rattlesnake x3, Runaway Train, Roger The Dodger Cars, Flying Jumbos, Toad's Crazy Cars.
My son absolutely loved the Tiny Truckers. The lorries are big and impressive but due to an unusual design, you cannot ride beside your toddler but instead, sit behind/above them. Very unusual but fortunately, he was fine with this. Other stand out rides were Dragons Fury, Vampire and Rattlesnake. I just loved the track layout of Dragon's Fury. It really felt like a large design that used the surroundings to full effect. A superb ride that I tried and liked, using the Parent Swap voucher.
The refurbished Vampire impressed me a lot, too. I didn't feel any riding difference compared to the old cars and I preferred being in the open more and almost touching the tree tops during the ride. Lots of fun and even I had a go and liked it.
Rattlesnake had practically no queue at all and my step daughter and I rode it 3 times in succession, running back round the queue line like small children. Heaps of laughter and fun. Just loved the second half of the ride as it dropped several times into dark areas. Brilliant fun and not too painful.
Another huge stand out at Chessington was Beano Land. A large area with brilliant Beano themeing. Buildings are brightly decorated with huge paintings and models and the rides are really colourful with lots of thought put into the character used for that ride. My favourite had to be Billy's Whizzer, which is a Flying Chairs ride where the outside riders get squirted with jets of water! I got very wet and I haven't laughed so much on a ride for some years. Brilliant fun.
Overall, Chessington World Of Adventures is an excellent day out. There is so much to see and do for all ages from a superb selection of rides, a varied zoo and family friendly ideas such as the Pit Stop Pass and the Parent Swap schemes. The grounds are excellent with loads of park areas and greenery and the park doesn't feel like a concrete jungle, which is most definitely a good thing.
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Respect: +1
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Mac99
on 18th Sep 2007
britcitchris
on 18th Sep 2007
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on 2nd Oct 2007
britcitchris
on 2nd Oct 2007