Chessington World of Adventures Review

Overall Rating

On a non-busy day you can get onto the rides again within minutes, other than that, there isn't any good points I'm afraid.

Filthy and run-down. Feels like a cheap, travelling funfair. Too many throw a coconut type side shows. Expect queues lasting anything up to 3 hours on a busy day. Staff can be rude. Toilets are scarce. Shops within the park are very expensive!

I have visited Chessington three times, don't ask why I keep coming back, I'm usually invited by someone else! To be honest I wouldn't pay anything to get into this "theme park". It's more like a travelling fun fair, there is no magic, everything just seems commercial, there are throw a coconut type side shows and unhygienic greasy food stalls just about everywhere you turn blasting tinny music from little ghetto blasters, if that isn't bad enough there are silly, 50p mechanical arm, grab-a-cheap-stuffed-toy machines littered just about EVERYWHERE!

The park itself is dirty, there seems to be a complete lack of cleanliness. There is litter and cigarette butts strewn all over the floor and over filled bins swarming with wasps.

I also found some parts to be quite dated, poor paint jobs, unfinished work, lack of attention to detail. I found the Beano and Action Man areas to be dated, severely run down, dirty, covered in litter and in serious need of an update and a lick of paint, the "themed" areas just seem like a load of disorganised junk put together just to fill space. I also found the attractions near the entrance which consisted of swinging chairs and dodgems really run down and looked nothing more than a travelling fun fair on some old, uneven concrete car park. Bubbleworks is based on water, the car I got in already had some sort of discarded fast food packaging in and I noticed lots of litter floating around in the water.

If you want thrill, this park isn't for you, even the most "apparently" "thrilling" rides here, aren't really all they are cracked up to be. The Vampire looks like it hasn't been finished, there is still scaffolding around the exit. On one occasion visiting on a very busy day I waited almost 2 hours and 45 mins to get on this and was VERY disappointed. The queues here are very long, so don't expect more than two or three rides on a busy day, however I once went on a weekday in September and got on rides again within 15 minutes.

Toilets here are scarce, so if you do go, be prepared that once you do manage to find one there will be very long queues.

As for the rides breaking down, yes, it happens a lot! In fact on all three visits, Ramesis Revenge has broken down, once it was shut after queuing for an hour and a half!

The zoo was quite small, the cages small and the paths surrounding, unsurprisingly covered in litter. The reptile house should have had a guard or something as there were people constantly tapping and hitting the glass aquariums probably causing distress to the animals inside.

If you really would like to go here, take a packed lunch or something, unless you're not worried about unhealthy eating and are willing to pay silly prices for it, there is nothing but over priced, greasy fast food on offer. In fact these stalls are everywhere!

I really would not recommend this park. Go to Disneyland or something.