{"id":7815,"date":"2020-08-14T10:33:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T10:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7815"},"modified":"2020-08-14T10:33:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T10:33:30","slug":"chessington-world-of-adventures-resort-a-review-by-a-littlebird-mum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/08\/chessington-world-of-adventures-resort-a-review-by-a-littlebird-mum\/","title":{"rendered":"CHESSINGTON WORLD OF ADVENTURES RESORT A review by a LittleBird Mum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We invited LittleBird Mum Francesca to visit Chessington\nWorld of Adventures Resorts with her family for a full fun sleepover\nexperience, read on to see how she got on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a long spell at home it was time to make our family\ntime magic again with a theme park experience and overnight stay at Chessington\nWorld of Adventures Resort!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are a family of 2 adults and children aged 11 and 9. This\nis our first theme park experience together as we aren\u2019t all thrill-seekers,\nparticularly our youngest. But Chessington World of Adventures Resort has so\nmuch to offer, for all our likes! My husband, the daredevil, was looking\nforward to the BIG rides like the Kobra, Dragon\u2019s Fury and Vampire, our eldest\nwas excited for traditional and fun attractions like the chair swings (Monkey\nSwingers) and the water rides (Tiger Rock, River Rafts), the youngest wanted to\nfind Baby Sharks (of course!) at SEA LIFE and I, well, I just wanted a\ndifferent view and no routine or chores! The website is a great introduction to\nall the adventures on offer. We planned our trip and downloaded the app to make\nthe most of our visit. Suffice to say, we all got what we wanted! And more! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live quite close and the location is familiar. It\u2019s easy\nto access and well connected to major routes. I had wondered whether it would\nfeel like we were \u201caway\u201d enough to give us all the break we needed. But as soon\nas we turned into the clearly marked entrance and into the carpark (stewards\nwere on hand to direct us) a weight lifted, and the trip began. The resort\nhotel is really impressive \u2013 it\u2019s HUGE! The entrance and foyer are well set out\nand we were made to feel welcome and safe with a one-way system, masked\nreceptionists and screens for all our comfort. We were very excited to get\nstarted straight away so we left our bags (unattended) before check-in and\nheaded to the entrance line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were impressed to see that guests were queuing socially\ndistanced from one another and the line wasn\u2019t too long. We were in within 15\nminutes. As hotel guests, our temperature was checked, we received a wristband\nas proof and went through a bag security check. All very reassuring. Next come\nthe park entrance gates and we were quickly scanned through. Lots of staff \u2013\nmasks and gloves – are on hand for any questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First port of call \u2013 VAMPIRE! I remember when it first\nlaunched (celebrating 30 years this year, 2020) and remember my first ride when\nI was my children\u2019s age. This was a bit of a test for our youngest. It\u2019s way\nmore than anything he\u2019s experienced before and was going to be the\nmake-or-break of his enjoyment for the weekend. No pressure\u2026 Ha! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Given the time that\u2019s passed I wondered whether it would it\nstill feel as exciting? I was really impressed that the whole experience still\nfelt current, thrilling, just-the-right-amount-of spooky for youngsters and\nadults alike. The queue line, as we later found with all the rides, was well\nmarked for SD and everyone we encountered that day was respectful of the\nmeasures. So, on we went \u2013 Vampire passed with flying<\/em> colours, ahem.\nPhew! We knew we now had an awesome day ahead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day 1 continued to be so much fun. It was a scorcher of a\nday (35C) but the queues are manageable, visually stimulating, with open and\nshaded spots throughout. Frankly, it was a pleasure to all be together without\nhaving something to do, rush off for or multi-task on. We just chatted, people-watched\nand passed the time together. Funny, after several months spent home together,\nI realised how little time we usually have for each other.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We all went on all the rides together \u2013 except Kobra for our\nyoungest. That was a step too far for him, but there were plenty of adventurers\naround his age LOVING it (check minimum height restrictions on each ride before\ncommitting). On Day 1 we covered Vampire, Tiger Rock, Dragon\u2019s Fury, Gruffalo\nRiver Ride Adventure, Kobra, Sea Storm and Griffins Galleon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We chose to take a few sandwiches and snacks from home as lunch\nand found some picnic tables and open grass space to eat. On our visit some of\nthe refreshment kiosks were closed or opened later in the day, maybe for covid-19\nsafety reasons. However, there are sweet and souvenir shops and the in-park\nrestaurants and some slush and snack kiosks can be found open across the park.\nWe made use of the shops for sweeties to keep our energy up. All in all, it was\na pretty full on day! We wanted to make the most of our hotel so headed there\naround 4pm for some quiet time and to get ready for dinner in the hotel\nrestaurant, Zafari Bar & Grill. We had booked for 7pm so enjoyed a\npre-dinner drink at the Temple Bar whilst marvelling up-close at the zebras,\ngiraffes, ostriches and ENORMOUS buffalo on the Wanyama. Opposite the Temple\nBar you can also see a squirrel monkey enclosure \u2013 so sweet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dinner was great; plenty of space between tables, all serving\nstaff were in masks and at a 1+ distance and we felt all necessary measures to\nmake us feel safe had been taken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Well-fed and after such a happy day we all fell into soft,\nclean beds nice and early ready for the following day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a view to wake up to from our hotel window!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Breakfast also needs to be booked in advance \u2013 be quick or\nbe prepared to be early. We took the 6.45am slot and were glad of a leisurely\nbreakfast. There was so much on offer \u2013 yogurt, fruit, juice, pastries, continental\nand full English options. Served at the Temple Bar with really satisfying\ncovid-19 safety measures and staff on hand to welcome us, explain our option\nand help with the one-way system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We had plenty of time to pack, checkout to get to the theme\npark for our Early Rider opportunity. No prizes for guessing what we all\ncouldn\u2019t wait to go on again!! VAMPIRE! Well, it is the 30th<\/sup>\nanniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Much to our surprise, there was still so much more for us to\nexperience. We discovered whole new areas and rides we hadn\u2019t even seen the day\nbefore. A truly new day, we went on Monkey Swinger, Tomb Blaster (I was top\nscorer, just saying), Scorpion Express, Adventure Tree Carousel, and a second\ngo at Dragon\u2019s Fury! Our youngest sat out on Rattlesnake (he\u2019s under the\nminimum height restriction) but had 2 goes on the Tuk Tuk Turmoil to make up\nfor it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A particular highlight was the River Rafts. The children\nrode together and had fun getting a little splashed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Solo riders definitely get wetter!! Ha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the afternoon on the second day rolled around we decided\nto head over to SEA LIFE, a not-to-be-missed point on our agenda. We caught the\nSea Lion show on our way too! An unexpected treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The change in pace, being cooler inside than the summer\u2019s\nday outside, calming blue light and gentle movement of the sealife was a\nwelcome wind down. The children were fascinated, and we spent longer there than\nanticipated as there was so much to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The gift shop was our last stop where we picked up a few\npersonalised name gifts for our goddaughter and the children treated themselves\nto some trinkets and souvenirs with their holiday money. This is the latest\nedition to the family, harp seal pup, Chessie!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We were so pleasantly surprised by the huge amount of\nactivities on offer and how much we could pack into 2 days. We had thought it\nwas going to all be about the big, thrill rides. But, actually, we all agreed\nthat our favourite ride was the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure. A family memory\nwe\u2019ll treasure and a reminder that you\u2019re never too old for some gentle fun and\na sweet tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any initial concerns before arriving were allayed by all the\nhealth and safety measures that had so carefully been put into place throughout\nthe hotel and resort. The overnight stay was just the ticket to get the most\nfrom the resort \u2013 and we didn\u2019t even get to the zoo! We\u2019ll be back for that\nnext time. See you again soon, Chessington!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Top Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n