Our summer holidays have certainly been full of fun and adventure. Having the prospect of heart surgery hanging over us has meant we’ve focused on making the most of days out during the holidays. This year we are lucky to be #ChessingtonBloggers. A trip to Chessington World of Adventures was the perfect way to end the summer holidays.
We’ve been to Chessington a few times now and some favourite places have certainly started to emerge as a result. Here are the things that my girls always make a beeline for:
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is always our first port of call as the queues can be quite long for this ride. It takes you on a boat ride through the deep, dark wood where Mouse encounters Fox, Owl and Snake before meeting the Gruffalo. There are some darker spots along the way which Sophie found a little scary the first time we went on it. The ride is a multi-sensory experience with lights, animations, sounds and smells. There is a small splashy drop partway through the ride which is the photo point. The boat ride takes you through water arches which the girls love.
Meeting the Gruffalo
The Gruffalo film is shown in the Gruffalo arena throughout the day. There is also the opportunity to meet the Gruffalo and have a photo taken with him at various times. My girls love giving the Gruffalo big cuddles and would happily stay to watch the film too. We have it on DVD at home though so I tend to steer them away so we can make the most of the rides!
The Adventure Tree
The Adventure Tree is a variation on a traditional carousel featuring several jungle animals, such as tigers, giraffes and rhinos instead of horses. There are also a couple of spinning cups. Giraffes are the preferred choices for my girls. I think they go slightly higher in the air than the other animals (they’re certainly more difficult to lift the girls on to!)
Toadie’s Crazy Cars
This is a nice gentle ride for little ones where they can“drive” a car around Toadie’s garden and look out for Mole’s family along the way. I love the fact that there are two steering wheels in the front of the car so both of the girls can “drive” while I sit in the back and enjoy the ride!
Jungle Bus
This one is a big hit with Sophie. It’s a ride in a battered looking jungle bus which swings up in the air and around. I have to admit that the safety bar on this ride is quite snug. I might not be as thin as I once was, but I’m not that big either and I have to breathe in a bit to get fastened in. Hubby is too big for this ride, so it’s one where I have to take the girls on my own. It’s just as well I love it as much as they do!
Sea Storm
The girls love riding the little boat and bobbing up and down on the Sea Storm ride. This one is a bit of a bumpy ride with the boats turning and twisting around at various points in the ride. The boats take a maximum of two people. If it’s just me with the girls, I have to swap in and out with one of them.
Trying out new things
Although we’ve been several times, we still find new things to try on our visits. On this visit, the girls went on the Flying Jumbos ride for the first time. There was quite a long queue for this one but both the girls loved the ride. The flying elephants can only take two people. I was on my own with the girls so had to swap in and out which was the only downside. Jessica was quite happy to wait but Sophie did get a bit upset.
We also visited the Sea Life centre for the first time. The girls loved seeing all the different fish and sea creatures. Sophie got quite excited when she spotted “Dory” in one of the tanks. They also loved walking through the tunnel and looking up at sea creatures in the water above their heads.
As the children get bigger, there’ll also be more rides they can go on. I know Jessica is already looking forward to going on Dragon Falls and I’m looking forward to going on Zufari: Ride into Africa! ride once Sophie is tall enough to be able to go on it.
I am a Chessington Blogger Ambassador, I was given a Chessington Annual Pass to do this review with my family and I was not paid to do this post. If anyone would like to confirm any details in the post, please email press.office@chessington.co.uk
Thank you for this Louise, I think we’re going to go to Chessington next Summer so it’s great to see which bits you love the best, we’ll head for the Gruffalo ride first too, wouldn’t want to miss out on it, it looks amazing!
Nat.x
My pleasure Nat, glad it was helpful. The girls are enjoying our Chessington days out and the Gruffalo Ride is definitely their favourite bit and well worth heading to first x
We have never been here before. It looks like so much fun for the little ones 🙂 #CountryKids
It is a fun day out – there’s plenty for all ages 🙂
We live up the road from Chessington and had Merlin passes for a couple of years – it was our default go-to place quite often. Is the boat ride still there? H is now old enough to go on her own, and did it about eight times in a row when she bumped into some schoolfriends there. Mind, I do quite like that ride myself, just not that many times 😀
Is the Gruffalo ride what was Bubbleworks? We never made it on that either, but it looks great fun!
#countrykids
It’s nice to have the passes and be able to go regularly – there’s less pressure to do as much as possible. The Gruffalo ride is what replaced Bubbleworks – it uses the same water track but is quite different otherwise.
The gruffalo sounds fab, my kids would love that. I think I’d love it too! We’ve never been to Chessington but it does look worth a visit x
#countrykids
It’s a fab place for a day out and the Gruffalo is a big hit with my girls 🙂
I can’t believe I never took my kids to Chessington when we used to live so close by. We use another local one now in Cornwall but it is nothing to the scale of Cherssington. I do like that the rides are designed for so many different ages so there is something for all the family. I have to say rides make me giddy just to look at them so I’m glad I no longer need to go on them and can just be coat and camera holder! The sea life centre would be my thing but I know my kids would be off on all the most scary rides. It does look like a perfect end to the holidays for your girls. You have done so many lovely things this summer, it is one they will remember.
Thanks Fiona. I quite like some of the rides, but I’m also very happy just to stand at the sides and take photos! We have had a lovely summer, I’m so glad we were able to fit so much into it 🙂
I love the blue and red outfits 🙂 It suits them. Love the look of that Gruffalo river ride adventure. Looks like the girls had so much fun this summer 🙂 x #countrykids
Thanks Dean – the Gruffalo ride is a lot of fun. We did have a lovely summer 🙂
I seem to always think of fast rides and rollercoasters (which TJ hates) when I hear the word Chessington but it looks like it is somewhere he would really enjoy. Lovely photos #countrykids
There are some fast rides and rollercoasters but still lots to do for people who don’t like the faster rides (or are too small for them) 🙂
Love your pics. Chessington looks like a great place for a day of adventure. #countrykids
Thank you, it is a lovely day out 🙂
It’s great that they have rides to suit all ages, and that the girls are already looking forward to what they can go on next year! #countrykids
I love the fact that there is such a good range of rides for all ages 🙂
I’m glad to see there is still plenty at Chessington to attract the little ones, I hate it when the theme pars all become too thrills focused. Mich x
I do too – it’s nice to have a good range of rides for everyone 🙂
I really should take monkey to Chessington, I’ve not been since it was just a zoo back in the day. Need to change that #CountryKids
It’s a great day out. There’s still the zoo part too – the girls enjoyed that the first time but the rides are the main draw for them at the moment.
Not been there for years since my son was a baby! Plenty of rides for all ages and stomachs
I really want to try and take my children to Chessington next year as I think they would love it. It looks like you have so much fun there and the Gruffalo ride looks amazing x
We went to Chessington last summer, still need to make the video! Ethan loved it but Little E needs to grow into it a bit more. Taking her on the mine train didn’t help! I would love to go and see the new gruffalo ride perhaps we can return next year #CountryKids
This looks like an amazing place, definitely one for our list. The Gruffalo was one of my oldest son favourite books and one of the first we red to him so very sure he will enjoy that ride.