What can you do at Chessington World of Adventures with little children?

A day out at Chessington World of Adventures on my own with Sophie and Thomas means that we are restricted to only the rides and attractions that Thomas can enjoy too or the ones that Sophie can go on by herself. There is plenty to do though at Chessington with very little ones in tow. We finished off the Easter holidays with a day at Chessington and managed to have a full day out. Here are the things we enjoyed:

 

 

1) Land of the Dragons

This was our first stop as I know from experience it’s good for little ones. It is often a quieter area of the theme park too – which is great on a busy day! Our first ride of the day was Sea Dragons – a gentle little boat ride. Thomas is now able to sit up and it was lovely to see him sitting next to Sophie enjoying the ride.

 

Land of the Dragons also has a couple of areas which small children can explore themselves with parental supervision. This was a good opportunity to sit and feed Thomas while Sophie continued to have fun. Canopy Capers is always a favourite area for her. She loves running around in the high nets.

 

 

The Dragon’s Playhouse next to Canopy Capers is a fun soft play area for children under 1.4m tall. There is a toddler area for little ones under 0.9m and a junior zone for those between 0.9m and 1.4m with a big slide, bouncy mat and high netted areas. Sophie had a wonderful time stacking the soft foam bricks in the toddler area and making towers and a bed from them.

 

 

2) Gruffalo Arena

The Gruffalo Arena is a good place to stop for lunch and enjoy watching the Gruffalo Groove. This took us on a dance-based adventure through a trip to the beach, going on a safari and meeting the sharks with a rendition of Baby Shark which was a big hit with Sophie. Of course, the adventure had to end with the arrival of the Gruffalo himself!

 

 

The Gruffalo film also plays here between shows and there are opportunities to meet the Gruffalo himself.

 

 

3) Chessington Zoo

There are several zoo areas around Chessington. Wanyama Village and Reserve is one of our favourite areas. It is home to lots of different African animals including meerkats, ostrich, zebras and giraffes.

 

 

Sophie loved watching the meerkats who were sitting close to the glass. One of them was running backwards and forwards along the ledge. I’m not sure it was too impressed when Sophie copied it though!

 

 

The giraffes have been fairly elusive on our previous visits. We normally only get a glimpse of them from afar. This time they were out in the open and we could see four of them. The Zufari ride goes much closer to them but has a minimum height restriction of 1.00m.

 

 

“Jessica loved those drums,” Sophie said, as we passed the African drums. “She played them in her buggy. Do you remember, Mummy?”

Yes my darling. I remember everything. How I wish I could see her play them again.

 

 

 

We didn’t visit the other zoo areas on this day out but you can also see gorillas, lions and tigers in the Trail of the Kings; tigers in the Land of the Tiger; sea lions in Sea Lion Bay and pigs, pygmy goats, sheep and guinea pigs in the Children’s Zoo. There are various talks throughout the day in the different animal areas too.

 

4) Amazu Treetop Adventure

This is another fun climbing area where your little monkeys can run about up high near some of the monkeys that live at Chessington. Sophie loved running around in the nets while I sat and watched from below. It was another good opportunity for Thomas to have a feed too!

 

 

 

5) Gruffalo River Ride Adventure

The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is a firm favourite of ours and the one ride we always have to go on every time we visit Chessington. It takes you on a boat ride through the deep dark wood, following Mouse on his journey as he encounters Fox, Owl, Snake and the Gruffalo.

 

6) Toadie’s Crazy Cars

Sophie loves ‘driving’ one of these vintage cars around Toadie’s garden. There are lots of animals to spot along the way too.

 

 

7) SEA LIFE Centre

This is another part of Chessington that we head for on most of our days out there. Sophie loves seeing the fish and looking out for Nemo and Dory. She also loves stroking starfish or having her fingers cleaned by shrimp in the interactive rockpools.

 

 

8) Safari Riders

Sophie finished off her day with a ride on one of the Safari Riders cars. This is a coin-operated ride. The little cars and motorcycles each take a £1 coin which gives little explorers a few minutes of driving around the track.

 

 

On the way out of the park, Sophie couldn’t resist trying to wake the dragon in Wild Asia by touching his treasure!

 

 

As you can see, we had a lovely full day out and there still quite attractions and areas that we didn’t visit. Other attractions that are also good for little ones include Room on the Broom: A Magical Journey; the Adventure Tree carousel and Tiny Truckers.

 

Visiting Chessington World of Adventures – what you need to know:

Address:

Chessington World of Adventures
Leatherhead Road
Chessington
Surrey
KT9 2NE

 

Opening times:

Opening times vary throughout the year. For more information click here.

 

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