We set off bright and early and headed up to Chessington Theme Park.
After a surprisingly hassle free journey, 2 ½ hours later we arrived at the hotel - The Holiday Inn Chessington. We had been given directions to park in the hotel car park, then go straight to the park as we couldn’t check in until 3pm, which was fine by us.
But when we got there we all needed a toilet break(!) so popped into the hotel to use theirs, and were pleasantly surprised that the kind receptionist said we could book into our room as it was ready. So we dumped the bags in the room, freshened up a bit and set off in the direction of the park. After 100 yards we realised we were there! It really was that close.
Chessington Park itself is much bigger than we thought with a lot more things to do than we expected. It’s got a zoo, a children’s farm and aquarium and theme park rides. There really is something for everyone.
We started with the aquarium which the children really loved, especially our youngest, 2 year old Georgina. She was truly fascinated by the fish swimming above her head. After this, we went to see the monkeys. They had a mixture of monkeys, but the highlight had to be the Gorillas who were very happy to play fight for the spectators, as well as show off the baby Gorilla clinging onto the mummy Gorilla (upside down) for dear life while said fighting was going on. It really was great to see and Niamh (8) would have stayed watching them all day if she could have.
After this we decided to stop for lunch and found a lovely pizza/pasta place which is an ‘all you can eat’ buffet-style restaurant. It was fairly reasonably priced we felt, considering how much food we all ate and the food was very nice.
After refuelling we set off to see the rest of the animals, and were treated with lions, tigers, meerkats, wallabies amongst many others. The children loved it!
Next we set off for some rides. There was a good mixture of baby rides, of which we sampled the carousel, a boat ride, and the flying elephant ride and all were a great success. Then there were the medium level rides like the pirate ship, log flume and dodgems amongst others. We went on the dodgems and log flume and they were great fun it has to be said. There were a fair few rides that were just a bit too scary for our party, but judging by the screams of excitement from those who did go on them, they were great! If you have older children with you, then they’ll be well chuffed with what’s on offer!
As far as the facilities in the park go, wherever you turn there’re plenty of coffee shops dotted around, along with sweet shops, snack places and a couple of sit down restaurants with a mixture of food types, from pub food to jacket potatoes to Chinese food. So there really was something for everyone. The nappy changing room was really clean and didn’t smell too bad wish is a definite plus point. It was a good size too, so I could easily fit the pushchair and my other child in the room. The toilets however, were not so great as is often the case in these places. I had to go into 4 cubicles before I found a toilet that had toilet paper in and was clean - not very pleasant!
One incident did occur when Georgina was running playfully and tripped over and cut her lip open. This happened in a very open place where there were numerous staff working on the various stalls, and not one person helped, even though she was covered in blood and crying quite loudly. We had to rely on our wet wipes to stop the bleeding and clean her up a bit as there was no obvious first aid place. That said, as is often the case with little ones, she recovered very quickly and it didn’t spoil the day at all.
We stayed at the park until it closed at 5pm and then went back to the hotel. I can’t quite describe how nice after a hectic day it is to go back to a lovely hotel room, rather than the car for the journey home. The hotel itself was fantastic. It’s the brand new 4 Star Holiday Inn and is one of their flagship hotels apparently.
We were given a family room which had its own separate children’s area. In this there were two beds and a small flat screen tv on the wall. It was wonderful to have this rather than the normal pull out bed and travel cot squashed into the room. The hotel had all the usual - restaurant, bar, brasserie etc but also a superb health club with a swimming pool and spa too. Bliss! Incidentally, the hotel was set in lovely grounds with a lake and a family of ducks which went down very well with our two!
Our package included dinner and breakfast. The dinner was another ‘all you can eat’ buffet with a great selection of food suitable for both adults and children, and consisted of three separate courses. The highlight for the girls I think was the ice cream machine though! They couldn’t get enough of it! The breakfast was also an ‘all you can eat’ buffet with a selection of cereals, toast, full English breakfast and continental breakfast. The food at both dinner and breakfast was tasty and as is always the case, we ate far too much as it was so good!
The weekend in general was really enjoyable for adults and kids alike, with the park having so much to do and the hotel being the icing on the cake. I would say it’s well worth the money booking the 'Roar & Snore' package at Chessington World of Adventures & Zoo for a short break as it really makes for a really memorable weekend.
The Ginis Family - Jess, Spiro, Niamh, 7 and Georgina, 2
June 2009
Additional Info:
With amazing rides, a Zoo and a SEA LIFE Centre, Chessington is a World of Adventures – all in one place! With a whopping seven new attractions, including new shows, new characters, new animals and even restaurants, more and more visitors are saying that they now need two days to do the park justice. Luckily, the fabulous Holiday Inn Chessington right next door is the perfect spot to recover after a fun-filled day, before starting all over again the next morning!
With unique animal features, family dining, fun family rooms, a swimming pool and impressive views over the Zoo area, guests are guaranteed a more exciting wake-up call than the usual alarm clock with lions roaring, rollercoasters soaring and gorillas beating their chests just next door.
Visitors to the Surrey theme park can now turn their day trip into the perfect short break with an overnight stay at the four star safari-themed Holiday Inn Chessington located adjacent to the park and four day-tickets to Chessington from just £169 for a family of four!
Visit www.chessington.com for more information.
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Legoland Break With Play and Stay
