Chessington World of Adventures Resort Reviews 

Took granddaughter and her two children to the zoo which at £14.50 I thought was reasonable. Parking for 2 cars added another £16. Arrived at one pm and saw few small animals (lions gone) then aquarium . At2 pm the kids were thirsty; no outlets opened and no drink machines so we were sent into hotel with hands stamped for return. Took an hour to have lunch…burgers £20 and coke £5! So nearly hundred for lunch(which I was not expecting!) …took ages so went back at 3 pm to be refused entry as it was closing at 3 pm!!
No signs advertised this
Nothing on the tickets
We were just told it’s on website so should have looked! How ridiculous!
The kids were upset not to see the zebras, giraffes and emus that we had promised them.
Customer services refused to let us have tix to see the animals we missed…we would only have taken an hour and prob we would have bought stuff from shop.
Probably usual standard letter they send out in multiples every day saying ..oh sorry but your comments have helped us help others! It is their job to plan customer experiences not ours.
Very badly organised . I asked for CEO email but they replied she wouldn’t be interested and complaint would be sent back to them! Really ? If I was running a business I would be very interested in such poor service after all is £200 an hour for a few animals good value? I don’t think so! They should be ashamed of the way Chessington is run.

Totally agree with reviews. Rides shut, rides broken, too many people in park so rides that are open and not shut for technical difficulties are over an hour ..don't bother. Other things have to pay for . Awful

Terrible experience as all but one big ride are all closed, yet no information on website without digging through pages upon pages.

Spoke to people at information desk & nothing they can do which is disgusting, no refund or partial refund. Absolute robbery. Will do my best to spread this to as many people as possible. Won't be coming back that's for sure.

We visited Chessington World of Adventures on Tuesday 17th February (half term) as a family of four, two adults and two children (10 and 13), and unfortunately the park experience was extremely poor for the price being charged.

First up: we couldn’t get an Access Pass because they were fully booked. Fair enough, I suppose, but it says it all that the Access Pass queue is now longer than the standard queue. I’ll leave that there, given the negative media coverage Chessington has already had on the subject.

We were staying in the hotel, so arrived around 11am and spent the best part of 15 minutes negotiating a chaotically packed car park. Once inside the park, we found that only a couple of the big rides were open, with many kiosks shut, meaning massive queues for the few attractions that were operating. During half term, and with full price tickets, you’d expect the full experience, save for genuine mechanical downtime. This felt like a stripped-back offering.

If we weren’t Platinum Pass holders, I’d have been absolutely disgusted.

Food pricing was another low point. We went to buy a hot dog and found they were £15 each, served plain in a bun with nothing else. It looked miserable (as did the poor lad serving them). £60 for four sad hot dogs… we came to our senses and walked away. Crikey, even Turpin wore a mask. (I couldn't write his first name, computer says no)

We eventually gave up on the rides and walked around the zoo for a bit, which the kids did enjoy. Then we received the text: “your room is ready” slightly ahead of schedule, which is always welcome… until we discovered we’d been put in a smaller room than we’d paid for. To be fair, the two gents at reception were excellent: very apologetic and they upgraded us to a Room on the Broom themed room, which met the original spec (separate children’s area) and the theme was genuinely fun.

Swimming was another frustration. A few days before we’d tried to book via the “My Booking” section on the app, as advised, only to be instructed to call instead. When you finally do get hold of someone, we were told it was fully booked, and to “try on the day” as cancellations sometimes happen. On the day, a pleasant young lady suggested we could try at 5pm because larger bookings don’t always show up, but we didn’t bother in the end.

We’ve previously had a poor experience in the dining area, so we opted for a KFC in the room this time, then a few beers in the bar while the kids played in the arcade.

The room (second time lucky) was great, we slept well, and the buffet breakfast the next morning was genuinely nice.

Staff highlights: the two gents who sorted the room issue, the lady at the pool, and a sweet young barmaid with glasses were all excellent. The hotel itself was good.

But the park? Extremely disappointing and very poor value for money. Not having the big rides running properly during half term while charging normal prices feels like a dirty trick, likely opting to save a few quid on labour over guest experience. Deplorable. And sadly, in the current climate, it’s exactly what you’d expect from the once-great, now struggling UK theme park trade.

Hotel: yes. Park: not at these prices and with this level of operation.

I am writing to formally express my disappointment regarding our family visit to Chessington World of Adventures today. Unfortunately, what was meant to be an enjoyable day out turned into a very frustrating and upsetting experience.

To begin with, the lack of clear signage directing traffic to the park caused significant confusion. Many vehicles, including ours, were diverted to an adjacent construction site, as there were no clear signs indicating the correct route. It was only thanks to the construction site staff that vehicles were redirected to the park. Additionally, the car park arrangements were unclear. Several car parks were visible along the main road, but there was no clear guidance as to which one visitors should use. Even after parking, there were no clear directional signs guiding guests to the main entrance, which made navigating the site unnecessarily difficult.

There were also roadworks around the entrance area, which further delayed arrival times. This information was not clearly communicated on their website in advance, which would have allowed visitors to plan accordingly.

Upon arrival at the entrance, the situation did not improve. There were only two ticket checking points operating, despite a large number of families queueing in cold and rainy weather. We witnessed disabled families with young children struggling to find assistance while waiting in the rain. At one point, our ticket scanning queue was brought to a halt when a staff member left the gate unattended for several minutes, with no other staff stepping in to manage the situation. This resulted in disorderly queues, with some guests pushing ahead and not enough staff present to manage or assist.

Most disappointingly, a large number of rides were closed without clear prior notice. It was only after we returned home that we tried to check their website to see whether ride closures had been clearly stated in advance. We discovered that this information is not displayed prominently on the main booking page. Instead, it can only be found by navigating through the main menu, and even then, it does not clearly specify the extent of the closures. There was no clear statement that the majority of rides were closed, nor that only 2 major thrill rides were operating on the day of our visit. This lack of transparency during the booking process is extremely concerning, as it significantly influenced the value of our visit.

On the day itself, only 2 of the major thrill rides were operating, and one of those closed shortly after due to rain. As a result, queues for the smaller rides became excessively long, we waited approximately 1.5 hours just for Sea Dragons. This was extremely disappointing, especially considering the time and money spent. In fact, we spent more time travelling to and from the park than we did enjoying functioning attractions.

To make matters worse, the exit process was equally chaotic. The lifting barrier at the parking exit broke down, causing yet another queue of vehicles trying to leave. We waited until a member of staff eventually arrived to manually lift the barrier and allow cars to exit. However, just 20 metres ahead, the traffic lights outside the park entrance were also not functioning properly, resulting in further congestion and at least an additional 10-15 minute delay waiting for the lights to change. After an already disappointing day, this was extremely frustrating for families simply trying to return home.

Overall, this experience fell far below the standard we expected and certainly did not reflect what we paid for. Given the significant number of ride closures, poor organisation, lack of clear communication during the booking process, and the additional delays both entering and exiting the park, we will not come back again.

Booked a weekend hotel and theme park stay for a family of 4. My son has taken very unwell and needs to go to hospital, we don't want our daughter to miss out so I phoned and asked if there was any way we could get a voucher or a day pass to make up for the fact me and my son can't go. I even said I would get the gp letter as proof. I was told I will get no reimbursement of any kind!mr husband and daughter are still going but the fact they offered no goodwill gesture at all is appalling!

Chessington is more focused on selling tickets and making money than on ensuring happy guests and children who can actually enjoy their day.

I am contacting you regarding the Wowcher promotion associated with your hotel. I have repeatedly attempted to reach both your team and Wowcher, but neither has provided a proper response.
At this point, I am unable to book any suitable date, and Wowcher is not addressing my requests. Since the service offered cannot be accessed and communication has been ineffective on all sides, I am now requesting the cancellation of my voucher and an official statement from your hotel confirming the situation.
Your confirmation is essential, as Wowcher is refusing to provide a real answer and continues sending only automated messages. Without your cooperation, I cannot proceed with my refund, and the lack of support is causing significant inconvenience.
I therefore request:

A clear statement from the hotel confirming whether the dates for this promotion are unavailable or not being accepted, and
Written confirmation that I was unable to secure a booking despite multiple attempts.

Your prompt reply is required so I can take the necessary steps to resolve this matter. I expect your position as soon as possible.

Nearly time to close the zoo it is past it's best.if you stay at the hotel evening entertainment is nothing at all what a waste of time.

I have always enjoyed this park, that is until I took my son for an overnight stay at the zufari hotel (21/22 Dec). While I can’t fault the hotel , what happened next was a series of awful events leaving my son in tears most of the time. The exciting extra hour in the park in the morning - nothing was open - not so much as a coffee shop. The rides - almost everything was closed with a number such as the vampire closed for maintenance. Animals, tigers, gorilla and lions section all closed. Jumanji world - the big roller was mostly closed , then when it did briefly open it broke leaving people stranded and stuck in the ride. Such a disappointment :(

Worse Christmas winter tail and visit to Santa ever!

After a mixed day at Chessington, going on a few rides and not being able to see many of the animals - due to highlights being within the winter tail and lions and tiger now not even at Chessington, we thought our winter tail visit would improve the day, this was not the case - we had booked a 4.30 time slot, however this only got us into a very dull token of a winter space and a massive queue to see Santa that we stood in for over 1hour 30 mins, there were head phones for a silent disco - but for most kids (and adults), there is only so much you can take of this!!! There was no entertainment and no beautiful Christmas displays to look at whilst waiting.
Kids in the queue were bored and crying.

There was only a handful of staff, and they knew very little, several families were complaining and asking how long the queue would be, no one knew anything and even the staff were saying what an awful experience it was.
A token member of ‘management’ arrived, as there were so many complaints, but even he didn’t get the frustrations and said he would talk to someone else and come back - but surprise he never did.

What was supposed to be a lovely start to Christmas turned out to be the nightmare before Christmas. When eventually getting to see Santa, we were in and out within a couple of minutes! The reindeer pen at the end was in darkness, so the children couldn’t even see them.

It just felt like a money grabbing exercise by Chessington - we would definitely NOT recommend going, Chessington Garden centre down the road is a much better experience, as are other Santa visits we have had elsewhere.

We also paid for a VIP giraffe experience during our visit, again the staff leading this were late, we had received no information before our visit as to where this was taking place, on arrival we asked and were told to go to the giraffe area, but the VIP hosts were waiting in one of the hotels and were radioed x3 by another member of staff before arriving. And whilst seeing the giraffes up close was amazing, again the experience feels rushed and another money making exercise for Chessington.

Our recommendation is to look elsewhere before spending extortionate amounts of money at Chessington.

We usually visit Chessington every year, and this time we went during the October school holidays. Unfortunately, the experience was dreadful. The park was extremely overcrowded, with two-hour queues for most rides, stressed parents, frustrated visitors, and many disappointed children. Several rides were closed. We managed four rides in 6 hours!

I emailed Chessington to ask whether they could offer half-price tickets or fast passes as a goodwill gesture due to the poor experience, but they refused. They said that their policy states they are not required to do anything in situations involving closed rides or long queues.

It’s very clear that Chessington is more focused on selling tickets and making money than on ensuring happy guests and children who can actually enjoy their day.

Overall, the visit was extremely disappointing, and sadly, it will be the last time we visit Chessington.

Sadly, it was only whilst I was there that I looked at the reviews and saw what a terrible place it is. We visited last week and when we tried to queue for the two rides my grandsons wanted to ride, we were told they were both broken down. The next ride they queued for (in the rain) , took 2 hours to reach the front. All for what, a minute’s enjoyment. Not helped by the fact that those with accelerated access just kept jumping in. After coming off the ride both the children said, can we go home please. Wow! Took us 1.5 hours to get there, £130 entry for only 1 ride that lasted a minute or so. We were going to get some lunch, but seeing that for 5 small chicken nuggets and a few chips the cost was £15 we decided against it.
I think everyone should boycott the place, I understand that our experience is the norm rather than the exception, and Merlin, who are clearly cheating people hand over fist, will not give refunds. Instead, in extreme circumstances they will give complimentary tickets. Who the hell wants to go back!
Interesting though, all the opportunities to milk you for more money were open, the rides that you have already paid for were not. Seriously , don’t waste your money, or time

Was surprised it wasn't too busy, every ride queue not too bad but every ride including small children rides took at least 50 mins. Apparently people could apply for priority pass, I could understand if there were people with disabilities but no families, 5 6 all seemed very capable of queuing like the rest of us, all allowed on rides straight away jumping ahead of the queue.. One ride 16 people jumped on ahead no wonder it took so long to eventually get on the ride.. This is rediculous, plus only one young person in charge of each ride which again took so much time, ruined the experience 😡. This needs looking at. Too many people jumping queues, definitely spoiled it for others, and allowing so many on while others waiting and waiting... Shame because unless this changes I wouldn't go again

DONT BOTHER. SAVE YOUR MONEY.
Cost £130 for 2 adults and 2 kiddies.
Half a centemeter off height restriction and not allowed on ride after queuing 50 mins.
Lots closed due to rain.
Absolutely diabolical.
Not a happy bunny!!!!

So, My Daughter and I visited Chessington 11 days ago and found that not many rides were open. We were not forewarned about this on booking and were limited to Dragons Fury and Mandrill Mahem. The vampire was closed and they have removed other rides suitable for older children who are not quite ready for the big ones at Thorpe Park. We spent 3 hours at the park before admitting defeat and heading home. V V disappointed. I am still waiting for customer services to reply to my email.

Me and my family stayed for one night. We definitely had a good experiences. We had the Grufflo room it was very clean and my kids loved the theme as their Grufflo fans. The only thing I would say about the room that was disappointing was that my children have seen on YouTube for a long time, that you can watch the Grufflo movie in the room including the bath. The bathroom tv didn’t work and we couldn’t get the movie on the other two Telly's. That one of the things they was looking forward too. The splash pool was brilliant my kids loved the slide. We booked the safari restaurant for dinner me and my partner order the cheese burger and chips which was £20 each. The size of the our meals were literally the same sizes of my daughter’s burger meal. We said we could go to a nice local pub for that meal it would be cheaper with a few extras. The food and drink quality didn’t much the prices! We had breakfast the next morning in the temple restaurant have to say it was very nice. The entertainment evening for kids could be much better we took the kids but they didn’t want to stay had they said it was boring. . Feel it could be much better for Chessington world of adventures. They loved the meet and greet with Skye from the paw patrol. Overall the staff was very friendly and welcoming.

This doesn’t even deserve the one star. Badly organised park, staff who are not knowledgeable of the pak & the animals in poor conditions.
As the granddaughters birthday is in October near halloween we decided to go to this theme park so to enjoy the atmosphere of Halloween. How wrong we were.
The park is badly designed & even though you had the maps getting to certain areas was a challenge & you don’t need that with a 3 year old.
As I paid extra for the digital photos actual funding the place so to get them wasn’t great & we had to ask two members of staff where to get them, they didn’t have a clue & directed us to the wrong part of the park.
We went to see the animals as the granddaughter loves animals & that was a let down. This was a let down as majority of the animals wasn’t even there so paid to see them & got nothing.
Majority of the shops & stalls were closed however when checking on the actual a that stated they were open.
Will not be attending again & next time it’ll be either Drayton Manor or Alton Towers. Massive massive let down

WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT FROM THE HOTEL , FOOD , PARK WOULDN'T WASTE THE TIME OR MONEY ABSOLUTELY SHAMBLES OF A PLACE !!!!

DO NOT GO !!!!!

Had an absolutely wonderful time!!
I went on a Sunday so wait lines were pretty long for my liking but had a really fun time with my friends; We all went on many rides together and it was all just a very memorable experience!!

I’d also love to mention Ruby at the arcades, I had a small problem at the machines and I wasn’t quite sure what to do however I went up to Ruby and they were incredibly kind and Instantly helped me with no complains and was just an absolutely wonderful worker!!

Overall I highly recommend visiting Chessington world of adventures and definitely going to the arcade ;)

Absolutely awful. Booked for two nights with two days passes only to be told our tickets wouldn't work on the second day. Our son was utterly heartbroken. We'd spent £350 plus another £100 on the evening rip off meal in the hotel restaurant and no one could sort our tickets fiasco at the actual resort. I was told to ring short breaks and stayed on hold for 20 mins then spoke to someone who was so rude and unable to help us. Never again! Don't go!