Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Squiggs]

I think this might be one of those 'what a difference a decade makes'.

You used to be able to comfortably be able to do everything you'd want within a day at Alton Towers, and that was when they used to have more rides. I think even now you'd not be far off, depending on operations and breakdowns.

Drayton Manor is and always has been the definition of a one day park and I'd honestly struggle to think what you'd do with a second day at Chessington, unless you properly went all in on the Zoo and spent multiple hours looking at the animals.

 

[Hid]

I managed to do everything in one day at Phantasialand. With rerides on FLY, Taron and Colorado Adventure.

I also did everything at Oakwood multiple times in about 4 hours.

The UK has only one legitimately "more than one day" park and that's Alton Towers. Less to do with the number of attractions and more the distances between them.

I would say Flamingo Land, Chessington and Drayton to as you have got the entire Zoo to

 

[DistortAMG]

I would say Flamingo Land, Chessington and Drayton to as you have got the entire Zoo to

On a quiet day, you can comfortably do the major things at Drayton Manor in a half a day, including the very limited zoo.

 

[Poisson]

Any park you will struggle to do everything in one day

Botton's Pleasure Beach has semi-regular 12 hour opening days. Are you seriously telling me you couldn't do the place in a day? Or Fantasy Island?

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I would say Flamingo Land, Chessington and Drayton to as you have got the entire Zoo to

Neither the volume of rides nor the quality of the attractions at any of those parks warrant a second day. The only possible reason you'd need one is if the first day had been a total fiasco with broken down rides and 90+ minute queues for major coasters. That's why I said Alton Towers is the only "legitimately" multiday park.

 

[Bowser]

The only possible reason you'd need one is if the first day had been a total fiasco with broken down rides and 90+ minute queues for major coasters

So a standard visit to Chessington?

Alton Towers is the only "legitimately" multiday park.

Plus they have a water park. If Chessington ever build theirs then they will be a legit 2 day park.

 

[The_bup]

And yet Chessington has two hotels!

I always thought it was odd, when I was a younger kid and the prospect of two days at Chessington was appealing to me, I always saw it as “you do all the rides again” and not anything new, bar maybe one or two small rides. I haven’t had a day at Chessington where I feel like I missed something - which sounds good until you realise that really isn’t conducive for repeat visits.

 

[Bowser]

And yet Chessington has two hotels!

I always thought it was odd, when I was a younger kid and the prospect of two days at Chessington was appealing to me, I always saw it as “you do all the rides again” and not anything new, bar maybe one or two small rides. I haven’t had a day at Chessington where I feel like I missed something - which sounds good until you realise that really isn’t conducive for repeat visits.

I view the appeal of Chessington hotels as for those who live further away as opposed to selling it as a 2 day park.

That’s how we did AT as kids, drive up on the day, swimming then sleep at hotel, day in park then drive home that evening.

 

[Benzin]

You could've said the zoo made it a 2 day park but that was before they put a ****** hotel smack bang in the middle of it.

Zoo was definitely one of the worst aspects of my last visit.

 

[RicketyCricket]

Chessington is too small to be a 2 day park. Even at it's peak in the 90's/2000's you could comfortably get around it in a day.

When the waterpark opens you would like to think it will be open until at least 9pm, but they'll probably close it early to encourage more overnight stays.

 

[Glen_Belt_77]

All this talk of 1, 2, 3 day parks etc all depends on your party and date you go. Peak Saturday in holidays looking for thrills you'd need to be at the park early and do a full day and rely on good ops and reliability. Younger group and in no rush? Two days suits. Not everyone wants to run ride to ride. CBeebies rides can have bigger queues than the coasters! Gruffalo can eat a crowd but still hit an hour plus. Chessington will have two new coasters by 2027 for different audiences. Adding 4-5 filler rides should help spread the queues. Thorpe doesn't cater for younger audience and they don't have a resort hotel (of note!) so there is a direct correlation

 

[RicketyCricket]

All this talk of 1, 2, 3 day parks etc all depends on your party and date you go. Peak Saturday in holidays looking for thrills you'd need to be at the park early and do a full day and rely on good ops and reliability. Younger group and in no rush? Two days suits. Not everyone wants to run ride to ride. CBeebies rides can have bigger queues than the coasters! Gruffalo can eat a crowd but still hit an hour plus. Chessington will have two new coasters by 2027 for different audiences. Adding 4-5 filler rides should help spread the queues. Thorpe doesn't cater for younger audience and they don't have a resort hotel (of note!) so there is a direct correlation

Tbf it *shouldn't* be any more than a 1 day park because they dont have enough rides.

If a park of that scale requires more than 2 day it just shows how terrible Merlin are at running the place. Comes down to poor operations and the majority of rides having inadequate capacity.

 

[Glen_Belt_77]

That's not strictly true though. If you're going for Vampire, Rattlesnake, Mandrill Mayhem and Dragons Fury and they're all on 90 mins, which at peak they can be, plus an hour out for lunch then that's your day done. Chessington has 30+ rides. Most aren't busy and off peak you can do EVERY ride in half a day but the point is not everyone likes to dash around, especially those with kids. Towers off peak takes you longer to get across the park than it does to get on some rides. Yes you can do a lot in a day but if you want more of a stroll then 2 days is perfect. That's the same across the UK generally

 

[D4n]

That's not strictly true though. If you're going for Vampire, Rattlesnake, Mandrill Mayhem and Dragons Fury and they're all on 90 mins, which at peak they can be, plus an hour out for lunch then that's your day done. Chessington has 30+ rides. Most aren't busy and off peak you can do EVERY ride in half a day but the point is not everyone likes to dash around, especially those with kids. Towers off peak takes you longer to get across the park than it does to get on some rides. Yes you can do a lot in a day but if you want more of a stroll then 2 days is perfect. That's the same across the UK generally

Rides of that quality absolutely shouldn’t have 90 minute queues though. So it isn’t incorrect to say that there is something operationally wrong for a second day to be needed

 

[Glen_Belt_77]

Second day isn't needed. It's optional. Hyperia gets 180 mins queue and it's brand new and should churn but it doesn't. What you think is a good ride of quality may differ from anothers view. All parks should hold 30-45 mins queues at peak, reality is few do apart from those with excellent ops or lots of rides. The point being 2 days park means more of a stroll. You can do DLP in a day (castle park) but to see everything you need 2 days. Depends what you're there for

 

[dave___]

Looks like chessington have lost a giraffe today.

I can’t see there being more than another couple of seasons of them having animals now after this and the previous tiger deaths earlier in the year

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[Funcone]

Looks like chessington have lost a giraffe today.

How do you lose a giraffe? They seem pretty big.

 

[Islander]

I can’t see there being more than another couple of seasons of them having animals now after this and the previous tiger deaths earlier in the year

To be fair, this will have no bearing whatsoever on whether Chessington become “less zoo” or not over the next few years.

Death is 100% a normal part of zoo keeping.

 

[Bowser]

To be fair, this will have no bearing whatsoever on whether Chessington become “less zoo” or not over the next few years.

Death is 100% a normal part of zoo keeping.

Wouldn’t a “normal” zoo have a breeding programme whether onsite or with other partners (or transferring for other reasons) to maintain a population of animals whereas Chessington aren’t doing that and the zoo will eventually disappear?

 

[jon81uk]

Wouldn’t a “normal” zoo have a breeding programme whether onsite or with other partners (or transferring for other reasons) to maintain a population of animals whereas Chessington aren’t doing that and the zoo will eventually disappear?

Do you have a link showing Chessington aren’t engaging in breeding programs? As far as I knew they are linked with other zoos for that sort of purpose.