We are Merlin Annual Passholders, and with 6 adrenaline junkie children (and 2 adults) heading to a theme park was something high on our wish list. When Chessington announced they were re opening with social distance measures in place, we decided to take trip with the younger 4.
Booking is essential now, even for passholders. Which despite understanding the reasons, its a little frustrating that we have to pay a booking fee.
When we arrived the car park attendants were doing a great job of ensuring enough space between cars. A short walk to the entrance and we were in a moving socially distanced queue to get our temperatures and bags checked. Next we scanned our passes and were through the turnstiles. All of this process ran very smoothly and it really took no time at all to get into the park.
The first ride you see when entering Chessington from the field car park entrance is Dragons Fury, and we noticed it only had a 20 minute wait time. Wearing a face mask is essential on this ride, we brought our own with us, but you could purchase animal themed ones at the park.
The queue was socially distanced, as we found them all during the day with cute bear prints on the floor marking 2m. Most people managed to stay the correct distance but some did not in all honesty. Several of the rides require you to wear a face mask which was well observed by most, but again we did notice some people that failed to follow this basic principle. All of the rides were stopped periodically and cleaned thoroughly which whilst slightly adding to wait times is great to see for safety.
Dragons Fury was amazing the younger two girls were a little apprehensive but once we were on they loved it and wanted to ride again. It is a steel spinning roller coaster opened in 2004 and still a very popular ride. It has drops, twists and turns as the 4 person car takes you on a journey with an angry Dragon.
The park felt busy with wait times around 60 minutes which was more due to safety measures rather then the number of people in the park. We decided to walk to Rattlesnake next which only had a 10 minute wait time. Sadly the girls were not tall enough to ride so we did parent switch, a really useful idea that meant the boys got to ride twice. This is mouse style coaster that twists and turns before going on a wild up and down ride.
Not having had enough of coasters we set off for Vampire next probably the most extreme ride at the park, and the main attraction. After a short wait it was time for our ride which everyone fully enjoyed. This was another coaster that required a face mask to be worn, but we were used to it by now and it did not affect any enjoyment of the experience.
We were all hungry following the busy morning so decided to have lunch. We took a picnic lunch and we decided to eat this at the open air theatre, which was marked up to ensure social distancing. It was a great idea of Sammie's to bring lunch, as the outlets were extremely busy. A family near us over ordered on doughnuts and kindly gave us a bag which were well appreciated and didn't last long!
After lunch we went on Zufari, a trip into Africa on a off road truck adventure. Every other row was in use for social distancing which did increase the wait time. The route was also modified but still enjoyable, and we got close up to giraffe and Zebra. After this you can walk back to see the animals and get some great photos.
We agreed before we arrived that we would all choose one ride each that we really wanted to go on during the day. So next stop for us was the bus, which was one Poppy had wanted to do. We then went on the chair swings, followed by Tomb blaster. We were quite surprised this was open as the ride is indoors and you need to touch the gun. Once again the cleaning regime was great and masks had to be worn at all times. Harry was the best marksman followed by Chester and Neil (he claims his gun was faulty!!).
By now it was almost closing time, but we managed to squeeze in 3 more rides! Scorpion express was a walk on by this point in the day and we all enjoyed this 'runaway train' style ride. Then we went on The Gruffalo, all the children know the story, its one that is loved by all. Lastly we had one final ride on Vampire, which is Millie's favourite ride!
We had a great day, the children all coped amazingly well with compliance of social distancing and wearing masks, and we felt Chessington did a great job of making us feel very safe. We didn't get to ride every single ride, but we had done loads. As pass holders we do not feel that we need to get on all the rides in one day, as it just gives us an excuse to come back!
All feeling pretty worn out by this point, we were glad to be heading to our hotel, Premier Inn Fleet, to rest up ready for the following day and a trip to Legoland Windsor.
Booking is essential now, even for passholders. Which despite understanding the reasons, its a little frustrating that we have to pay a booking fee.
When we arrived the car park attendants were doing a great job of ensuring enough space between cars. A short walk to the entrance and we were in a moving socially distanced queue to get our temperatures and bags checked. Next we scanned our passes and were through the turnstiles. All of this process ran very smoothly and it really took no time at all to get into the park.
The first ride you see when entering Chessington from the field car park entrance is Dragons Fury, and we noticed it only had a 20 minute wait time. Wearing a face mask is essential on this ride, we brought our own with us, but you could purchase animal themed ones at the park.
The queue was socially distanced, as we found them all during the day with cute bear prints on the floor marking 2m. Most people managed to stay the correct distance but some did not in all honesty. Several of the rides require you to wear a face mask which was well observed by most, but again we did notice some people that failed to follow this basic principle. All of the rides were stopped periodically and cleaned thoroughly which whilst slightly adding to wait times is great to see for safety.
Dragons Fury was amazing the younger two girls were a little apprehensive but once we were on they loved it and wanted to ride again. It is a steel spinning roller coaster opened in 2004 and still a very popular ride. It has drops, twists and turns as the 4 person car takes you on a journey with an angry Dragon.
The park felt busy with wait times around 60 minutes which was more due to safety measures rather then the number of people in the park. We decided to walk to Rattlesnake next which only had a 10 minute wait time. Sadly the girls were not tall enough to ride so we did parent switch, a really useful idea that meant the boys got to ride twice. This is mouse style coaster that twists and turns before going on a wild up and down ride.
Not having had enough of coasters we set off for Vampire next probably the most extreme ride at the park, and the main attraction. After a short wait it was time for our ride which everyone fully enjoyed. This was another coaster that required a face mask to be worn, but we were used to it by now and it did not affect any enjoyment of the experience.
We were all hungry following the busy morning so decided to have lunch. We took a picnic lunch and we decided to eat this at the open air theatre, which was marked up to ensure social distancing. It was a great idea of Sammie's to bring lunch, as the outlets were extremely busy. A family near us over ordered on doughnuts and kindly gave us a bag which were well appreciated and didn't last long!
After lunch we went on Zufari, a trip into Africa on a off road truck adventure. Every other row was in use for social distancing which did increase the wait time. The route was also modified but still enjoyable, and we got close up to giraffe and Zebra. After this you can walk back to see the animals and get some great photos.
We agreed before we arrived that we would all choose one ride each that we really wanted to go on during the day. So next stop for us was the bus, which was one Poppy had wanted to do. We then went on the chair swings, followed by Tomb blaster. We were quite surprised this was open as the ride is indoors and you need to touch the gun. Once again the cleaning regime was great and masks had to be worn at all times. Harry was the best marksman followed by Chester and Neil (he claims his gun was faulty!!).
By now it was almost closing time, but we managed to squeeze in 3 more rides! Scorpion express was a walk on by this point in the day and we all enjoyed this 'runaway train' style ride. Then we went on The Gruffalo, all the children know the story, its one that is loved by all. Lastly we had one final ride on Vampire, which is Millie's favourite ride!
We had a great day, the children all coped amazingly well with compliance of social distancing and wearing masks, and we felt Chessington did a great job of making us feel very safe. We didn't get to ride every single ride, but we had done loads. As pass holders we do not feel that we need to get on all the rides in one day, as it just gives us an excuse to come back!
All feeling pretty worn out by this point, we were glad to be heading to our hotel, Premier Inn Fleet, to rest up ready for the following day and a trip to Legoland Windsor.
Comments
Post a Comment