Chessington can be great for a day out but its good idea to find the cheapest ticket price option
When buying the tickets its best to either pre-buy them online or use vouchers on the gate. Online booking will be £27.60 adult ticket. This online ticket price will save you around £9.00 (so that's your lunch sorted!). Alternatively you can use the 2 for 1 offer vouchers, which you can find when you buy all sorts of products like with magazines, cereal boxes, crisps etc.....and can also find them in newspapers! So it's never too difficult to get hold of those 2 for 1's.

I personally think these 2 for 1 voucher are better than the online pre-booked tickets:
You need to show those vouchers on the day and at the gate with the purchase of one gate priced ticket which is around £37.20. So with this 2 for 1 ticket you can enter the park for £18.50 between the two of you, which works out a lot better than the online ticket price. Also the advantage of this is that if the day you had planned to go out turns out to be one of those moody rainly miserable mornings, you simply just go the following day/week! But you just need to get to the park early before the gates open so that you don't have to queue to get into the park, as you may already have to queue a bit inside the park.


Best month to go
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Firstly, it might be a good idea to mention that this review comes from the ages between 24-27.
I always think what months are the best to go, and what I have worked out is if you want to avoid massive queues and crowds (which, like it or not, Chessington will have) best months to go are May, June, and September as this is the time kids are at school. During school times, the park can be practically empty and you just end up walking down what is supposed to be queues and you don't even have to think about buying those fast-track tickets. Most theme parks open around the end of March. July and August are probably the busiest as summers at its peak and kids are off from school.


Anyway, now for the park action...
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We went Chessington in May as it is the closest and most convenient for us to get to. We drove to the park - the carpark is free and you will definately find a place to park if you arrive before the gates open. It is a great fun park, but we found that the rides here are not as big and scary as the other parks, eg. Thorpe Park, Alton Towers. So we ended up going on the same rollercoaster-style rides over and over again and when you go on them at least 3 times in a row, they are not as exciting anymore, especially when they are not too "white-knuckle" the first time around.
These are some of rides at Chessington and if you enter the park and go anti-clockwise then you'll might pass them in this order:

Runaway Train (Mexicana) - It has a couple good moments with it's few fast drops. Good for the kids.
Rameses Revenge (Forbidden Kingdom) - Another good one. But has the tendency to make you feel nauseous as it really does spin around a lot, more so than you do on any of the rollercoasters in the park. If you don't fancy getting drenched then don't sit in the centre of any row on the ride as you will definitely get soaked. But go for it, as its so much more fun!

Dragon Falls (Mystic East) - A great ride! Will fit in around 4-5 of your friends including yourself or the whole family. The plunge into the water is absolutely brilliant and you will get drenched, yes you in the front!...quack, quack...

Dragon's fury (Land of the Dragon's) - Best ride in park, for me. You can move your pod around as much as you want and it sits 4 people. The more you allow it to spin around, the more fun you're going to have!

Vampire (Transylvania) - Good for kids and you get a nice view of the park and all the people below you as you fly along like an ummm,..... vampire....


Its lunch time!!
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Best thing is to have your lunch when everyone else is not having it. ie. Don't bother with having lunch between 1pm - 2pm as you will have to queue up for your food and will probably not have anywhere to sit down and eat. So it's a good idea to eat before the usual lunch time or after it, as it will be a much better lunching experience. I would recommend the Market Place Donuts (treat yourself why not) and the Pizza and Pasta buffet at Pizza and Pasta.
Sealife and the Zoo:

Sealife and the Zoo are amazing. It just takes you away to a different place.. It great for a break from the park away from the crazy rides for a while, and then return back to the park for more fun.


Worth the money you spent?
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Overall I think this park is good for families and children (very young and slightly older) but it may be a bit of a stuggle for teenagers and those older looking for a good thrilling ride to actually find it...as it generally lacks in it. But that doesn't mean you still can't have fun on the rides that they do have there.

I do think Chessington is value for money only because it's a day-outing (ie. you are hopefully spending the WHOLE day there packed with fun and happiness!!), but if you don't have the 2 for 1 vouchers or have just turned up on the gate, then it's definitely not worth around the £37.00 you will be spending. Also, if you are spending most of your time in the queue and don't get to go on all the rides then that's a downside as well. So it's definitely a good idea to avoid busy months to make your ticket worth its price.


(Thank you for reading! - Also posted on Ciao)