Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a 128 acres theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Central London. The complex originally opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931; the theme park aspect was developed by The Tussauds Group, debuting on 7 July 1987 as one of the first combined animal-amusement parks in the UK. The theme park, which features over 40 rides, is now owned by Merlin Entertainments, following its merger with The Tussauds Group in 2007. Under Merlin, Chessington has been increasingly developed into a resort and tourist destination, including two on-site hotels, swimming pools, a campground, spa and wellness amenities, and fitness facilities, including a high ropes course.
Flamingo Land is a theme park, zoo, and resort located in Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1959, it has been owned and operated by the Gibb family since 1978.
Dragon's Fury is a steel spinning roller coaster located at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in southwest London, England. Manufactured by Maurer AG, the ride opened on 27 March 2004 and features individual four-person cars that spin independently on a horizontal axis.
Vampire is an Arrow suspended swinging roller coaster at Chessington World of Adventures theme park in London, England. It opened in 1990 in the new Transylvania area and is the only Arrow Dynamics suspended roller coaster still operating outside of North America.
Rattlesnake is a steel wild mouse style roller coaster ride which opened in 1998 at the Chessington World of Adventures Resort in southwest London, England.
Samurai is a flat ride located at Thorpe Park in the United Kingdom. It was originally installed at nearby Chessington World of Adventures in 1999, being transferred to Thorpe Park in 2003. The song played on the ride is a modified version of "Burly Brawl", from the soundtrack of The Matrix Reloaded.
Dumbo the Flying Elephant is an aerial carousel-style ride located in Fantasyland at six Disney parks around the world. It is based on Disney's 1941 animated feature film, Dumbo. The original attraction opened at Disneyland on August 16, 1955. The four other versions of the attraction were opening-day attractions at their respective parks. It is the only attraction that can be found at all six Disney castle parks worldwide.
Tomb Blaster is a dark ride that opened in 2002 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in London. Riders travel in trains through a series of crypts, shooting laser guns at targets for high scores.
Rameses Revenge was a Top Spin ride at Chessington World of Adventures Resort theme park in southwest London, England, introduced in 1995. It was the world's first top spin ride to feature a drown-upside-down element.
Tiger Rock is a flume ride at the theme park Chessington World of Adventures in Chessington, southwest London, England. Primarily designed by John Wardley and opened in 1987, it is located in the Land of the Tiger area of the park. The ride was originally extensively themed, although the majority of its scenic design was later removed due to lack of maintenance and durability over time. A contest was held in 2014 that focused on possible new themes for the ride. In September 2017, the ride closed for refurbishment and reemerged on 5 May 2018 as Tiger Rock.
Bubbleworks was a dark water ride opened in 1990 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Greater London, England. It took riders through animated scenes of a comical factory producing fizzy pop. The original ride closed, to be redesigned in 2006 with a sponsorship by Imperial Leather toiletries, with the majority of the animations removed. The new Bubbleworks then closed in September 2016 to be replaced by The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure.
Red Baron is an amusement ride that is primarily intended for small children. It's a common kiddie ride at many amusement parks, carnivals, and fairs. The rider can move the gondola up and down manually. Many ride manufacturers make this type of ride; the Zamperla's "Mini Jet" is a common model of this ride. The "Mini Jet" ride comes in various themes such as bees, dragons, elephants, airplanes, helicopters, spaceships, etc. Some of the Red Baron kiddie rides are restricted to only children under 54 inches tall, such as the ones in Cedar Point Amusement Park and in Kings Island Amusement Park, or the one in Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. In quite a few other "Red Baron" type kiddie rides, adults and parents are allowed to ride on the rides, such as "The Busy Bees" and "Amazing Flying Elephants" at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, or at the Red Baron Ride at Funderland in Sacramento, California. Another place where adults can ride on a Red Baron type ride is at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, where Dumbo the Flying Elephant has been a perennial favorite of not only toddlers, preschoolers and young children, but teenagers, adults and seniors as well, for many years.
Air Jumbo is a Telecombat-style ride located in the Adventure Alley themed section of Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. The attraction opened to the public on May 23, 2012, along with three other attractions including SkyScreamer.
Zufari: Ride into Africa is an off-road safari trail jeep ride at Chessington World of Adventures, a zoo and theme park in London. A 22-acre site landscaped to look like an African reserve, it is home to animals such as giraffes, white rhinos, ostriches, blesbok, nile lechwe and more.
Tiny Truckers is a children's rail ride operated at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in London. Originally opened in 1993 under the name ToyTown Truckers. As of May 2023, the ride continues to operate.
Scorpion Express is a mine train themed powered roller coaster at Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London, England. It opened with the theme park in 1987 as the Runaway Train. The original ride was closed in 2012 for refurbishment and reopened on 14 March 2014, with the same track layout but new name and theming. Scorpion Express is set in a small mining village, featuring an animated metalwork scorpion.
Black Buccaneer was a swinging pirate ship that operated at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in southwest London, England from 1988 to 2018 in the Pirates' Cove section of the park. After operating for 30 years, the ride has been replaced by Blue Barnacle in 2021.
Safari Skyway was a monorail ride that opened in 1986 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort, in the Market Square area. Manufactured by Mack Rides, the ride gave guests a guided tour of Chessington Zoo, and in its first year, the construction of Chessington World of Adventures theme park. The ride ran for almost thirty years before closing abruptly in late July 2015. In early January 2016, the park announced that the ride would be retired due to continuous troubles with maintenance for the ride.
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is a dark water ride that opened in March 2017 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Greater London, England, developed by Merlin Entertainments. It takes riders through scenes based on The Gruffalo franchise. The scenes consist largely of digital projection and include clips from the 2009 animated film The Gruffalo.
The ride's pink theming in 2011
Grey theming from 2013
Reserve and Ride available
Wheelchair accessible
