100/100 Stars to the Zoo Team - Save The Rhino Day - 100/100 Stars for the Zoo Team The Zoo Team at Chessington gave me memories I will hold onto forever!!! Myself, my husband and two friends went to a couple of the animal talks (penguins and raccoons) that were very informative and the zoo staff were incredible. The talks were amazing to watch and the team were lovely, welcoming any questions you might have. Shout out to Vicky for your amazing Racoon and Skunk talk - Dakota made our day. At the end of the talks the staff stated they were supporting Save The Rhinos that day and the zoo team had a stand setup on the green with face painting and rhino prints ect. We wondered over to see what they were doing and they were selling REAL rhino foot prints done by the amazing male Rhinos at Chessington. I bought one as they were beautiful and each one was unique. We talked with the zoo team there and had the best interaction with them. They then offered us a rhino experience at an amazing price we could not say no to. We asked when, and amazing they said why not right now! They wanted to test out the experience as they haven’t done them for a while and the zoo team were INCREDIBLE! I wish I could give more stars! Not only did we get to visit the rhinos, the team were so patient and friendly, answering all of our questions and giving us the most amazing VIP experience. The Rhino and Giraffe visits are a MUST. I feel the zoo team is underrated and the zoo side of Chessington needs more praise for their positivity and love for their jobs and animals. The rides we went on were great and the queues were not too long. The food was amazing (definatley try the dirty fries!). We got to see the rhinos close up and the giraffes as well. I’m still asking what I did to deserve such an incredible day and experience and cannot praise the ZOO TEAM enough! I want to especially shout out Leann and Matt for our Rhino experience. You were knowledgable, passionate and incredibly amazing, giving us the time to ask questions, see Spud be weighed and give him a scratch with the broom (from a safe distance of course). Your safety instructions were clear and we were happy to follow all directions for this once in a lifetime experience. The rhinos clearly love you and we’re so relaxed in your presence. Secondly, Alison, our multiple interactions with you at the Save the Rhino booth made us smile, your personality and love for your job was incredible and we can’t thank you enough for offering us those experiences and making us feel so special - it was our pleasure to buy the amazing items you had made for Save the Rhino day. Finally, Reuben - for taking us to meet the giraffes up close. Your passion for the animals shone through and you gave us the most amazing end to an already incredible day at Chessington. You were professional, knowledgeable and incredibly patient, happily answering every dumb question we threw at you. Not only did I learn more about Rhinos and Giraffes than I ever have at any other zoo, I made memories I will have with me for life. For anyone still reading - I have had VIP zoo experiences with multiple zoos in the UK. What the zoo team did at Chessington was by far the best experience I’ve EVER had and I can’t wait to come back. The drive from wales was worth it and I wish I lived closer. Regardless of peoples reviews about the theme park side - the zoo team need to be praised by management and I wish them all the best. THANKYOU TO THEM FOR THE BEST DAY OUT EVER!

Fantastic day great place and staff - Had a wonderful day out with family lots of great rides for all age groups some of the bigger rides the wait times were well managed staff were very helpful and friendly especially sierra 6 who ensured we had a great trip and were well looked after providing outstanding customer service would highly recommend families visiting for a fun day out

Not quite as equal rights as it used to be - Please be aware that they have changed the disability access rules since last year. In order to ensure that people with disabilities DO NOT have equal rights to access the park, not only must you have booked your Merlin ride access pass over a week in advance, you must also book a separate additional access pass using the ride access pass, or you cannot use your ride access pass and will have to wait full time for every ride (so of course you end up going home early). So unlike everyone else, you do not have the right to book the day or two before to endure you have good weather.

Not was good as it used to be - Same as the contributor beneath. I’ve been here before and bitterly disappointed by today’s experience. The long queues weren’t helped by many rides leaving half full. I’ve attached a photo showing this. Massively overpriced shops and queues considerably longer than first anticipated because of fast track families turning up. Bins full to bursting. Also, we were stuck on the rotating swing ride for ages due to a malfunction yet didn’t even get a token to get us to the front of the queue for anything else. It was an ok experience but not what it once was unfortunately.

An awful day - We've just spent the day at Chessington as we do every year but this has been the worst trip we've ever had. We bought the photos pass but the only photo I was actually bothered about (our daughter's first ever trip on vampire) we didn't get because it wasn't taking photos. The tomb raider ride didn't even show the photos so no photo there either. Total waste of money. The donut shop had no donuts and after waiting 10 minutes in the queue was told the coffee machine wasn't working either. The refill station by the hot dog stand is a little drinks fountain, certainly can't refill a bottle of water. Another wasted walk. The lorikeet walkthrough was closed, and there were lots of ride closures across the park meaning we missed things despite waiting in queues for them initially. Guest services I would say weren't very helpful; saying I'd need to email customer services about getting a refund on the photo pass. All in all, a terrible day. Such a shame as we only visit once a year whilst down South.

Not suitable for vegans (or animals) - This is a terrible place. As a family of vegans, we found that this resort is not suitable for vegans. On our first night in the hotel, we tried to order the rainbow salad with vegan halloumi. We were told that they hadn't offered this for months and "need to take it off the menu". I ended up having the same vegan burger two nights in a row. The waitress said that the salad "wasn't very nice anyway" so it doesn't matter that they didn't have it, and offered us the Caesar salad without anchovies instead, but this would have still included parmesan and egg... At breakfast on one of the mornings we asked for some vegan sausages because there aren't any on the main buffet (which is understandable if they aren't a popular choice). When we ordered them the waiter said "are you sure you don't just want to eat meat today?" before reluctantly agreeing to ask the chefs to cook some for us. When in the theme park, the food options were even worse (non existent on one of the days). Firstly we saw a sign that advertised "vegan street dogs" in Mexicana. We went to Mexicana but no such stall existed. However we did find a hot dog restaurant which advertised vegan hot dogs. When I ordered one, the person just said "we don't do vegan ones" and then moved on to serve the next person. I then went to the vampire burger restaurant where a plant based burger was on the menu. I went to order on the electric screens, but couldn't find the plant based burger. I went to the till to ask a member of staff who told me that there was none in stock. Considering the theme park had only been back open for four days, clearly they hadn't ran out of vegan burgers, they just didn't bother to stock them in the first place. Eventually I managed to find one cafe which offered a vegan pasty (which cost over £5) so I had this. The next day I went back to the same cafe to find that it was closed for no obvious reason. The smokehouse was also closed as well as the majority of other food venders. I ended up having a bag of crisps for my lunch... On one of the days I went to order an oat milk latte at the gruffalo cafe only to be told that they had no dairy milk alternatives. When you read the descriptions for all of the restaurants and vendors on the website, they all advertise vegan options available which is evidently not the case. Other than the food situation, the availability of the rides also was poor. We visited with a toddler who is under 1m. All rides apart from the baby ones were closed; Seastorm, tomb blaster, tiny truckers, scorpion express. In regards to the scorpion express, the website advertises this ride however only when we were there did we find out that it has been closed for years. Finally, the conditions that the animals are kept in are heartbreaking. I'm sure the size of the enclosures meet legal requirements, but they are clearly not fit for purpose. The animals look like they're existing, not living. If you love animals, you shouldn't visit this place. I regret doing so.

Not disability friendly if you can’t book in time, limited passes - Who in their right mind changed the disability pass! What a joke that is! If you’ve got a disability any Merlin park isn’t your friend if you can’t book online in time. They only have limited passes to give out on the day now so if your not aware your going to be struggling the whole day like I was. How I haven’t ended up in hospital with muscle damage blocking my kidneys up is a miracle!

Dreadful experience - Run down, shabby, more expensive for games/drinks/food than Disneyland. Queues completely ruin the day even apart from all that. Avoid it, kids' excitement quickly turns to disappointment.

Don’t bother with ride access passes! - Well where do I start… we turned up with 3 autistic children and were sent by the Marshall’s to the wrong car park, we had to go back out and queue again for the blue badge park… this lost us 45 mins!! When we eventually got in we went to collect our ride access passes as we do every time at every park we visit…. These now have to be pre booked! Nobody told us when we booked the carers tickets!! Instead now you get a cancellation email if 1 ride becomes available!! What if you are in the middle of a queue for another ride? If you actually are lucky enough to get ride access passes you get locked out for 90 mins between rides!! Literally empty ride access queues everywhere Mechanical fault on 3 of the rides we queued up for… food and drinks all over priced (4.75 for a coffee £7 for a milkshake) whole place needs to be refurbished and closed area you get in stinks of mould and urine. Won’t be back again… rude s

Needs painting cleaning better food and friendlier staff - Whole park looks like it needs a good clean and paint. So many rides closed. Staff don't seem to care about complaints or concerns. Food outlets closed or with huge queues. Animals look really miserable. Drove over 2hours to get there and very disappointed.