Chessington is an amazing place, and thanks to my wife, we had two great days there. We arrived yesterday after spending some time in Lakeside, this being yet another surprise for the children. We had been there last year so the children knew what to expect when we arrived. And apart from a bad experience in the first room we were given, things were okay. It is never nice to get a flea bite in a room, but the staff were understanding and arranged for us to be moved to a different room promptly. Dinner there was not amazing, but this is not a place known for culinary excellence. The food was what I would expect for a theme park and while overpriced compared to places not in a theme park, was about the right price for where it was. And as we ate at a buffet, the kids had more say over what they ate, which for almost all children (I imagine) is a good thing. But we were able to visit the theme park before and after the meal and my wife did not have to join us, as she hates theme parks. We got to go on one ride before our meal and then got to go on several of the rides afterwards, the down side being that the offer with the passes was not as good as it was last year, it limiting us to several rides (on a once only basis) and two of these rides were closed!
Come the morning, we left breakfast till it was a bit too late. Understandably there was queue for breakfast, but the thing that was frustrating was that there were so many empty tablets! On the plus side, the children got to meet some characters from Madagascar. But after breakfast, it was a trip into the park and we enjoyed loads of rides. There was an issue with one of them, but we were given a Fast Track ticket which we used on the Kobra ride to compensate for this. Over this time, my wife had kept herself occupied away from the park, and while we were disappointed when she came back for us to go back home, she had arrived at the right time as the children were getting tired.
Our journey back involved playing Name That Tune and later, after a stop at Bluewater for supplies, Halloween stories (some of which had been told earlier in the day when waiting for the rides). Once at home, we all unwound while watching Strictly Come Dancing and then bed. While I type this, I am waiting for Match of the Day, but as you can see from the title of this post, I know one score!