Chessington World of Adventures 2023

I have been a little lazy on the blog lately after a couple of manic weeks finishing off the school holidays and then everyone being back to school work. On top of that Tina has changed her hours, we've had to buy a second car and I had the British Masters Cross Fit Championships last weekend as well. So the blog had been way down on the list of things to do.

Anyway in our final week of the school holidays we decided to take the kids to Chessington World of Adventures as we have not been for a good 3 or 4 years and wanted to try out the new Jumanji Mandrill Mayhem ride. We has been watching the queue times a couple of days before and the big 5 or 6 rides all had 90+ min queues which I think is ridiculous given the fact you pay nearly £40 to get in!!

On this occasion Joshua didn't want to come with us and so we didn't force him due to it being an expensive day out if he is not going to enjoy it. As a result of this we saved a bit of money on entry and due to the ridiculous queue lengths we decided to buy Holly and Brandon the Ultimate Reserve and Ride tickets. I am usually dead against paying for these given how much you pay to get in to the park, however we only go once in a blue moon and I just didn't want the kids to spend all of the day queuing and only getting on 3 rides.

The Ultimate Reserve and Ride was absolutely brilliant. We found a little work around where me and Tina both installed the App on our phones and both logged in on the same account to reserve the rides. What this allowed us to do was reserve the ride for 2 people to fast pass, then as soon as one phone was scanned we reserved another 2 on the other phone meaning that all 4 of us could go on without having to incur the cost for 4 Reserve and Ride tickets.

The kids managed to smash out 4 of the big rides within the first hour and by the end of the day had been on everything multiple times. By contrast one of Brandon's mates went on the same day and only managed to go on 3 rides all day!! So as much as it hurt me paying for the Ultimate Pass, it was an absolute god send and made the day really amazing and enjoyable for the kids rather than standing in tedious queues for 75% of your day.

I think Joshua made a mistake by not coming as we had a really, really great day out.

The amazing new Mandrill Mayhem ride which in my opinion is a Florida quality of coaster, just incredible.

Mandrill Mayhem whizzing past with a twist. Chessington's first inversion coaster.

A ray and a shark facing off in the aquarium.

Holly and Brandon about to ride Cobra.

Up close with a Rhino in the safari (which seems to have got a lot shorter since last time we went).

The giraffes were also out and about.

And doing the front splits whilst grazing.

Holly on Croc Drop which looks a lot worse than it is.

Holly ended up going on Croc Drop 2 or 3 times as she loved it.

Holly and Brandon only had one ride on Dragon Fury as it seemed to break down several times throughout the day.

Holly and Brandon on Jumanji.

Tina and B on the good old Vampire.

As always Holly got her head banged around on Dragon Fury.

Me and H on Vampire.

Brandon on Vampire.

Me and B flexing on Tiger Rock.

Holly and Tina getting a good splashing on Tiger Rock.

Holly and Tina on the Gruffalo ride (they never should have changed this from the Bubble Works!).

Me and B on Jumanji.

We must have had about 4 or 5 goes on the new Jumanji which shows the virtual queue works.

Tina and Holly on the Tomb Quest ride. Me and B gave this one a miss.

Another go around on Jumanji.

Me and H on Ostrich Stampede in the Jumanji area of the park.

Holly and B on the rickety old Rattle Snake.

Bulgaria Sunny Beach - Day 14 The End

All good things have to come to an end. It is funny because 2 weeks all inclusive can sometimes be too much leaving you ready to come home around day 10-12. However despite this holiday seeming to be a lot longer than two weeks, I never reached the point where I thought to myself - "I'm done here and ready to go home now!". Things that we did in week 1 seem a distant memory and all my fears of keeping the kids entertained on a beach/pool holiday have been completely quashed.

On our last day we really just stayed local and enjoyed the hotel, pools, beach and the sunshine before heading back to the "not as sunny" UK. I also used the time to walk around the hotel and take loads of random pictures of the restaurant, snack bar etc just to remind us when we look back on this. 

Bulgaria has been amazing but I don't have any plans to come back. That is not because of anything negative, it is simply that we managed to do everything we wanted and don't I really have anything I want to come back for. I am the type of person who doesn't like going back to the same place twice as there is so much of the world to see.

Tina and Holly in their matching pool dresses which blends in with the colour of the pool water!

My ladies both looking very tanned after 2 weeks in the sun.

Also matching bikini's.

My ladies enjoying their last day on holiday.

Farewell dip in my not so cold, cold plunge, a.k.a the Black Sea.

Not bad eh, Holly took this shot. Certainly put on a few pounds. Time to get home as I have 4 weeks to get back in shape for the British Masters Crossfit Champs.

Holly showing off floating as she knows I can't do this and simply sink!

Last day on the beach for H.

And the hair braids are still looking pretty good.

On day 1 she was scared of the sea because of jelly fish. By Day 14 I can't get her out of the sea.

Getting wiped out by some white water.

Then Holly wanted to show me how she can now dive under water in the sea.

HaHa.

As she didn't like the salt water in her eyes, we went back to the pool to practice more underwater swimming.

Love this shot, with her braids she looks like an octopus.

Thumbs up.

Smiling but still eyes shut.

Double thumbs up now and eyes open.

She's bonkers.

Brandon learning Joshua's tricks when pictures are taken.

As well as the ladies having matching costumes, Tina also bought me and the boys matching pink flamingo swimming shorts and insisted we got a photo together (and yes my abs are better than Brandon's - for now!).

Photo bombed by Holly.

Joshua in the lunchtime snack bar that we used most days.

We found it was just too much going in the big restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So this was perfect for lunch.

Still plenty of options to eat in the snack bar.

And a nice little outdoor area to eat your lunch.

Forecourt area leading out to the pools.

The lunch snack bar.

I am going to miss my walk down the palm tree lined paths.

The fountain must be the most photographed part of the hotel.

On mornings when I went out for a run, this was the start line. Nice eh!

Mine and Brandon's favourite late night hang out, the pool bar!

Tina enjoying the hotel views on our last day.

A pathetic moment when two strapping teenagers "try" and throw their Dad in to the pool and foul dismally.

Did they honestly think they could over power me. After about 10 mins and bot putting their shoes on whilst I slipped around in bare feet - they did eventually get me in the pool.

Before heading up to the room each evening to get showered ready to go out, I had settled in to a routine of getting an Espresso and some healthy flapjack type snacks.

The very posh and spacious lobby area of the Majestic.

The front view of the Majestic - something we didn't see much of as we went out of the back most days.

In the main restaurant there was always loads of variety and good food to chose from.

Along with some very decorative melon carvings.

Some evenings the guy who carved these would be sitting at a table doing them as a way of earning some tips.

Fruit and salad selections.

More healthy options.

Along this stretch of the restaurant you could pretty much get every type of meat you desired.

More pictures of the main restaurant.

Joshua's fvourite part - the deserts.

As creatures of habit we sat on the same table in the back corner most days.

Holly has really enjoyed getting her own food each day.

Later that evening Holly had a go on a 4D coaster ride.

Once last shot down the very busy main strip with the big wheel in the background.

Despite just having a big dinner, the kids wanted to stop off for some fresh made crepes!

Out Boing-300 plane destined for Gatwick, UK.

Homeward bound and we got to see a rainbow from the window.

Not everyone got to see the rainbow. THE END.