A Winter’s Tail at Chessington World of Adventures

[AD] If you have been following our blog for a while, you will know how much we love Chessington World of Adventures (CWOA). Whilst we have visited CWOA a lot, we have never been during the Christmas period. Most theme parks are closed from October to March but Chessington World of Adventures’ A Winter’s Tale Christmas gives you the chance to visit the park in winter, see the park lit up and dressed for the festive season. We were kindly gifted tickets, to go and explaore the festivities and It’s safe to say, we had an amazing day! Here are a few of the things we loved:

Meeting Father Christmas

We were met by an Elf at the entrance to Santa’s Grotto. I have never seen such happy and realistic elves as we did at Chessington World of Adventures. They were all so lovely and friendly and they each had their name stitched onto the back of their cloak. The Elf led us through the snowy forest to the hut where Father Christmas was waiting.

I loved the fact that trees hid the other huts in the forest. Liam and I could see them,but smaller children wouldn’t be able to. A few of them had been visible as we waited in the queue but they had signs on the back showing that they were the “Elves’ Workshop” or the “Wrapping Room.” The hut we went in was beautifully decorated. Father Christmas greeted us and asked what Molly wanted for Christmas. Molly just kept pointing at him and babbling away. She chose a Teddy bear as her gift and we had our photo taken with him.

Getting to go on rides with no queuing

As Molly is under 1, there aren’t many rides she can go on, and during the festive period the rides are limited as most of the park is closed. The only ones she could go on were the carousel and The Gruffalo ride. This didn’t bother us as we can go on the rides anytime in the year. We were here for the Christmas themed activities and shows. The Que for all rides were pretty short. We literally walked straight onto The Gruffao ride. Liam took advantage of short Que times and went on the Vampire ride whilst Molly and I rode The Gruffalo ride a further two times because it’s her favourite – I have a love for this ride too if I’m honest!

Decorating a Gruffalo-themed cookie in the Gruffalo’s Kitchen

Decorating a cookie in the Gruffalo’s Kitchen is included in the entry ticket for children. We could choose between the snake or the owl as they were the only character cookies they had left. We chose the Owl! Then we were given coloured icing tubes and led to a table to decorate them.

We loved the fact that this was very chill and unhurried. We took our time as not only was it time out of the pram for Molly, but it also gave us all a chance to warm up. Liam and I had our Complimentary Hot drink ( with every adult ticket ) and Molly had a blast eating all the icing out the tubes and making friends with the Elves!

The Gruffalo Christmas Groove

This show was very similar to their Halloween show, but with Christmas music, costumes and snow! We still enjoyed singing and dancing along to all the songs, and Molly got all kicky feet when it started snowing ( as did every other child there!) The Gruffalo comes out near the end in his Santa’s outfit which is kinda cute. This show will definitely get any Grinch into the festive spirit!

Magical Finishing Touches

Attention to detail was what made this experience more magical. There was a snowman Gruffalo as you entered the park, as well as other festive set ups! The Elves at Santa’s grotto and cookie workshop were all very helpful and friendly. The toys on all the game stalls had been changed to Christmas themed toys. Molly won a reindeer on the hook a duck game! As it gets darker the park really does turn magical as hundreds of twinkling fairy lights turn on as well as a giant Rhino pulling Santa’s sleigh. Truly Beautiful.

Thank you to Chessington World of Adventures for a truly magical day. If you’re in the Surrey area, A winters tail is running until Jan 2nd 2019 and I couldn’t recommend this festive day out more!

*Whilst we were kindly gifted ticked to A Winters Tail, all thoughts and opinions are my own*