I am looking into taking my young son to Chessington World of Adventures and was wondering what to expect from the zoo and the sea-life centre they have there? Any tips or information will be very gratefully received.
I'm sure you will have checked what the zoo holds on zootierliste, so all I will say is all the enclosures are at least average. The species list on show for £15 in winter is very good, but if you're paying theme park prices of £40 just for the zoo, obviously it's a rip off! If you're comparing Chessington to Thorpe Park & Alton Towers and have a child who likes theme parks & zoos, Chessington wins every time for value for money. Don't expect too much from the Sealife area
The Sealife centre is pretty small, with the usual species. The rest of the zoo is a nice visit (especially during winter on Zoo Days, when entry is £10 for adults, not sure for children). The lions have cubs at the moment. If you want to see the fossas, go later in the afternoon when they are usually out, from about 3pm onwards. The gorilla scatter feeds are very good too, in winter they're at 11am, not sure about during the summer. If you go during the high-season, there is the added bonus of the safari rides to see the Giraffes, White Rhinos etc. These don't run in winter, so can't say how good they are unfortunately, but there is that option for a summer visit. I can't comment on the theme-park side of things as I don't go during high-season.
Gorilla scatter feeds are twice daily at moment - time varies ( morning seems to vary between 10:30 and 11:45) (afternoon 2:30 or 4pm) - it will be posted near the enclosure in the Trail of the Kings, Carnivore talk and feed is typically at 2:15 this could be Tiger , Lion or Fossa - again you need to check the poster boards inside the trail of the Kings. If you check the Chessington World of Adventures website you will normally see the scheduled animal & Sealife talks for the day of your visit. If you don't have a Merlin pass advance tickets are cheaper and there is a useful rain policy (check the website for conditions) which could give you a return visit. Not sure how old or more relevant how tall your son is as they do have some height restrictions including on the Zoo truck ride.
Finished off our latest tour of zoos with Chessington and we found it far too crowded today with loud families and children running around everywhere, banging on the glass, so disappointing end considering that we’d had almost every other Zoo this week to ourselves. We saw a gorilla, the lion family and a tiger. The highlight for me was the Sea Life Centre, as despite being so full of people it was difficult to see anything, I did manage to get a very brief look at a sea horse or two - a personal favourite of mine. The scatter feed for the gorillas was due at 2.30pm, just after the carnivore feed. We were long gone by that time of day so can’t say how good they were. They were also selling VIP experiences to meet giraffe and the like but again we have this a miss due to the cost.
Yes, there isn't any indoor viewing though. You view in a covered area so its like being indoors for people, but the gorillas are outdoors.
I was there on Sunday and wonder if I missed a chunk of 'zoo' as the Gorillas appeared to be indoors and I didn't see an outside area for them.
The whole cage is outdoors, with a mesh roof open to the sky. Their indoor areas are offshow, in buildings around the side and back from where you view them.
