Chessington World of Adventures packs a lot into its 150 acre site, incorporating several roller coasters, a number of thrill rides, lots of family-friendly attractions and, of course, a full-scale zoo.Seeing everything you want to in a single day is a challenge, particularly during peak seasons.

We’ve collated a few simple tips below to help you minimise the amount of time you spend waiting in queues, and maximise your enjoyment of the park.

Visit on the quietest day possible

If you can, avoid visiting Chessington World of Adventures during the school holidays and on Saturdays. Obviously, this isn’t always possible – and you can have a great time on any day by following the rest of our tips.

Arrive early

Aim to get to Chessington at last 45 minutes before rides open, to give yourself a chance to park, pick up your tickets (if you haven’t ordered them in advance) and get into a prime position at the entrance gates.

Take advantage of Early Ride Time if possible

If you’re staying at the Holiday Inn Chessington on a date when early entry to the park is possible, do not pass up this tremendous perk.

Avoid peak meal times

Restaurants at Chessington are very busy between 11am and 1pm. If you can eat either side of this window, then do – you’ll find that queues will be slightly shorter for the most popular rides, with other guests tied up eating.

Hit the popular rides early or late

The standard theme park advice of starting at the rear of the park doesn’t really apply at Chessington, which features two entrances. However, the golden rule of hitting the most popular (and lowest capacity) rides first is still very relevant.

KOBRA in Wild Asia should be among your first stops, given its painfully long loading times. Tomb Blaster can process guests faster, but is very popular, and the same applies to Vampire, Dragon’s Fury and Rameses Revenge. Be prepared to do a little running early on, and you’ll be thankful you did later on when you’re having a relaxing stroll around the zoo or Sea Life aquarium while everyone else swelters in the queues. You can return to the headliners in the hour before the park closes, when queues begin to dissipate.

Don’t forget that the closing time refers to the queue, not the ride 

A fact that is often overlooked by many visitors to Chessington is that the stated closing time for each ride actually refers to its queue. So if Tomb Blaster is due to close at 18.00, you can still join the queue at 17.59.

Take note of the queue time boards

Located in a number of positions around Chessington, electronic boards display the current queues times for major attractions. Try and take a peek at these before you trek across the park, only to find that a huge queue has formed for the ride you were planning to experience.

Turn to the dark side and buy Fastrack tickets

We hate it when theme parks charge extra for queue-jumping options, which leave everyone else in the park feeling like second-class citizens. But if you must, or you're desperate, you can buy Fastrack tickets which enable you to avoid the lines for some of Chessington’s most popular attractions. If you follow the other tips in this article, though, there should be no need on all but the busiest of days.