Make magical Christmas memories at Chessington World of Adventures this holiday season with their Winter Tail event, we wrapped up warm and headed down to see what the festive fuss was all about! 
Park Appearance 

Walking into Chessington for the first time at Christmas you are greeted with Christmas wreaths and some beautiful animal wire frame displays all lit up in fairy lights as you enter the park.
Beautifully presented on the main lawn the Christmas spirit is in full flow the second you walk through the gates.
During the winter season there is a variety of children’s rides open, the indoor Gruffalo boat ride and the brand new World of Jumanji area that opened earlier this year with Mandrill Mayhem, the parks first wing coaster open to the public this holiday season.
When walking through the park during the Winter’s Tail event this year the Christmas spirit seems to be very sporadic throughout the park.
From a giant Christmas tree in one area to absolutely nothing in other areas it was very hit and miss depending on where you walked.
Lined around the Christmas grotto area it looked beautiful and then 5 minutes walk down the path and there was guard rail and gates blocking off areas all very dull and bland and non-festive.
Naturally, World of Jumanji can’t be rethemed with a Christmas theme due to IP rules around certain brands and rethemes but that area aside other areas really could have used some fairy lights or Christmas theming.
Playing Christmas music around the park was a nice touch, a little goes a long way I just wish they put more care into theming the rest of the park.
A lot of areas of the entire park are closed off for this Winter event making it an even smaller space to dress up but they just didn’t bother but at night the wire displays, fairy lit areas and other spaces did feel much more festive which was a vast improvement as the darkness hid most of the unthemed / unattended space.
A lack of festive theming is something that will be mentioned on more than one occasion throughout this Chessington Winter’s Tail review.
Winter’s Tail Activities

The entrance is warm and inviting with some beautiful lighted displays around the lawn, there is a Santa’s grotto with trees lined through a forest all covered in snow for you to walkthrough, there is a ToyMakers shop for children to pick up their toys from Santa not to mention an ELF postage service scavenger hunt for children.
There’s certainly a lot of extras that have been added to the line-up for families and that’s not even mentioning the Enchanted Hollow Christmas walkthrough and the stage shows (including a brand new Jack and the Beanstalk Panto).
What I will say about the Christmas additions is the upcharge for the pleasure, you’re already paying to enter Chessington (Merlin passholders get free entry into the park) and then to be charged extra on top to meet Santa etc seems a little cheeky but they have a special Christmas Chessington package.
For £15 you can walkthrough Enchanted Hollow, meet Santa and get a toy by visiting The Toymaker Shop, that’s not TOO bad for the price but even so, it should be included in a set price before you enter.
Slots to meet Santa are non-existent so the queues were ridiculous to meet the big man himself, if these were time slotted then it would be much easier to organise but sadly it wasn’t and the queues were ridiculous, families spending hours waiting for Santa when they should be enjoying the rest of the park is never a good sight.
I feel as though this is a much better offering than what Alton Towers have where you can only meet Santa if you’re staying overnight in their rather extortionate hotels, I don’t agree with that at all.
At least Winter’s Tail is catering to the public and not charging them the earth for doing so, the £15 works out to a £5 Enchanted Hollow walkthrough (where you’re given chocolate), £5 to meet Santa and £5 for the toy. I’d say that isn’t a bad price at all! 
There are even reindeer that you can see close to the grotto which is a lovely little addition to the park for the holiday season.
Winter’s Tail Shows

Chessington have put on a variety of shows throughout the festive season with carol singers at various points of the park, a mini-stage for Christmas children’s shows featuring Elmer and the main stage hosting a Jack and the Beanstalk Panto as this 30-minute show was as cheesy as it was fun!
I’ve never seen a Pantomime before and I’m not quite sure if it was for me but I didn’t get up and walk off, It was funny in certain places and for children they absolutely loved it!
Naturally, my inner child must have enjoyed it too! 
The variety of shows is a great thing to have for Christmas but there was a lack of physical advertising around the park telling guests what time certain shows were on. The app was the only place that you could see what times the shows were on and not everyone has the app or is good enough with technology to navigate the already quite complicated (at times) Chessington app.
As far as show offering goes it’s only Legoland that can compete with Chessington this Christmas when it comes to Merlin attraction Christmas offerings but when you compare the two parks as an overall event, I’d certainly be choosing LEGOLAND over Chessington for this years best Merlin Christmas event, they just go above and beyond to make the park feel more festive!
World of Jumanji

With World of Jumanji opening until late during the winter event that only meant one thing, night rides on Mandrill Mayhem.
This brand new coaster at Chessington World of Adventures beautifully compliments the park as it surrounds the brand new area that is vibrant and immersive.
A fantastic new space for the park is complimented with this family winged rollercoaster that has launches, a spike and even an inversion.
For many brave young adventurers this rollercoaster could provide them with their first ever inversion on a rollercoaster and even for adults this coaster has an insane amount of hang time and enough thrills to keep even a die-hard thrill seeker impressed.
From the beautiful jaguar shrine which is lit up bright green at night to the wonderful station building where the lights dim before the Mandrill ride launches out of the station I was so impressed with this new area, it feels like it was built for nighttime.
As we wrap up this Chessington Winter’s Tail review we hope you have a beautiful time at at the event if you decide to visit, we enjoyed it we just wish there was a bit more festive theming scattered throughout the park. The shows are spot on, the ride offering is great, it just needs that little more more visually as you walk around the park!
Happy Holidays!
Check out our VLOG from the Winter’s Tail event below!
 
Chessington Winter’s Tail Review by Sean Evans