Changes in Chessington World of Adventures

After years of caring for its animals and expanding its zoo, Chessington World of Adventures has this year invested in a new ride and new enclosures for its African animals. In fact, Chessington is prettier than ever, with the Flying Dumbos, which moved last year, now sporting a new livery. A further £5 million is currently being invested in further improvements to the park’s appearance, which is why the Dragon Falls log flume, the Powered Coaster Runaway Train and some of the paths are currently closed to visitors. Kicking off this movement is Zufari.

Zufari

The big novelty this year is Zufari, an installation where you are taken in a spacious off-road vehicle with a capacity of 30 people + driver to an off-road track with some surprises, where you can observe some animals. In theory, the installation can be compared to the beginning of the Jungle Safari at the Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, before you enter the jungle and the sarcasm takes over.

Zufari offers everything you would expect from a safari-based attraction. After taking the obligatory photo in the queue, or skipping it altogether, you wait to enter a pre-show room, which serves only to distract children from the wait, as the actual movie starts soon after. A monkey appears on the screen, which has already been featured beforehand. This monkey interacts with the audience in a similar way to Stitch live! from the Walt Disney Studios in Paris. Unfortunately, the commentary is rather juvenile and the animation is not very good, but the children liked it.

After boarding the truck, the very jerky and funny ride begins. Once the vegetation here is fully developed, this part of the ride will certainly give you a much greater sense of adventure than the current ride. Passing by an empty flamingo enclosure, we now come to the giraffe enclosure, where strange signs have been put up on the hall, all warning you not to go through a cave.

With a little wit and some back and forth driving, the real safari begins. There are giraffes, zebras and rhinos to be seen in the large enclosure next door, which also further enhances the hotel stay at the park.

As one of the paths is blocked, we decide to go into the cave. What awaits you in the cave is particularly pleasing for the left-hand side of the car. As is well known, Chessington adds a lot of water to some of its attractions. The fact that children are only allowed to sit in the middle seats has now been explained, as well as why the floor was so wet when we entered the ride. A waterfall at the end of the cave is the reason why the cars still drip as they enter the loading station – the only effect that was obvious from the start.

For the water-loving Brits, the finale will certainly round off the Ride into Africa, but even the Germans don’t have to worry about too much contact with water, as it’s only slightly higher than the grand finale of the dark ride Bubble Works and not as soaking wet as the wave swinger Monkey Swinger – where the drenching fountains were unfortunately not used on the day of our visit – or the Top Spin Rameses Revenge.