Chessington World of Adventures is set to build a new land with a roller coaster and family-friendly attractions now that planning permission has been granted.
Merlin Entertainments’ plans to construct the new themed land to replace Chessington‘s Wild Asia area have been approved by Kingston Council
Chessington recently retired Wild Asia after 15 years of operation. The park said it was closing the land as part of a “new chapter”.
Wild Asia land to be redeveloped
The Kobra ride will remain and will be reimagined.
The new land will also include a coaster with indoor and outdoor sections, an immersive ride for families, themed play areas, sensory environments, new F&B outlets, and a shop selling exclusive merchandise.
The theme of the new land is yet to be confirmed by Chessington, but construction work is expected to start this year and be completed by 2027.
In the planning documents, Merlin said it plans to transform Chessington into a year-round theme park, and needs to keep investing in the park to compete with other local visitor attractions.
The documents say: “The ‘need’ to continue investing in the right way is critical to the resort’s success, and in doing so will help to ensure it is able to compete with other leisure/visitor attractions in the South East, e.g. Paultons Park in Hampshire and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.
“Merlin is very keen for the resort to become a year-round attraction and the indoor elements proposed in the new themed land would help this transition. This ‘evolution’ will add to the attractiveness of the resort to guests and will help to ‘smooth’ the visitor number profile, potentially reducing the summer peak and spreading this into other months.”
New experiences at Chessington
Chessington is also planning an indoor water park with pools, waterslides, play areas and lazy rivers.
Last year, the park opened the world’s first Jumanji-themed land. The £17 million ‘World of Jumanji’ land boasts three new rides, including a Jumanji coaster.
Images courtesy of Merlin
