Apr 4, 2014

Best Theme Parks Near London

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Paschalis Angelopoulos

If you’re coming to one of our London summer centres, or if you’re thinking about coming, here’s a list of some amazing theme parks you can go to while staying with us! Are you a fan of big rides, amusements, games and shows? The London area will not let you down when it comes to fulfilling your thrill and entertainment needs.


Monkey

Chessington World of Adventures is one of the many theme parks near London you can visit, located just 12 miles north-west of Central London. Not just a theme park, Chessington possesses a hotel complex and a zoo with over 1,000 animals, including sea lions, gorillas, tigers and many more, split up into various sections of the park: Trail of the Kings, Creepy Caves, Penguin Cove, Wanyama Village, Sealion Bay, Children’s Zoo, and a Sea Life Centre. A brand new attraction was added last month, (March 2014), featuring two new sections: AMAZU Treetop Adventure, where you can venture across raised walkways to view monkeys from a whole new angle, and the Monkey Walkthrough, where you are allowed into the monkey enclosures to see how the monkeys are living. At Chessington there are so many different areas of the park you can explore, including Market Square, Mystic East, Pirates Cove, Transylvania, Forbidden Kingdom, Land of the Dragons (for younger children), Wild Asia (which replaced Beanoland in 2009) and Africa (which replaced Toy Town in 2010). Recently, Chessington introduced a new section of the park called the ZUFARI Animal Reserve which is overlooked by an Africa-themed hotel. As you can see, Chessington World of Adventures has an outstanding selection of attractions, rides and worlds to discover. Chessington can appeal to anyone, of any age, and is perfect for students staying at our summer centres this year!

Thorpe Park is the park that you guys will love the most. Located just 45 minutes from Central London, Thorpe Park is the perfect day out when staying at one of our London summer centres. Some of the best and most famous rides in the country are on offer at Thorpe Park. The most talked about is Stealth; the rollercoaster can be seen from miles away as the gigantic ride towers over the rest of the park, peaking at 205ft. Being a launch rollercoaster, you start at 0mph and reach 80mph in 1.8 seconds… Wow. Make sure you leave your hats at home guys, because this ride will show you the true meaning of speed; a fast and furious experience in the theme of 1950s race cars.

Colossus at Thorpe Park will leave you dizzy and confused; with 10 loops to go through in 1 minute 35 seconds, this is an experience that doesn’t come around too often. You will undergo 7 corkscrew loops in a row when riding Colossus, so it’s probably best you leave the Pizza Hut buffet until after riding…

Roller Coaster 3

Also at Thorpe Park, SAW – The Ride isn’t one for the faint hearted. The ride starts in complete darkness, before taking you on a frightening journey, launching you up and dropping you down when you least expect it, while in the presence of fake corpses and the disturbing SAW clown doll; your fears will be pushed to the limit… and that’s not all. SAW takes you on a further sequence of surprising drops, and when you think it’s all over you’re pulled upwards before being dropped straight down again just missing life-threatening sharp blades, (fake of course, but just as scary as real ones). After experiencing SAW, you can try your luck in the SAW Maze; in the maze you will walk through a succession of scary rooms and corridors, and experience some of the scenes from the SAW films.

There is so much more on offer at Thorpe Park that we couldn’t fit in, so here’s a list of some of its other amazing rides:

Rollercoasters

Roller Coaster 1
  • X – No Way Out
  • Nemesis Inferno
  • The Swarm (recently opened)
  • Flying Fish

Flat Rides

  • Rush
  • Detonator
  • Samurai
  • Slammer
  • Rocky Express
  • Quantum
  • Vortex
  • Zodiac

Water Rides

  • Logger’s Leap
  • Rumba Rapids
  • Storm Surge
  • Tidal Wave
  • Depth Charge

Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park are the two biggest theme parks close to London. Both of these parks are perfect for a brilliant day out and ideal for students studying at one of our London summer centres this year! If you haven’t quite decided to come yet hopefully these attractions will nudge you a little closer to booking your time with us so that you can enjoy what is on offer in and around the capital. So, get booking and get ready to enjoy some of England’s top theme parks.

Once you’ve explored Chessington and Thorpe Park, here are some other theme parks near London you might want to check out…

  • LEGOLAND
  • Diggerland
  • Go Ape

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