Chessington World of Adventures

If you have a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old who both read 'The Beano' it's fairly likely that you'll be nagged and nagged about taking them to Chessington World of Adventures. Why? Because Chessington is home to Beanoland. Imagine! You could meet Dennis the Menace! You could force your parents into the gift shop and groan until they buy you Dennis's three-way super-squirter – or you could at least wangle a Dennis lunch box out of them. Yep, as soon as we arrived there was no problem wondering which part of the park we would head for.

'There it is!' my son squealed as he spotted the entrance sign. My kids ran about shouting in jubilation at the proliferation of their favourite iconic cartoon characters plastered around the place – I was relieved at their excitement because, quite frankly, Beanoland does not have the same visual impact as, say Disneyland – this is not overkill. At first sight it looked a little bare for a theme park and I wondered if my kids weren't going to be terribly impressed.

I needn't have worried. The biggest hit here was Dennis's Madhouse – a huge soft play area, with huge guns for shooting balls and an awful 'warzone' soundtrack that seemed entirely authentic. The children ran in and were instantly out of view – they could have been on any one of the three floors – and I felt instantly stressed that I couldn't see them and sent my husband in to supervise. To my surprise he jumped at the opportunity and within seconds was in there, terrorising two-year-olds with a beaming smile on his face.

The biggest ride in Beanoland is Billy's Whizzer, a huge and very high swing roundabout that all of us were too scared to go on! Older children and adults without height phobias were loving it, though. The Bash Street Bus wasn't working sadly, but Roger the Dodger's Dodgems more than made up for it. And although that week's 'Beano' had promised that Dennis and Gnasher would be there 'in person' they weren't – we had Walter the Softy instead. Not the same.

To get over the disappointment we visited to the shop (yes, we got the super-squirter and the lunchbox), and then left Beanoland and wandered through the rest of the park – it's gorgeous. We went on Bubbleworks in Transylvania (a fab water ride with spectacular overhead showers). Hocus Pocus Hall in Market Square was great fun – you had to wear 3-D glasses and the special effects and mirrors were amazing.

The highlight had to be the Sea Storm in Pirates Cove. The sun was shining when we got on but as soon as the whirly gig ride began the heavens opened and it started not just raining, but hailing! Next were the much-needed hot doughnuts (there is something wonderfully British about this place – at times it's a bit like the most fabulous pier that doesn't smell of wee).

My favourite ride was the monorail – applause please, for getting over height phobia to board the thing – it was a Safari Skyway that took you over the animals. Having the animals there is a lovely touch – we all oohed and aahed at the big cats and the gorillas as well as several impressive creatures we couldn't identify.

As well as the bigger rides, there were loads of smaller ones that gave the kids the opportunity to drive things and press things. Some of the smaller stalls cost extra (which again reinforced that British pier ambience) but we managed to cajole the kids past them to the free ones.

All told, we loved Chessington. It's a perfect size – manageable and not overwhelming – but we still felt we'd want to come back because there was loads that we hadn't managed to do. There are lots of shows for example (Spiderman, Noddy, Basil Brush to name a few of the performing celebs) – and we didn't get to take in one.

Shows have changed since this article was written - check on the Chessington website below for current details.

Chessington World of Adventures, Surrey, is situated 12 miles from London on the A243, just two miles from the A3 and M25 (junction 9 or 10). Car parking is free. For ticket prices and more info go to Chessington World of Adventures or call 0870 444 7777