So I went to Chessington for the weekend, 1) because I haven't been for months and 2) It was Benin's 21st Birthday.I had Chris in hand and off we went. Got there on Saturday about 1 o clock and went straight for the Skyway. Wonderful ride but Chessington, how many times must it be said DO SOMETHING WITH IT. It's a wonderful unqiue use of a transportation system and it is going to waste in its delapidated state. Got off and went to ride the Bubbleworks. It was starting to rain so it was sort of the right choice. We queued the whole length of the queue and it took 20 minutes. Lack of fastrackers at the park it seems, even since they changed what each fastrack offers, people seem less willing to purchase.. excellent.Bubbleworks staff were on something, trying desperately to pair up twos with whoever they damnest could. Now the rain was coming down hard so spent half an hour in Caffe Nero soaking up the atmopshere. With the rain starting to die went and rode Tomb Blaster. You can say what you want about the ride, it certainly has a sense of scale and is actually quite epic in terms of scenery and props. It fails on pace but its theming is top notch.Came out and the sun was out in full bloom. So off to Kobra and the delightful Wild Asia. There's something about this area that makes it so special but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe after several years of nothing, it was a breathe of fresh air. Whatever it is, Wild Asia works and is a real asset to the park. Kobra is lovely to, although.. a little short. Seemed to only go over the hump twice despite only a 15 minute queue.I noticed a new bit of theming in the queueLoved it. It's amazing that after years and years of Thorpe Park flat rides, one flat ride at Chessington knocks them all out of the park in terms of theme. Kobra is a delight.So afterwards, we'd had enough of rides and went for a long journey through the zoo. You guessed it, its brilliant and adds that little extra dimension over its Merlin stablemates. All animals seemed out in force, ready to pose and eat dead rats. I particularly loved the ostriches which looked ready to kill. What the area needs is some more animals though, I'd love to see giraffes on that land, they'd really suit the park to.Next was off to Rattlesnake. I love what they've done to Mexicana this year, actors seem to be roaming, wanted posters are dotted around and was it me but are some effects on Rattle now working again to? Was working well to, only a 10 minute queue. After our hotel jaunt we decided to go check in at the hotel. For Benin we'd decided to get views overlooking the safari area. We got upgraded to an executive room, top floor, overlooking the area and it was a gorgeous place to stay. I could watch animals all day long to be honest. Met Benin and Nicky and had food downstairs in their new restraunt. Great food even if the service was slightly bizarre. Much coaster chat was had before bed times. The Ostriches were watching us in the dark, very creeeeeepy.SO next morning, had breakfast (So Expensive!) and went into the park. Rattlesnake, Runaway Train, Tomb Blaster, Monkey Swinger and Dragon Falls were done before Benin and the Nickster headed home. Chris and I stayed and queued 45 minutes for Vampire (good work by the team in the station) and took advantage of a Fury breakdown and queue evacuation to only queue 10 minutes for the Fury. We took one last wlak round the zoo before leaving.It was a really nice weekend to be honest. Chessington is such a cozy little park. You don't need to rush around from ride to ride and you certainly don't require huge ride counts to have a magical experience. I want investment in the park but I also want them to stay true to the way they're running the park at the moment. Little touches and theme effects are being added all over the place such as extra theming on Dragon Falls or talking gravestones at Vampire. It really adds to a top day out.