Thrilling rollercoasters, fun for little ones and now a fabulous new aquarium: all you need for the perfect family day out

After experiencing the thrills and spills of Disneyland Paris, I decided to take my five-year-old Charlie to a theme park closer to home, and this time his 18-month-old younger brother Louis came along too

We opted for the Day Planner ticket, which gives you pre-allocated time slots for some of the most popular rides. This worked a dream for the interactive Tomb Blaster (an interactive ride through an ancient tomb, armed with lasers), and Dragon Falls (a leisurely boat ride with a plunging finale - voted unanimously the best ride - ever!), but fell apart slightly towards the end due to Professor Burp's Bubbleworks having broken down. With small children it's also a headache having to race from one ride to another in order to hit your 'slot'. However, for older children I'd highly recommend it, since queues for the most thrilling rides, such as Vampire (where you're dangled above the crowds and zoomed along at breakneck speed), and Dragon's Fury (a spectacular roller coaster that elicits bloodcurdling screams from its riders) were long indeed. Queues for another sensational ride for older children, Ramses Revenge looked as terrifying as the ride itself.

In our day there we managed to hit most areas of the park. Highlights were Seastorm (a low-level but still exciting mini-roller coaster) and Berry Bouncers (a stomach-in-mouth hydraulic bouncing ride for younger children). It's worth catching the bird show in the Animal Kingdom area, where bird handlers demonstrate with birds of prey, and spending time in the Market Square, where jugglers, clowns and magicians perform throughout the day.

I chose Chessington because it seemed to have plenty to attract the younger 'adventurer', and Louis had a marvellous time on the Carousel and the Tiny Truckers (mini trains on a small circuit). (One word of warning though: if your child takes midday naps and would do so in a buggy, take your own. The ones you can hire from the park, while quite fun, are plastic and certainly not comfortable enough for a nap.)

For lunch we picked the Alpine Café in Transylvania (mwhaha ha ha ha), because it boasted children's lunchboxes and fresh sandwiches. When we arrived at 1pm, however, it had run out of sandwiches, although the kid's lunchbox did contain fruit. I would recommend taking a picnic instead, since the cafés tend to offer mainly 'fast food' and there are plenty of grassy areas for a nice sit-down.

Overall, Chessington is clean, attractive and a really great day out. It's large enough to offer plenty of fun rides and diversions - regardless of your children's ages - but small enough to be manageable in a day. Both my kids loved it.

New for 2008
A brand new aquatic attraction has opened at Chessington World of Adventures & Zoo for the start of the 2008 season: a SEA LIFE Centre with over 20 marine life displays housing species ranging from tiny shrimps and starfish to magnificent sharks and stingrays.

The 250,000 litre aquarium, which will be located within Chessington Zoo - will bring kids of all ages almost nose-to-nose with a wide range of sea creatures, creating the illusion that the visitor is on display while the fish swim freely around. Interactive touchpools, fun exhibitions and a walkthrough ocean tank will offer a final wow-experience as the fish swim overhead.

For more information, details on ticket prices and how to get there, visit www.chessington.co.uk