Chessington World of Adventures

Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park and zoo in South West London, England. It lies 12 miles (19 km) south of Central London. Historically opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, a theme park was developed alongside it, opening in 1987. In 2010, the park attracted 1.4 million people. In 1984 Madame Tussauds Ltd., (later to become the Tussauds Group Ltd.) which owned Chessington Zoo decided the failing attraction, which was suffering declining visitor numbers, needed a radical make-over to restore popularity. The Director of Development, Ray Barratt, commissioned John Wardley to formulate a set of proposals to revitalize the asset. The Pearson Group (the parent company of Tussauds) backed the scheme, and a planning...