Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Legoland Windsor Resort, and Thorpe Park Resort have all announced that they will be closing and postponing the start of the 2020 theme park season due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19.
In a series of announcements on the evening of Thursday 19th March, all three southern Merlin theme park resorts confirmed that they had made the difficult decision to close their gates, or in the case of Thorpe Park Resort, postpone the start of the 2020 theme park season.
Legoland Windsor Resort
Legoland Windsor Resort confirmed in an official statement that they would be closing their theme park as of 5pm on Friday 20th March, however, the Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel would remain open.
Further to recent updates from the Government on the response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, we have taken the very difficult decision to close the LEGOLAND Windsor theme park from 5pm this Friday 20th March as a precautionary measure. The health and wellbeing of our employees and guests is always our priority and we believe that this is the right decision to continue to protect everyone.
The LEGOLAND Windsor Resort Hotel remains open for guests and we will provide updates on our website should this change at any point.
Chessington World of Adventures Resort
Similar to Legoland Windsor Resort, Chessington World of Adventures Resort also confirmed in a statement that they would be closing as of 5pm on Friday 20th March.
Further to recent updates from the Government on the response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, we have made the decision to close the Resort from Saturday 21st March 2020. We believe that this is the right decision to protect the health and wellbeing of our guests and staff.
If you have pre-booked your short break (arriving 20th March) or Theme Park tickets for this weekend, please do not travel.
Chessington World of Adventures Resort will remain closed until further notice. We are in contact with the relevant authorities and will work to reopen the Resort to guests as soon as it’s appropriate to do so. We will be contacting guests with bookings to stay at the Resort between 20th March and 25th April 2020 to advise them on how to rearrange or cancel their bookings.
Thorpe Park Resort
Thorpe Park Resort were due to hold their Annual Pass Preview day on Saturday 21st March, with the main season due to commence on Friday 27th March. In their official announcement on the evening of Thursday 19th March, the Resort confirmed that the Preview Day would be cancelled and the start of the 2020 theme park season would be postponed for the foreseeable future. The Thorpe Shark Cabins would also be closed.
Further to recent updates from the Government on the response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, we have taken the very difficult decision to postpone the opening of Thorpe Park Resort and to close our Hotel as a precautionary measure. While we have been looking forward to welcoming Passholders this weekend 21st March and guests from next 26th March, we believe that this decision is the right thing to protect the health and wellbeing of our employees and guests.
If you were due to visit us for Passholder Day on 21st March please do not travel.
Thorpe Park Resort will remain closed until further notice. We are in contact with the relevant authorities and will work to reopen the Resort to guests as soon as it’s appropriate to do so. We will be contacting guests with bookings to stay at the Resort between 26th March 2020 and 25th April to advise them on how to rearrange or cancel their bookings.
Guests with hotel bookings at all three resorts for between 19th March and 25th April have been advised that they will be contacted directly via email with the option to either re-schedule their stay or receive a full refund (minus any cancellation protection). Those with pre-booked tickets for the theme park whilst it is closed will be able to use their ticket on any day during the 2020 season for the relevant park with the exception of Fright Nights at Thorpe Park Resort.
Questionably, both Legoland Windsor Resort and Chessington World of Adventures Resort remained open throughout Friday, seeming to belligerently ignore the government’s advice given that both theme parks feature areas which funnels guests into close proximity, something which ignores the guidelines issued about the need for social distancing.
At this time, it is not clear exactly when the resort’s will be able to re-open. The resort’s will be monitoring the advice from the relevant authorities and will provide updates via their website and official social media channels.
Attraction Source will bring you all the latest updates on the ongoing situation as we have them.
