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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Rick said:
Also, I guess I don't agree that the Merlin parks are mediocre. I think there are some fairly sucky decisions from time to time, but on the whole they're pretty much the best we've got - so they can't really be average, at least from a UK perspective and that's all that matters to most guests.
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I was comparing Merlin parks to other European parks such as Europa Park and Phantasialand, but yes, unfortunately this is the best we've got here in the UK.
 
Benzin said:
Zufari is probably the best example of how bad planning can ruin several aspects of what should be a decent attraction... The pre show that got binned after a season, the awful loading area and the finale didn't add anything worthwhile to what should've been a simple safari experience... It needed a story like one needs a hole in the head, especially one seemingly forgotten about halfway through...

Zufari sums up Merlin's style over substance quite well, lots of good ideas, but the implementation is often left wanting... Which means that the additions never tend to go beyond 'good', maybe bordering on 'great', but never further than that... Swarm itself has some questionable design choices (the roofless station removes any potential atmosphere as an example), and similar arguments can be drawn against all their additions...
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Yes but in years to come you will all be teary eyed about how much you loved that monkey and how bad things have got since those 1st few years!
Plus in the future they will train the "wild " animals to perform a lot better for your experience.
 
monkeyboy said:
Yes but in years to come you will all be teary eyed about how much you loved that monkey and how bad things have got since those 1st few years!
Plus in the future they will train the "wild " animals to perform a lot better for your experience.
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Benzin said:
Most of Chessie's decision making is questionable anyway, particularly from an operational standpoint, and especially on Vampire (I assume they still only use one staircase for leaving the platform these days?)...
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A bit late I know but as nobody has answered this I thought I would!

All three sets of stairs are used now and the chains are gone. There's now a gate at the end of the exit pathway at the top of the stairs.
 
Just asked chessington on Facebook what they will be doing with all the animatronics/props/etc. They said they will be holding an auction for it and will be giving details in due course. Sad to see it go, but I hope I might be able to get hold of something. Also asked if they intend to make the audio availing, awaiting response.

Edit:received a fairly generic response of "more details available soon ;)" from chessington.
 
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I should be sad by this, but to be honest I'm not. Bubbleworks died in 2005 :( I'd be interested to see what's going to replace though, but I hope Chessie don't go through with bringing back Professor Burp as it would feel forced.
 
TedTheHuman said:
I should be sad by this, but to be honest I'm not. Bubbleworks died in 2005 :( I'd be interested to see what's going to replace though, but I hope Chessie don't go through with bringing back Professor Burp as it would feel forced.
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According to British dark rides project Facebook, chessington are to relese details of an IP very shortly. I'm guessing the rumors of a dream works ip aren't too far fetched.

Anyone know what the auctioned items are likely to cost? Don't know if they've done it before.
 
This is one sad sad day for UK dark rides.

Judging how Zufari and Tombs mk2 turned out, I have no faith in its replacement and expect a shouty, second class and past its best IP which will ruin cohesion in the best themed area and only be of entertainment to those under 6.
 
These parks aren't museums folks, stuff comes and goes.

Looking forward to the 'new' ride =)
 
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Could be good, but then again does Ice Age belong in Transylvania? or pretty much every I.P apart from the odd few. Mind you, Towers put Rita in UG Land. What I want, and think could be likely is Hotel Transylvania.
 
Rick said:
These parks aren't museums folks, stuff comes and goes.

Looking forward to the 'new' ride =)
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Some parks of course do keep older attractions and improve/enhance them over time... I can only imagine what would happen if Efteling announced the removal of Dreamflight...

But Bubbleworks (the REAL Bubbleworks) died a decade ago, so it really doesn't matter... It'll be an IP theme with the same ride system and nothing more...
 
Rick said:
These parks aren't museums folks, stuff comes and goes.

Looking forward to the 'new' ride =)
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Is it nice to feel so optimistic about a park that's disappointed us time and time again? I would be hopeful, but it's more than likely well get some generic kids ip with no imagination whatsoever. At least bubbleworks was an original idea, even if the ride was dead years ago.
 
I agree with those saying Bubbleworks died a while back but I really worry how the new ride will turn out regardless - especially if Scruffy Dog is involved.

#ByeByeBubbleworks is the hashtag they're using...more like #PrayForTransylvania.
 
Merlin added a "how to train your dragon" area to Heide Park this year that includes an indoor boat ride, although with chessington already having a dragon themed area not sure how that would work.
 
Ryan B said:
Could be good, but then again does Ice Age belong in Transylvania? or pretty much every I.P apart from the odd few. Mind you, Towers put Rita in UG Land. What I want, and think could be likely is Hotel Transylvania.
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I think you could be right with hotel transylvania. It's dreamworld, it's a kids film, it's fairly popular, it fits in with vampire... There is no way they can make that into a decent ride. I can see this being another CATCF, poor theming, bad story telling, the only difference being a massive tacky gift shop at the end.

Wonder what will stay from bubbleworks. Will the fountain finale survive?
 
Nah, all these IPs are too well known expensive. Kids will have heard of them! It'll be something atrocious that was popular for one summer, 15 years ago. My money is on Spy Kids. *shudders*
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Nah, all these IPs are too well known expensive. Kids will have heard of them! It'll be something atrocious that was popular for one summer, 15 years ago. My money is on Spy Kids. *shudders*
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This is the same company that built Shreks adventure in London, something that is neither popular, nor anything related to British culture. I am beginning to think that some people at merlin have kids about my age who liked something a few years decades ago and it's suddenly so cheap to get as an IP. That said though, when was hotel transylvania popular. I seem to remember that a new film came out quite recently, but it didn't do too well. Seems like it perfectly fits merlin's criteria.

And am I the only person who thinks that disney are the only parks that can get away with making animatronics of 3d animated films? They just look wrong.
 
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