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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Smiley said:
I just like that he thinks about the total theming (very apparent in Vampire) and that the end of the ride should be as fun as the start (also great in Vampire). He puts his signature on every project - not sure why he never made it across the pond?!
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John addressed this himself in Q&As. Whenever people asked whether he could ever work for Disney, he always said no because he felt that he’d honed his craft appealing to the British sense of humour and entertainment landscape, and that because of this, he wasn’t sure if his style would necessarily land in America.
 
Matt N said:
John addressed this himself in Q&As. Whenever people asked whether he could ever work for Disney, he always said no because he felt that he’d honed his craft appealing to the British sense of humour and entertainment landscape, and that because of this, he wasn’t sure if his style would necessarily land in America.
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He made it land in Spain with his PortAventura rides though
 
Smiley said:
I just like that he thinks about the total theming (very apparent in Vampire) and that the end of the ride should be as fun as the start (also great in Vampire). He puts his signature on every project - not sure why he never made it across the pond?!
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I find it baffling that nobody has followed in his footsteps but perhaps that’s more due to UK parks no longer being willing to follow those visions due to budgetary constraints or perhaps said talent being more enticed by the European and American parks?
 
Chessy and Legoland have worked hard - as have Paultons. If Universal come to our shores, it will be game over for a few parks. Not for anything other than people will choose a super experience rather than an Annual pass for a poor experience. At least I will!
 
Chessington I think has much potential and we are in the mid way point changing direction to IP if the IP is done well like World if Jumanji it can be great. The Minecraft IP is very powerful that they have acquired would draw in many people
 
IP can be very successful at creating a buzz, opening up new marketing channels and selling merchandise. The problem in the UK has been that a lot of IP based attractions have been short lived. Often the IP is for 5 or 10 years, and then when it expires it often doesn’t get renewed. Just looking at the Merlin attractions we’ve had Beanoland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Ride, Angry Birds Land, Black Mirror, I’m a Celebrity, Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, Star Wars Mini Land, Ice Age 4D… With Chessington you could go back to things like the Action Man attraction.

There have been some successful IPs, but often it’s been a bit like the Hare and the Tortoise where an IP themed attraction seems to be more successful in the short term, but less successful in the long term.
 
Funcone said:
IP can be very successful at creating a buzz, opening up new marketing channels and selling merchandise. The problem in the UK has been that a lot of IP based attractions have been short lived. Often the IP is for 5 or 10 years, and then when it expires it often doesn’t get renewed. Just looking at the Merlin attractions we’ve had Beanoland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Ride, Angry Birds Land, Black Mirror, I’m a Celebrity, Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, Star Wars Mini Land, Ice Age 4D… With Chessington you could go back to things like the Action Man attraction.

There have been some successful IPs, but often it’s been a bit like the Hare and the Tortoise where an IP themed attraction seems to be more successful in the short term, but less successful in the long term.
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A lot of those IPs were cut during 2016 and we all know what happened that year prior.

But also Minecraft is in a league of its own when it comes to popularity
 
Yes, but if you're replying to my message (which you might not be) I wasn't commenting on any specific IP. More the general principle of pivoting away from countries of the world, as a concept, to a range of intellectual properties.
 
Funcone said:
IP can be very successful at creating a buzz, opening up new marketing channels and selling merchandise. The problem in the UK has been that a lot of IP based attractions have been short lived. Often the IP is for 5 or 10 years, and then when it expires it often doesn’t get renewed. Just looking at the Merlin attractions we’ve had Beanoland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Ride, Angry Birds Land, Black Mirror, I’m a Celebrity, Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, Star Wars Mini Land, Ice Age 4D… With Chessington you could go back to things like the Action Man attraction.

There have been some successful IPs, but often it’s been a bit like the Hare and the Tortoise where an IP themed attraction seems to be more successful in the short term, but less successful in the long term.
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I think a lot of the IPs that were used were hit and miss which impacted how successful it is.
  • Beanoland - this certainly had the potential to be long term however I'm not sure whether the areas success or the park's direction was why this got rethemed.
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I'd say this wasn't very successful and this was because it opened at the same time or shortly after the Tim Burton movie. The big thing is that this could've been a tie in which would've been more successful however the theme is to the Quentin Blake illustrations.
  • Angry Birds - I'd say was the right idea but for the wrong park. I'd say somewhere like Alton Towers or Chessington would've been better for the IP.
  • Some of the IPs such as I'm a Celebrity, Ice Age, Sonic Spinball and Black Mirror were clearly done as short term investments
  • Sonic if done right would've been more like Super Nintendo World with a headliner launch coaster (Blue Fire Clone I have in mind).
  • Derren Brown wasn't really an IP they needed to go for. I wonder if Derren himself was involved with the ride's development hence his name being on the ride.
  • Gangsta Granny, I'd say wasn't branded correctly with it's area. It is more like "The World of Gangsta Granny" over "The World of David Walliams" with his other books being ignored.
IP can work if used correctly such as Jumanji, Gruffalo, Cbeebies and Saw however there's always the risk of it backfiring.

I can imagine the IP train won't stop anytime soon as we have Minecraft and potentially Paw Patrol on their way. There's potentially a wealth of IP they can use such as Doctor Who.

I do agree Chessington is moving from a world of adventures as in travelling the world to a world of adventures as in travelling around fictional IPs and universes.
 
owenstreet7 said:
I think a lot of the IPs that were used were hit and miss which impacted how successful it is.
  • Beanoland - this certainly had the potential to be long term however I'm not sure whether the areas success or the park's direction was why this got rethemed.
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I'd say this wasn't very successful and this was because it opened at the same time or shortly after the Tim Burton movie. The big thing is that this could've been a tie in which would've been more successful however the theme is to the Quentin Blake illustrations.
  • Angry Birds - I'd say was the right idea but for the wrong park. I'd say somewhere like Alton Towers or Chessington would've been better for the IP.
  • Some of the IPs such as I'm a Celebrity, Ice Age, Sonic Spinball and Black Mirror were clearly done as short term investments
  • Sonic if done right would've been more like Super Nintendo World with a headliner launch coaster (Blue Fire Clone I have in mind).
  • Derren Brown wasn't really an IP they needed to go for. I wonder if Derren himself was involved with the ride's development hence his name being on the ride.
  • Gangsta Granny, I'd say wasn't branded correctly with it's area. It is more like "The World of Gangsta Granny" over "The World of David Walliams" with his other books being ignored.
IP can work if used correctly such as Jumanji, Gruffalo, Cbeebies and Saw however there's always the risk of it backfiring.

I can imagine the IP train won't stop anytime soon as we have Minecraft and potentially Paw Patrol on their way. There's potentially a wealth of IP they can use such as Doctor Who.

I do agree Chessington is moving from a world of adventures as in travelling the world to a world of adventures as in travelling around fictional IPs and universes.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my childhood rides at Towers we always did it, but can understand why people dislike it for the fact it Replaced Toyland Tours a beloved classic.

Sam with Gruffalo I can never love Gruffalo for the fact it replaced Bubbleworks
 
Hid said:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my childhood rides at Towers we always did it, but can understand why people dislike it for the fact it Replaced Toyland Tours a beloved classic.

Sam with Gruffalo I can never love Gruffalo for the fact it replaced Bubbleworks
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There is a lot of nostalgia for both rides.

The big thing about Gruffalo is that it's target audience changed from a whole family experience to a young family experience with the IP choice.
 
Bowser said:
I find it baffling that nobody has followed in his footsteps but perhaps that’s more due to UK parks no longer being willing to follow those visions due to budgetary constraints or perhaps said talent being more enticed by the European and American parks?
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They’ve gone away from core principles which make theme parks and rides work as a business and conceptually.

MAP from the business side

Rides side I’d argue (in relation to Alton) the best thing they’ve installed since the wardley era (finishing with Air in 02) was Wickerman.

His books lay out his principles pretty succinctly, particularly the second.

- Rides to be enjoyed by everyone
- “Adventures” are best
- Do the unexpected
- Fun till the end
- Rides should be enjoyed off ride
- Tell a story but don’t over explain
- Reliability/throughput and experience matters
- Make it, make sense

Pretty basic stuff but there’s a lot to be for it given what Tussauds/DIC/Merlin have served up for the past 20 years.
 
Gruffalo is a vast improvement over THAT version of Bubbleworks.

Beanoland removed due to park changing direction and presumably sales of comics of its ilk dropping.

Has Jumanji been "done right"? There's very little in relation to the films in the area. Presumably for when licence runs out can be easily blandified.
 
Benzin said:
Gruffalo is a vast improvement over THAT version of Bubbleworks.

Beanoland removed due to park changing direction and presumably sales of comics of its ilk dropping.

Has Jumanji been "done right"? There's very little in relation to the films in the area. Presumably for when licence runs out can be easily blandified.
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Jumanji is set in a Jungle so the area requires a lot of Foliqge it's more based off it rather than directly integrated into it.

You can't dislike Bubbleworks that amazing animtronic unique British humour and it was fun for everyone with every scene feeling different. You can't tell me the fountain finale was magical with music, lights and fountains over head
 
Benzin said:
Has Jumanji been "done right"? There's very little in relation to the films in the area. Presumably for when licence runs out can be easily blandified.
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I'd say with the jaguar head theming and the gameboard aesthetic, I'd say it has been done right.

I'd say there could've been more Jumanji theming on the rides although it fits in it's jungle theme.

I can't help but say that there is something missing with the area.

Whether this is Mandrill Mayhem not being directly themed to Jumanji or the area possibly needing one more ride (either something that is stand out thrill like a Gyro Swing or a Sky Fly or one that is available for families with slightly younger children such as a Jet Ski), I do feel it isn't quite complete.

For what the park is aiming for, I'd say Jumanji is the right step towards the right direction.

I won't go too much into the coaster being a shuttle coaster and how it could've been better as a full circuit two train coaster as Mandrill Mayhem seems to be proving to be the ride that has the least queues and the better operations out of the lot with the worst being Vampire and Dragon's Fury.

I'd say that once Minecraft opens, I'd imagine that will offer a smaller queue than Vampire and Dragon's Fury once the hype has calmed down.

I'm not sure that it will for a while with Minecraft's popularity as I'd imagine it'd be what Hyperia is to Thorpe Park due to the IP.

That is getting consistent queues and is attracting people internationally to the park (what Thorpe Park follows up with will be interesting to see)
 
Interesting quote from Mr Wardley which reaffirms my previous statement that Minecraft will be the largest UK theme park investment in history (until Universal lol):

"I think it's a great opportunity. I feel the British parks are going to rise to the challenge. The thing to bear in mind, not many people realise this, that it's not going to be a David and Goliath situation. There's room for us all. Less people may go to mainland Europe to visit this kind of attraction, so we may see an increase in UK Staycations once we have a Universal Studios resort here. I also happen to know that what Chessington is about to do here is going to absolutely wipe the floor at anything that anyone's ever seen in the market in Britain and that's for real... and that's going to happen in a couple of years time".
 
Hid said:
You can't dislike Bubbleworks that amazing animtronic unique British humour and it was fun for everyone with every scene feeling different. You can't tell me the fountain finale was magical with music, lights and fountains over head
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The Imperial Leather version was a travesty and destroyed everything the original was.

Gruffalo at least removes that terrible taste from the mouth.


It's sad to see Wardley toeing the party line again and it being taken as gospel.
 
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