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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

PhalanaxOperativeA1127 said:
Far from it. All done on the cheap, really.

Room on the Broom: A few 2D cut outs and effects in a pre-existing building and layout.
Croc Drop: A cheap SBF drop tower.
Rainforest: Hand-me-downs from other Merlin properties. Presented nicely, admittedly but doesn't scream major investment.
Shipwreck Coast: Hand-me-downs from other Merlin properties. Presented nicely, admittedly but doesn't scream major investment.
Land of the Tiger: A cheap retheme of a 30-year old log flume, that worsened the ride experience.
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Tough gig.... What's your thoughts on Nemesis Subterra, Nemesis Reborn, Hyperia? Impressed?
 
PhalanaxOperativeA1127 said:
Far from it. All done on the cheap, really.

Room on the Broom: A few 2D cut outs and effects in a pre-existing building and layout.
Croc Drop: A cheap SBF drop tower.
Rainforest: Hand-me-downs from other Merlin properties. Presented nicely, admittedly but doesn't scream major investment.
Shipwreck Coast: Hand-me-downs from other Merlin properties. Presented nicely, admittedly but doesn't scream major investment.
Land of the Tiger: A cheap retheme of a 30-year old log flume, that worsened the ride experience.
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I believe most of it is secondhand or SBF for new hardware. A lot of rethemes involved too as well.
  • Croc Drop, Mamba Strike and Ostrich Stampede are SBF Visa
  • River Rafts and Trawler Trouble are relocations from Weymouth Sealife (the latter came via Thorpe Park)
  • Jungle Rangers is a near like for like replacement for the aging Toadies Crazy Cars from Garmendale
  • Barrel Bail Out is from Zamperla which seems to be brand new
  • Blue Barnacle is a like for like replacement for the older Black Buccaneer from Metallbau Emmeln.
  • Mandrill Mayhem (that's a brand new B&M)
 
Glen_Belt_77 said:
New for 20XX has been the Chessington way for the last decade always having 'something' new nearly every season even if a rethemed or cheaper addition. I dunno guess it shows the constant need to evolve as one new attraction opens and older one is canned
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"New for 19XX/20XX" has been the wider Merlin and, before that especially, the Tussaud's way since the modern parks began.
Glen_Belt_77 said:
Tough gig.... What's your thoughts on Nemesis Subterra, Nemesis Reborn, Hyperia? Impressed?
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Those can be discussed here, respectively:

Nemesis: Sub-Terra

What's the crack? Is it gone forever? If so why? Would at be able to claim anything back of the manufacturer for this shoddy product?
towersstreet.com towersstreet.com

Nemesis Reborn: General Discussion

We took our final rides on the original, we followed the construction, we speculated about what was to come, we tracked the timeline of developments. But now the time has come for Nemesis Reborn! And just like the ride, the time has come for a new Nemesis Reborn thread. The construction is...
towersstreet.com towersstreet.com

Is Hyperia your top UK coaster?

Hi guys. In recent days, Hyperia, the UK’s tallest and fastest roller coaster, has opened at Thorpe Park. It’s only been open for a few days thus far, but a lot of people who’ve ridden it (although admittedly not everybody) are already declaring it their top UK coaster. With this in mind, I’d be...
towersstreet.com towersstreet.com
 
Glen_Belt_77 said:
Tough gig.... What's your thoughts on Nemesis Subterra, Nemesis Reborn, Hyperia? Impressed?
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I mean, its like comparing apples & oranges in terms of investment levels.

I've never done Sub-Terra, so can't comment.
Reborn I was very impressed by. Clearly not done on the cheap, with a lot of love, thought and £££ into it.
Hyperia as a ride I like, but clearly done on the cheap side and its an ugly coaster and area to look at and be in.
 
Subterra is fun, Reborn looks good (ride no different IMO) and Hyperia is overrated and looks poor for that sort of investment but it's probably all they could do on that site in the end

Trawler Trouble has it to thank! 😆
 
PhalanaxOperativeA1127 said:
Hyperia as a ride I like, but clearly done on the cheap side and its an ugly coaster and area to look at and be in.
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Of the Merlin parks Thorpe is the one that could most accommodate an un-themed amusement park ride.

Chessington is a world of adventures, whatever that means at this point but it's most definitely a theme park so whilst the quality is often questionable, they seem to have a wider range of budget considerations in that regard whereas Thorpe can just plonk rides in generally.
 
Chessington needed investment the most out of any Merlin Park the 2 New Areas will br popular also I suspect they may continue to invest in replacing Trail of the King's and Land of the Tiger next before Overhauling Forbidden Kingdom, Wild Woods and Land of the Dragon
 
Benzin said:
Merlin "constantly" investing in Chessie?

Guessing we're forgetting what it was like pre-Jumanji.
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Benzin said:
Depends on definition of "decent".

Sort of thinking that has landed the parks into the situation where the likes of Chessie needed to close 2 areas of the park to rebuild because the place has worked off scraps for years.

The big investments are certainly down to fixing years of minimalism. As we learnt from Thorpe adding stuff just to say "we added something" doesn't help either.
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I was working at Chessington from around the time that Room On The Broom opened. The park's then Divisional Director would regularly harp on about the investment Merlin had secured for Chessington to become a resort destination like Gardaland, which requires constant investment to bring the park and resort up to that standard. This was towards the end of the Nick Varney era, so although the park WAS receiving a high volume of technically 'new' experiences like Room On The Broom, Rainforest and Croc Drop, the budgets were on the lower side, as was the execution. Fast forward to Jumanji, that was regarded as the new era for the park, as far as the level of IP, rollercoaster hardware and theming (while still being lower capacity... Chessington's throughputs are something I think that Merlin are forever ignorant towards). I think there is a lot of truth to what they were telling us, because from what we can glean from all the current rumours, announcements and construction updates, the park are investing in two IP focused lands (Paw Patrol and Minecraft) for 2025 and 2026 consecutively. Moreover, the water park is still on the cards, and we have all seen the plans for new accommodation/lodges. The proof will be in the pudding when they both open, we cannot judge the overall quality of what's being developed and constructed right now, but two new themed areas one year right after the other is a lot more than what Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Legoland have been receiving in recent years.
 
Hid said:
Chessington needed investment the most out of any Merlin Park the 2 New Areas will br popular also I suspect they may continue to invest in replacing Trail of the King's and Land of the Tiger next before Overhauling Forbidden Kingdom, Wild Woods and Land of the Dragon
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Really hedging your bets with these predictions ;)

The Big Mack said:
Chessington's throughputs are something I think that Merlin are forever ignorant towards
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Surely they are very aware but it's not prioritised because they can monetise it through fastpass? I don't think Chessington have had a real queue muncher installed since the Wardley era and unfortunately the incoming additions don't look to change that trend. If anything they seem to consistently choose some of the poorest capacity options possible.
 
The Big Mack said:
I was working at Chessington from around the time that Room On The Broom opened. The park's then Divisional Director would regularly harp on about the investment Merlin had secured for Chessington to become a resort destination like Gardaland, which requires constant investment to bring the park and resort up to that standard. This was towards the end of the Nick Varney era, so although the park WAS receiving a high volume of technically 'new' experiences like Room On The Broom, Rainforest and Croc Drop, the budgets were on the lower side, as was the execution. Fast forward to Jumanji, that was regarded as the new era for the park, as far as the level of IP, rollercoaster hardware and theming (while still being lower capacity... Chessington's throughputs are something I think that Merlin are forever ignorant towards). I think there is a lot of truth to what they were telling us, because from what we can glean from all the current rumours, announcements and construction updates, the park are investing in two IP focused lands (Paw Patrol and Minecraft) for 2025 and 2026 consecutively. Moreover, the water park is still on the cards, and we have all seen the plans for new accommodation/lodges. The proof will be in the pudding when they both open, we cannot judge the overall quality of what's being developed and constructed right now, but two new themed areas one year right after the other is a lot more than what Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Legoland have been receiving in recent years.
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Lake Garda is a bit nicer than Surbiton though.

Chessie had far more years of non/under investment compared to the other Merlin parks. Far more likely that quick succession investments within the park are more down to that most of the remainder was dead (Scorpion Express) which provides an useful reason to revamp an area, or as we've seen with some Merlin decisions, "here's an attraction, put it in somehow". Which is probably why Wild Asia is getting done up as far easier for planning permission.

The park NEEDED investment because it was a state. 10 years between Zufari and Jumanji, 2 new areas in 2 seasons doesn't make up for the rest of the time the place was picking up the scraps or at the mercy of whether Thorpe and Towers needed more budget instead. The other parks (whilst still flawed) always had some decent hardware to back it up at least.
 
Chessington needs really is capacity rides Vampire is still the highest capacity Coaster even despite not operating 3 trains as it was supposed to.

Due to 2 coasters having 4 people per car, and a Shuttle Coaster
 
The Big Mack said:
It's not so much there being an 'emotional slant'. What I am getting at is this. What Merlin park makes the most amount of business sense to invest in more continuously? It's neither Thorpe or Alton Towers, because they are receiving hardly any of the same levels of investment as constantly as Chessington. It seems my posts were misinterpreted, or I did not explain my point clearly enough. There is no emotional investment when it comes to business.
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But that’s not factually correct for Towers, and only partially correct for Thorpe.

Put aside the lack of anything of significance pre-Jumanji, Chessington has had Jumanji, and now getting project play and Mine craft.

Same time frame Towers has had full retheme of a big dark ride, rebuild of Nemesis, new big flat ride.

As for future stuff, project play is a kiddy coaster and some cheap flats, same season Towers is getting a kiddy coaster. The only apparent question mark is what occurs with Horizon, if it goes ahead then similar investment as Minecraft, if it doesn’t then sure there would be a discrepancy. To add to the confusion Towers doesn’t always need planning permission for its rides, I really doubt it will occur but Towers could have stuff planned we have no idea about.

Then there is the volume of stuff they have closed at Chessington recently, if the rumours around Land of the Tigers is true then it’s going to be a ghost town.

Honestly I think Towers and Chessington have the same problem, old rides with no maintenance, Towers have been able to re-imagine some (Alton Manor), and there was the desire to rebuild others (Nemesis), whereas Chessington are completely knocking down and rebuilding some of their older areas. It makes it look like Chessington are getting more investment but if you look at Money spent the reality is very different.

Thorpe does seem to lack consistent investment, Hyperia was an oasis in a very dry dessert.
 
Dave said:
Maintenance isn’t just mechanical, it’s clear from the post I’m talking about theming maintenance and proper refurbishments to ensure good uptime.
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You didn't specify that you said no maintenance, and yes they do sometimes maintain theming rather than no refurbs. Chessington just finished Frazzle
 
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