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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Bowser said:
Throughput doesn’t sell fast track. It’s clearly low down on the priority list if you look at every new ride since…. The start of the millennium?
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I’m not sure that going that far back is entirely fair, and I don’t believe there is a categorical ploy to reduce throughputs to increase Fastrack sales. Thirteen, Swarm and Wicker Man all have fairly decent throughputs of 1,000pph or higher and/or had measures taken to actively improve throughput (e.g. Wicker Man has 3 trains and no seatbelts, unlike most GCIs which have 2 trains and seatbelts).

However, I concede that the most recent additions (post-2020, maybe?) evidently haven’t had a strong throughput focus, with Mandrill Mayhem and Hyperia both having somewhat mediocre throughput and nothing really being built that handles a large capacity.
 
Matt N said:
I’m not sure that going that far back is entirely fair, and I don’t believe there is a categorical ploy to reduce throughputs to increase Fastrack sales. Thirteen, Swarm and Wicker Man all have fairly decent throughputs of 1,000pph or higher and/or had measures taken to actively improve throughput (e.g. Wicker Man has 3 trains and no seatbelts, unlike most GCIs which have 2 trains and seatbelts).

However, I concede that the most recent additions (post-2020, maybe?) evidently haven’t had a strong throughput focus, with Mandrill Mayhem and Hyperia both having somewhat mediocre throughput and nothing really being built that handles a large capacity.
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I was only talking about Chessington, what with it being the Chessington thread.

They’ve not built any high throughput rides since the Wardley era really. Coincidentally all the non Chessington rides you named also had his influence…
 
Bowser said:
I was only talking about Chessington, what with it being the Chessington thread.

They’ve not built any high throughput rides since the Wardley era really. Coincidentally all the non Chessington rides you named also had his influence…
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I would say Zufari is fairly high capacity
 
Bowser said:
I was only talking about Chessington, what with it being the Chessington thread.

They’ve not built any high throughput rides since the Wardley era really. Coincidentally all the non Chessington rides you named also had his influence…
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Ah, fair enough. In that case, the statement is probably one I more agree with!

It is worth me noting, though, that John Wardley had very limited influence on Wicker Man aside from reprofiling the first drop. The throughput measures would likely have been decided by Bradley Wynne and Merlin rather than John. So in that case, I don’t think Wardley is the reason for Wicker Man having decent throughput!

Certainly, though, nearly everything else built post-Wardley does seem to lack consideration for throughput.
 
Secret Weapon said:
That's an interesting point; I wonder why Chessington decided to build a boomerang rather than a full circuit ride? Was it just the novelty of being able to go backwards?
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All I can assume is that a more interesting layout would have filled the available space too much, and if they had made it a full-circuit version of what it is, it would have been a shorter ride, and not had the spike or helix. Not saying they shouldn't have done it, though, I just think the marketing people would have seen more features to the shuttle as it is, rather than a simple circuit.

Secret Weapon said:
Was "Nemesis 2" the actual name, or just a codename?

If it was the actual name then I'm confused, because John Wardley was horrified when Thorpe Park decided to call their B&M invert "Nemesis" (later changed to "Nemesis Inferno" as compromise), so I'm surprised that he wouldn't object to calling the one at Chessington 'Nemesis' as well - unless it's because (A) the Chessington ride was to be dug underground, and so would have been much more similar to the Alton Towers original, and/or (B) he perhaps had more sentimental attachment to Chessington than Thorpe Park?
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Not sure, to be honest. I never saw a model or concept art for it; I got the impression that perhaps some insiders or coaster club members were told about it once, and it just sort of got passed on by word of mouth. I saw enough to make me think it was true though.
 
Thinking about it: prior to Nemesis Inferno (and Samurai*), did any Tussauds / Merlin ride ever use the same theme or name across multiple parks?

For instance: when Ripsaw opened at Alton Towers, it didn't use the same name or theme as Rameses' Revenge from Chessington - although I assume this is because an Egyptian pharoah wouldn't have fit into Forbidden Valley

(*Samurai is a bit different, because it is literally the same ride - not simply a clone; according to "Making Thorpe Park", Tussauds did in fact consider changing its name when it moved from Chessington to Thorpe Park, but they decided not to because they wanted to signal to riders that it was the same ride, and that the thrill rides were now moving to Thorpe Park - although I suspect that perhaps they simply couldn't think of a better name!)
 
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