Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Point 1 - It's a bit harsh to have a go at the park for the current state of Creaky Cafe, since that wasn't exactly planned for...

Point 2 - It's not harsh to wonder why people are happy to see an improvement "because we were expecting the least"... It really sums up the UK industry at the moment, and can be also seen with the reaction to X being so over-the-top positive because it's 'better' now... Because the standards are THAT low...

Point 3 - Scorpion Express does look bland and rather cheap... The centrepiece scorpion especially... It seems to lack that level of soul that the original had, but that was mainly down to an interesting queueline and a well presented mountain, even at it's highest levels of depreciation...

Point 4 - Market Square looks fab, and there has been plenty of praise for it, deservedly, a great example of what the parks should be looking to do when refurbing areas...

Point 5 - 2010 I remember being a very positive year for the park, what with Wild Asia looking fantastic and the rest of the park seemed set for further improvements and the like... That year went slightly south and the park has been dropping in quality ever since, that simple... Though there is nothing from both Zufari and Scorpion Express that is up there with the original quality you used to see at the park or indeed the UK as a whole... We should not be happy with mediocre, poorly planned out attractions, but asking for more, which Merlin knows they can afford, but choose not too for Chessie, whilst pissing money up the wall at bad ideas, poorly executed elsewhere...

Chessington is a very flawed park at the moment, but I do think there are improvements happening, and I have no idea why people are having such a go at it, when its in the middle of a transformation!

Scorpion Valley, is certainly not great, but its decent, and children are probably going to love it. They could have just done a flying fish, but at least they tried a bit better then that! No it's not better then the original, but where they really going to be able to build that rock work again? I doubt it when we have Merlin holding the leash.

The other improvements are all very welcome indeed, and Market Square in particular is dramatically improved.

The Zufari change, on the other hand is very crappy, and I really hope its just a short-term fix. (It probably isn't)

We can't have a go at Chessington, for not fulfilling their hopes. They are doing the best they can with the money they have been given.

It all depends on when you first visited the park, what your memories of the place is, the realisation that the owning company is completely different to back then and that times move on.

I first visited Chessie in 05, the place was an absolute ghetto. It continued like this until 2010, when it had one year of brilliance. Since then it's been a (lackof) rollercoaster ride of improvements vs frustrations. But all-in-all, the park is getting investment in the right areas and improving itself constantly.

If you're going to compare to what they had when the rides first opened and they thought chessington would be extremely profitable and busy and justified the cost.. then you'd be upset. If you wear your rose tinted specs because your first visit was enjoyable, then you'd be upset.

The park, through and through, looks far far far better than it has done the past few years. I'm genuinely impressed that they're making an effort, especially as I take chessie to heart and am one of the first to be angry and upset by chessie managing to ruin things.

Summed up: Market Square looks fantastic. Loads of the park looks fresher than it's done since the late 90s, Scorpion Express doesn't look like flying fish which is what we were probably all expecting.

HaydenCR said:

Chessington is a very flawed park at the moment, but I do think there are improvements happening, and I have no idea why people are having such a go at it, when its in the middle of a transformation!

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Without wanting to go round in circles (and with fear that I'm going to be shot down), I'm personally of the opinion that these 'transformations' should be happening during closed season - i.e. no themeing missing during open season, no rides closed for maintenance, etc (obviously with parks open all year, this cannot apply, i.e. Disney)

I understand there are many factors at play and I shouldn't be surprised by any of what's going on, but it doesn't mean I think it's acceptable. As a paying guest it is hard to reconcile the knowledge of 'big profits' with 'limited budget'. Maybe this is a downside of keeping up with the background workings of the parks?

I said the same thing about the 'new improved' London Dungeon and had replies to the effect of 'teething trouble' and 'off day'. Neither of those things are acceptable when you're paying the full price for an attraction that was advertised as the finished product.

But I don't mean to be negative - I'm glad stuff is actually happening at Chessington. It is just frustrating to see things change for what appears to be the worse - whether that be a result of nostalgia or not! (When I first visited, Mum said the park was an absolute STATE!)

Other than rubaway train that was closed for 2013 season all the work is being done in the closed season.

They are only part-way through as it is expected more work will be done in 2014/15 closed season. Particularly Dragon Falls drop theming.

jon81uk said:

Other than runaway train that was closed for 2013 season all the work is being done in the closed season.

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Actually, quite a lot of work was done last open season. Stub's Sweet Shop was done in June, so was Rattlesnake's tower theming and animatronics (some of which is still being done now), Fury had it's entrance repainted during a small period of downtime, the roof and the back of the Burnt Stub Mansion was replaced and the pathway in the Black Forest half of Transylvania had it's walls replaced.

So, the £5 million refurb in terms of general park fix ups will probably continue throughout this season.

Here in lies the issue...

These general touch-ups should not be part of some £5 million amazing plan to make the park good, they should be happening anyway...

This goes to all parks... Surprise us with unexpected refurbs, whilst spending top dollar on them... Whilst I'm not expecting the UK parks to find £2 million to spend refurbing a restaurant, I would like to see them be a lot more adventurous with everything...

Especially when some of these refurbs seem to miss the point and result in one good bit (say Rattlesnake's new flooring), and everything else looking old and tacky (Rattlesnake's fencing and tunnel)...

Absolutely shocking operations today on the Vampire. Queue reached 75 minutes by 10.30am!

I did a throughput calculation and they were averaging a dispatch time of 3min 45secs. That's a throughput of 545pph! Absolutely shocking!!

So, erm, Scorpion Express is basically mediocre...

Bland cattlepen queue, an indoor queue with no air flow/air conditioning (so will be HELL in summer), no live scorpions in the queue, the area in which the ride sits feels vast and empty, the 2d backdrop isn't tall enough to hide the backstage areas (especially when on ride), the scorpion itself is pretty damn pathetic with it's motions, and the gas bill they recieve next month will more than likely see an end to the fire effects...

In other words, a classic Merlin attraction... Lots of ideas, none of them executed with any style, grace or indeed well...

Plus I found out that the same guy designed Zufari, Swarm, Smiler AND now Scorpion Express... How this person remains in a design job I will never know...

Benzin said:

Plus I found out that the same guy designed Zufari, Swarm, Smiler AND now Scorpion Express... How this person remains in a design job I will never know...

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Who, exactly?

If I recall, staff member names on here are to remain unknown for the sake of their sanity...


Elsewhere on the park, Translyvania and Market Square look rather nice and fresh, Pirates Cove (in addition to Scorpion) has it's own remix of "Call to Adventure", Tomb Blaster was half broken (no revolving wall, dead Anubis, Snake and Mummies), the toilet facilities need desperate updating/expansion, the re-working of the dead willow tree into a sculpture is interesting, Zufari's pre-show turned queueline still has the burdenously awful Lemur and no mention of Chase, and Vampire's operational standards are still incredibly shoddy...

Didn't bother with a lot of the rides/zoo either... Amazu and Skyway both closed, Rameses died at one point (with it's new 15 person minimum and chains due to the incident last year), and Rattlesnake has had the odd bit of spruce-up (read as, new wood added in)...

Plus I found out that the same guy designed Zufari, Swarm, Smiler AND now Scorpion Express... How this person remains in a design job I will never know...

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Actually The Swarm and The Smiler were helmed by Merlin's lead creative who has worked on all major projects since Mutiny Bay (before leaving/escaping Merlin at the end of last year). The other guy who managed Sub Terra and Zufari (and now Scorpion Express) probably had a smaller role in those projects.

I don't think they have "design" roles as such, but they are involved with coming up with the ideas and executing them.

Why don't people like Scorpion Express? Having ridden it today, I was impressed. The theming is brilliant, the storyline of Scorpion Valley and the queue line announcements are a very nice touch, the staff were being interactive and all the kids were enjoying themselves. It's not intense, it has moments of speed and there is special effects. What's not to love?

Yes the ride system itself is crap, but what else could they really fit on the site that would have the same (or higher) capacity that also brings in the same number of crowds? If you ask me they've done a great job, the rest of Mexicana looks fab as well.

BenBowser said:

Why don't people like Scorpion Express?

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Because they managed to do a better job in 1987, when the 'theme park' was an entirely unknown concept within the UK, and the park wasn't managed by a company "second only to Disney"?

It's absurd to compliment a step backwards.

D4n said:

BenBowser said:

Why don't people like Scorpion Express?

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Because they managed to do a better job in 1987, when the 'theme park' was an entirely unknown concept within the UK, and the park wasn't managed by a company "second only to Disney"?

It's absurd to compliment a step backwards.

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Was the old theming better? Yes. Is it a step backwards? No.

Twenty Seven years ago, when the 'theme park' was an entirely unknown concept within the UK, people would be happy with something that looked impressive and provided fun. Now, do people want an unoriginal, Disney spin-off theming? Or do they want a dramatic, and bizarre setting?

In this day and age, people want flamethrowers and crazy steampunk theming, not a scaled down Big Thunder Mountain. It's just British culture, you can't take the same concept from America over to Britain, people have a different way of seeing things. Back when Runaway Train opened, people didn't know what they wanted from a theme park, they were told what they wanted, simply because they didn't know much about it. Now, people want a bit of drama and what I call an 'active' ride area, this doesn't necessarily mean animatronics.

Most people looked happy with Scorpion Express, especially the kids.

Ride system hasn't changed, so yeah, people will still get the same level of enjoyment from it...

However, the so-called 'story' is non-existant, it is basically there in the past tense... We are not part of a story beyond "we are adventurers seeking our fortune in this long abandoned town"... Indeed, it's a backstory...

Rides with story develop as the ride goes on (say as an example, Expedition Everest has a progressive storyline in the only manner coasters can get away with it, Grizzly Mountain is probably a slightly better example)... Scorpion Express simply has no story to develop...

Also, why did the mayor decide to build a giant scorpion out of metal? It's a very non-sensical backstory...

It worries me that Merlin seem to be approaching new attractions with a very style over substance ideal... It has fire (which is always good), and a random water spray (which is slightly weird)... But nothing else... The rest of the ride area is very bare, and the immersion is slightly ruined by the fact they couldn't seemingly be bothered to build the facade an extra couple of feet higher to hide the staff areas...

With some thinking, they could have easily built in a slightly more substanial family ride (such as a Gerst family coaster) or produced a more completely immersive experience ride (as an example, having a Mexican/Mayan temple as the focal point of the ride, bringing in an Indiana Jones style theme, having a homage to the original version, and could add the fire/water effects and have them actually fit in seemlessly)... You could even throw in a pre-show to make it REALLY interesting, have an enclosed temple themed queue-line full of interactivity (and animals if wanted)...

There are PLENTY of ways in which they could have taken the ride that would actually avoid having a very typical and bland Wild West theme (which is still what the ride's major theme is, with a randomly plonked down scorpion), with some further thinking, imagination, and all importantly, loosening the purse-strings...

As my group said on Saturday, it would be something we would expect from a park like Paultons as their first attempt at theming a major (for them) coaster... Not something from the apparent leading people in the UK industry...

But it seems between this and the likes of Angry Birds being welcomed with open arms, mediocrity is what we want, rather than reaching higher and producing truly top quality rides...

BenBowser said:

Or do they want a dramatic, and bizarre setting?

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What is dramatic about a 2D backdrop and a limp animatronic?

It's bizarre though alright, i'll give you that.

As far as fire effects and the like go; well everyone loved Tidal Wave's gas tank fireball when it worked but it was not added at the expense of quality theming and a general immersive environment.

They built a mountain in a copycat Disney style because they realised that cheap ride hardware like a figure 8 powered coaster would just look rubbish without it and provide an average ride experience!

Scorpion Express has a few quality details but in general it is just very, very average.

It's just British culture, you can't take the same concept from America over to Britain, people have a different way of seeing things. Back when Runaway Train opened, people didn't know what they wanted from a theme park, they were told what they wanted, simply because they didn't know much about it.

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Do you think Merlin actually thought about today's human psychological perception of theme park attractions, so that they could design Scorpion Express to best suit present day cultures? Also... you have a time machine and can read people's minds from 30 years ago?!

Anyway, you are simply wrong about people "being told" what to enjoy back in the day, it was the 80s after all - I wasn't even alive then and I know that! Please listen to this song. And consider The Fifth Dimension - thousands spent on big effects, animatronics and infrastructure with little marketing or publicity, perhaps the biggest ride ever built at Chessington; only to last 7 years because the British public were too cynical.

Most people looked happy with Scorpion Express, especially the kids.

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Well I completely agree with this, people being entertained is what's most important.

electricBlll said:

BenBowser said:

Most people looked happy with Scorpion Express, especially the kids.

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I completely agree with this, people being entertained is what's most important.

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To be fair it is likely that the kids would still be entertained and have fun on the ride if it was totally themeless and just plonked on gravel.

CoasterCrazyChris said:

electricBlll said:

BenBowser said:

Most people looked happy with Scorpion Express, especially the kids.

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I completely agree with this, people being entertained is what's most important.

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To be fair it is likely that the kids would still be entertained and have fun on the ride if it was totally themeless and just plonked on gravel.

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My six year old daughter pointed out the flames and scorpion with water effect and smoke.

She commented that it was better than the "boring caves" and better than Flying Fish last week!

And to be honest I quite enjoyed it too for what it is.

Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal Orlando is a much worse themed kiddie than Scorpion Express!!