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Chessington: When was its 'golden era'?

Zeock

Zeock

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I was wondering which era of Chessington you think was the best. In my opinion, it would probably be between 1994 and 1999 with the introduction of Terror (Forbidden) Tomb, Rameses Revenge and of course Samurai (I wish that thing ran as well at Thorpe as it did at Chessington).
 
I would say 1990 to 1999 - opening of Transylvania through to Opening of Samurai .... also pre 1994 there was still 5th Dimension, and Circus world which had classic VIBES. also Basically the 90s especially the early to mid was very green and lush, clean, neat, fresh, vibrant and wholesome. Nothing had yes had time to rot etc and paintwork was all clear and clean! Also the park had lots of little side attractions and animatronics like the weather house, Frazzle the dragon (in original home) and Peeking Tom (politically incorrect interactive bin). oh and Black Forest Chateau - with its animatronic show! Vampire had its old Arrow trains! Also Summer late openings i.e. 9 or 10pm during August holidays! I remember the park all lit up in balmy summer evenings riding Dragon River and Rameses Revenge... happy days!
 
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No doubt it was the mid 90s its peak. The park looked awesome and fun, great themed rides and areas all so fresh. It was probably the UK park that got most 'finished' under one vision and quality at one snapshot in time, before directions changed. I remember the fast decline being very noticeable and disheartening at the time.
 
I first visited in 2006. A time where I probably missed the prime time by several years at least. Not to mention the ‘watered’ down Bubbleworks version Being new.

1990-2000 seems like it was the golden age for the park, given the vibe I’ve seen from older videos and the various investment and attractions. Transylvania, Ramesis, Terror Tomb, Rattlesnake and more.

The noughties looked like a weird time, with wacky (and perhaps) budgeted attractions such as Vampire MK2, Hocus Pocus Hall and Land Of The Dragons.

I Kind of feel like 2008-2016 was perhaps the lowpoint for the park, given how theming and infrastructure was falling apart and that appalling year (2013) where loads of rides were mothballed and tonnes of theming was removed.

The park has seen some improvements of recent years. But I reckon it’s still a way off where it was in the golden years. not to mention newer additions lack ideal throughputs whilst older ones have had theirs slashed back.
 
Matt Creek said:
The park has seen some improvements of recent years. But I reckon it’s still a way off where it was in the golden years. not to mention newer additions lack ideal throughputs whilst older ones have had theirs slashed back.
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I agree. Chessington is a lot better than it was when I first visited in 2014, but still a long way off from its golden years.
 
Defo 1993-2001
I remember the late nights in the summer too! Warm summer evening on dragon river followed by even more time on Ramses!

The area around the new rattlesnake had so much theming as did creepy caves. The place felt like a true themepark with adventure around every corner. Does anyone remember the cow boy show around rattlesnake? So many physical props on the buildings with bullet holes etc.

Samurai was an exciting time too. They even had a model of oblivion. (Near the back of action man. ) I think it all started to go downhill a year or two after the short lived Dennis area which to me felt cheap. That's also around the time of the vampire update and investment started drying up then and fast pass raised its ugly head.

And nobody has mentioned the flying carpet which held legendary status among school children for being dangerous and it's nothing like the one at thorpe, that thing at Chessington was huge!
 
The 90s clearly, though through those nostalgia goggles.

Chessie had a great design of a family park where every year as a kid you'd have something new to ride. Areas had a good atmosphere and were heavily distinct in style. Level of themeing also was good quality and lots of interactive bits (especially when Beanoland first opened, with a number of shows there as well).

Went downhill when focused switched to Thorpe. Though understandably as they didn't have the same restrictions that Chessie did/do in terms of bigger attractions. Being pushed towards the young family market with Thorpe as the jewel of the South made a massive difference.

Then not helped by the park essentially falling apart. Resulting in so many queues requiring re-routing because deemed dangerous. Rather than keeping on top of the maintenance. Even when I worked there the archway towards Vampire was crumbling.

However must state that the zoo is far better quality now compared to the 90s. So not everything is worse off.
 
1991 - 1993 were my golden years. Transylvania was at its best and The Fifth Dimension hadn't been dumbed down to Terror Tomb. While Samurai and Ramesis were yet to come, we had the magic carpet and the juggler (which I'm sure ran much faster than once it was rodeo) for thrills. There were also superb Halloween fireworks events.

From that point on changes were made for the worse; retheme of 5D, removal of railroad, loss of the entertainment the circus gave, dwindling events, and presentation and operations slipped rapidly.

The lineup as a whole obviously got better with Benoland and the new rides but that was always an odd ip, already of little relevance to kids and flat and 2D by its nature. A jarring area.

Once Vampire was ruined the golden years were well over.
 
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Not having done 5th Dimension but doing Terror Tomb, I really think Terror Tomb fitted better and Forbidden Kingdom was an indispensable part of Chessington.

From what Ive seen, 5th Dimension's big steel building and completely random theme could've been anywhere, although it was probably entertaining inside for those lucky to ride it.

Finishing off with Rameses and some of the other areas finished off in the mid 90s, Id say that was the park's best.

No "nostalgia goggles" for me – even as a youngster I got really turned off as the park quickly declined 2002-2009. My earliest memory is of Beanoland new so the good stuff was just still around to enjoy before things fell apart.

Luckily it's not as old and worn out now, but the present day park feels soulless and gentrified with a patchwork of IPs as its main appeal. Not for me!
 
pluk said:
1991 - 1993 were my golden years. Transylvania was at its best and The Fifth Dimension hadn't been dumbed down to Terror Tomb.
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I have to say that Terror Tomb looks better than 5th Dimension judging from POVs alone, but that is my opinion.
 
zeock said:
I have to say that Terror Tomb looks better than 5th Dimension judging from POVs alone, but that is my opinion.
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Nah, fifth dimension was incredible. It had a proper story to it that flowed with the ride and was told with humour. The effects for the time were fantastic. I don't doubt that by now it would have aged horribly if not frequently update with more modern effects (imagine!!), but as a ride experience it was a huge downgrade for me.

I don’t doubt Tomb was more popular overall though, it had a clearer theme that set appropriate expectations for riders.

Don't forget that because of how old it is and the technology at the time all the pov's are really poor quality, especially as low light recordings. It was something to experience, not watch.
 
pluk said:
Nah, fifth dimension was incredible. It had a proper story to it that flowed with the ride and was told with humour. The effects for the time were fantastic. I don't doubt that by now it would have aged horribly if not frequently update with more modern effects (imagine!!), but as a ride experience it was a huge downgrade for me.

I don’t doubt Tomb was more popular overall though, it had a clearer theme that set appropriate expectations for riders.

Don't forget that because of how old it is and the technology at the time all the pov's are really poor quality, especially as low light recordings. It was something to experience, not watch.
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Here's a documentary of the ride, both the 87' and 88' really looked spectacular. Really surprised how good it looks when they used many cheap effects that you could make at home. Too bad it was built for the wrong park. If it was built somewhere else, who knows, it might still be around to this day.


From: https://youtu.be/uuuv_z4hRbE
 
Accounting for inevitable childhood nostalgia and as an irregular visitor, if I were to pinpoint two obvious moments of notable decline it would be the Vampire refurb, which was probably a great choice from a technical and marketing perspective, but really felt like a botched job and stripped the ride of it's drama and charm. The second would be whatever point that the park suddenly became a creche for MAP holders, so some time towards the late 00s?

The park was always a bit too popular for its size at its peak, but always felt like it had plenty to do and 'something for everyone'. Then, suddenly, the operations and meagre investments unexpectedly gave it the feel of a massive branch of Gullivers World. I suppose given the planning restrictions and market at the time, quickly utilising the opportunity to split the two Southern parks between 'thrill' and 'family' made some sort of sense, but I think it was a poor move in the long-term.
 
Trooper Looper said:
Here's a documentary of the ride, both the 87' and 88' really looked spectacular. Really surprised how good it looks when they used many cheap effects that you could make at home. Too bad it was built for the wrong park. If it was built somewhere else, who knows, it might still be around to this day.


From: https://youtu.be/uuuv_z4hRbE
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Doubtful. Certainly a ride of its time in terms of storyline and theme.

Even Terror Tomb was a product of the 90s with its finale.
 
Trooper Looper said:
Really surprised how good it looks when they used many cheap effects that you could make at home
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Im not sure what was cheap about the effects, I bet UK parks would kill for animatronics that quality now. It just looked like a white elephant, a bit like Derren Brown's Ghost Train - lots of money thrown at a fundamentally flawed concept. But unlike DBGT it did look entertaining.
 
ChristmasPud said:
Im not sure what was cheap about the effects, I bet UK parks would kill for animatronics that quality now. It just looked like a white elephant, a bit like Derren Brown's Ghost Train - lots of money thrown at a fundamentally flawed concept. But unlike DBGT it did look entertaining.
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Sorry, I should've worded that better. The Animations definitely are still good quality and definitely aren't cheap, but the entire scene where you leave the station is just disco lights and chain lights in a vacuum tube, but golly does it work.

I think the rides original concept was great, but could've used tweaking in places, but nothing major, such as a better explained story before you enter the ride sequence. I think the ride sequence is great in itself, but the story before entering the actual ride needed work. I'm not a pre-show guy as you know, but I think the ride would benefit from one, like the Television screens in Hex's queue. I know the ride did this in its 88' variant, but it seems to have underutilised it. It could've worked better if the queue had more hints to the rides backstop rather than just a 3 minute Animation on loop. Simply put, a little more context should've been given before the ride sequence.
 
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