samaugust323
TS Member
Chessington is one park which holds many childhood memories for me. I always aim on visiting the park once a year, especially because I have a merlin annual pass.
We travelled via train from Waterloo station to Chessington South. I was surprised how quick it was to get to Chessington from London.
When we got to the park, it was 9:30. Instead of holding people at the turnstiles for 10am, they stopped people at gates dotted around the park. It was nice to have a look at the Trail of the Kings before 10am, as this wasted time before the park opened. The gates opened at 10am exactly, and the stampede began... People from all gates were running in and out of each other to get to Vampire....
10:00 - Vampire
Queue Time: 0 Minutes
Rating : 7/10
Being one of Chessington's classic rides, it was the ride that built up a queue pretty instantly. We was on the second train of the day to dispatch, however as soon as we got off the ride to look at the queue, it had already reached 75 Minutes, reaching 125 Minutes later in the day. Overall, the ride was enjoyable, very rough at points. Operations on this ride were very poor. Loading was very slow!! Also, when we got off the ride, I noticed that their was no guests in the loading bays, or the station at all. Very poor organisation and communication between staff on this ride it would seem?!?
10:10 - Rattlesnake
Queue Time: 5 Minutes (Advertised) 25 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 6/10
Queue time was wrong, but can understand that it was only 10 minutes into the day. Queue was very slow moving, and 2 cars were not in operation. The main problem with this time of the day is that hotel guests get fastrack from 10am-11am. Therefore, the main queue was at a stand still. I saw the queue reach a 60 Minute queue in the day. The ride was fun, but not one that I would like to re ride in the same day.
One shocking thing that I noticed was the queue for guest services was up to the annual pass hub shop near rattlesnake. This is very appalling, especially for Ride Access Pass users, as the whole point is that they "do not understand the concept of queueing" etc.
10:40 - Scorpion Express
Queue Time: 10 Minutes (Advertised) 35 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 6/10
Again, another very slow moving queue at this time, with fastrack taking priority. Last time I went on this ride, the water effects were not working, so it was nice to see everything working on this ride. I saw this ride reach a 55 Minute queue in the day. I forgot how slow the ride goes when leaving the station. Overall, this ride is a massive improvement to the Runaway Train, and one enjoyed by the family. A good addition to Chessington.
We wanted to go on Rameses Revenge, however this was closed for a large chunk of the day. When we returned, the ride got stuck during the cycle, and we heard staff saying that they were "unable to get them down manually".
11:20 - ZUFARI: Ride Into Africa
Queue Time: 25 Minutes
Rating : 7/10
Overall, I really did enjoy this ride. The queue moved pretty quick, and staff were very fun and engaged with guests. I do think this ride needs some more animals, as their were some enclosures where we could not see anything. The last section of the ride was not fully working, as the large gush of water did not come out, instead it was just a little trickle. The maximum queue I saw for this ride was 75 Minutes towards the end of the day.
11:50 - Tomb Blaster
Queue Time: 15 Minutes (Advertised) 50 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 4/10
This really was not a great ride. I knew that the queue was not 15 minutes, as it was filling most of the outside queue, however I wanted to do this ride as it has just been refurbished. The ride was too light, slow dispatch times, and most of targets were not working. Extremely disappointed, as the original tomb blaster was a lot better than this. Queues for this reached 45 Minutes according to queue boards, however I am pretty sure it was a lot longer.
12:55 - Bubbleworks
Queue Time: 65 Minutes (Advertised) 15 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 7/10
The team could not seem to get the queue time correct for this ride. Their were times where the queue was coming out of the entrance, and they were advertising the queue as being 10 minutes, and times where the queue was just inside, and they were advertising the queue as 70 minutes. I do have a soft spot for this ride, and love it so much. The finale of the ride was excellent as always, however some of the water was pointing horizontally. Longest Queue I saw for this was advertised as 70, however it was never really correct.
13:15 - Market Square Pizza and Pasta
Lunch was nice. I would recommend pre-booking this online with the meal deal offer, as you get a free doughnut and the meal. It works out cheaper than the merlin annual pass discount. It was very busy in the restaurant, and it was almost like you had to fight for your food. We waited about 20 minutes to be seated. The food was nice, however their were times where they were running out of pizza, and we had to wait for them to cook some more.
13:45 - The Zoo
We had a quick look around the rest of the zoo, including Sea Life, Wanyama, Amazu, Penguin Bay etc. The animals are kept in very nice condition, and staff are always interacting with the animals. It was actually very enjoyable, and a good filler for the day.
14:10 - Monkey Swinger
Queue Time: 45 Minutes (Advertised) 20 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 5/10
We went on this ride, in hope that the 120 minute queue for Kobra would die down a bit. Wild Asia was probably the busiest section of the park at this time of the day. Overall, the ride was not that enjoyable as the water fountains were not working. The member of staff on this ride was very miserable, did not say a word to any guest. The ride was on a very short cycle, and the operator was not checking the number of people she was letting on the ride, as she was letting far too many people on, and then having to say " oh, you'll have to wait for the next ride".
14:35 - Kobra
Queue Time: 80 Minutes (Advertised) 60 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 7/10
This is a ride that I feel like is a must-do when you go to Chessington, so I decided to queue. Thankfully, the queue was not the full 80 minutes. The ride operator was funny, cracking some jokes to the queue. The maximum queue for this was 130 Minutes. The ride was pretty enjoyable, but something that I cannot understand why gets a queue that big. I can understand its slow loading, but seriously...
15:40 - Dragons Fury
Queue Time: 70 Minutes
Rating: 8/10
My favourite coaster on park... Again, I queued for this as it is a must-do, and the last 2 times I have been to chessington it has been shut. The queue moved pretty slow, as they were loading 2 of the cars full of fastrack, and 1 of the cars full of Ride Access Pass. This means that only 4 of the 8 cars were for the main queue. A very enjoyable ride, with helpful staff offering to put your bags in the locker etc. Also, they were asking everybody if they would prefer to go at the back or front. The longest queue of the day for this ride was 100 minutes.
17:00 - Dragon Falls
Queue Time: 50 Minutes
Rating: 7/10
Another must-do at chessington. I feel like I have never queued in the extended queue line for this ride, over the bridge. Again, staff were very friendly, giving you a hand into and out of the boats. This was a good last ride of the day, with a fast moving queue. Didnt get too wet on this ride as I remembered, but still very enjoyable. The longest that I saw the queue for this ride today was 50 minutes.
Overall, I had a good day at Chessington. Although the queues were long, I still managed to get on 10 rides. This isn't the best, however I did manage to get on everything I wanted to at least once. I hope to visit again this year when the park is quieter.
We travelled via train from Waterloo station to Chessington South. I was surprised how quick it was to get to Chessington from London.
When we got to the park, it was 9:30. Instead of holding people at the turnstiles for 10am, they stopped people at gates dotted around the park. It was nice to have a look at the Trail of the Kings before 10am, as this wasted time before the park opened. The gates opened at 10am exactly, and the stampede began... People from all gates were running in and out of each other to get to Vampire....
10:00 - Vampire
Queue Time: 0 Minutes
Rating : 7/10
Being one of Chessington's classic rides, it was the ride that built up a queue pretty instantly. We was on the second train of the day to dispatch, however as soon as we got off the ride to look at the queue, it had already reached 75 Minutes, reaching 125 Minutes later in the day. Overall, the ride was enjoyable, very rough at points. Operations on this ride were very poor. Loading was very slow!! Also, when we got off the ride, I noticed that their was no guests in the loading bays, or the station at all. Very poor organisation and communication between staff on this ride it would seem?!?
10:10 - Rattlesnake
Queue Time: 5 Minutes (Advertised) 25 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 6/10
Queue time was wrong, but can understand that it was only 10 minutes into the day. Queue was very slow moving, and 2 cars were not in operation. The main problem with this time of the day is that hotel guests get fastrack from 10am-11am. Therefore, the main queue was at a stand still. I saw the queue reach a 60 Minute queue in the day. The ride was fun, but not one that I would like to re ride in the same day.
One shocking thing that I noticed was the queue for guest services was up to the annual pass hub shop near rattlesnake. This is very appalling, especially for Ride Access Pass users, as the whole point is that they "do not understand the concept of queueing" etc.
10:40 - Scorpion Express
Queue Time: 10 Minutes (Advertised) 35 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 6/10
Again, another very slow moving queue at this time, with fastrack taking priority. Last time I went on this ride, the water effects were not working, so it was nice to see everything working on this ride. I saw this ride reach a 55 Minute queue in the day. I forgot how slow the ride goes when leaving the station. Overall, this ride is a massive improvement to the Runaway Train, and one enjoyed by the family. A good addition to Chessington.
We wanted to go on Rameses Revenge, however this was closed for a large chunk of the day. When we returned, the ride got stuck during the cycle, and we heard staff saying that they were "unable to get them down manually".
11:20 - ZUFARI: Ride Into Africa
Queue Time: 25 Minutes
Rating : 7/10
Overall, I really did enjoy this ride. The queue moved pretty quick, and staff were very fun and engaged with guests. I do think this ride needs some more animals, as their were some enclosures where we could not see anything. The last section of the ride was not fully working, as the large gush of water did not come out, instead it was just a little trickle. The maximum queue I saw for this ride was 75 Minutes towards the end of the day.
11:50 - Tomb Blaster
Queue Time: 15 Minutes (Advertised) 50 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 4/10
This really was not a great ride. I knew that the queue was not 15 minutes, as it was filling most of the outside queue, however I wanted to do this ride as it has just been refurbished. The ride was too light, slow dispatch times, and most of targets were not working. Extremely disappointed, as the original tomb blaster was a lot better than this. Queues for this reached 45 Minutes according to queue boards, however I am pretty sure it was a lot longer.
12:55 - Bubbleworks
Queue Time: 65 Minutes (Advertised) 15 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 7/10
The team could not seem to get the queue time correct for this ride. Their were times where the queue was coming out of the entrance, and they were advertising the queue as being 10 minutes, and times where the queue was just inside, and they were advertising the queue as 70 minutes. I do have a soft spot for this ride, and love it so much. The finale of the ride was excellent as always, however some of the water was pointing horizontally. Longest Queue I saw for this was advertised as 70, however it was never really correct.
13:15 - Market Square Pizza and Pasta
Lunch was nice. I would recommend pre-booking this online with the meal deal offer, as you get a free doughnut and the meal. It works out cheaper than the merlin annual pass discount. It was very busy in the restaurant, and it was almost like you had to fight for your food. We waited about 20 minutes to be seated. The food was nice, however their were times where they were running out of pizza, and we had to wait for them to cook some more.
13:45 - The Zoo
We had a quick look around the rest of the zoo, including Sea Life, Wanyama, Amazu, Penguin Bay etc. The animals are kept in very nice condition, and staff are always interacting with the animals. It was actually very enjoyable, and a good filler for the day.
14:10 - Monkey Swinger
Queue Time: 45 Minutes (Advertised) 20 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 5/10
We went on this ride, in hope that the 120 minute queue for Kobra would die down a bit. Wild Asia was probably the busiest section of the park at this time of the day. Overall, the ride was not that enjoyable as the water fountains were not working. The member of staff on this ride was very miserable, did not say a word to any guest. The ride was on a very short cycle, and the operator was not checking the number of people she was letting on the ride, as she was letting far too many people on, and then having to say " oh, you'll have to wait for the next ride".
14:35 - Kobra
Queue Time: 80 Minutes (Advertised) 60 Minutes (Actual)
Rating: 7/10
This is a ride that I feel like is a must-do when you go to Chessington, so I decided to queue. Thankfully, the queue was not the full 80 minutes. The ride operator was funny, cracking some jokes to the queue. The maximum queue for this was 130 Minutes. The ride was pretty enjoyable, but something that I cannot understand why gets a queue that big. I can understand its slow loading, but seriously...
15:40 - Dragons Fury
Queue Time: 70 Minutes
Rating: 8/10
My favourite coaster on park... Again, I queued for this as it is a must-do, and the last 2 times I have been to chessington it has been shut. The queue moved pretty slow, as they were loading 2 of the cars full of fastrack, and 1 of the cars full of Ride Access Pass. This means that only 4 of the 8 cars were for the main queue. A very enjoyable ride, with helpful staff offering to put your bags in the locker etc. Also, they were asking everybody if they would prefer to go at the back or front. The longest queue of the day for this ride was 100 minutes.
17:00 - Dragon Falls
Queue Time: 50 Minutes
Rating: 7/10
Another must-do at chessington. I feel like I have never queued in the extended queue line for this ride, over the bridge. Again, staff were very friendly, giving you a hand into and out of the boats. This was a good last ride of the day, with a fast moving queue. Didnt get too wet on this ride as I remembered, but still very enjoyable. The longest that I saw the queue for this ride today was 50 minutes.
Overall, I had a good day at Chessington. Although the queues were long, I still managed to get on 10 rides. This isn't the best, however I did manage to get on everything I wanted to at least once. I hope to visit again this year when the park is quieter.