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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

We went today. It was manic. I agree with the above comment. The dispatching was appalling. On the bright side they extended ride close from 5 until 7 so we actually managed to get on most of what we wanted to ( the little rides as we had kids with us , no fury for me today with a 45 minute queue at least)
 
I personally have always felt sorry for the poor sod(s) who runs the Facebook account and having to deal with all that crap.
 
It wasn't that bad. Clearly they weren't expecting the amount of people who came. I only saw one queue reach 2 hours and that was the vampire when the bubbleworks closed temporarily. We had four 5 year olds with us who went home very happy. By keeping an eye on queue times we managed to pick the less busy options so managed pretty much all the kids rides.
 
Chessington have confirmed that The Gruffalo will be arriving in 2017 although they have not yet gone as far to say that it will be the new theme of Bubbleworks{
CWoA said:
We are very pleased to officially announce that there will be some exciting Gruffalo activity at Chessington in 2017. The much loved children's character has captured the imagination of a generation and is a household name for families. We are delighted to give you the opportunity to come face to face with the Gruffalo at Chessington World of Adventures Resort. To keep up to date and to find out where he is going to be living at Chessington, sign up here http://fal.cn/EOBD
© 1999 J Donaldson/ A Scheffler
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:)
 
Despite all my cynicism, I have to admit that Gruffalo model does look pretty good, but I guess that will be the only model in the whole ride.
 
As much as I hate the lack of imagination by Merlin, I don't think this is the worst IP to use. It suits Chessington.

I like that Model, the hope the ride is full of the same quality. If it is, this could be really good!

But let's face it, it'll probably have VR.
 
Lordy said:
But let's face it, it'll probably have VR.
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I doubt it will have VR since it's a water ride, but I can already imagine what it would be like. If you take off the goggles, it's just a mess of all the leftover Bubbleworks props and even the music would still be playing. Can get rid of those CD players, too expensive.
 
It's another one of those worse kept secrets, I really don't know what to expect. Disappointed to see anther IP, as it seems Merlin can't do anything original now.

I just hope it's not another Charlie, full of 2D signs and black spaces.
 
djtruefitt said:
It's another one of those worse kept secrets, I really don't know what to expect. Disappointed to see anther IP, as it seems Merlin can't do anything original now.
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It's all IPs from this point forward now. In a sense, it's good, as Merlin are beholden to a certain standard. At least, in theory, if not in practise.
 
You say that, but Charlie looked awful for years, the outside of ice age got to a sorry state last season before they re painted it, areas of CBeebies land look awful. So we will see!

I just imagine a large amount of the project budget doesn't even go on the ride, but paying to use a name. You could use all that money on making and marketing the actual ride.
 
Yes - but if people don't come into the park to ride the unknown brand ride, they won't get the money back. This is why IPs get used - because it gives the public (who are non theme park fans) something they can get excited about. This isn't a new thing, either...
 
Its a ip that can be directly marketed to kids who in turn will go to there parents and say they want to go to Chessington. Its a name that people will recognise on a park map and signage and wont leave them scratching there heads which was a major problem for the 5th dimention and most non branded darkrides.
 
I hope the theming on this will be better than the dark ride portion of How to train a dragon at Heide-Park, which is very simplistic and not particualrly high quality.
 
According to Ride Rater Chessington's looking to add more accommodation:
http://riderater.co.uk/6349/chessington-plans-45-accommodation-lodges/#more-6349

I won't make the usual points about whether Chessington's good enough to justify this much accommodation, although arguably it isn't. But I do worry that a big accommodation bubble's building up in the UK theme park industry. Alton's adding more accommodation next year. Now Chessington, and I bet it won't be long before we hear something else from Thorpe Park or Legoland. Drayton Manor has talked about a second hotel, and apparently Lightwater Valley will start on their cabins early next year. The Westmidland Safari Park is also keen to get in on the resort act. All this is at a time when the actual number of people visiting British theme parks is falling.

I know there's a lot of people who feel Merlin deserve to take a fall, but realistically if a lot of our theme parks do find themselves with rooms they can't fill, then I worry about what will happen next. There could well be a price war with tumbling prices, which would be good for enthusiasts in the short term, but it could leave the industry with debts they can't service, rooms they can't maintain and accommodation that's sucking investment from the parks. I hope this doesn't happen, but the current trend doesn't seem to be sustainable.
 
Funcone said:
Alton's adding more accommodation next year. Now Chessington, and I bet it won't be long before we hear something else from Thorpe Park or Legoland.
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You mean like the Legoland Castle Hotel opening next year?
 
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