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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Just thinking about Chessington reminds me of a conversation I had with my Nan the other day. She told me that when she lived in Kent, she used to go to Chessington (when it was a zoo) as a yearly treat. She talked about how she used to like looking at the elephants, the gorillas and all the other animals. She also said that there was a ghost train and a regular train ride. When I told her what Chessington was like now, she seemed rather mortified. I firstly told her that instead of a ghost train, they now had Tomb Blaster, and I asked her if the train ride was Safari Skyway. Her response was "The train was a proper land train with a man driving it! Not some Safari Skyway Blaster thing!" She also talked about the stately home in the middle of the park (I think it's called the Burnt Stub Mansion?) and how it used to serve teas and coffees. I then told her that the Burnt Stub is now home to Hocus Pocus Hall. She didn't seem best pleased.

She then went on to reminisce about how she used to park the car and go to the turnstiles and pay £3.50 to get in. When I told her that you now paid £6 to park and £50 to get in, her response was "What? £6 to park? That's more than I paid to get in!" She also seemed flabbergasted at how they had hotels, glamping and Go Ape there now. Furthermore, when I told her that they were building Land of the Tiger for this year, her response was "They're having to market tigers as an attraction now? When I visited, they were just there!"

So, yeah; my Nan's view is that Chessington's heyday was when it was a Zoo.
 
Might interest you guys to know that Vampire turns 28 years old today! Happy Birthday! As such, Chessington have honoured it with this little Facebook post:

This post got me thinking; when do you guys think the park will get a coaster that has the same impact as Vampire did (a family coaster, of course), and how much longer do you guys think Vampire will last?

I personally reckon that the park will get a relatively large family coaster within the next 10 years, probably when their next major investment is due in 2021. As for what sort of coaster, I reckon a Juvelen-style coaster from Intamin would be a good fit. I think a similar sort of ride was detailed in Chessington's master plan a year or two ago, alongside a pirate-themed water coaster. Failing that, I reckon a GCI family woodie, like Wicker Man but a bit smaller, would be a good fit.

As for how long Vampire will last, I reckon it will last for quite a while yet, as the council have prohibited them from building a coaster of the same scale on the site. However, when I rode in 2014, I found the coaster to be a bit rough and I found that it wasn't as thrilling as a lot of people had made it out to be, and I did actually prefer Dragon's Fury as a coaster. It was still an OK ride nonetheless, though, and definitely my 2nd favourite coaster at Chessington.

Speaking of Chessington's rides, I don't actually think the park's major ride selection is outstanding, even for a family theme park. Well, it's very, very good, I guess, but it doesn't quite stack up against a park like Paultons. Granted, Dragon's Fury, Dragon Falls, ZUFARI and Tomb Blaster are very good attractions, Vampire is OK and Gruffalo looks fantastic, but:
  • Rattlesnake is horribly, horribly painful. One of the worst coasters I've ever ridden.
  • Scorpion Express has excellent theming, but the coaster itself is a bit dull when compared to a ride like RMT at Alton in terms of speed and wildness.
  • While the zoo is nice, it doesn't really stack up to other zoos I've visited in the UK, like Chester Zoo or Paignton Zoo.
Actually, in hindsight, Chessington's selection is very, very good. But I do think some of it is quite dated. The park's last major coaster was built in 2004, and their last major new ride investment was in 2013; 5 years ago. While this definitely isn't bad, I think they need some new major attractions in order to stack up against Paultons. They also need to upgrade the zoo in order to stack up against other British zoos. While I appreciate that this is easier said than done due to the park's tight planning restrictions, I do think it needs to be done in order for Chessington to stay relevant in the UK industry.​
 
FarGone said:
Rattlesnake, painful?

Assume you never got to ride Wild Mouse.
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Presuming you mean Wild Mouse at BPB, then you would be correct! Going for the first time this summer, though, so I only missed it by 1 year!

With regards to Rattlesnake, I didn't like how when it turned round the hairpins, it banged you against the side of the car really hard. I had a red elbow when I came off. Never rode it again.
 
There are plans for two new coasters iirc but they will come at the expense of something else rather than being an addition.

Chessington is good for its target market though, they don't really need much else save for perhaps another coaster to take up slack.
 
The amount of plans Chessie has had probably fills up about 5 cabinets in Burnt Stub...

Another coaster will be unlikely, the locals hate Vampire, so when that goes something of a similar scale won't replace it...

Didn't they spite the PRIME LAND behind Wild Asia for their glamping nonsense anyway?
 
I thought they bought that land to stop it being used for housing? Same thing Merlin did at Thorpe too. Using green belt for a theme park is a big no no but tptb would have no problem letting it be used for housing, they've done that round here,

Like the Ropers(?) there is only a small number of park haters in the town, I was at a house a stones throw from the gate last year and you could barely hear the rides, in fact the lorries trundling past over the potholes was louder and the house owner said barely anybody gave a flick about the park other than 'those cocks down the road'.
 
Think most complaints come from Monkey Puzzle (right under the Vampire first lift)... Back when I worked there we got told off about using the external queueline PA because they complained about the noise of it...
 
Surely any guests staying in that hotel would only be there for the park? And it's not like the ride is open in the evenings or anything.
 
IanSR said:
Chessington is good for its target market though, they don't really need much else save for perhaps another coaster to take up slack.
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I never said they weren't, because they quite clearly are. I more meant that they're don't look like the best family theme park in the UK and they aren't the best zoo, either. I suppose the great thing about Chessington is that they satisfy both markets quite well, so that they can do a "two attractions for the price of one" type thing.
 
Matt N said:
I never said they weren't, because they quite clearly are. I more meant that they're don't look like the best family theme park in the UK and they aren't the best zoo, either. I suppose the great thing about Chessington is that they satisfy both markets quite well, so that they can do a "two attractions for the price of one" type thing.
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Yup that be true indeed.
 
IanSR said:
There are plans for two new coasters iirc but they will come at the expense of something else rather than being an addition.
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Sorry to quote your post again, but presuming these two new coasters are what was detailed in the master plan, are they thought to be replacing some of the park's existing coasters, or would they replace support rides?
 
Matt N said:
Sorry to quote your post again, but presuming these two new coasters are what was detailed in the master plan, are they thought to be replacing some of the park's existing coasters, or would they replace support rides?
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I dont know, I'm only guesstimating based on what any normal person is allowed to do in green belt land nowadays, unless of course your best mate is the Secretary of State then you can do whatever you want (based on what they've allowed them to do about half a mile from me).

I'm also not sure if it was two coasters or one.
 
I'm sure with the current government anything can happen, especially with money involved. Ahem the £1 billion partnership with the DUP.
 
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