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Well there's a 2 hour wait just to get into the park so that's not exactly helping the situation.
I would give them probably a 2 stars from my visit last month. The covid measures were good and the park wasn't that busy, but I reckon capacity has been ramped up since then. I'd give them a 4 star for the covid measures alone at the time.Someone mentioned Chessington's trip advisor reviews. Just looking at reviews since they reopened from lockdown, its pretty grim! Nearly 60% 1 or 2 star reviews.
But the park is falling to pieces, it looks run down and the selection of rides is actually pretty dull. And no major new investment for 10 years just feels super bleak. So that gets a 1 star from me due to "merlin operations".
So a humble 2 stars overall.
djtruefitt
TS Team
There was a video chessie posted earlier saying they have reduced capacity to 60% compared to normal. However unsure if this is 60% of the guests they normally have this time of year, or if it’s based on 60% of their actual park capacity, if that’s the case then they’ll rarely hit this normally.
the issue is as far as I’m aware rides are still being ran at reduced capacity, or are still closed, so even with less guests in the park, if rides are ran as efficient as normal then the queues will be bad. Chessie is hardly known for their high throughputs.
the issue is as far as I’m aware rides are still being ran at reduced capacity, or are still closed, so even with less guests in the park, if rides are ran as efficient as normal then the queues will be bad. Chessie is hardly known for their high throughputs.
Swarm Chris
TS Member
The wording of that video said it was 60% of normal for this time of year attendance.
I have my doubts.
I have my doubts.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
What needs to happen at Chessington
1. Vampire on 3 trains
2. Tomb Blaster on 5 trains
3. Zufari on as many trucks as they have
4. Fasttrack needs to go
5. Merlin need to start work on a new rollercoaster ASAP
(And I'm not sure if even that is enough to save the park)
Edit: Just had a look at TripAdvisor, you know it is bad when you have to go back to page 7 to find a 5 star review!
1. Vampire on 3 trains
2. Tomb Blaster on 5 trains
3. Zufari on as many trucks as they have
4. Fasttrack needs to go
5. Merlin need to start work on a new rollercoaster ASAP
(And I'm not sure if even that is enough to save the park)
Edit: Just had a look at TripAdvisor, you know it is bad when you have to go back to page 7 to find a 5 star review!
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D4n
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Zadra
jon81uk
TS Member
Why shouldn't it? More people are having "staycations" and there is massive demand for holidays and days out within the UK. They should ensure attendance is reasonable to allow for some distancing, but also people need to try their best as well to distance and not be selfish. Considering the sort of wait times they normally get in the summer, those queue times alone aren't an issue when coupled with empty rows for distancing etc. The park should be managed, but it can be busy.
It is the poor management of things causing the entrance queues, not directly the number of guests being admitted.
As others have said, Chessington already has major issues with either rides that should be high throughput being poorly run so they have long waits, or just too many low capacity rides and experiences anyway. If they got rid of fast track and ran everything efficiently, they should be able to cope just fine. They also need to ensure enough catering outlets are open.
I agree that Chessington isn't being managed well, its just people complaining about ride wait times that are normal or even low for the time of year seems off. There are plenty of things to complain about other than waits!
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Find it astonishing that they can't just go a few more months without Fastrack.
"We're going through our worst ever period in terms of guest experience, let's make it even worse for them".
Merlin
"We're going through our worst ever period in terms of guest experience, let's make it even worse for them".
Merlin
jon81uk
TS Member
Find it astonishing that they can't just go a few more months without Fastrack.
"We're going through our worst ever period in terms of guest experience, let's make it even worse for them".
Merlin
the guests who buy the fastrack will have a better day. There are some reviews and things where people are angry they can’t pay to skip the long queues. some guests don’t think about how much longer it makes the wait for everyone else, they just want to pay up to skip it.
"We are going through our worst ever financial position. We are a business not a charity. When can we restart our main secondary income stream now the summer peak is coming to an end?"
Cheap season pass means less of a quality experience.
What do you expect for fifty quid a season...short queues?
Cheap season pass means less of a quality experience.
What do you expect for fifty quid a season...short queues?
Benzin
TS Member
Everything wrong with the UK park model right there tbh.
I'm glad parks like Efteling and Europa put their fingers in their ears and shout loudly when their guests complain about any lack of queue jump capability.
Of course my usage of Fastrack is far more limited these days to parks who don't offer a good disability system like Walibi Holland. It's probably interlinked with the disabled pass problem in the UK if we're honest.
jon81uk
TS Member
I completely agree
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Chessington is different though. It's a busy park in a densely populated area with an unusual amount of low capacity rides.
Towers and Thorpe can get away with it but Chessington struggles to cope at the best of times.
They make an absolute fortune every day from F&B, car parking, merchandise etc so there's no way they will be operating at anywhere near a loss without Fastrack. As I say there are only a few months left of the season - just take a small hit and play the long game for the sake of good customer service.
jon81uk
TS Member
I genuinly think this is true. Someone has thought "our guests are complaining of the wait times, so they obviously want fastrack". Whereas they should be thinking "how else can we improve the park".
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
What’s this about all of Chessington’s rides being low throughput? Admittedly I haven’t been since 2014, but I was under the impression that many of their rides were capable of ~1000pph, with some a little higher and some a little lower.
I was under the impression that the park’s theoretical throughputs for coasters were something like this:
Also, as @rob666 said, the park has lost a huge amount during lockdown that needs to be recouped.
I was under the impression that the park’s theoretical throughputs for coasters were something like this:
- Vampire: 1200pph
- Scorpion Express: 1000pph
- Dragon’s Fury: 950pph
- Rattlesnake: 900pph
Also, as @rob666 said, the park has lost a huge amount during lockdown that needs to be recouped.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
Vampire hasn't run on three trains since 2013 so capacity is more like 800pph, Tomb Blaster hasn't run on five trains for ages (or four for that matter) and now struggles to get 500pph
Zufari is frequently operated with three or fewer trucks so also gets a horrific capacity.
Zufari is frequently operated with three or fewer trucks so also gets a horrific capacity.