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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Isn’t replacing Tomb Blaster also a slightly problematic concept due to the fact that Tiger Rock’s final lift hill goes over the ride building and the supports stick through it, so you’ve got another ride to deal with during construction? Or did I imagine that?
 
Matt N said:
Isn’t replacing Tomb Blaster also a slightly problematic concept due to the fact that Tiger Rock’s final lift hill goes over the ride building and the supports stick through it, so you’ve got another ride to deal with during construction? Or did I imagine that?
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That is correct, my idea would be to have a dark ride section in the building then have runaway track around the 'croc drop' area perhaps with a barrel roll over the main path.
 
pluk said:
Animal exhibits aside, I defy anyone to find a single thing about the place that's better now than when the video was taken. So so sad.
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The entrance sign? Vampire now floorless? I've ran out of things.....

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Thameslink Rail said:
Did they do scare mazes back then?
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Not as such, but the Halloween event as a whole was vastly superior to what we have now. Proper late night opening, roaming actors/entertainers, great lighting and fog machines throughout the park, fireworks and Lazer displays.
 
I can think of a possible improvement; Dragon’s Fury didn’t exist in 1997, and that is many people’s favourite coaster at the park, is it not?

Well, it’s my favourite at Chessington anyway, or at least was when I last went in 2014. Despite all the Vampire hype, I wasn’t a huge fan of it, personally, and I must admit I was quite underwhelmed by it.
 
Chessington is nothing compared to the good old days. But it’s strange that I’ve yet to have a really bad visit, it’s got some sort of charm that makes people return.

The bigger problem is the park is stuck in a loop of being forced to refurb major rides instead of ripping out and doing new. The Rameses Revenge removal is great but again like usual it was left until it was literally dead, at least at Chessington when something is dead it gets ripped out unlike the scrapyard over at Chertsey.
 
:I've never had a bad visit to Chessington. I don't know what it is about the park but i don't feel the stress you get from other parks like Towers or Thorpe. With Towers and Thorpe, i just find myself getting annoyed at silly things. Nothing has ever bothered me in Chessington.

Positives:
I think the Explorer Glamping is great. Really relaxed environment compared to the hotels at Towers. Also, entry to Wild Asia after hours is quite nice (Food was pretty naff and expensive but there is a Beefeater down the road).
I think Land of the Tiger is a decent enough re-theme. Not Disney standard theming but at least they have smartened the area up. Tiger Rock is a fun flume.
Best spinner in Dragon Fury.
Gruffalo is a decent re-theme. Its not Bubbleworks by any stretch but bubbloeworks was becoming dated.
Reasonable Zoo, not the best but its ok.
A very good 'Go Ape'. I know it's not in the park, but it's next door if you are making a weekend of it.
Great theming in Wild Asia.
Lorrikeets.
Great theming throughout the park, just needs a bit of attention here and there.

Negatives:
Food is pants and expensive.
I think Vampire is past it now. Time to replace, doesn't justify the huge queue it always gets. There are better, more modern ride systems now that could create a better experience of flying through the woods.
Zufari is a huge waste of space and dollar (for the park).
A few niggles here and there but nothing that would ruin my day.

Overall, i really like going to the park. It's genuinely just a chilled out day. Plus, they let us stay on Tiger Rock when it was really quite. Win.
 
Sharko said:
:I've never had a bad visit to Chessington. I don't know what it is about the park but i don't feel the stress you get from other parks like Towers or Thorpe. With Towers and Thorpe, i just find myself getting annoyed at silly things. Nothing has ever bothered me in Chessington.

Positives:
I think the Explorer Glamping is great. Really relaxed environment compared to the hotels at Towers. Also, entry to Wild Asia after hours is quite nice (Food was pretty naff and expensive but there is a Beefeater down the road).
I think Land of the Tiger is a decent enough re-theme. Not Disney standard theming but at least they have smartened the area up. Tiger Rock is a fun flume.
Best spinner in Dragon Fury.
Gruffalo is a decent re-theme. Its not Bubbleworks by any stretch but bubbloeworks was becoming dated.
Reasonable Zoo, not the best but its ok.
A very good 'Go Ape'. I know it's not in the park, but it's next door if you are making a weekend of it.
Great theming in Wild Asia.
Lorrikeets.
Great theming throughout the park, just needs a bit of attention here and there.

Negatives:
Food is pants and expensive.
I think Vampire is past it now. Time to replace, doesn't justify the huge queue it always gets. There are better, more modern ride systems now that could create a better experience of flying through the woods.
Zufari is a huge waste of space and dollar (for the park).
A few niggles here and there but nothing that would ruin my day.

Overall, i really like going to the park. It's genuinely just a chilled out day. Plus, they let us stay on Tiger Rock when it was really quite. Win.
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Yep I think Zufari could have been great but is poorly operated and the finale thing just doesn't really work (would be better with an additional animal enclosure instead really).

The other major negative was the removal of the rockwork on the minetrain when it became scorpian express. With the rockwork I never realised it was a simple figure of 8.
Removal of Rameses is overall maybe a positive, it stuck out as an odd high thrill ride.
But from what I've seen the new second hand flume through a shed is pretty pants.

If everything was done to the same high standard it would be a great park, but they alternate between fantastic (Gruffalo, Wild Asia, Land of the Tiger) and awful (new second hand boat flume), scorpian express, tomb blaster.
 
The main issue of recent years at Chessie is a distinct lack of budget. Which really shows.

Zufari is the pinnacle of awful ride design. From the awful queue, pre show and station area to the finale. How any aspects of it made it through to the final design astounds me.

I've not visited Chessie in years. I don't plan to go back, as the last few visits instilled way too much annoyance regarding operations and seeing most of my childhood vanish into the scrapheap.
 
Out of all the parks I could see merlin letting go one day in the future, it’s probably this one. Or Thorpe is London resort is built (when pigs fly).

it been years since my last visit, I wanted to pop over this year. But other parks just seemed more worthwhile, especially for thrills. I’d love to see it get a new thrill coaster but I just don’t think it would make any major difference to visitor numbers in the Long term... they’d be better installing a family thrill coaster along the lines of storm chaser or even something slightly more thrilling like a GCI, and selling it as a new area like Tornado springs will. but it’s all pretty hopeless speculation in my opinion, as there will be other merlin parks ahead and more prioritised with higher capex’s than chessy.
 
I would love to give Chessington the benefit of the doubt, I grew up visiting in the mid to late 90's and now I'm am adult with no kids, so not exactly their target market.

But most of the positives listed in here are a direct result of laziness. Tiger Rock looks cool but it's only there because the previous theming had been left to rot. Same with Scorpion Express. Vampire will be next.

At one point we had our very own Efteling (I'm sure they even had the talking bins at one point too?), with unrivalled attention to detail everywhere and a lot of effort put in to ensure a positive guest experience. They're probably making more money than ever now with fastrack and hotel stays but the bare minimum is being invested back into the park.
 
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