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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

I admit Croc Drop doesn’t look like a Detonator or a Venom in terms of intensity by any means, but it should be fun, and should appeal to a really wide audience! I think this fits the park considerably better than Rameses did; they’re aiming for families with young children as their target market now, and I think this fits that market pretty well, whereas I always thought Rameses kind of stuck out, being one of the few (arguably the only?) thrill rides left at Chessington.

I also think that the quality of the theming looks absolutely phenomenal; that statue is so impressive, and I love the little carvings on the side! They really have gone all out here, in my opinion!

If I was to be very picky, one minor criticism I have is that I’m not personally too sure on the bright green teeth; I think they might have looked a little nicer if they were the same brown colour as the rest of the rock. That is me being incredibly harsh, though, as the rest of it looks stunning!

On the whole, though, really positive stuff; good work Chessington! I also think that the new pirate ship looks really quite nice!
 
Croc Drop continues the recent Chesssington trend of replacing something completely knackered with something better, but which is still significantly less good than the original attraction was when it first opened.

Rameses to Croc Drop
Dragon Falls to Tiger Rock
Runaway Train to Scorpion Express
Bubbleworks to Gruffalo
Even the Tomb Blaster refurbishment

What a shame these things weren't just maintained properly to begin with.

I'm sure Vampire will be replaced by a Flight of the Pterasaur clone soon enough.
 
Matt N said:
the theming looks absolutely phenomenal; that statue is so impressive, and I love the little carvings on the side! They really have gone all out here, in my opinion!
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All the existing scenic around Tomb Blaster and Rameses area is better, even though it is so dirty and worn out now so might not notice as much.

The croc head is ok but I wouldnt call it going all out, as far as big rockwork scenery goes. Phantasialand is what Id call going all out. The scenic paint job and details look really rushed too, its very beige and blobby for such a big feature dominating the area.

But yeah its much more than the park would usually do, I just wonder if the money gone to the right place.
 
For Chessington standards it looks good, but not necessarily phenomenal. The theming looks decent for what they are trying to do, but could still be better.

My main issue though is the throughput. 16 riders per cycle could definitely be better. Allocate 4-5 minutes for each cycle and throughput could be just 192-240 PPH, and that’s before doing deductions to fastrack and RAP. I think they should’ve either built two or opted for a higher capacity model, I.E 24 seater.

On the surface it’s a good replacement compared to Ramesis in it’s final few seasons but inferior from it’s prime.
 
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D4n said:
Croc Drop continues the recent Chesssington trend of replacing something completely knackered with something better, but which is still significantly less good than the original attraction was when it first opened.

Rameses to Croc Drop
Dragon Falls to Tiger Rock
Runaway Train to Scorpion Express
Bubbleworks to Gruffalo
Even the Tomb Blaster refurbishment

What a shame these things weren't just maintained properly to begin with.

I'm sure Vampire will be replaced by a Flight of the Pterasaur clone soon enough.
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You forgot 'empty field' being better than Zoofari that replaced it.
 
Danny said:
A BTS of the park during the winter months the far, including a look at the new observation tower:

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Hi does anyone know if this Behind The Scenes news segment was filmed prior to the current Lockdown? I would guess it was,as non essential travel and interviewing Chessington World Of Adventures staff would not be permitted under the current restrictions. In addition you saw the facade of Tomb Blaster for a fleeting second. This is significant to the episode being filmed a while back as if it was recent there would be building materials outside of Tomb Blaster as it is currently undergoing a refurbishment.
 
Prof Burp said:
Hi does anyone know if this Behind The Scenes news segment was filmed prior to the current Lockdown? I would guess it was,as non essential travel and interviewing Chessington World Of Adventures staff would not be permitted under the current restrictions. In addition you saw the facade of Tomb Blaster for a fleeting second. This is significant to the episode being filmed a while back as if it was recent there would be building materials outside of Tomb Blaster as it is currently undergoing a refurbishment.
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It's new and recent. It's journalism, which is absolutely allowed. Your work does not have to be essential, to travel for work you just need to not be able to work from home.

Refurbishments may have been overstated / nonsense.
 
I'd got it into my head that this thing would have 24 seats, 16 just seems woefully inadequate.

Tower rides are rarely high capacity but this one has a relatively long cycle so I guess I'd expected them them to compensate for that by having more passengers. I guess this IS Chessington we're talking about here though, the home of terrible throughputs.
 
Kids will even find that 'drop tower' dull. Showed a video to my 6 year old and he said 'is that it' ? Hahahahaha
 
Matt Creek said:
For Chessington standards it looks good, but not necessarily phenomenal. The theming looks decent for what they are trying to do, but could still be better.

My main issue though is the throughput. 16 riders per cycle could definitely be better. Allocate 4-5 minutes for each cycle and throughput could be just 192-240 PPH, and that’s before doing deductions to fastrack and RAP. I think they should’ve either built two or opted for a higher capacity model, I.E 24 seater.

On the surface it’s a good replacement compared to Ramesis in it’s final few seasons but inferior from it’s prime.
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I think it be a minute and a half to 2 minute ride cycle. I think it also depends on if the seating got to be cleaned or sprayed per ride cycle which could add 2 more minutes and then the load/unload check each seat.
So think 15/20 secs per seat check then depends with Covid will 2 members of staff check the seats or just 1. If it’s 2 members will take 2-3 mins or with 1 4-5 mins.
1) So fill seats 2 mins as parents will lift small children into the seat and then they may have baggage to store.
2) Seats pulled down and strap pulled tight/checked 2/3 min or 4/5 min
3) Staff moved away to a safety zone 1 min
4) Run ride cycle 1/half to 2 min
5) Unload and clear station 1 to 2 min
6) maybe clean/spray ride per cycle 2 mins

So really your looking at 10 mins per load cycle.
 
I doubt seats will be cleaned every cycle - towards the end of last season, most on-ride cleaning was down to 3-4 times a day, or at most once an hour for high touch points. Every cycle is completely excessive.
 
Prof Burp said:
This is significant to the episode being filmed a while back as if it was recent there would be building materials outside of Tomb Blaster as it is currently undergoing a refurbishment.
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You rumbled them, if this video was real it would have a Travis Perkins delivery truck reversing in the background for the officially confirmed return of Terror Tomb (version 13)
 
Judging by the puns in this post, I’d guess we might be getting a Croc Drop announcement tomorrow:
 
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