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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

I think the £3:50 charge for a park map is honestly a stupid move. I could accept it if it's an option like buy the lanyard and get the map free, or just get the map by itself for free. As far as I can tell, the latter option doesn't exist.
 
I'm sure I can remember Merlin introducing the map charge some years ago and withdrawing it after a short while?

I can understand it a little more these days, given the quality of the app, but the cost seems a bit steep, even with the lanyard.
 
Having looked at the pictures of Croc Drop I think the theming is fine, but I do wonder if a less dramatic thematic feature would have provided a similar effect and the money spent elsewhere.

If Merlin where not so tight fisted I wouldn’t say the above but they are so it seems illogical to spend so much on the theme
 
I get that Croc Drop isn't the best drop tower that could have been installed and I'm puzzled as to why Chessington saw it fit to erect yet another woefully low capacity ride in a park that already suffers in that regard.

But like Alton with the fairground flats, are we criticising the park for nostalgic reasons rather than accepting it is where it is and appreciating the direction of travel? I never went to Chessington as a kid so I have zero nostalgia for it unlike most. I thought is was pretty dire the last time I went, especially with what they did to Transylvania.

Even if it's a cheapo drop tower, it seems well themed like that carousel they put in the other year. I personally think it's a step forward from changing the entrance signs for Transylvania and pretending it's something else - or covering Dragon falls dragon feature with grey papier mache.

We can call it polishing a turd, but isn't Merlin the company we've all long criticised for installing expensive, headline grabbing hardware at the expense of theming and atmosphere?

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Matt.GC said:
But like Alton with the fairground flats, are we criticising the park for nostalgic reasons rather than accepting it is where it is and appreciating the direction of travel?
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Nostalgic reasons or not its questionable being branded as UKs biggest Theme Parks.
We're talking about a big company here that shouldn't of left things run to the ground to the point of disrepair, putting off installing smaller attractions just because they didn't want to.
Fair ground rides at Alton....Ok its a start; but never in a million years would I expect these type of rides coming to a THEMEpark make enthusiasts happy...That's how dire its become.
Like all on here are saying, I'm hoping they see the popularity these rides are getting and finally get their heads out of their.....and install themed flat rides, themed in respect of where they're put in the park.

Anyway I've not been to Chessington, but from what I've read on here I wont be going anytime soon but clearly its in the same state, needing attention and needing more fillers with more throughput.
 
Got nothing to do with nostalgia, I think everyone been crying out for a new ride for 20 years and Rameses was so worn out by the time it left. But when you look how Rameses was designed to Croc Drop, Rameses beats it hands down. Other than being the wrong audience.

You're right though it's definitely a step up from the last 10 years, but people were saying then when Kobra opened 10 years ago too.
 
The more I think about Croc Drop the more frustrating it becomes. The theming looks fantasic and because of this it is a visually impressive ride. Let's hope that this is maintained over the coming years. But then you see the tower poking out of the top of the crocodile jaws and you realise just how pathetic the ride itself looks. Chances are it would not have been allowed due to planning restrictions but even just another 20-30ft or so would have looked better and probably made for a better ride.

I can't comment too much on the ride itself as clearly I have never ridden it. But it is an SBF is it's obviously going to be mediocre at best.

And it is another ride with what is going to be a completely insufficient capacity. That wouldn't be so bad if Chessington was full of high capacity rides but it is not.
 
Yep, its not nostaglia, its frustration.
This is showing the park can theme things well and build impressive looking areas. But its let down by cheaping out on the hardware. They could have added multiple towers to increase capacity, or did what Thorpe did in the early 2000s and added flat rides two or three at a time to really increase the ride count. Even this year with the temporary rides AT have added four at once.
Would it really have cost that much to add another ride on the old jumbos site thats a little less themed as well as the heavily themed croc drop? At the moment Chessingtons ride count isn't expanding, but they can't cope with the number of guests they get already.
 
People need to understand that not every ride is meant for the same audience. Rameses Revenge was aimed at thrill seekers. Croc Drop is aimed at people who don't visit theme parks when its less than 10 degrees.
 
Funcone said:
People need to understand that not every ride is meant for the same audience. Rameses Revenge was aimed at thrill seekers. Croc Drop is aimed at people who don't visit theme parks when its less than 10 degrees.
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But the whole park at CWoA is no longer aimed at thrill seekers. With Rameses gone there are no inverting rides at all. So the whole park is aiming at the same audience now, but doesn't have the capacity to accommodate all those guests.
 
What is Chessie aiming at?

Assuming as a family park it's either rides everyone can ride together or rides that encompass various age ranges. Chessie was fairly good at the second one as the various rides over the age ranges meant most kids visiting every year could get on something bigger and better every time.

Rameses, Rodeo and Samurai once filled that thrill ride itch. I guess Kobra is technically the biggest thrill flat there now?

The main problem with Chessie is that there's a few good ideas around but the budget they receive means anything they do get is cheap poorly planned crap. Like the Rainforest area or Zufari.
 
Vlog cortesy of TPWW;



I have to say, Croc Drop's theming is fantastic! :)
Also, interesting to note that the Blue Barnacle doesn't have boarding aisles and air gates like Black Buccaneer had.
 
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It really would have made a lot more sense to use the space for two towers and reduce the theming somewhat , now they’re stuck with a low cap attraction and nothing they can do with that space. The giant crocodile mouth is *okay* but out of scale with the ride hardware . They could have gone for a less obvious crocodile shape with a different building design that encompassed two towers . SBF models aren’t exactly pricey and would have made a much more appealing solution
 
I do feel like it would have been better to have invested in a pair of the Zierer family towers like Liseberg, Phantasialand and Europa have. More capacity than the tower they’ve bought, respectable quality, and the option to run one tower and save money on very quiet days. They also feel far more suitable to Chessington’s market, in my opinion.

However, it’s clear they wanted to try and create a more sizeable attraction rather than just a filler. But the tower selected doesn’t feel suitable for the sort of numbers Chessington gets if it’s trying to be a more sizeable attraction. Towers are inherently low capacity though unless you are buying one in Intamin’s giant models. If Chessie had enough other supporting attractions then I’m sure this one would be fine, but as it stands it does feel like investing in a pair of them would have been better.
 
A few notes on my day at Chessington,
it was ridiculously quiet. I never thought I would see all the big rides walk on for the whole day! Since it's term time there were small queues for low capacity kiddie rides (e.g. Tiny Truckers and Jungle Rangers) but the rides for the big kids were empty. Apparently I amused the Rattlesnake operator as I got six rides (he was counting for me) including several consecutive rides because there was literally no one else over 1.4m who wasn't looking after a toddler.

Croc Drop (what you all want to know about), very unreliable being down for most of the day but when it finally got going at around 3pm I got several consecutive rides on it and it was... A bit underwhelming. Because the croc sculpture is so large you don't get much in terms of views and the drops are quite small and forceless, I think they could have used a bit more of the tower and controlled the descent a bit less. That's not to say I don't appreciate the theming as the croc sculpture is pretty impressive and I like the effects in the tower (particularly the chanting and the mist).
 
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Out of interest, does anyone know why Rattlesnake is seemingly a lot more intense than other Wild Mouse rides?

It has a standard Mouse layout, yet the brakes seem a lot sharper and, unlike any other Wild Mouse I’ve come across and despite being at a family park, it has a height restriction of 1.4 metres and seems almost as intense as the old BPB mouse.

Is or was this an intentional decision when the ride was installed? And could they have the option of easing the brakes to reduce the height restriction?
 
I think it's just that it's a Maurer - they are generally more rough and ready vs. Mack ones. That said, they do vary a lot. I have done some Mack ones where the trims kick in horribly and the ride is so slow. Others, don't. Crazy the variation!
 
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