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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

To be fair, Wilde Maus XXL is a Mack mouse, and that seemed incredibly rough, with very little braking, so I think it’s more down to park/owner discretion than manufacturer, personally.
 
Matt N said:
To be fair, Wilde Maus XXL is a Mack mouse, and that seemed incredibly rough, with very little braking, so I think it’s more down to park/owner discretion than manufacturer, personally.
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Wilde Maus XXL has been modified massively and, equally, is a travelling model. You will generally find travelling models more agressive.

Maurer models are generally rougher and less well engineered than Mack ones. But with regards to trims and so on, yes that will come down, at least in part, to the park itself.

I have done 20 or 30 Mack mice and the variation is astonishing. But Rattlesnake is more agressive than nearly every one of them.
 
It's interesting as when it opened, Rattlesnake had a 1.2m restriction like other mice, but was bumped up to 1.4m but a year later. I'd hazard a guess at the higher restriction being a truer reflection of what the ride is like - think Walking Dead with its theme, although that's really silly as the hardware doesn't necessitate such a height.
 
Unpopular opinion; I didn’t personally enjoy Rattlesnake at all. My main overriding memory of it is coming off with a bright red arm from being slapped into the sides so hard; I remember the laterals were very strong, which made the ride feel very, very rough.

I can see the appeal if you’re into strong laterals and don’t necessarily mind a more fierce ride, but it’s personally one of my least favourite coasters. That being said, I don’t rate wild mouse coasters in general, as the Reverchon spinning mice I’ve done rank equally lowly, and Wilde Maus XXL wasn’t a ride I particularly enjoyed, either, although the big first drop and sheer size of that one did elevate it slightly.
 
Visited today for the first time in a good few years and the park was absolutely deserted. Felt like there were only a few hundred people there.

I've put off going back there for a while now as it's usually unbearable due to the amount of low capacity rides. I've also thought their recent investments have looked incredibly tacky but after being there today it seems they're doing a good job on a minimal budget.

The whole Tiger Rock area is a work of art in places. More specifically around the drop area where the actual *real life Tigers* roam around on the bridges. It's a really cool idea and works very well.

The Rainforest area is again very well done considering they lobbed a second hand mini log flume in the middle of it. It was hot today so I went round a few times to cool off and it's very much a soaker. Some great interaction points with the roaming Coatimundis and Capybaras around that area too.

Croc Drop is alright. Obviously the ride is a downgrade on Rameses but visually it's also inferior. The main themed structure looks a lot better in person but the queue area is basic. The effects/audio inside the ride building are a bit naff too.

All the rides were walk ons all day and most rides allowed you to stay on for multiple rerides which was nice. Don't think Towers and Thorpe allow this do they?

Great to see Vampire still going, hopefully it's got another few years left in it. Dragons Fury is still one of the best coasters in the UK.

Was pleasantly surprised today but the lack of crowds did help. It's nice to stroll around and take a park in throughout the day without rushing about.

@Matt N not liking Rattlesnake is absolutely not an unpopular opinion. It's rubbish :D
 
Thorpe allow re-rides on all coasters. Alton allow re-rides on some family rides, but generally no.

It's an oddity in the codes of safe working practises that differs between parks operated by the same company.

@Matt N and @RicketyCricket - to counter your opinions, I think Fury is vastly overrated (prefer Spinball) and love Rattesnake. How about that! :p
 
AstroDan said:
Thorpe allow re-rides on all coasters. Alton allow re-rides on some family rides, but generally no.

It's an oddity in the codes of safe working practises that differs between parks operated by the same company.

@Matt N and @RicketyCricket - to counter your opinions, I think Fury is vastly overrated (prefer Spinball) and love Rattesnake. How about that! :p
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Fair enough! I Iike Spinball too tbf but the layout on Fury is much more interesting and the longer stretches of track allow for prolonged periods of spinning.
 
AstroDan said:
@Matt N and @RicketyCricket - to counter your opinions, I think Fury is vastly overrated (prefer Spinball) and love Rattesnake. How about that! :p
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Amen to that! I still don't get the appeal of Fury, much better layout on Spinball. Happy for someone to tell me I'm wrong!

I love a bit of rough on coasters if it's worth it. This coming from seemingly the only person on this entire forum who likes Saw and gets endless enjoyment from Grand National. Thrills come first for me, comfort is a bonus.

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RicketyCricket said:
Was pleasantly surprised today but the lack of crowds did help. It's nice to stroll around and take a park in throughout the day without rushing about.
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On a quiet weekday like that Chessington is one of my favourite parks (although I haven't been in over five years as I ditched the Merlin annual pass). Staying on the dodgems for three or four cycles, riding Tiger Falls (well Dragon when I last went) twice in a row and just chilling out watching the monkeys play.

But on a weekend or holiday day with every queue over an hour it just isn't worth it.
 
RicketyCricket said:
The whole Tiger Rock area is a work of art in places. More specifically around the drop area where the actual *real life Tigers* roam around on the bridges. It's a really cool idea and works very well.
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I never understood the appeal of Tiger Rock. It's shockingly badly laid out, I don't think the idea would ever have worked with the space. What used to be a lovely open view of the ride and splashdown is now boarded off with tall wooden fences painted garishly, and a fleeting glimpse through a fence of some tigers if they happen to be out.

Most the time they keep away from the ride, you used to see more of them in their old really dated enclosure. Poor creatures

The station is an improvement because it was always bad before, but the whole attraction is so thrown together and bitty.

Rainforest area is shockingly bad for a kids area.
 
Plastic Person said:
Wasn't the original Dragon River/Falls station fairly ornate and impressive? My memories might be starting to get away from me on this one.
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I haven't been since they seemingly butchered Dragon Falls (admittedly I'm basing that on pics and vlogs rather than experiencing it for myself). It was typical Merlin fayre in its last few seasons of operation, where a once impressive attraction clearly had theming removed and was pretty much down to a bare bones flume with the odd theming Easter egg to the past being spotted here and there. Much like the Rapids at AT is at the moment.

But one thing I never thought ill of was the Dragon Falls station. It looked pretty decent before the retheme actually, to the point where it built anticipation for a ride that didn't deliver. I haven't seen the new station and I'm hoping that the overall ride itself is better than the sad state I remember it being in, but I would find it hard to believe the station, of all things, would be drastically improved. Again, I hope someone provides a pic or video's to prove my assumptions wrong.

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Guys, I have some very exciting Chessington news! According to Chessington Buzz, it would appear that Chessington is beginning the planning process to install some form of new roller coaster at the park:



Little is currently known, but it’s going on the “Picnic Field” at the south of the site along with some children’s rides, and it’s been indicated to draw upon Chessington’s master plan from 2016, so I’m thinking either a family launch coaster (listed as “Jungle Ride”) or a water coaster (listed as “Pirate Ride”) based on what that said! The plans will become visible on 17th May, and an online consultation will run from 18th-31st May, so I assume that’s when we’ll hear more!

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty exciting, personally! Chessington could really do with some new blood in its roller coaster lineup, in my opinion, seeing as their last coaster was Dragon’s Fury in 2004, so I think this is an absolutely amazing move!
EDIT: Beaten to it by @Alsty.
 
AstroDan said:
We've been crying out for a new rollercoaster or major addition of note at the park for 10 years.

Finally it's a step closer.

Hopefully it'll handle more than 500 an hour.
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Neither of the options mooted in the master plan (a family launch coaster and a water coaster) seem like particularly low capacity options, so I’m optimistic! Both ride types certainly have the potential to be people eaters, for sure!
 
Matt.GC said:
You! Optimistic? I don't believe a word of it son......

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I’ve had a tendency to be quite optimistic in previous posts, so I guess I didn’t think it would be that surprising, but if it surprises you, then fair enough; I guess you’ve learnt that I’m a bit of an optimist at times!
 
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