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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

zeock said:
I agree. Thorpe's rides are far superior, but the atmosphere and layout of Chessie is much better.
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Appreciate this is probably just me, but I think Thorpe has a very average ride line up. I actually prefer Dragons Fury and Vampire to pretty much all of Thorpes coasters.

Colossus - Ouch
Saw - Ouch
Swarm - Short and dull
Inferno - Below average Invert
Stealth - Incredible launch but over too quick

It's like one of those really naff looking Six Flags parks that you would skip on a US road trip, even if driving right past it.

Hopefully Exodus delivers.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Appreciate this is probably just me, but I think Thorpe has a very average ride line up. I actually prefer Dragons Fury and Vampire to pretty much all of Thorpes coasters.

Colossus - Ouch
Saw - Ouch
Swarm - Short and dull
Inferno - Below average Invert
Stealth - Incredible launch but over too quick

It's like one of those really naff looking Six Flags parks that you would skip on a US road trip, even if driving right past it.

Hopefully Exodus delivers.
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Sadly, Vampire is certainly ouch (my back!). Colossus does hurt, but I don't appreciate that Saw slander. By far the best in the park for me, at least until Exodus opens.
 
zeock said:
I agree. Thorpe's rides are far superior, but the atmosphere and layout of Chessie is much better.
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I have to agree here; Thorpe used to be a real frontrunner in overall experience but during my visits over the last couple of years, I've found it to be messy in layout and conflicting identity; with some areas needing real overhaul (Rumba Rapids I'm looking at you in particular!!!) and a lot of the coasters now riding like medieval torture devices, there's quite a feeling of neglect. I was also confused by their recent statement about portals & defined lands not being needed - I find them the best way to navigate a park, personal preference I guess. TP is just about to turn a corner and I hope it rediscovers its identity when it does.

Chessington, whilst really just a cater to the family market, wins on the overall experience, although it's not quite there yet. I like what they're doing and actually don't begrudge having to take the kids. With the new investments, Chessington will undoubtedly see a peak few years which hopefully paves the way for more improvements. I'm 31 and I enjoy it 🤷‍♀️😅
 
Chessington have the superior themed experience, but Thorpe definitely see themselves as more of an 'amusement park' than a true theme park, so I can't really compare the two. Personally I prefer Dragon's Fury to a lot of Thorpe's coasters, but then again they have The Swarm and Inferno, which are rather good in my books. Exodus will be the best coaster in the south when it opens.
 
Dave said:
I refuse to ride Saw as it gives me a headache.
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I get that; I was messing with you a little. I just find Saw's combination of airtime and forceful inversions (especially that Immelmann) very fun. Any roughness on Saw is, for me, only on the dive loop and final corner, and even that is bearable in my experiences of the attraction. Everyone has their own opinions.
 
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Funcone said:
which is why we get amazing attractions like Angry Birds Land and Derren Brown’s Ghost Train.
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I like Angry Birds Land. OK, so it was an easy conversion but what they’ve done is cool. It was this that actually made me start playing the game. 😂
zeock said:
I agree. Thorpe's rides are far superior, but the atmosphere and layout of Chessie is much better.
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In the very early days of visiting I once went looking for this area of Chessington in Thorpe Park. I could picture it in my head but just couldn’t find it. After a while I realised it was in Chessington. 🤣

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Theme Park Guide have posted another great update today with lots of pictures.

Firstly, the entrance building near the hotel car park has been partially been painted green and I think it looks awful. Looks like a Southern Railway station! Fury’s repaint is pretty much there and looks great, although a worn coloured track with bright supports now looks a little odd. As they’re close to reopening and running out of time, I’d like to think they’d repaint the track at the end of this season. Also, what is Miss Bubbleworks Washouse?


From: https://www.facebook.com/themeparkguide/posts/pfbid0zMyPXgDsdAME8w5mXLYsurYPMZ175Q6z4T7mVDwJkkW5eJBi6e85yTS8ypEVBUvKl
 
RyanUK said:
Theme Park Guide have posted another great update today with lots of pictures.

Firstly, the entrance building near the hotel car park has been partially been painted green and I think it looks awful. Looks like a Southern Railway station! Fury’s repaint is pretty much there and looks great, although a worn coloured track with bright supports now looks a little odd. As they’re close to reopening and running out of time, I’d like to think they’d repaint the track at the end of this season. Also, what is Miss Bubbleworks Washouse?


From: https://www.facebook.com/themeparkguide/posts/pfbid0zMyPXgDsdAME8w5mXLYsurYPMZ175Q6z4T7mVDwJkkW5eJBi6e85yTS8ypEVBUvKl
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I absolutely love the green! It is my favourite colour though!
 
zeock said:
Sadly, Vampire is certainly ouch (my back!). Colossus does hurt, but I don't appreciate that Saw slander. By far the best in the park for me, at least until Exodus opens.
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I love Saw but come on, at times it’s like you’ve gone 6 rounds with Tyson Fury depending on where you sit.

I’ve done it with a hangover before which was definitely a mistake.
 
jon81uk said:
Washouse like a laundry and Bubbleworks is the name of an old ride. It’s just incorporating the old ride name into a slightly themed sign.
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Miss Bubbleworks Wash house is both an Easter Egg to old rides and also part of the actor led trail with missing washing hanging on a line between the wash house and Seastorm which is part of the mystery Copnapper mystery! IMG-20220629-WA0033.jpegIMG-20220629-WA0035.jpeg
 
The inconsistency in the way money is being spent across the UK RTPs (excl. Warwick) at the moment is really interesting. Possibly frustrating.

Chessington has needed heavy investment for years, and I expect Jumanji to be the first of several medium to large investments in the coming few years. It is also good to see Chessington being smartened up - although I would argue that Chessington was probably the second best park for presentations in the four RTP parks. Legoland has always been smart, but like Chessington has suffered from a poor set of rides and low capacities. Again, this has been addressed and I expect, like Chessington, investment to continue at Legoland as, to put it plainly, it's a total cash cow.

Thorpe Park and Alton on the other hand have plenty of larger rides, but presentation is appalling in many places. Grotty, tired looking rides in many areas and cleanliness in many places is disgusting. Investment in these parks seems to be to build a large ride every few years and on the interim period - it's minimal - with poor effort in infrastructure, logistics and other. But when you see Chessington and Legoland getting smartened up - flowers, pathways etc. - to see Alton stuck with Dark Forest and so on... it's quite frustrating. I don't know why Merlin do not seek to improve the presentation of all of their parks.
 
AstroDan said:
But when you see Chessington and Legoland getting smartened up - flowers, pathways etc. - to see Alton stuck with Dark Forest and so on... it's quite frustrating. I don't know why Merlin do not seek to improve the presentation of all of their parks.
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The answer is that each park has its own management team so they individually set their own priorities. Things are on the up at Thorpe however, landscaping is being installed where Containment, a 'Quiet Zone' is being installed in the lower dome, a picnic area is replacing SAW Alive and then there's Ghost Train's retheme.

Anyway back to Chessington. It's great to see the park being freshened up like this. One would hope though that they will finally clean up the Tomb Blaster exterior, it's looking very tired and grubby.
 
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AstroDan said:
The inconsistency in the way money is being spent across the UK RTPs (excl. Warwick) at the moment is really interesting. Possibly frustrating.

Chessington has needed heavy investment for years, and I expect Jumanji to be the first of several medium to large investments in the coming few years. It is also good to see Chessington being smartened up - although I would argue that Chessington was probably the second best park for presentations in the four RTP parks. Legoland has always been smart, but like Chessington has suffered from a poor set of rides and low capacities. Again, this has been addressed and I expect, like Chessington, investment to continue at Legoland as, to put it plainly, it's a total cash cow.

Thorpe Park and Alton on the other hand have plenty of larger rides, but presentation is appalling in many places. Grotty, tired looking rides in many areas and cleanliness in many places is disgusting. Investment in these parks seems to be to build a large ride every few years and on the interim period - it's minimal - with poor effort in infrastructure, logistics and other. But when you see Chessington and Legoland getting smartened up - flowers, pathways etc. - to see Alton stuck with Dark Forest and so on... it's quite frustrating. I don't know why Merlin do not seek to improve the presentation of all of their parks.
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Looks like they may be doing it alongside the big new investments.

Next closed season we could well see similar work at Thorpe alongside the opening on Exodus. And then again at Towers for SW9.

Makes sense I guess. If they're expecting an increase in guests and press attention they will want to ensure the rest of the park is up to modern standards.
 
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