Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Benzin]

Large plastic geotextile grid sheeting, like lots and lots of car parks use!
The grass grows through, but the cars don't sink in.
Thirty year old technology that Merlin are too tight to use.

I mean more on if they're actually allowed to do anything on there rather than complete laziness.

Wouldn't be surprised if the local council would object because more cars or whatever the locals would complain about. Green belt maybe.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Surely grid sheeting is better than the grass getting absolutely destroyed and turning into a mud bath, cars getting stuck and having to be helped out etc. I can’t see why the council would object unless they were being difficult for the sake of it.

 

[rob666]

When fitted properly it is virtually invisible...still 95% grass.

 

[MaxPower]

I thought they were granted planning permission not so long ago to sort that mess out?

 

[Matt Creek]

It’s just crazy how different two notable family parks can be, when it comes to first days/weeks opening.

Two months ago, I visited Paultons on its first day of the season and despite an earlier opening (and maybe even Christmas). Park was fine, next to everything was running with tollerable crowds, park fresh in a lot of areas, no major issues at the park.

As for Chessington, it was a different story. We had to park in the hotel car park, due to the state of lodge which made a nice change. The park in many areas looked much fresher, however the reliability was just awful. 1 of 4 (currently) coasters open, falls running just 9 boats (yes) and everything else running on lower capacity with breakdowns.

Whilst the park look’s generally the best it has for some time, what’s the point if 90% of the ride hardware is struggling and no longer fit for purpose. 500 PPH seems to be the new benchmark for high throughputs here, which is just shocking. That’s before deducting further as a result of poorly managed RAP and fastrack.

2023 could and should be a major year for the park, but unfortunately it’s looking more like what 2013 was for Towers and 2016 was for Thorpe.

 

[AT86]

Just looping back to the potential strike by the engineering team and the pay range for these roles at Merlin. It’s rare to find a job advert with a salary listed but these two recent postings have one.

Not Chessington, but since the parks are very close together I wouldn’t imagine anything too different.

No idea how these salaries stack up with similar for engineers in the South East, but considering the qualifications required, shift work, working at heights outdoors in all weather etc, it doesn’t seem particularly high to me.

 

[Islander]

Interesting. You'd normally expect electrical to pay higher than mechanical, suggesting Legoland is paying slightly less.

 

[Poisson]

A very quick skim on Indeed shows a job here in Sheffield on conti shifts for £39.5k in a similar role but indoors and it's a hell of a lot cheaper here

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Vampire’s open, the question is, is it still on one train or two?

 

[The Big Mack]

Vampire’s open, the question is, is it still on one train or two?

It's on one currently.

 

[AstroDan]

It's on one currently.

Christ. Rattle still on 3?

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[The Big Mack]

Not sure about Rattle myself.

 

[RyanUK]

Just looping back to the potential strike by the engineering team and the pay range for these roles at Merlin. It’s rare to find a job advert with a salary listed but these two recent postings have one.

Not Chessington, but since the parks are very close together I wouldn’t imagine anything too different.

No idea how these salaries stack up with similar for engineers in the South East, but considering the qualifications required, shift work, working at heights outdoors in all weather etc, it doesn’t seem particularly high to me.

You’re joking - engineers at the parks are now voting for strike action?!

 

[Poisson]

You’re joking - engineers at the parks are now voting for strike action?!

Yep. Unite members have been balloted as stated above. CWOA only I know of but if this works and the rest don't sort it out they'll walk too

 

[Islander]

The interesting point being that, without going into management levels, engineers will easily be the best paid workers at a park


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[Benzin]

You’re joking - engineers at the parks are now voting for strike action?!

Who'd think that a department so reliant on good working environment and assistance from higher ups would be frustrated at the situation at Chessington?

Strikes aren't always about better pay. Although if Merlin haven't increased wages with inflation that won't help either.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

The interesting point being that, without going into management levels, engineers will easily be the best paid workers at a park


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Where u can train up staff for many theme park roles. Maintenance staff need to go to college 1st to get the certifications required then usually work your way up to that level.

 

[RyanUK]

The whole strike situation has got quite pathetic now. If train drivers etc hadn’t started last year, I highly doubt that others would have followed.

 

[Dave]

The whole strike situation has got quite pathetic now. If train drivers etc hadn’t started last year, I highly doubt that others would have followed.

Yeah it’s because of the train drivers and nothing to do with austerity and brexit creating an average 11% pay cut in the public sector and stagnated in the private sector.

Also the train drivers went on strike AFTER the NHS and teachers. RMT doesn’t represent train drivers, ASLEF does.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Wanting better working conditions and pay is pathetic? Seems like a pretty good reason to strike to me.