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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

ALL HOPE MAY NOT BE LOST FOR DRAGON FALLS!!!!!

Chessington have revealed this on thier updates page...

"Dragon Falls is being re-themed and we would like your help. Sketch your vision of what Dragon Falls should look like and you could see your design come to life and win a family Chessington Annual Pass.

If you want to help send your drawings in an email to: [email protected]

Don’t forget that Dragon Falls is located in Mystic East so will need to fit into an oriental theme"

Although the ride opens in less than a week after its rehab we could see it as something to happen between the closed season of 2013 & 2014!
 
I panicked for a moment, retheme is my least favourite word! Until I read that they are not actually changing the oriental setting (obviously all the oriental buildings are staying the same anyway).

I like how they are being open to new ideas. If some imaginative children could send in their suggestions then they could get an idea of what their audience would really enjoy. I will get sending my concept drawings in...

As long as somebody doesn't suggest a flame-throwing, man-eating, apocalyptic, shipping container dragon of death, then all could be alright next year. I trust Chessington have their own ideas of what to do anyway.
 
Um, no. Only the Ankor Wat style faces will do.

I mean, what else will they put either side of that drop that could possibly look better?
 
andyramone said:
I hope someone sends in a beautiful drafted drawing of the original Dragon Falls theming. That would be ace :D
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Done from a few different email addresses. I think we should all do it. Start a campaign. I've got photos if we need them!
 
Jared said:
andyramone said:
I hope someone sends in a beautiful drafted drawing of the original Dragon Falls theming. That would be ace :D
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Done from a few different email addresses. I think we should all do it. Start a campaign. I've got photos if we need them!
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I'm in, but cannot draw for cobblers!

If someone wants to create a singular brilliant drawing of the original stunning Dragon Falls I will be up for that also.

This smacks of bull poop to me, and confirms they are not renovating - that did NOT need a re-theme, it needed TLC.

I will absolutely back a campaign of any kind to get back the original theme at a high quality.
 
electricBlll said:
As long as somebody doesn't suggest a flame-throwing, man-eating, apocalyptic, shipping container dragon of death, then all could be alright next year. I trust Chessington have their own ideas of what to do anyway.
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Oops... I already submitted that idea. ;) It will be a surreal experience the next time I ride Dragon Falls (probably May), not seeing all that rock work. Oh well, lets hope the winner has a good imagination!
 
ScreenShot2013-04-04at191533_zpsa2e7ab5c.png


Just send them this photo. :p

TheMan said:
This smacks of bull poop to me, and confirms they are not renovating - that did NOT need a re-theme, it needed TLC.
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They are not 'retheming' in the usual understanding of the term. Dragon Falls is still going to be Dragon Falls with an oriental theme. This is a renovation, quite a big one as well. This confirms it more than anything so far.

Obviously Chessington know what they want. Like all of these pointless competitions, it is just to get people involved and see some new ideas. They won't necessarily use the suggestions, so there's no point sending the same ideas repeatedly. I think I'm right in guessing that Chessington want the old themework back as much as anybody...

Dragon Falls can have more than two stone heads and lots of rockery and still be in the spirit of the original. I hope imagination prevails in this case.
 
Amen to Electric Blll

While I would be happy for the original to return no matter how good it is you nostalgic lot are never going to like it as much. And then of course there's the likely chance it won't be as good regardless so why not let someone comes up with something original rather than fill their inbox with the same old idea?
 
Tim said:
Amen to Electric Blll

While I would be happy for the original to return no matter how good it is you nostalgic lot are never going to like it as much. And then of course there's the likely chance it won't be as good regardless so why not let someone comes up with something original rather than fill their inbox with the same old idea?
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Because the original was stunning, and sometimes things are actually worth campaigning for. Chessington had some phenomenal themes, gradually being replaced by far worse - the eatery just being one of those examples.

Merlin cannot be trusted with this, they've proven that already, they just do not have the creativity, class and style that Chessington had.

And, incidentally, you are not talking to some doe eyed bloke whose childhood memories are all there, and I have this memory and it makes me sentimental and sad etc.

I've been to the place three times. Being shown the pictures of it in it's previous incarnations, how can it be argued that is not worth restoring? Show me one, single, solitary thing that Merlin themselves have created that beats it - or for that matter, even comes close.

I am peckish, and I have a hat here ready to eat, my bet is I will be eating many a sandwich before that happens.
 
Ok the Nostalgic bit was slightly tongue in cheek :p

But you must agree that if they just re-made it again no matter how good it looks it won't be good enough.

And I agree that a new idea is likely to be less charming than the original but it's not Merlin who are sending in these ideas is it? That was the point I was getting at. They are holding a competition to see what other people come up with. Flooding the competition with pictures of the ride as it was just comes across as clinging to the old design.

Also like Blll said it’s unlikely anything will come of this so why not go nuts? ;D
 
Looking at the old style, it doesn't need much more...

The only thing to really change would be to completely hide Tomb's roof, which is probably unavoidable due to the need for the roof of it to open when it's really hot...


Indeed, Falls isn't the area of Mystic East which needs excessive renovating, the front end is dire due to the themeless trampolines and the terrible Peeking Heights... Time for them to go and get a new ride (Firework themed Teacups anyone?) as well as creating some unique bit of theming/shops/restaurants to go with it...
 


Obviously the contest winners design probably won't be used, but still it prompted me to have a bit of fun! I know a lot of people are (understandably) attached to the old design, but personally I would like to see the theme shift more towards the mystic dragon theme, rather than any new construction be a replica of the real world. In my opinion, theme parks are for escape, and exaggerate reality, not painstakingly replicate it!

Just a bit of explanation of my design here (apologies for the quality, literally a half hour thing to develop my idea) the old Buddha has been replaced with steps up to the dragon temple. I wanted to include a covered area for the large turnaround before the drop, and here I would implement audio / animatronics of a baby dragon sneezing and sending you out and to the drop.

The larger dragon would be a basic animatronic, with the head and jaw being able to move. The dragon on the right would be carved into the wall too.

_Tayler
 
TheMan said:
Show me one, single, solitary thing that Merlin themselves have created that beats it - or for that matter, even comes close.
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Beanoland to Wild Asia. That was Merlin's first significant move with Chessington, and brilliant. Under the new management, there was a conscious effort to move the park back towards the original "world of adventures" concept, and away from comic book tie-ins and fictional dragons.

To be pedantic, there's no such thing as Merlin creating things themselves, the process is more complex than that. The initial designs are completed by the parks' own creative teams, then green lit by Merlin and then built by specialised company. Chessington hardly ever use Merlin Studios to do anything. All the park needs is imagination, budget and the right contractors, but getting all three at once is not easy.

Considering £5million is half the budget it took to build Chessington in the first place, I think they have the necessary budget to do a good job! (ok, sure, inflation has made a difference). Also it is worth pointing out various things were added to Dragon River over the years that were not part of the original design, but were still in the spirit of the original ride. Frazzle the dragon, for example, was an afterthought. And the beautiful Chinese garden queueline was built to replace the original bland cattlepen. So the ride need not necessarily be limited to old ideas.

tayspru said:
I would like to see the theme shift more towards the mystic dragon theme, rather than any new construction be a replica of the real world. In my opinion, theme parks are for escape, and exaggerate reality, not painstakingly replicate it!
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I would say it is more "influenced by" real world cultures, with a definite theme park spin. The real world can be amazing, Chessington was a smaller-scale attempt at bringing some of that cultural heritage to Britain. Dragon River itself always had an emphasis on mystics and dragon imagery, it's just a shame the rubbish Land of the Dragons stole most of its thunder. I like your concept of the steps to the temple, it could be an ascension up a steep mountain path with the old waterfall reinstated.
 
Re: Chessington World of Badventures Resort

OK there are some great points being made here, and a nice design or two already springing up.

In this case, I refer to an earlier post:

*BING BONG* "BigAl to Chessington Thread please, thank you" *BING BONG*
 
Great news to hear. I'd love to see the old rock work and faces come back as much as the next person but the fact that Chessington are open minded about new designs for one of the most iconic rides surely says something good? The new theming may never beat the original but so long as it's immersive and creative, I think the park should go for it!
 
Whatever they do will be a poor replacement and an insult to Wardley. Not once in the park's history have they improved things when changes are made. I see no reason to believe that will change now.
 
It will end up being some cartoony tat that has no fine detail.

EDIT: think i have started channeling Diogo :eek:
 
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