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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

In my opinion there really is no evidence to suggest that Chessington will ever get any proper investment again.

The place is simply a cash cow for Merlin. Sadly for them they realised that they could no longer continue to neglect the place as it was falling apart and they were forced to spend some money on it for once.
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
In my opinion there really is no evidence to suggest that Chessington will ever get any proper investment again.
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I'm pretty sure an interview from the CEO of Merlin counts as a form of evidence. It's not like he is lying...

It's just concerning that Wild Asia and Zufari are Chessington's only "high investments" in the last decade-ish. Then again they seemingly don't have anywhere to expand to at all. If they can't build new ones, I'd love to see more money re-invested into the old ones; and I don't mean trashing them with sponsorships and 'rethemes'. :twirly:

Personally I think Merlin have really helped Chessington. I remember in about 2006/7 I didn't even bother visiting the park (shock!) because it had become such a bland place to be. The "kiddy" image that Tussaudes had forced upon it like a suffocating pillow had dumbed down all the fun that used to be there. All the good rides had been ruined and the new ones were rubbish stuff like Peeking Heights. Plus they started using all that babyish dragon imagery that connected with nobody; a big departure from the overtly colourful, zany brand they introduced in 1998, which I loved.

There was a noticeable change in 2008/9 and I actually started enjoying the place again. It wasn't the great world of adventures I vaguely remembered but it was a worthwhile day out. Merlin have shown they do want to invest in Chessington, unlike the previous management which had seemingly given up completely. Refurbishing Dragon Falls sooner rather than later is the right thing to do, it was in an embarrassing state, but I will judge the 'replacement' (I would prefer a 'restoration'!) when it happens.

It's a great interview, I just wish I had thought of some more questions to ask. I should have asked him about whether dark rides were still favourable investments, since Chessington was once famous for being Britain's "dark ride heaven" (Professor Burp's Bubbleworks, Fifth Dimension).

It's also lucky Merlin is lead by a man with roots in the industry who is willing to answer questions, rather than it being a blank, faceless corporation...
 
I don't believe people should be quick to judge or analyse what Nick says *just* because he's the Merlin CEO. There reads no kind of subtext with the Dragon Falls/Runaway Train theming removal, no kind of subtext with the investment and no kind of subtext with his opinions.

I'm going to give credit to Nick because he agreed to put in the time and effort to answer the questions we asked him, the best answers he would give without going into confidential territory and, as Bill said, didn't approach it as a blank, faceless corporate executive. It's fair enough that we barely get an insight into the running of Merlin and their plans but the fact that he agreed with some of the questions, giving a balanced viewpoint as somebody who genuinely enjoys visiting the parks and brings up great points in return shows us that he does care.

Nick seems to be a genuinely nice guy too, would love to meet him at some point in the future!
 
Brilliant interview, glad it happened. Is nice to hear something.

As for the high investment - they get less than half the guests as towers, 500k less than thorpe and lego (judging on that wiki statement). Course they won't have the same level of investment.

Glad he says chessie was neglected. The park is far, far, better since Merlin took over. I have confidence in what he says - afterall, remember the Oblivion Fanta response?! ;)
 
The demolition of the Runaway MineTrain's mine has commenced. You can see the exposed scaffold skeleton and layers of foam underneath.

164282_10152797174140220_1389863564_n.jpg

As you can see it looks only slightly worse than when it was intact. :twirly:



Cue another 5 pages of ranting.
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
In my opinion there really is no evidence to suggest that Chessington will ever get any proper investment again.

The place is simply a cash cow for Merlin. Sadly for them they realised that they could no longer continue to neglect the place as it was falling apart and they were forced to spend some money on it for once.
Click to expand...

I think that's slightly unfair. Merlin have taken a different approach than Tussauds, and essentially, infrastructure does cost a lot to increase and maintain.
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
In my opinion there really is no evidence to suggest that Chessington will ever get any proper investment again.

The place is simply a cash cow for Merlin. Sadly for them they realised that they could no longer continue to neglect the place as it was falling apart and they were forced to spend some money on it for once.
Click to expand...

It's hardly a cash cow when they plough more money into it than they take away. Chessington doesn't get bigger investment because it doesn't make enough money now to warrant it. If it's only making £1-2m profit a year, £6m invested shows Merlin are still willing to put 3 times more into the park than what it makes. It's a very similar ratio to other Merlin parks when you compare their profit/investment ratio.
 
It's also incredibly difficult to pour money into new investments when such strict and stringent planning regulations are enforced and will hamper said projects. People find it easy to point fingers at the people running the park without looking at the bigger picture :)
 
Chessington is financially one of Merlins best performing parks, they deserve a bit more money.
 
Well they've 'improved' Zufari's DangerCave slightly...

And fewer seatbelts are breaking...

A start I guess...
 
Added some mist cannons which cause relative soaking to anyone sat on the left side... More burdenous than appreciated, but they add sommat...
 
Benzin link=topic=97.msg67096#msg67096 date=1367322551 said:
Added some mist cannons which cause relative soaking to anyone sat on the left side... More burdenous than appreciated, but they add sommat...
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I think they might have been there when we rode the weekend before last to be honest. It took away an air of mystery when you could see the entire pipe and nozzle to be honest :/
 
LiamC said:
It's also incredibly difficult to pour money into new investments when such strict and stringent planning regulations are enforced and will hamper said projects. People find it easy to point fingers at the people running the park without looking at the bigger picture :)
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Yes but surely if planning restrictions stop you from building new rides you then spend the money improving your existing rides and ensuring they are maintained to a high standard?

For over a decade the park was left to rot. Merlin have improved things slightly, but only 2010 saw any decent investment.
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
LiamC said:
It's also incredibly difficult to pour money into new investments when such strict and stringent planning regulations are enforced and will hamper said projects. People find it easy to point fingers at the people running the park without looking at the bigger picture :)
Click to expand...

Yes but surely if planning restrictions stop you from building new rides you then spend the money improving your existing rides and ensuring they are maintained to a high standard?

For over a decade the park was left to rot. Merlin have improved things slightly, but only 2010 saw any decent investment.
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Granted they've taken their time, but that's precisely what they're doing now is it not with the Runaway Mine Train and, to a lesser extent, Dragon Falls?
 
LiamC said:
Granted they've taken their time, but that's precisely what they're doing now is it not with the Runaway Mine Train and, to a lesser extent, Dragon Falls?
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Well that remains to be seen.

:)
 
The wrecking ball is still swinging at Chessington. Demolition work is continuing on Runaway Train, where very little is now left of the rockwork, revealing all the scaffolding that (sort of) held it up. Meanwhile, the Tomb Blaster queue has become the next victim. Most notably, the top half of a large obelisk has been removed, with a wooden crate added to the top to try to hide the mess.

The latest pics of the carnage can be found on theme UK.
 
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