Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[joelpagett]

On the Subject of Kobra has anyone else noticed it takes AGGEEESS to get over the hump, and once it does it only goes a couple of times before slowing down and stopping. The other day it was dead quiet and it went over once, yes ONCE! Is it because the ride cycle has been shortened or because it is already starting to become old and tired??!

 

[BigAl]

Once? Oh dear! I complained about it going too slow over the hill and never getting any air or sense of speed but only going over the hill once and returning is terrible! I've always said that the smaller models such as Flamingo Land's Navigator are more fun. It may not be themed or be in a good condition but least that actually spins more and heads further up the slopes than Kobra.

Whatever the problem is, it needs sorting. Kobra's theming is great and it's the only reason (besides Lorikeet Lagoon around the back of the area) that I bother with Wild Asia. Don't get me wrong, Wild Asia has some nice decoration and the attractions are good fun, but it feels like you're in a theme park when you're in there. When I'm in Transylvania, Mystic East, Forbidden Kingdom or Mexicana, I feel less like I'm stood in a theme park just outside London and more like I'm actually stood in the middle of where these themes are trying to recreate.

 

[JMGPannal]

^ I don't think it's a problem with the ride, I just reckon that they're running it on a short cycle to keep the queues down. I went on it on a quiet day and it went over the hump 3 or 4 times.

Understandable but not good for the ride experience.

 

[electricBlll]

I've never had a bad ride on Kobra, although a few times I have seen it stuck on the wrong side of the hill. It seems very temperamental, but great fun when it's working at full speed.

I still think Wild Asia is one of the most accurate areas of the park, bar the giant snake statues. Just shows that accuracy does not necessarily make the best themed area. I do wish they would find a way to expand out the back; a new land would help Chessington far more than some naff campsite they have planned.

Oh and, yes, Kobra is not a rollercoaster, otherwise it would be one of the worst rollercoasters on earth!

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I really enjoyed Kobra, personally I felt it packed a surprising punch.

 

[joelpagett]

Ohh I loved Kobra and always used to ride it but this year I only managed to get over the hump once which really dissapointed me! But hopefully it was just stuck on a short cycle by accident!

 

[thefatone]

The honey for the birdies has always been £1 (80p with a MAP).

Had a sign saying "No Annual Pass discount" on my visit.

Looks like that's gone down the same route as the majority of chessie, not allow MAP discount on as much as possible.

 

[CGM]

It's been delayed by exams but it's finally finished! I just sent my concepts to Chessington. In the original PDF, there was a Chessington logo in the top left corner but as it's not official concept art, I thought I'd better replace it with something else before posting it on here.



I'm not sure if I prefer this to the faces but I don't think that Chessington would be too interested in seeing a concept of exactly what they had before. I thought I'd try to theme the concrete splashdown as it's always stuck out like a sore thumb to me.



This is probably my favourite of the three drawings. I thought that rather than replace the rock which mostly obscured what is quite a nice looking lagoon, it would be interesting to do something a bit different.



Whilst I think that the flume definitely looked better with the rocks on the main lift hill, in my opinion the standard of the rock work was pretty poor. It didn't really resemble real rock at all and was a bit too geometric to be convincing. In this image, I've tried to create rock work that looks a bit more organic and stylised.



And finally, a few sketches that eventually went into the main drawings.

 

[electricBlll]

Absolutely beautiful. As somebody who has been riding Dragon Falls from a very young age and would never want it to be changed, if that actually happened to the ride I would be overjoyed. It is tremendous, retains the charm of the original and is not excessive in any way.

The colours are perfect, as well. The whole thing creates a wonderful, full atmosphere that people can escape to.

Also, you are quite right to change the rock faces. I remember they always looked odd (fibreglass structures always do), though I grew to like the rather nobbly style anyway. It's something I also tried to change when I did my drawings (going for a more pillared shape), but you have shown you don't always need to clad everything in fake rock to make it interesting.

The only thing I would change is the creaking bridge, since a perception effects like that will becoming unconvincing with boats passing through every 10 seconds (especially since it can be viewed from the path), but it's a bit of fun at least, and I like the way you have dressed that drop. The various water features are subtle and lush, and the architecture genuinely quite enlightening to look at.

What a wonderful imagination!

 

[Tim]

Love it

The colours and tone are just ace. Little highlight of mine is the collapsing bamboo bridge which you've done in a way that makes the broken part look like the curve of a waterfall. really nice subtle detail.

 

[Ted]

Amazing, that final drop looks incredible! Nice work CGM! =)

 

[Alastair]

I don't even know how it's possible to be that good at art.

 

[Novas]

Stunning effort, however looking at that is going to make it all the more heartbreaking when the actual retheme consists of MDF covered in poster paint.

 

[electricBlll]

For anybody else sending plans in... I have a feeling the email that Chessington specify to send the plans to is an unregulated address, since they haven't replied to my submission after a week. It's probably just run by guest services to collect entries for the prize draw, so don't expect an immediate response.

 

[Harv]

Sometimes, I really do wonder why we haven't all put our life savings together and built the best park in the world, really. With talent like that, why aren't Merlin begging to work alongside you, CGM?

 

[Novas]

Sometimes, I really do wonder why we haven't all put our life savings together and built the best park in the world, really.

Because we'd be queueing up to ride a twister in my back garden?

 

[haydn!]

I know there has been lots of banter, about how the park have ruined the ride and it will never be the same again. If Chessington deliver something even half as good and detailed as the last few concepts posted here, it will be far far better than the original!

Awesome work

 

[BigAl]

I still can't see why Chessington have opted to spend money on refurbishing the Runaway Train. As much as I enjoyed it for being such a small, yet totally immersive ride that's fun for younger guests, I can't help but wonder why they haven't decided to use the opportunity to sell the ride and get Mack, Vekoma or Intamin in to build something bigger and better for next season?

If they shifted the Petting Zoo and gained permission to construct part of a new ride over the area taken up by Zufari (the empty plot at the bottom of the map below which is cut-off from the rest of the attraction by the path going over to the zoo) and got rid of Flying Jumbos (oh wait, they decided to keep that too :I ), they'd have space for a decent sized coaster.

Just think, they could have built a much larger roller coaster with the help of Vekoma, or even had Intamin (Western-themed freefall drop coaster, anyone?) in to help them sort something out. That would have done much more to help Chessington over just replacing the theming on a small, old Blauer Enzian.

As much as I, like many other people, want parks to refurbish older rides, was it really worth saving the Runaway Train? :S

 

[electricBlll]

It doesn't look like they are making much attempt to save it at the moment. The ride has no planned reopening date, unlike Dragon Falls, and everything down to the station platform has been removed. Looks like the queueline cave has also gone.

That area behind the train is used as a key access road and quite near to where the planned hotel extention is going to be built; beyond that is the forbidden green built land. But they could demolish the old queue building and game stalls if they wanted and bring the area forward instead.

I agree it would be great if they could replace Calamity Canyon at some point, as much as I have enjoyed it.

 

[BigAl]

Oh yes, I know that the road can't be removed, but there's nothing stopping them from building over the top of it (so long as there's enough clearance for vehicles driving below), or even under it if they dug a section out, built a tunnel and then redid the section of road they took out.

But if it is green belt beyond that road, I guess it'd currently be more or less impossible for them to do anything across there.