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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Mojang have been seen at Chessington to site out Minecraft land. So unless it falls through I am 99% certain the wild asia land will be Minecraft.

The Mexicana area will likely be Coco Melon or Julia Donaldson with linking Gruffalo meet and greet and Room on broom or maybe Bluey as Alton Towrs have Bluey on board already. They may have something else up their sleeves, but any of those make sense I think for the new kids land.
 
Mojang have been seen at Chessington to site out Minecraft land. So unless it falls through I am 99% certain the wild asia land will be Minecraft.

The Mexicana area will likely be Coco Melon or Julia Donaldson with linking Gruffalo meet and greet and Room on broom or maybe Bluey as Alton Towrs have Bluey on board already. They may have something else up their sleeves, but any of those make sense I think for the new kids land.
I'm thinking that the reason Alton Towers are doing meet and greets for Bluey rather than a ride is because it is very big as it is and has the potential to be done justice as it's own area. I don't think a ride in Cbeebies Land will do the IP justice. Very much like why Frozen is it's own entity rather than a part of the wider Disney Princess branding for Disney.

I think Project Play will be based on Bluey for this reason whilst allowing Alton Towers to do meet and greets. I think it's a win win situation for Merlin to do that.

Julia Donaldson is unlikely due to the fact there's two attractions based on her books at different ends of the park.

Cocomelon maybe could work however they're aimed at a younger audience which a "My first rollercoaster" may not work as most junior coasters tend to have a 0.9m height requirement. It might work if the coaster has no height requirement but I see it being 0.9m if similar to Octonauts.

There is also a good chance it could be without an IP. I also see this potentially paving the way for a Land of the Dragons retheme in the future.
 
I won’t knock Merlin if they don’t achieve Nintendo World levels of theming, as far as I’m concerned the Nintendo and Wizarding World areas (every version of them that Universal have done) are the two most themed and immersive areas in the whole world of theme parks, genuinely awe-inspiring.

Minecraft doesn’t enthuse me but then I’m not the target audience, and if the coaster is excellent then it’s a huge draw in itself.

Brilliant to see some potential big Merlin investment although it makes me desperate to see the plan for Alton Towers over the next few years.
 
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Interesting photo of the coaster -- hopefully this doesn't mean Project Horizon has been cancelled and moved here? I presume they're different plans as this has an outdoor element too.
I just noticed that the grey colour represents aluminium but the pinky?? colour represents 3d theming, and it is on the building and looking at the ride it circles round a 3d theming piece I am guessing that maybe the aluminium would be painted and the lower sections would be 3d, depending on the theme this could work (minecraft it could work with a painted top but more detail closer to people??)
 
Strange.

Although it's been cut back since it was new, Wild Asia is actually quite... nice?

Of all Chessington's problems, Wild Asia would not have been my big finger point.
I don't think Wild Asia needed a complete redevelopment to that scale.

I would've added a couple of bits to the area such as a Gyro Swing to replace Temple of Mayhem for Wild Asia.

I would've focused on Mexicana, Land of the Dragons, Tiny Truckers and Flying Jumbos first before going to Wild Asia.
 
Strange.

Although it's been cut back since it was new, Wild Asia is actually quite... nice?

Of all Chessington's problems, Wild Asia would not have been my big finger point.
I guess the temple and dodgems, and the derelict and rotting lorikeet enclosure all could count towards points for refurbishing.

I wonder if a new world will bring a new entrance - frankly it’s shabby at best, a random queue, the worst toilets imaginable and a ticketing booth that’s literally a porta kabin, before facing towards Dragons Fury that itself could do with a kick of paint.
 
Maybe it's more of a case of "where can we fit an indoor rollercoaster and extras". rather than "which area needs revamping the most".. and if it's going to have a Minecraft IP then that's arguably of greater value than Wild Asia (or any area really).

Probably an easier area to completely close off for 18 months too without causing too much disruption.
 
Maybe it's more of a case of "where can we fit an indoor rollercoaster and extras". rather than "which area needs revamping the most".. and if it's going to have a Minecraft IP then that's arguably of greater value than Wild Asia (or any area really).

Probably an easier area to completely close off for 18 months too without causing too much disruption.
Makes me wonder how many false rumours Merlin released prior to this, I’ve seen all sorts speculated on and teased but not a single peep about closing Wild Asia and building an indoor coaster there.
 
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