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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

The way I look at the situation is that if it's not broken, why fix it?

The weakest part of the Runaway Train was the fallen down and crumbling theming which was built on a scaffold frame and not really built to last. It was obvious that when Chessington was initially built, although the scale of the theming and the rides were amazing, the whole thing was done very much on a budget, something which Chessington is now paying for.

Dragon Falls rock work and stone heads were also held up by scaffolding and if I'm honest, it's a wonder that nothing has happened before now, sure it was sturdy and held up for a long long time, but now it's time for it to be replaced as it's simply not up to the job anymore.

The rides, well as much as I'd love to see something new, I'd also be a bit disheartened to see two of the parks most iconic and innovative rides disappear. These rides are not to blame, they are reliable and in essence there's nothing wrong with them. They work, function and provide so many people and young children with memories and in my mind that's something that shouldn't be overlooked.

The way I see it is that the rides are unloved and needed some attention and thankfully that's what they're getting. Sure, they most likely won't be the same rides they once were, the queue line might change dramatically on Runaway Train (Something I'm most fearful of) and the experience might not be what we remember, but for the future of the park it's the best thing they can do.

Bare in mind that it's just not Dragon Falls and the Runaway Train that are in dire need of attention. There are other areas such as Market Square and Pirates Cove, then there's Rameses Revenge (Which needs to have the snakes back). Most of the park is in such a dire, unloved state purely because when Tussauds built it, they did it cheaply.

I'm just glad to see that something is FINALLY being done, even though it is horrible to look at now, I have faith in the company doing the theming... Which, if my source is correct is JoraVision.
 
Sure, the Runaway Train works fine, but Chessington could very easily make that area of the park amazing by selling the Runaway Train (while it's still worth something) and Flying Jumbos, then relocating the petting zoo.

As much as the Runaway Train was good in its time, the experience it provides isn't anything to shout about today, and saving it for the sake of older guests with fond memories isn't worth it, in my opinion. :/ A new attraction will provide the current flock of young guests with memories that they'll reminisce about when they're the same age as you and me, etc... There are some older attractions that don't need replacing such as Vampire and the Bubbleworks system (the theme of the attraction itself needs changing though), but the Runaway Train is far smaller and tucked away in the corner of Mexicana. A new ride could really breath new life into this part of the park, more so than replacing the theming on an old powered coaster.

Chessington just don't have the space to play around with, and if they don't want to fall behind, they will have to remove things when progress in the theme park industry is made and attractions can't hold up against new technology (new technology doesn't mean a better experience, but in this case, I'd argue it would do a great deal).

The park needs to adapt to continue being successful, and Zufari shows that they're on the right track (even if it's not as effective as it could or should be).

I wouldn't scrap the Wild West theme though. It's timeless and isn't likely to go out of fashion, much like an area based on a children's fad IP would. What I'd do is create an Intamin free-fall drop coaster which interacts with the rest of the area and new, larger theming pieces. I'd base the drop around a TNT storage which ignites as the train parks in the room above. The track would rock or jump whilst effects simulate an explosion beneath it, then have the train fall through mist and into the room below. It's much more marketable and likely to attract more guests over an old and small powered coaster that's been refurbished.

Anyway, I don't have anything against the Runaway Train as I enjoyed it, but I know that Chessington can do better. It needs to do better.
 
I highly doubt they could get planning permission for something bigger in it's place anyway, just imagine everything being incredibly difficult.

The service road has always gone behind runaway, very very close to the rockwork, so doubt that has moved or changed anything.
 
Okay, after having been to Chessington for the first time on Saturday, I'd like to offer my thoughts on it.

It's not bad, but it needs work in many places. Runaway Train is in a very sorry state, with the station track boarded over and the air gates pretty much dumped to one side. Dragon Falls looks appalling. They've made absolutely no effort whatsoever to hide the fact that you're going through some sheets of corrugated metal, and it's not nice at all. The first lift hill on Dragon's Fury sways too much, and it's especially apparent when a car goes off the first lift hill and down the initial drop. Plus the ride being on five car operation didn't help throughput at all - I think we worked out that it was getting less than 500pph - not good. That said, it's better than Spinball. Zufari's not bad - I can see that quite a bit of effort's gone into it - but the finale's just rather anti-climatic. Vampire's pretty decent, however, as is Rattlesnake.

I can see why people like Chessington, but I can also see why it's got a bad reputation among some quarters at the moment. It's not a bad place, but it needs a lot of work doing to it.
 
Finally managed to visit Chessington for the first time this year today. The park was dirty (same as Alton the other day, except Chessington had a bonus soiled nappy on the ground at the entrance to Bubbleworks), queue time boards were all down (same as Alton's app and ride times website the other day), Zufari was... short, there was an op stood by Vampire's entrance all day telling people the queue was between 1 and 1 and a half hours yet we queued and it was 45 minutes, Vampire's queue/station batching and ride dispatches are horrific (they couldn't keep just two trains from stacking :S ), all the vents/fans in Tomb Blaster were open and light was spilling in all over everything which sort of ruined everything (it revealed mechanisms, deteriorating theming, dirt and the warehouse ceiling, beams and walls).

The worst part was the 5:15 closing time when the park was still rammed, with people waiting for every single ride and a load more waiting in lines for food, refreshments and merchandise. Such a waste. :/


At least it was sunny and I finally got a go on Vampire's front row!
 
BigAl said:
The worst part was the 5:15 closing time when the park was still rammed, with people waiting for every single ride and a load more waiting in lines for food, refreshments and merchandise. Such a waste. :/
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5:15? If Merlin ran the UK, 24 hour opening would be banned and there would be no Sunday trading. People only like to spend money during a specific 8 hour maximum period obviously...
 
5:15 seems an unusual closing time - did they extend by 15 minutes or something?

The boards were all down during TST south a few weeks ago, pretty poor that they're still broken now.

The less said about Vampire the better. Everything about that ride from the moment you enter the queue line until your train is dispatched is an utter farce, which is a tragedy as from what I gather the whole experience used to be the best in the UK.
 
The dispatching on Vampire was actually really good on Friday! The team seemed to be getting the system working for them and were making a real effort.

We didn't stack once either, came straight into the station. Operations are certainly getting better on Vampire, it's a shame you didn't get to see that. Me and Lottie. actually said they were going fast enough to run all three without stacking.
 
All three? Wow! Shame there was no way they could do that yesterday. They were literally waiting in the station with an empty train for the train already going around to return. As soon as that train stopped behind it, they opened the gates to let people on. I didn't think parks wanted rides to stack on purpose like that? :(
 
Jared said:
The dispatching on Vampire was actually really good on Friday! The team seemed to be getting the system working for them and were making a real effort.

We didn't stack once either, came straight into the station. Operations are certainly getting better on Vampire, it's a shame you didn't get to see that. Me and Lottie. actually said they were going fast enough to run all three without stacking.
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Not stacking two trains on Vampire is not something to be congratulated on, it shouldn't be stacking full stop...
 
BigAl said:
All three? Wow! Shame there was no way they could do that yesterday. They were literally waiting in the station with an empty train for the train already going around to return. As soon as that train stopped behind it, they opened the gates to let people on. I didn't think parks wanted rides to stack on purpose like that? :(
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That sucks! They did a great job on Friday - the best I've seen them get the ride batched and ready to go this year (and I've been to Chessie a few times!) The batching is still stupid imo.
 
Lottie. said:
BigAl said:
All three? Wow! Shame there was no way they could do that yesterday. They were literally waiting in the station with an empty train for the train already going around to return. As soon as that train stopped behind it, they opened the gates to let people on. I didn't think parks wanted rides to stack on purpose like that? :(
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That sucks! They did a great job on Friday - the best I've seen them get the ride batched and ready to go this year (and I've been to Chessie a few times!) The batching is still stupid imo.
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That would have helped yesterday as the park was packed. If it wasn't for the staff stood at the entrance telling people the queue time was nearly twice what it actually was, the ride would have probably received a queue between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes. :/


Why can't Merlin consider staggered opening AND closing of their rides to allow for longer opening times but still make sure that the park closes at an appropriate time? ERT is fine, but when it comes to closing, they don't really take a look at how many people are still in their parks and what those people are doing (like I said before, there were still a lot of people at Chessington by closing time yesterday and the queues for last minute refreshments, food and gifts before they all closed-up was ridiculous).

They could have kept the park open until 6:00pm easily yesterday (at the very least). When the park does get really crowded, what they could do is close the rides with larger queues a little earlier so that they aren't still going around once everyone else has left, but make sure there's still a decent selection of shops, cafes and other attractions open that can close their queue lines without still having to operate for a giant queue an hour after the park is empty.

Something like closing Vampire, Zufari, Mystic East and possibly Forbidden Kingdom and Mexicana (just while there's only Tomb Blaster and Rattlesnake available in those areas) 30 minutes before the park closes and all queue lines shut to keep people closer to the exits whilst still allowing everyone access to a decent selection of attractions and shops.

Alton Towers could then close an hour and a half later now if they did something similar, perhaps for areas like Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest, X-Sector, the Towers (including Hex) and Cloud Cukoo Land?


Just an idea.
 
Merlin are trying to save money, they are planning to float in December and Chessie, Towers and Heide are so rumour suggests having to plug losses created by Thorpe and Garda (especially last season). I personally think they are going about it all the wrong way, but when have Merlin ever done things right? I remember every geek saying Thorpe was wrong to focus only on thrill and low and behold they where.

Lets put it this way, I'm not ever expecting much to get better whilst Merlin run the show but it certainly won't at all until after they float.
 
BigAl said:
When the park does get really crowded, what they could do is close the rides with larger queues a little earlier so that they aren't still going around once everyone else has left, but make sure there's still a decent selection of shops, cafes and other attractions open that can close their queue lines without still having to operate for a giant queue an hour after the park is empty.

Something like closing Vampire, Zufari, Mystic East and possibly Forbidden Kingdom and Mexicana (just while there's only Tomb Blaster and Rattlesnake available in those areas) 30 minutes before the park closes and all queue lines shut to keep people closer to the exits whilst still allowing everyone access to a decent selection of attractions and shops.
Alton Towers could then close an hour and a half later now if they did something similar, perhaps for areas like Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest, X-Sector, the Towers (including Hex) and Cloud Cukoo Land?
Just an idea.
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This is exactly how it always was, and it makes perfect sense too. Up until the mid 90's certainly, and probably a bit later, the queue line would shut so it had time to work through within a few minutes of park close. At some point that changed and now everyone would have the hump if they started shutting queues 'early', but the situation we have now is stupid.
 
They don't have to close the queues for the rides with larger queues early if there's still other rides open and a lot of people in the park. Everything closes at, say, 5pm. Well if they let the park close at the time it should be closing which is 6pm, the queues for the larger attractions that do have a lot of people in them could close at 5:15pm or 5:30pm. There's a little longer than usual to ride the main rides but Merlin can then close them whilst there's still a good selection of other things to keep guests entertained and spending, etc... People would also exit the park at more or less the same time too, instead of people who were in the queues for larger rides exiting a full hour or so after everyone else has finished.
 
Looks like RMT is out for the season and they are asking for help again to design the new theme!

Help us improve your adventure
Dragon Falls and Runaway Train are being re-themed and we would like your help. Sketch your vision of what Dragon Falls or Runaway Train 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].
Closing date: 3rd September 2013.

Don’t forget that Dragon Falls is located in Mystic East so will need to fit into an oriental theme, and Runaway Train is located in Mexicana so your design will need to fit in on a Mexican street!

Runaway Train is undergoing a fantastic upgrade at the moment so will be re-opened, with new themeing, in 2014. Dragon Falls is currently open, and will be for the rest of the season, with the re-themeing coming to life in 2014.
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Considering Chessington already have plans sorted, I wish the winner all the best in convincing the park to make their design instead! :p
 
Themeparkmania said:
Looks like RMT is out for the season and they are asking for help again to design the new theme!
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Not surprising considering when I went to Chessie yesterday, they've now got a big board/wall (whatever you want to call it) hiding the Runaway Train so now the public can't view it. Although you can still get a glimpse of the ride by the Children's Zoo :p
 
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