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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Matt N said:
It is certainly exciting if Chessington does have other things in the pipeline!

I trust Chessington Buzz and view them as a reliable source based on my personal experiences with them, so I’m hopeful!
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Your trust levels are set way to low if you think Buzz is reliable.

As for the Chessington investment everyone on this forum has been banging on about how Paultons should be having an impact on Merlin, here is that impact. It’s just everyone thought it would influence the investments at Towers which was never going to happen due to that pesky geography.
 
I don’t know what any hypothetical projects could be after that as there’s no further room for expansion is there? Guess it would be replacing existing things…

Tiger Rock replacement/Minecraft addition
Vampire Reborn
Rattlesnake but there’s not much footprint there.
 
My guesses after Refresh and Renew would be these.

1. Tomb Blaster Overhaul/Replacement
2. Minecraft Phase 2 - Possible Tiger Rock Replacement or Refurbishment/Retheme
3. Elmer's Flying Jumbos and Tiny Truckers replacement
4. Trail of the Kings Park Expansion
5. Rattlesnake Replacement/Refurbishment
6. Dragon's Fury Refurbishment
7. Land of the Dragons Retheme/Replacement
8. Vampire Retrack/Modern Replacement

There is a lot of older rides at the park and I anticipate we'll be seeing replacements and refurbishments sooner than later.
 
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Tom said:
The Southern parks have possibly been earmarked as having greater potential for revenue growth. Alton Towers may be a bit of a ball and chain in the grand scheme of things, based on this season.
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This is exactly what it is in my view
 
Dave said:
Your trust levels are set way to low if you think Buzz is reliable.

As for the Chessington investment everyone on this forum has been banging on about how Paultons should be having an impact on Merlin, here is that impact. It’s just everyone thought it would influence the investments at Towers which was never going to happen due to that pesky geography.
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People might laugh, but I can only speak from my personal experiences with the site’s manager, who has provided some very reliable intel in the past. They’re not right every time, but who is? As sources go, I view Jared and Chessington Buzz as a relatively reliable one, for the most part.

Chessington’s current spate of investment being spurred by Paultons is an interesting theory. It would make some sense that Merlin views Chessington as a key priority with how Paultons is at the moment.
 
It's possible that Merlin have decided to reduce investment at Alton Towers in favour of the Southern parks.

But if that's the case, it seems like a very odd way of showing it, adding three major new rides to Alton in three years, including two coasters.

And that's just the things they have to apply for planning permission for. I think the smart money would also be on at least seeing a Dungeons replacement in the same timeframe.

In many ways you could almost believe their investing their whole theme park portfolio with a broadly similar strategy.
 
If anything, it seems like Thorpe is the one that has less plans compared to the others at the moment.

Other than the stage and the mentions of a permanent hotel, there isn’t much in the pipeline that we currently know of for Thorpe. I could maybe see Slammer being replaced with a new permanent flat ride based on it being removed, but that’s more my personal hunch rather than anything confirmed.
 
Bowser said:
This is a very generous appraisal.
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Admittedly we don't know the scale of the CBeebies coaster yet, so I might downsize that description if it turns out to be similar in scale to the CWOA kiddie coaster.

But otherwise Projects Ocean and Horizon will almost certainly be headliners within their respective ride categories both at Alton Towers, but also in the UK more generally.
 
Squiggs said:
Admittedly we don't know the scale of the CBeebies coaster yet, so I might downsize that description if it turns out to be similar in scale to the CWOA kiddie coaster.

But otherwise Projects Ocean and Horizon will almost certainly be headliners within their respective ride categories both at Alton Towers, but also in the UK more generally.
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Horizon is hard to include considering how little concrete information there is, including whether it will be open within 3 years.

Ocean is ultimately a flat ride, a very old one at that and the cherry on top is it’s a ride the park already had for decades. That’s a very loose qualification for major attraction imo. I think we all know it’ll quickly settle into a mid-range level of popularity after the initial fanfare.

A topspin being the most notable new attraction in the UK in 2025 is the beneficiary of good timing!
 
Matt N said:
If anything, it seems like Thorpe is the one that has less plans compared to the others at the moment.

Other than the stage and the mentions of a permanent hotel, there isn’t much in the pipeline that we currently know of for Thorpe. I could maybe see Slammer being replaced with a new permanent flat ride based on it being removed, but that’s more my personal hunch rather than anything confirmed.
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At the moment, Thorpe's plans do seem to have not been made public yet if they have any other than the stage and the hotel.

I'm hoping that might change soon.

We know that Monkey Swinger and Tuk Tuk Turmoil are going into storage however don't know their ultimate fate yet.

Part of me thinks that the ideal scenario is both at Towers although one (Monkey Swinger) certainly could turn up at Thorpe which would be a fantastic addition.

The ride relocations as a result of Refresh and Renew will be a wild card for Merlin's short term investments.
 
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