Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Bowser]

I'm hoping that the planning restrictions around that area would've been relaxed since 1990 and something more modern can be built in the area.

I could be wrong but i'm sure i read/heard that Vampire is essentially the equivalent of Nemesis, with a combination of planning restrictions and landscape specific construction making it virtually irreplaceable.

It's still a wonderful ride and a notable piece of British theme park history so personally i'd prefer it was retained rather than replaced.

Moving away from the zoo aspects seems the more logical area of expansion for the park, even if it is at the cost of their identity and heritage. The public appetite for caged animals will surely only keep moving in one direction. Part of me loves seeing the tigers so close up but i think we all know it's rather barbaric housing them in such a setting.

Perhaps the inevitable approval of Universal will give Chessington more opportunities to expand into previously contentious areas of their land.

 

[Benzin]

Yeah the hotel by Lift 1 makes things very awkward. Short of rebuilding it (again) as a new generation SFC instead with tyre driven lifts. Very unlikely they'll get much there.


Queue management wasn't a big issue when I worked there bar the REALLY busy days or when things went down (or in one case, Thorpe hit capacity and sent loads to Chessie). The increase use of Fastrack and opening up of RAP (back then time outs were only applicable to the "Big 6" rides, but then queues on everything else were usually manageable and not say 45 minutes for sodding Seastorm) have certainly contributed, but on the flip side the worsening of capacity hasn't helped either.

However, getting "rid" of RAP would be quite likely against the Disability Act, and cause Merlin a world of hurt (see what happened when the removed Duel's access during Covid, then the goons got upset about the tilted room removal because "Waaah RAP users"). The changes made last year were a stark difference on our visits, but we don't visit on peak days and clearly some of the issues remain.

Also the old Tussauds passes always had the Midway attractions on them.

 

[flyingguitar]

I imagine/hope that in the future Vampire will be retracked and they will be able to amend the entire queuing infrastructure whilst again modifying the trains (vest restraint please).

But that is likely many years away, 2030 at the earliest. They also need multiple new attractions to take that hit as whilst losing Wild Asia is going to be a struggle, losing Gloomy Woods (and thus Gruffalo too) for at least a season will be catastrophic.

This is my thinking as well, if they estimate the track may be able to last till 2030, why spend millions on a new PLC for it to last 5 years, may as well wait and either scrap the ride or re track it.

 

[MrTowers]

I think the first question needs to be why does RAP only seem to be a problem at merlin parks. I would imagine there is a strong correlation between RAP and MAP and some guests who qualify for RAP probably visit the parks most weekends and holidays.

Last season was an interesting one seeing how much negativity merlin got by making RAP bookable, and even now it's a hot topic on any social media channels.

Whilst RAP is meant to make the parks more inclusive I'd argue that making queuing in general a better experience and accessible to physical disabilities would be a good start. The abuse of RAP is because it's seen as easy to come by, and puts the guest in a better position than a non-RAP guest. Ideally I would love a park that had virtual queuing for all rides eliminating the need for RAP as everyone would be in the same position, however the park capacity wouldn't cope without everyone stood in queue lines.

Things that would help deter misuse would be limiting the number of people using RAP to the RAP holder and a carer / companion. If more than 2 want to go on the ride then the others in the party should use the main queue and join together at the front, obviously excluding young children from this who can't be left alone.

Last season I watched as parents forced their kids on rides they didn't want to go on, kicking and screaming delaying despatch because the parent still wanted to go on the ride regardless of the child's concern who qualified for RAP. I also saw parents acting out in queue lines because RAP had sold out whilst their child who would have qualified for RAP waited patiently. On the other side I stood in a 90 minute fast track queue for hyperia surrounded by guests with physical disabilities who had been forced to pay for fast track as they couldn't get RAP that day (not that fast track lived up to its name)

RAP is very much needed, but for everyone to enjoy their experience of the park it needs to well managed. Fast track also needs to be more expensive to be a super luxury item and not an affordable upgrade.

Chessington need to do more to increase capacity or limit the number of visitors on certain days. Spending 40 minutes queuing for a minor ride should not be a regular occurrence but is the norm on school holidays and weekends. If Chessington have any sense over the next 2 seasons they should have a reduced capacity put on the park, but I imagine greed will get the better of them.

 

[Bowser]

Things that would help deter misuse would be limiting the number of people using RAP to the RAP holder and a carer / companion. If more than 2 want to go on the ride then the others in the party should use the main queue and join together at the front, obviously excluding young children from this who can't be left alone.

There are a multitude of reasons why this won’t work but I think the thread is getting off topic when a relevant one exists here:

Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2024 Discussion

Looks like pre-booking is coming to RAP starting this season. Taken from the MAP Facebook group: Don’t know about other people but I see this as fantastic news.

towersstreet.com

 

[owenstreet7]

Last season I watched as parents forced their kids on rides they didn't want to go on, kicking and screaming delaying despatch because the parent still wanted to go on the ride regardless of the child's concern who qualified for RAP. I also saw parents acting out in queue lines because RAP had sold out whilst their child who would have qualified for RAP waited patiently.

This is awful of a parent to be doing that. Forcing their child on a ride to take advantage of the child's RAP pass.

At the same time in the case described, the RAP pass holder being able to queue patiently and the parents are not seems to queue themselves seems to show the entitlement of the parents more than anything.

I think this shows that a lot of people seem to be taking advantage when it's meant to be a reasonable adjustment for people who need it.

It's best this is discussed in the RAP thread rather than the Chessie thread.

Chessington need to do more to increase capacity or limit the number of visitors on certain days. Spending 40 minutes queuing for a minor ride should not be a regular occurrence but is the norm on school holidays and weekends. If Chessington have any sense over the next 2 seasons they should have a reduced capacity put on the park, but I imagine greed will get the better of them.

One simple way of increasing capacity for the next two seasons is finding sites for the Wave Swinger and Dodgems so they can open.

I've heard that Peeking Heights (the Ferris Wheel) was put in storage when Land of the Tiger came about. I was wondering what the final fate of the ride is and if it could also be bought out of storage.

All three rides would help increase capacity and also offer rides that are for families, young and old.

 

[Benzin]

Peeking Heights better off at the scrap heap. No one went on it at best of times and you could only load an absolute maximum of 8 pods. Pointless ride.

Seen plenty of non-RAP parents force their kids onto rides. It is nothing new and not a direct correlation.

 

[MrTowers]

I'm not sure how you can state a ride is closed for the season that hasn't operated for a number of years and is being removed as we speak. But anyway we have a list of ride closures for chessington with no real surprises. I think they could be a little more honest especially as some of these won't reopen or will be closed for 2 seasons.

 

[The_bup]

RAP is kind of a catch-22 it seems, because of course I absolutely respect its existence to help people with disabilities navigate the park, but there are also plenty of people I know that have used it and openly admitted that they don’t need it and are seeing it as “free fasttrack”.

To me, that may seem to be a necessary evil as these things are hard to prove exactly. On the Curse pre-show room; I guess it’s a shame, but a really wonky room is still cool to I guess. I was still impressed by it when I first went in it!

 

[Mark0097]

Theoretically is there anything stopping Kobra being open in 2026 reimagined? Using the second entrance to the new land would mean that the majority of the can be completely separated and it works as a great advertisement for the 2027 new ride and full land?

 

[Bowser]

Theoretically is there anything stopping Kobra being open in 2026 reimagined? Using the second entrance to the new land would mean that the majority of the can be completely separated and it works as a great advertisement for the 2027 new ride and full land?

I imagine if they're theming it to Minecraft they'll want that all to be one big reveal rather than an initial much lesser offering.