Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[_nemesis_]

Whispers that Bubbleworks is next to gain the refurbishment treatment!

I wouldn't be surprised if Bubbleworks was next for the refurb. As this year they have refurbished the rides, scenery and buildings in the parks two oldest, major areas (Mystic East & Mexicana), so in theory the next areas to be redone are Market Square, Transylvania and Pirates Cove.

I would also like to see Forbidden Kingdom get some investment as well next year as there has been two incidents in that area in the last two years!
All we can do is hope!

 

[thefatone]

Last thing I had heard from Bubbles was beginning of year, from a managers meeting, they mentioned returning burp to various areas etc.

Not exactly creative, imaginative or what the park requires (though they need to remove the bloody IL logos from everywhere!)

 

[Hairobics]

It'll be interesting to see what they'll do with Bubbleworks, I doubt it'll be restored to it's former glory but I also doubt it'll be as bad as it currently is, I wouldn't be surprised if they totally retheme it to something "spooky", a lot of the newer additions to Transylvania have really tried to emphasise "the vampire" portion of said area.

It'd be cool if a new darkride opened up in that area, when's the last time that happened anyway? It seems to be that only thrill rides get added these day </3
it's a shame, Something like Thorpe Park's old "Wicked Witches Haunt" would be a great addition to the Transylvania area, maybe across from bubbleworks/next to the Counts Cauldron?
(as far as I know that space isn't being used for anything, but it has been a few years since I've stepped into Chessington, but that'll change on the 26th <3)

 

[DiogoJ42]

Surely that space is taken up by Burger Kitchen?

 

[Hairobics]

I just looked on Google maps street view of Transylvania, I thought there was a bigger space between the burger kitchen and the "legs" of the vampire ride, my bad.

 

[MiserableMonkey]

It'll be interesting to see what they'll do with Bubbleworks, I doubt it'll be restored to it's former glory but I also doubt it'll be as bad as it currently is, I wouldn't be surprised if they totally retheme it to something "spooky", a lot of the newer additions to Transylvania have really tried to emphasise "the vampire" portion of said area.

Internal talks are that, should the budget come through, the ride will see all of its duck/IL 'theming' removed, and the ride will be reverted as best it can to its 1990's self.

 

[_nemesis_]

It'll be interesting to see what they'll do with Bubbleworks, I doubt it'll be restored to it's former glory but I also doubt it'll be as bad as it currently is, I wouldn't be surprised if they totally retheme it to something "spooky", a lot of the newer additions to Transylvania have really tried to emphasise "the vampire" portion of said area.

Internal talks are that, should the budget come through, the ride will see all of its duck/IL 'theming' removed, and the ride will be reverted as best it can to its 1990's self.

I really doubt that would happen, as much as I'd love it if they did. The IL Bubbleworks is still really popular with families mind you, although I do agree with changing it back. The old Bubbleworks actually fitted in with the theme of the area. But it's probably not their highest priority.

 

[electricBlll]

But the studios that produced Professor Burp's BubbleWorks no longer exist and the people who designed and built the ride are no longer available. It's also almost 24 years on and the way such projects are created has changed quite drastically for UK theme parks.

If the rumour is true, we would be getting more of a nostalgic 'tribute' to the 1990 version rather than getting the old magic and fun back. Even if they recreated the original exactly it would inevitably be lower-budgeted, less inspiring and not have the effortlessly quirky character of the original.

It would be fantastic to see some of that brilliant creativity and genius that made Chessington great breathed back into BubbleWorks, but I can't see that happening without the right people and imagination at all.

Saying that, I would still be thrilled to have any major changes at all!

 

[_nemesis_]

If The Vampire was refurbished, I would love to see the old queue line again. I would also like the maintenance room with the break run receive some theming, because you have just experience an amazingly ride and then you feel like you have stopped in an engine room. Although god help them if they re-theme it like the are doing with Dragon Falls and Runaway Train, I could just imagine the swarm of angry people, stabbing the management team if they commit such a crime!
The Vampire should remaine how it is but just with a track reprint and new theming in places.

 

[Benzin]

Tell you what, the two mazes on the park are very good...

Haunting in the Hollows is better than Blair Witch Project at Thorpe (and involves a lot more actual scares in it due to the epic finale section), whilst HPH's redo makes it look like something not dire when it's usually open, though tonnes of rooms for improving that attraction...

A distinct lack of theming though in the park... Must have misplaced all the spiders/cobwebs...

 

[Sam]

People who think Chessington will spend a load of cash rebuilding an old-hat dark ride from the early 90s are delusional. I can see them stripping out the IL stuff and touching it up though.

Where has this Vampire refurb thing come from? Is it a certainty?

Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk

 

[electricBlll]

Where has this Vampire refurb thing come from? Is it a certainty?

No, there has been no real news about a Vampire refurbishment. I think people assume the £5m will be used across the whole park (in which case it would have to be a much higher budget). From what I know it is just for Runaway Train and Dragon Falls, bar a few tiny fixes here and there.

However the BubbleWorks rumours aren't entirely unfounded.

 

[Benzin]

They fixed the skipping soundtrack in the funfair actually...

Only place it doesn't skip now...

Best thing to do with Bubbles is to gut it completely and start again, it's so awful... Always has been with IL in there...

The park needs a California Adventure style level of refurb as well... And since a third of the zoo is currently shut due to hotel construction (weird how they're doing work on that but not Runaway), and the rumour of no rides opening in winter, Zoo Days aren't going to be worth going...

 

[electricBlll]

They fixed the skipping soundtrack in the funfair actually...

They just edited down the broken track they were using before to get rid of the silence between the loop. However it's still not the full piece of music, just 10 seconds of it repeating over and over. Unfortunately after every so repeats there's still a gap, it's just not as noticeable now.

The original tracks for every scene were all roughly 1 minute long with the same tempo, and played in sync throughout the whole ride to create the seamless aural transition between each room. Chessington lost those original tracks during the refurb; they replaced them with the muddled, clashing, duck-dubbed versions that still play today.

That is also probably where the gaps in the loops come from, since the new mixes are not the same length and therefore don't loop correctly on the replacement audio system.

I think even when they got the old station and finale tracks back a few years ago, they are just edited versions taken from the abbreviated mix commonly available online.

 

[_nemesis_]

Where has this Vampire refurb thing come from? Is it a certainty?

No, there has been no real news about a Vampire refurbishment. I think people assume the £5m will be used across the whole park (in which case it would have to be a much higher budget). From what I know it is just for Runaway Train and Dragon Falls, bar a few tiny fixes here and there.

However the BubbleWorks rumours aren't entirely unfounded.

There has been no info as to weather The Vampire is to be refurbed as part of the £5 million, however the upgrades are said to be happening over 2013 and 2014. Which in theory means that four rides are to be refurbed next year in addition to the four we had this year. If we are going in terms of age then Black Buccaneer, Bubbleworks, and The Vampire are due some touch ups. You could also say that SeaStorm is to be upgraded as that is part of Pirates Cove which is the park's third oldest land, (Not counting Market Square).

Again, I if The Vampire is to receive anything but it makes sense to think that its on the list. As although The Vampire is still excellent in every way, it does still have a few issues, here is a list of a number of things that could be helped by the five million pounds, most of which have/will happen to DF and RMT: Repaint the track (RMT), give the lift hill catwalks a clean up (DF), Fix the air gates in the station so that they actually line up the the seats, give the theming a touch up e.g. bring back the coffin themed air gates, sort out the queue line theming, add the old theming back to the station. They could also do with training staff to be quicker loading the trains so that the third train can be back in service.

Again, nothing has even been mentioned about a Vampire refurbishment, although it could still happen as we didn't know about DF and RMT until a few days before the start of the season.

Keep your fingers crossed! ;D

 

[electricBlll]

No, you are correct, there has been no info as to weather the Vampire is to be refurbed as part of the £5 million, however the upgrades are said to be happening over 2013 and 2014.

Yes, the upgrade is continuing into 2014: So this year all the old designs from Dragon Falls/Runaway Train were removed, and presumably over the winter they will construct the new design in time for the 2014 season. No other rides will be going through the same process, otherwise they would have already started.

£5 million isn't really enough for a park-wide refurbishment. Transylvania alone could do with £5 million spent on it! :twirly: But I agree The Vampire really needs to be re-imagined to make it feel less sellotaped together.

Whoops, too many of my pessimistic Chessington posts in one morning!

 

[_nemesis_]

No, you are correct, there has been no info as to weather the Vampire is to be refurbed as part of the £5 million, however the upgrades are said to be happening over 2013 and 2014.

Yes, the upgrade is continuing into 2014: So this year all the old designs from Dragon Falls/Runaway Train were removed, and presumably over the winter they will construct the new design in time for the 2014 season. No other rides will be going through the same process, otherwise they would have already started.

£5 million isn't really enough for a park-wide refurbishment. Transylvania alone could do with £5 million spent on it! :twirly: But I agree The Vampire really needs to be re-imagined to make it feel less sellotaped together.

Whoops, too many of my pessimistic Chessington posts in one morning!

Five million could quite easily be enough! Wild Asia cost £4 million with £1 million just on KORBA, the rest was spent on retheming five rides/attractions, which were Money Swinger, Temple of Mayhem, Jungle Bus, Tuk Tuk Turmoil, Maj's Market and Noodle Noodle not to mention the entirely new Lorikeet lagoon as well as new plantings, the water elephants, banyan maximus and all the other theming!

I'm pretty sure we can expect some more touch ups next year as well as AMAZU Treetop Adventure, Azteca Hotel and return of Rameses Revenge!
I can quite easily see some more refurbs over the next 12 months!

 

[Anonymous]

...Zoo Days aren't going to be worth going...

What Zoo days? All they're offering this closed season is a small amount of "Festive Zoo Days" which won't be the same as half the Zoo is closed and Zufari won't be running. I believe there's a lot more going on around the park this coming closed season than people realize. Otherwise they'd just run it as normal.

As for Runaway Train retheme. There is a load of steel work on site. Presumably that'll start going up soon?

 

[joelpagett]

Hi Guys,

Got back from Chessington's Halloween Hocus Pocus yesterday and I have to say I am very very impressed! First of all I want to comment on the park. Usually Chessington is one of the best dressed in my opinion but apart from a huge amount pumpkins there wasn't much else. Although it was only open until 5 the lighting looked very impressive this year and look forward to seeing this!

The mazes, or Halloween attractions were impressive, here is my reviews;

The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall

We queued for ages for this ride due to the very low through put. When you first enter the building you are greeted by one of the explorers helpers. She explained to us about how Sir Arthur used to collect rare items and his final item was the mystical gem. This gem transported him into another realm (as you do!). She then comes across the gem and some absolutely fantastic projections swirl around the room show you to a secret entrance. You then gain access to this portal where you come across Cleopatra, some strange man in the middle of the Jungle and finally a scurvy pirate. The mirror maze at the ending was great as you escape this other realm all though the ending was a bit anticlimactic.
All in all the theming and the acting was great and some seriously cool effects were used! Highly recommended.

The Haunting in the Hollows
This was probably the biggest surprise of the day! We got to the attraction just past the vampire at 3pm and there was absoutley no queue! This was a great surprise ;-) and we were then briefed before we made our way through the gates. You are first greeted by Van Helsing who tells you about the strange happenings. You then make your way through the town before you come across a hearse. A strange man starts shouting at you before you are ushered into a coffin shop where you are cornered by a vampire. Making your way our you enter the Tomb of Dracula where an awesome scene comes about featuring Dracula. There was a fantastic strobe finale and it was great fun.

All in all was very impressed by all the acting and the mazes themselves and the park just need to open a bit later to enjoy the fantastic lighting they have installed! Would recommend visiting Chessington this year for Halloween! For some more pictures check out my Flickr

















Thanks for reading ;-)

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall

This was probably the biggest surprise of the day.

The Haunting in the Hollows
This was probably the biggest surprise of the day!

Which one was a bigger surprise of the day?