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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Actually that's the new development this year:

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They have to be smart with planning rides. Coaster may be hard to do there, however if they pick the right type of for they type of attraction then they would be on a winner
 
I still like Chessington. It's still IMO the best family park we have in the UK. It's still a much better day out than Thorpe.

The investments in the zoo have been good, but elsewhere it's just lacking. Zufari had the potential to be great, but it's such a let down.

Are there any pics of the rethemed Dragon Falls? I'm praying that they do the old theming some justice.
 
Dragon Falls is not being rethemed ever, that project was cancelled when a different management team came in with different priorities. Some people thought it had only been postponed until this year but that's just a misunderstanding. It still got a lot of attention and will probably be sorted in the next few years.
 
electricBlll said:
Dragon Falls is not being rethemed ever, that project was cancelled when a different management team came in with different priorities. Some people thought it had only been postponed until this year but that's just a misunderstanding. It still got a lot of attention and will probably be sorted in the next few years.
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Well that is just pathetic. Has Varney been and seen how it looks? Either he hasn't or he has an doesn't give a damn for the park. Dragon Falls looks a state without theming.

In my opinion Chessingon's future as a theme park is extremely limited. Paramount and Legoland will ensure that this is the case. Merlin are, probably quite deliberately, only allowing investments in the animal/wildlife sides of things and for them to be a success in the future this is what they will need to focus on I think. More of an adventure park than a theme park, somewhere where the rides will soon become a bonus. Paramount is going to take a lot of theme park trade from Chessie, and Legoland will always have a more of a pull factor with kids and families because of the Lego IP. Chessie needs to make itself unique to compete, but from an out and out theme park/coaster enthusiast's point of view this makes additions somewhat boring.

:)
 
Hopefully chessington will be closed allowing Legoland to be more family based and thorpe to be more thrill based then there's no need for chessington allowing merlin to challenge paramount by just focusing on two parks down south instead of supporting 2 and a failing chessington
 
Rob is spot on.

I reluctantly agree that the way forward is probably animal encounters more than a rides theme park.

I'm just not really a zoo enthusiast.

:(
 
Ever concerned with USPs, Merlin have shifted the focus to an 'adventure resort' where the theme park is part of the package, they've had that aim for the last 7 years but are still desperate to open a new major attraction. Obviously the theme park is still the major draw though, as much as the resort advertising would try to persuade otherwise. The park is very successful and continues to make lots of money, last season was deservedly the highest visitor numbers since 1995 (definitely their last good season as an integral theme park pushing boundaries in the UK attraction industry).

I'm absolutely certain that if Merlin hadn't bought DIC Tussauds that the park would have ended up like Camelot, American Adventure, etc.. So despite having become a plastic RCT3 version of its former flamboyant self, Chessington's still around and regionally very popular, sorry Josht.
 
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I don't get why it's so busy though, it's a mediocre park that hasn't added any new attractions of genuine interest in absolutely ages.
 
If you look at the way West Mids safari park is spreading it attractions, you can see how Chess could become a animal /wildlife, the problem is woburn is an hour away, and could give some strong competition.
 
delta79 said:
If you look at the way West Mids safari park is spreading it attractions, you can see how Chess could become a animal /wildlife, the problem is woburn is an hour away, and could give some strong competition.
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Personally if I was traveling down I would proffer to do longlet Safari park at least it's purpose built for what it is
 
2017 would be the next major investment year and the same as Alton's. It will be interesting to see what they add but they wont get anywhere near the budget of Altons and Thorpe major investments, even though from what i have read Chessington is more profitable than thorpe in the past few years. Merlin must have long term plans for Chessington otherwise they surley wouldn't have added the hotel extension and be planning a possible holiday village.

They should be looking to add something like Juvelen built by Intamin, which would be a solid family thrill coaster fitting their target market, be a unique coaster in the UK and would be below the strict height limits the park has.
 
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It doesn't help the park when the new ride's budget gets slashed for another park's new ride going over its budget...

Merlin only keep Chessie on due to the high amount of MAP holders it gets returning to it...

It needs a massive overhaul parkwide in one long go with a massive amount of money for justice to actually be done to it, but I highly doubt Merlin would give such a thing, given the state of not only other parks in the maintenance department, but also because of their feeling of "people still visit, why should we invest" viewpoint...

It is a damn shame, I remember 2010 was a very optimistic looking year, yet nothing really happened since... The only good addition to the park itself has been a refurb of Market Square...

As a park, Chessie certainly suffered DIC the worst, and would probably be better off out of the Merlin umbrella, but it's too lucrative to them with the lower levels of actual new investment... And the investment that has been done is either reactive to park incidents rather than proactive, so just the typical Merlin standard of quality in Zufari and Scorpion Express...
 
What's happened to the Dragon Falls re-furb?
Didn't Varney do an interview saying the park would get a face lift? SeaLife wouldn't be in a tent anymore?

Or was I dreaming...?
 
See the thing about Zufari getting its budget cut to subsidise The Smiler kind of demonstrates Merlin's attitude towards Chessington.

It just seems sad.
 
AstroDan said:
I reluctantly agree that the way forward is probably animal encounters more than a rides theme park. I'm just not really a zoo enthusiast...
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I do enjoy animal attractions, so on the right day, I can appreciate a good zoo nearly as much as a good theme park. The trouble is that 2015 Chessington is neither of these things - there are nearby zoos and safari parks far superior, whilst from the looks of their future plans, Paultons is starting to look the far better option in terms of family theme parks. Meanwhile, as far as combining thrills and animals goes, even West Midlands Safari Park are doing a better job. And it's not just the lack of new additions (and attempting to masquerade a coaster that's older than I am AS a new addition) that's the problem - the existing attractions are ageing. Terribly.
This post's going to read like I hate Chessington - and that's never been the case. It's sad to see it the way it now is, as while studenting in the London area between 2006-9, I could happily kill lazy Sundays at Chessington when I couldn't face the hassle of Thorpe, whereas last year, had it not been for Dragon's Fury, I'd probably not have bothered visiting at all. Much as Thorpe showed signs of turning things around at the start of the 2012 season, so too did Chessington in 2010 with Wild Asia retheme, which looked like the park might finally be getting some seriously required TLC - alas, this proved to be a false start, and already, the area shows the telltale signs of age and negligence.

And then there was Zufari. I've only ridden it the once, back in the carefree days of April 2013... and I'd go so far as to say it's actually the most disappointed I've been with any UK Merlin attraction, and to this day, I can't quite work out how what was in theory a brilliant attraction fell SO far short its mark. Whether you blame the lack of actual animal attraction, the reliance on a contrived 'thing that isn't a thing' theming device or the animated Lemur that I'm feeling angry just typing about, there's no escaping from the fact that it's a shadow of what it should have been.

Which, alas moreorless sums up the current state of Chessington. And as an afterthought - whilst I don't claim to be an expert, it strikes me that a solution to the planning restrictions, locals objections etc. issue could easily be reached if Chessington were to suggest replacing what is surely the ugliest and noisiest coaster in the south of England?
 
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