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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

An old ride which suits the parks target market gets a much needed refresh and is moved to a more prominent location in the park to create space for the 2021 addition. At the same time it is given a new name with an inoffensive IP tie in that suits the parks target market. Not sure I understand the outrage here?

In 2004 a 23yr old Log Flume was repainted and some ducks were plonked around the place and it was labelled ‘new’, in 2010 a 6yr old Rollercoaster was repainted and a sonic statue was popped out the front and it was labelled ‘new’. It’s not exactly a rare occurrence for a retheme to happen.
 
AT86 said:
An old ride which suits the parks target market gets a much needed refresh and is moved to a more prominent location in the park to create space for the 2021 addition. At the same time it is given a new name with an inoffensive IP tie in that suits the parks target market. Not sure I understand the outrage here?

In 2004 a 23yr old Log Flume was repainted and some ducks were plonked around the place and it was labelled ‘new’, in 2010 a 6yr old Rollercoaster was repainted and a sonic statue was popped out the front and it was labelled ‘new’. It’s not exactly a rare occurrence for a retheme to happen.
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That's fine sometimes but there hasn't been a properly new ride at Chessington for seven years.
 
Rick said:
I just can't believe enthusiasts still don't understand that the target audience for this ride don't know it's 30 years old, let alone care. Nor can I understand how people don't understand the appeal of IPs to the youth.
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It's nothing to do with target market, a park shouldn't just move a 30 year old ride a few metres to the left and then be able to call it new. It's not new, because it's been sat there for three decades.

Wether kids know it's new or not is beside the point. It's like Towers re-painting Nemesis and then saying it's new for 2020. It's not new it's just a different colour.
People said the same with Gruffalo. There's not much to 'get away' with if you're giving people what they want.
 
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rob666 said:
Icon, smooth as ever, bit nippy.
Followed by the dodgems.
Operator...
"Ok boys and girls.
See that man with grey hair and dark jacket, he's been very naughty, GET HIM."
Stuffed in one corner for five minutes.
Best laugh of the season.
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Um... did you mean for this to be in the Blackpool thread @rob666?
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Merlin are doing a Disney and opening rides every year to keep you wanting to visit again
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Isn't it the complete opposite of Disney (especially Paris)?

A lot of the Disney parks are reliant on positive word of mouth and strong guest satisfaction to attract people back. Not a 'flavour of the month' new attraction to make guests forget about their previous bad experiences.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Merlin are doing a Disney and opening rides every year to keep you wanting to visit again
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Disney have only recently started to invest again, they didn’t add much for years. It’s Universal and Six Flags that have more reliably added something every year.

At chessington this is a perfect little retheme, but as @Thameslink Rail said, Chessington haven’t added brand new hardware in years, the last was probably the safari. The rethemes will bring people in, but for capacity and therefore guest satisfaction they need more high capacity new ride hardware.
 
I haven’t read Elmer since I was a wee lad, but Elmer doesn’t fly, does he?

also, bloody hell, I am fuming lol. What is Chessington anymore? I thought they were going full steam ahead with the animal themed lands motif, but now they seem to have 180’d and decided they want to become a children’s book theme park? Utter shambles.
 
If I was designing a new area for Chessington, I would build a bobsled coaster and a Scandinavian town surrounded by polar bear enclosures.
Not this, I think story book characters work in the short term however their appeal fades, it took me a while to remember who Elmer the elephant is (the book is 51 years old) however mention a famous rollercoaster like The Smiler or Nemesis and everyone instantly knows what you are talking about and will think about Alton Towers.
 
This is how IPs should be used, on tiny standalone filler attractions with a fitting theme. I like it actually (and I hate the IP obsession in theme parks today). But yeah, what IS Chessington now? A weird patchwork of embarassingly run down older attractions in limbo and hastily refitted new ones, propped up by IPs
 
99NankeD1xxujWBE7
Photos taken from Chessington construction site today
Edit: it seems the photos won't show, try this link https://photos.app.goo.gl/99NankeD1xxujWBE7
Edit 4.5 hours later, more photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/chZAk7NewWcSgSPK6
 
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