- News all the latest
- Theme Park explore the park
- Resort tour the resort
- Future looking forward
- History looking back
- Community and meetups
-
ℹ️ Heads up...
This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks. - Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
- Favourite Ride
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Favourite Ride
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
- Favourite Ride
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Favourite Ride
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Favourite Ride
- Iron Gwazi
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Skyscraper
TS Member
And that's not a black mamba


Zeock
TS Member
The back looks good, although that snake could look better.
AT86
TS Member
Maintenance schedules play havoc with xms opening not many of legos rides are hugely mechanical thus servicing of crucial moving safety parts is less, its not a decent excuse but most lego rides can have cars / units out of action for servicing and keep the attraction serviceable , if inspections and maintenance can fit either side of xmas opening then it helps
Islander
TS Member
Nah, this isn't true at all. Lego's rides are no different to Chessington's in terms of maintenance, they'll still all need an annual stripdown etc.Maintenance schedules play havoc with xms opening not many of legos rides are hugely mechanical thus servicing of crucial moving safety parts is less, its not a decent excuse but most lego rides can have cars / units out of action for servicing and keep the attraction serviceable , if inspections and maintenance can fit either side of xmas opening then it helps
It's worth noting that Lego have started completing some servicing during the 'normal' season, around May/September time - things like Haunted House, Dragon's Apprentice and Mia's Riding Adventure have been taken out of service for a couple of weeks during these periods to be stripped down and serviced. It's what the big players do - Disney etc. - it's the only way to effectively have year round opening, and Lego have clearly realised this.
Bowser
TS Member
Nah, this isn't true at all. Lego's rides are no different to Chessington's in terms of maintenance, they'll still all need an annual stripdown etc.
It's worth noting that Lego have started completing some servicing during the 'normal' season, around May/September time - things like Haunted House, Dragon's Apprentice and Mia's Riding Adventure have been taken out of service for a couple of weeks during these periods to be stripped down and serviced. It's what the big players do - Disney etc. - it's the only way to effectively have year round opening, and Lego have clearly realised this.
Paulton's do the vast majority of their annual maintenance in November when the park is closed to the public with a few other rides during the course of the year.
They already have their entire maintenance schedule listed for 2024 through to Spring 2025 and clearly labeled on the website:

Ride Maintenance at Paultons Park | Paultons Park
News & updates on ride maintenance here at Paultons Park. Paultons is fully closed during January, and on selected dates throughout the year.
We typically visit 3 or 4 times a year and i've never experienced an unplanned ride closure. Velociraptor broke down once (with us on it) and was back running again in about 10 minutes.
It's night and day with the Merlin parks (especially Chessington and AT) and i can't praise them enough for it. Not sure what the explanation is for the difference beyond slightly newer rides. They all share similar opening seasons.
Bowser
TS Member
Went to Chessington today, finally got to sit in the front of Mandrill which was cool, though still think the backwards facing seats are the best due to the spike.
Noticed that Croc Drop is covered in scaffolding (looked quite impressive but couldn't get a photo unfortunately), hopefully means they are fixing it so it will rotate for more than 2 weeks in 2024.
Everything was practically walk on too, never experienced that! Though weirdly they left all the lines open for Gruffalo so that was a slight mess of queue merging confusion.
Noticed that Croc Drop is covered in scaffolding (looked quite impressive but couldn't get a photo unfortunately), hopefully means they are fixing it so it will rotate for more than 2 weeks in 2024.
Everything was practically walk on too, never experienced that! Though weirdly they left all the lines open for Gruffalo so that was a slight mess of queue merging confusion.
Bowser
TS Member
Sorry for the double post but last minute decided to go back to Chessington for the afternoon as really wanted to get a ride on Mandrill in the dark.
It was even quieter than Thursday, practically a private theme park! Actually bought some overpriced food just because i feel bad about the economics of days like this and don't want them to stop.
Have now been front, row 6 and back of Mandrill (and other random rows in the past) and the back row is definitely the optimum experience imo due to that initial spike plus the "forwards" launch on the return with the low ground tilt. Had 4 rides total too which is the same amount i'd previously had in 4 visits this year.
The perfect Xmas theme park day, will be hard to go back to normal service in the Spring!
It was even quieter than Thursday, practically a private theme park! Actually bought some overpriced food just because i feel bad about the economics of days like this and don't want them to stop.
Have now been front, row 6 and back of Mandrill (and other random rows in the past) and the back row is definitely the optimum experience imo due to that initial spike plus the "forwards" launch on the return with the low ground tilt. Had 4 rides total too which is the same amount i'd previously had in 4 visits this year.
The perfect Xmas theme park day, will be hard to go back to normal service in the Spring!
Zeock
TS Member
It was quite shocking. However, I think that today was worse than usual. This isn't apologia, though.With your mentioned figures in Discord, the entire area was getting 800pph. Not per ride, all 3 rides added together. Pathetic.
If anyone's interested:
Mamba Strike: 141 pph (average of 3)
Ostrich Stampede: 117 pph (average of 4)
Mandrill Mayhem: 542 pph (average of 2)
Matt N
TS Member
The Mandrill Mayhem figure seems par for the course, and would roughly tee up with the 575pph reading I logged in September. Given the inherent bottlenecks of Mandrill Mayhem, such as only having 1 train and not allowing people on the platform while the ride is in motion, I wasn’t unimpressed with this at all. I actually thought that while the inherent issue of not allowing guests to wait behind the airgates was a significant detractor from throughput, the ride seemed reasonably well operated with all things considered.
I am quite surprised by how low the flat ride throughputs are, though. Those throughputs must equate to only a very small amount of hourly cycles.
I am quite surprised by how low the flat ride throughputs are, though. Those throughputs must equate to only a very small amount of hourly cycles.
Zeock
TS Member
Mandrill Mayhem's throughput was definitely par for the course. I have seen much better and also quite a bit worse.The Mandrill Mayhem figure seems par for the course, and would roughly tee up with the 575pph reading I logged in September. Given the inherent bottlenecks of Mandrill Mayhem, such as only having 1 train and not allowing people on the platform while the ride is in motion, I wasn’t unimpressed with this at all. I actually thought that while the inherent issue of not allowing guests to wait behind the airgates was a significant detractor from throughput, the ride seemed reasonably well operated with all things considered.
I am quite surprised by how low the flat ride throughputs are, though. Those throughputs must equate to only a very small amount of hourly cycles.
The flat ride throughputs were definitely below average, but even on a good day, their throughputs are poor to say the least.
Bowser
TS Member
It was quite shocking. However, I think that today was worse than usual. This isn't apologia, though.
If anyone's interested:
Mamba Strike: 141 pph (average of 3)
Ostrich Stampede: 117 pph (average of 4)
Mandrill Mayhem: 542 pph (average of 2)
Not sure if you included it in your figures but on my two Christmas visits multiple rows of seats on Ostrich Stampede were closed too. At least 2 "arms", possibly 3.
On the flip side all 3 rides were walk-on which presumably slows down throughput. Operators having to manually raise and lower empty restraints each cycle and seat swaps being accommodated for example.
Zeock
TS Member
2 arms were closed on my visit, which was included in my figures.Not sure if you included it in your figures but on my two Christmas visits multiple rows of seats on Ostrich Stampede were closed too. At least 2 "arms", possibly 3.
George W
TS Member
It's obviously just the virtual queueStill waiting on confirmation for the "throughput solution" that was mentioned.
