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Dragon Falls or Tiger Rock?

Which Version of the Ride do you prefer?

  • Dragon Falls

    Votes: 30 88.2%
  • Tiger Rock

    Votes: 4 11.8%

  • Total voters
    34

Trooper Looper

TS Member
I'm sure a many Chessington fans here have the fond memories of Riding Dragons Falls, waiting inches queue with its calm music, the Buddhist sculpts, and the Dragons Mouth you enter...
Or some either have those memories of its Updated version 'Tiger Rock'. Those whichever you prefer that is.

So what are your guys favourite version of Chessongtons Flume ride?
 
Dragon River (it’s original name) without a doubt. As a kid I must have visited Chessington for the first time in 1989 (it was before Vampire had opened) and I remember walking in to the Mystic East and finding it absolutely mind blowing seeing that big drop with the massive Buddha stone heads. I’d only ever been to seaside amusement parks before that and the theming was just amazing, I’d never seen anything like it, I can still remember so vividly queuing up for the ride in the fantastic building and the feeling of going over the two drops. What a ride it was in those opening years when everything at the park was so fresh.

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1989 Chessington guide book picture taken from the brilliant flicker account TrainsAndStuff who has a massive collection of scans of leaflets and guidebooks from 80s and 90s theme parks.

 
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The only good thing i really like about Tiger Rock is the entrance plaza trying to look similar to Asian architecture. I think the Problem Tiger Rock has is that its trying to tell a very adventurous story in a very dramatic manner, while Dragon River/Falls had a really nice and relaxing fell to it, especially with the soundtrack it was given in 2004. The station looked a lot more realistic as well and felt believable, while Tiger Rocks station feels like something strsight out from the Lego Ninjago series.

I think another problem that Tiger Rock has is that a few people says it has a Busch Gardens look to it, especially with the Giant Tiger rock work at the drop. A British ride shouldn't aim to look like a typical American theme, it should aim to be British for a British audience. So slapping a Tiger samctuary consisting of wood panels and perplex windows next to a themed log flume really isn't what I'd call consistent theming.

While yes, Tiger Rock is definitely better than Dragon falls was in its last few years, it still doesn't hold much to when it opened and had all that rockwork.

At least the Mystic East looks nice with the fresh paint now and the flags.

I don't really need to say much about the Dragon head then and now, since I think a good majority people prefer the Dragon. As much as it didn't make sense, at least it was really cool looking off and onride and wasn't just some bad rock work covering the head.
 
Even having familiarised myself with your extreme borrowed nostalgia for an unremembered time passed, I have literally have no idea what this statement actually means.
Correct me if I'm wrong here @Trooper Looper, but I think what they're saying is that they think that emulating an American park (Busch Gardens) is not what a British park (Chessington) should be going for. Or something along those lines, anyway.

I must say that I disagree with their viewpoint, however. I see nothing wrong with borrowing Busch Gardens-style ideas given that both Busch Gardens Tampa and Chessington are zoo theme parks. What difference does Busch being American make if they have good ideas that suit Chessington?

I admittedly haven't seen Tiger Rock first hand, but from what I've seen online, I think it overall looks like a really nice, tasteful way of merging the zoo aspect of Chessington and the theme park aspect of Chessington.
 
Even having familiarised myself with your extreme borrowed nostalgia for an unremembered time passed, I have literally have no idea what this statement actually means.
Well, a lot of American themed rides always seem to try and make the rider excited through effects, storytelling, a fast paced feel, and very specific genres of theming. I just seem to notice that a lot of european rides seem to take a different approach to it. Rides in Europe can make an great experience, but it's not always though obstructive OTT theming stickibg out of the ground only for photo oppunities, bombastic/grand music, or a heavy use of Effects. Of course, this doesn't apply to Dark rides as these elements are essential for them.

As for what @Matt N has said. I just think that when the industry started in the UK, Tussauds, well, John's aim was to try and create a type of park (Chessington) that was really different from what America had or has to offer, and they succeed pretty well. It just seems that Very American like elements are starting to leak into the UK Theme Parks. Efteling has managed to update and change over the years without losing its style and unique feel. I just find it as a shame that doesn't really apply for Our 3 biggest parks here, Alton, Thorpe, and Chessie. Though, this isn't always the case. Shipwreck Coast is a wonderful area I think and fits the park really well. Really hope to see more investment like that in the upcoming future.

Dont get me wrong, I think The Land of The Tiger is a really good concept on paper, but I think they went a bit overboard in some places. I think they should've kept the Sanctuary away from the Log Flume area, as its a bit of an eyesore around the main drop, and the wood panel walls randomly placed around the ride really isn't that thematically appropriate for an area based around Asia. They could've used the budget to get some rockwork in places that needed it desperately, like the lift Hills and the section before the main drop. They could've carved Faces of tigers in place of where the Buddhist faces were and it would've been great.

The Dragon where you go in would've been still Thematically appropriate as the area is based of Asia and the Dragon was a Traditional Chinese Depicted one. Heck, if they wanted to incorporate more Tigers into the ride, they could've added ancient tiger sculpts around the ride that would've sprayed water jets. Imagine!!

I think they could've kept the old Dragon falls music as well, the current one is a bit too dramatic and adventurous for a slow moving log flume that's mostly in the greenery.
 
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