Alix
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Swarm or Oblivion
(For those who don’t know us, @Chimpy is my daughter and we have Merlin passes for the first time this year.)
Theming - 6/10
Queue times -6/10
Facilities/cleanliness - started at 9/10, dropped to 3/10
Ride Availability - 8/10
Total 6.4/10
Steps:12,906
Distance covered: 9.85k
Got to park at 0910 so was near front of entry queue. Reserve and ride wasn’t working properly so we headed down to Mandrill Mayhem as soon as we were allowed in. There was lots of confusion, and hotel guests cross as they hadn’t been able to get their early ride time, people getting angry as they hadn’t read the (multiple) signs about needing to use the virtual queue. We managed to get our slot with a 31 second expiry time so hung around and got on within 20 minutes. We got row 7 on the left hand side. Bit strange going backwards as we had no idea what was coming, and got no ride photo. The dispatch team were trying hard to get people on and off but there was lots of faffing. 9/10.
By the time we got off at 1023, most of the rides either had 100m plus queues or were still closed. So we went for a wander in the general direction of vampire, saw the queue and kept walking to Tiger Rock. I don’t like flumes, but this didn’t get us soaked so wasn’t too bad. 6/10 We were off at about 1055 and by this time most things were open with mega queues. The chimp was hungry so we joined a 120m queue for Dragon’s Fury and lunch.
Put the timer on and turns out to be just over an hour so not too bad. Ride was good - seats quite uncomfy on the knees and I’m not particularly tall. Got a little bit of air time; photo wasn’t the best. We calculated roughly 555pph throughput and the number of empty seats going around was irritating. 7/10
Headed off towards Rattlesnake - advertising a 90m queue. Queue was actually 1 hour, but again no batching so lots of spare seats going round empty. Rough old ride - 3/10 (5/10 chimpy) theming looked like it had been good originally but is now a bit tired and needs a refresh
Back to Mandrill for our second ride slot. Queued for about 15 minutes, got first row left hand side!! Ride hosts really on it, telling everyone which number they were, where to stand, take bags off etc - but this still didn’t stop people not listening and dawdling about. But, front row was brilliant. Smooth, fast, really enjoyed it. You don’t get the hang time in that row when you reverse out of the station though.
Quick trip to the loos which were grim by this point and then into the 120m queue for Vampire. 1hr 22 was the actual queue length. The queue line was long but the theming still looks good. No screens were working though. The organ player was working, and this ride is mainly a nostalgia trip for me as I rode it back when the gondolas were actually bats. A bit rough and rickety in places. 7/10. (6/10 Chimpy)
All our “big” rides done, we started finding smallest queues and working our way round.
Trawler Trouble was practically walk on - I know what to expect, the chimp was disappointed. Next it was blue barnacle after a quick detour through the trail of the kings - we quickly realised we’d taken a wrong turn and doubled back to a 40 minute queue. It just wasn’t moving so we bailed and headed to Tomb Blaster.
The Tomb Blaster queue was advertised at 40 minutes but then closed for cleaning as we entered the queue. We decided to stick with it as the queue was still moving and ended up on in 24:40. Theming in the queue was very good, ride itself nothing above what I expected, kicked the chimp’s arse score wise so 10/10 for me.
We then did Room on the Broom which was sweet, and took the chimp to meet her extended family at Amazu. At 12 she was a bit old for this and towered over the rest of the kids there but still enjoyed seeing the monkeys.
Final ride before closing was the Gruffalo, nostalgic for me as it was the bubble works last time I rode it; and nostalgic for chimp because it was the Gruffalo. Queue time advertised at 30m, we were in at the 26 minute point. 5/10 I preferred the bubble works finale.
On our way out we headed back to World of Jumanji as there was something in the gift shop the chimp wanted. As we were leaving, a manager was sending people back to Mandrill Mayhem so we followed the crowd, looked hopeful and were allowed straight on - 2nd row right hand side. Not quite believing our luck, we ran back to the queue again and were allowed straight back on for another go - front row left again. Dispatch was getting better - seemed some hosts were being trained by those we’d seen earlier in the day. Best ride in the park for us, and the virtual queue did seem to work well after the initial glitch.
Generally, at the start of the day, the park looked tidy and not too shabby. Apart from the toilets which were grim by lunch time and gross by home time at 7pm. Towards the end of the day bins were starting to over flow and the queue jumping was getting bad. The number of seats left empty in cars really didn’t help the queues - can’t understand why they don’t try to batch people more. Wasn’t looking for animals particularly so no idea how they were looking.
Mardi Grrr wasn’t on my list of things to see either but the tiny bits we saw looked fine if you like that sort of thing. Didn’t see many/any water points which was a shame as Thorpe’s much better at that as well as suncream dispensers. The water refill point on the app doesn’t actually exist which is pretty poor in my opinion. Was overcharged for photo pass and gift shop which was irritating but partly my own fault as I didn’t check before I tapped.
We will go back this year, to mop up the likes of croc drop, and the 2 jumanji flats, but unless/until they open another new coaster that’s probably it for CWOAR as far as we’re concerned. It was not a relaxing day as we were constantly on a mission to get the next ride - I’d say this is a 2 day park in school holidays due to the queues so you can take in the scenery & not thrash yourself to get on everything. We did not buy food but did pay out for a large coke (due to no water fountains) and ice creams.
Ride/Experience count:
Mandrill Mayhem x4
Tiger Rock
Dragon’s Fury
Vampire
Trawler Trouble
Tomb Blaster
Gruffalo River Adventure
Room on the Broom
Amazu Treetop Adventure
On the list but ran out of time:
CrocDrop
Ostrich Stampede
Mamba Strike
Kobra
Theming - 6/10
Queue times -6/10
Facilities/cleanliness - started at 9/10, dropped to 3/10
Ride Availability - 8/10
Total 6.4/10
Steps:12,906
Distance covered: 9.85k
Got to park at 0910 so was near front of entry queue. Reserve and ride wasn’t working properly so we headed down to Mandrill Mayhem as soon as we were allowed in. There was lots of confusion, and hotel guests cross as they hadn’t been able to get their early ride time, people getting angry as they hadn’t read the (multiple) signs about needing to use the virtual queue. We managed to get our slot with a 31 second expiry time so hung around and got on within 20 minutes. We got row 7 on the left hand side. Bit strange going backwards as we had no idea what was coming, and got no ride photo. The dispatch team were trying hard to get people on and off but there was lots of faffing. 9/10.
By the time we got off at 1023, most of the rides either had 100m plus queues or were still closed. So we went for a wander in the general direction of vampire, saw the queue and kept walking to Tiger Rock. I don’t like flumes, but this didn’t get us soaked so wasn’t too bad. 6/10 We were off at about 1055 and by this time most things were open with mega queues. The chimp was hungry so we joined a 120m queue for Dragon’s Fury and lunch.
Put the timer on and turns out to be just over an hour so not too bad. Ride was good - seats quite uncomfy on the knees and I’m not particularly tall. Got a little bit of air time; photo wasn’t the best. We calculated roughly 555pph throughput and the number of empty seats going around was irritating. 7/10
Headed off towards Rattlesnake - advertising a 90m queue. Queue was actually 1 hour, but again no batching so lots of spare seats going round empty. Rough old ride - 3/10 (5/10 chimpy) theming looked like it had been good originally but is now a bit tired and needs a refresh
Back to Mandrill for our second ride slot. Queued for about 15 minutes, got first row left hand side!! Ride hosts really on it, telling everyone which number they were, where to stand, take bags off etc - but this still didn’t stop people not listening and dawdling about. But, front row was brilliant. Smooth, fast, really enjoyed it. You don’t get the hang time in that row when you reverse out of the station though.
Quick trip to the loos which were grim by this point and then into the 120m queue for Vampire. 1hr 22 was the actual queue length. The queue line was long but the theming still looks good. No screens were working though. The organ player was working, and this ride is mainly a nostalgia trip for me as I rode it back when the gondolas were actually bats. A bit rough and rickety in places. 7/10. (6/10 Chimpy)
All our “big” rides done, we started finding smallest queues and working our way round.
Trawler Trouble was practically walk on - I know what to expect, the chimp was disappointed. Next it was blue barnacle after a quick detour through the trail of the kings - we quickly realised we’d taken a wrong turn and doubled back to a 40 minute queue. It just wasn’t moving so we bailed and headed to Tomb Blaster.
The Tomb Blaster queue was advertised at 40 minutes but then closed for cleaning as we entered the queue. We decided to stick with it as the queue was still moving and ended up on in 24:40. Theming in the queue was very good, ride itself nothing above what I expected, kicked the chimp’s arse score wise so 10/10 for me.
We then did Room on the Broom which was sweet, and took the chimp to meet her extended family at Amazu. At 12 she was a bit old for this and towered over the rest of the kids there but still enjoyed seeing the monkeys.
Final ride before closing was the Gruffalo, nostalgic for me as it was the bubble works last time I rode it; and nostalgic for chimp because it was the Gruffalo. Queue time advertised at 30m, we were in at the 26 minute point. 5/10 I preferred the bubble works finale.
On our way out we headed back to World of Jumanji as there was something in the gift shop the chimp wanted. As we were leaving, a manager was sending people back to Mandrill Mayhem so we followed the crowd, looked hopeful and were allowed straight on - 2nd row right hand side. Not quite believing our luck, we ran back to the queue again and were allowed straight back on for another go - front row left again. Dispatch was getting better - seemed some hosts were being trained by those we’d seen earlier in the day. Best ride in the park for us, and the virtual queue did seem to work well after the initial glitch.
Generally, at the start of the day, the park looked tidy and not too shabby. Apart from the toilets which were grim by lunch time and gross by home time at 7pm. Towards the end of the day bins were starting to over flow and the queue jumping was getting bad. The number of seats left empty in cars really didn’t help the queues - can’t understand why they don’t try to batch people more. Wasn’t looking for animals particularly so no idea how they were looking.
Mardi Grrr wasn’t on my list of things to see either but the tiny bits we saw looked fine if you like that sort of thing. Didn’t see many/any water points which was a shame as Thorpe’s much better at that as well as suncream dispensers. The water refill point on the app doesn’t actually exist which is pretty poor in my opinion. Was overcharged for photo pass and gift shop which was irritating but partly my own fault as I didn’t check before I tapped.
We will go back this year, to mop up the likes of croc drop, and the 2 jumanji flats, but unless/until they open another new coaster that’s probably it for CWOAR as far as we’re concerned. It was not a relaxing day as we were constantly on a mission to get the next ride - I’d say this is a 2 day park in school holidays due to the queues so you can take in the scenery & not thrash yourself to get on everything. We did not buy food but did pay out for a large coke (due to no water fountains) and ice creams.
Ride/Experience count:
Mandrill Mayhem x4
Tiger Rock
Dragon’s Fury
Vampire
Trawler Trouble
Tomb Blaster
Gruffalo River Adventure
Room on the Broom
Amazu Treetop Adventure
On the list but ran out of time:
CrocDrop
Ostrich Stampede
Mamba Strike
Kobra
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