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Chessington. It is arguably one of the most iconic and notable tourist attractions in the United Kingdom and naturally enriched in facts and history. Opening it’s doors in 1931, Chessington Zoo was born and was once the largest private zoo in England as a result. Years passed by and Pearsons brought up the zoo. When the 1980’s arrived, the zoo was believed to be in decline and Tussauds (part of Pearsons) had the challenge of rejuvenating the attraction to a new generation. Special effects designer John Wardley was one of the key people working on this project, which would transform the failing attraction into one of first proper theme parks in the U.K. In 1987, the attraction reopened as Chessington and was believed to be successful. Built on a relatively low budget, some of the park’s attractions included the powered coaster Runaway Train, cult classic dark ride ‘The Fifth Dimension’ and tradition logflume, Dragon River. It is the latter we shall focus on here (with good reasons to follow). During it’s early years, the Dragon River was richly themed, from it’s giant Buddha, Dragon tunnel and rock work, which dominated the ride’s lifthills and surrounding area. It’s Asian architectural design and landscaping perhaps once regarded the ride as one of most richly themed attractions out there. Some say the water was even dyed once to further enhance it’s then mystic theme. Years later it would became renamed as Dragon Falls. (Above) The ride during days of past when theming was complete. N.B not my photo (Theme Uk) As the years passed, the theme park continued to grow and progress, however Dragon Falls through time became neglected and poorly looked after. In 2005, a large proportion of theming and rockwork was removed but not replaced, leaving the second lift and other surrounding areas to be exposed and naked from their former theming. By the time 2013 further theming was removed, including the rock faces on the main drop and remaining rock work on lift one. Once again, these were not replaced, likely down to being condemned and sufficient budgets not being provided. Around this time, the ride was threadbare of theming on the most part, with the once grand drop area looking like this: Compared to what it had once been, the general state of the ride was bleak, empty and something of an embarrassment. A once themed attraction striped threadbare of it’s once grand and striking appearance. The tunnel was also chopped in half, making a barely dark experience around a ‘back of house’ location. For five seasons, the ride continued to operate in this delapidated state. Apart from a safety upgrade, only the Buddha, Dragon and station received modest touchups. As nice they were, this didn’t do much to help a ride in a shadow of it’s past. Then in 2017, plans came afoot to refresh the ride and surrounding area including Dragon Falls, which would be given a retheme with new features. Joining alongside a brand new Amur tiger exhibit, the ride would form part of a refreshed area Land Of The Tigers. Though not without it’s fault, this would be the biggest overhaul on the attraction during it’s 31 years of existence. whilst zombies and flames invaded other Merlin attractions, Chessington was busy finishing off it’s Tiger area. Eight months after the closure of the original area, Land Of The Tigers opened to the public. Aside the new enclosures, Chessington’s flume was somewhat reborn with a new identity known as Tiger Rock. The new updates drop area for the ride looks tigerrific One of the biggest updates to the attraction is the brand new Tiger rockwork element, which the boats pass under during the final drop. This offers a great new element of excitement and interaction both on and off ride, looking much better than the previous eyesore in the previous years from the ride. One of the best updates (from a personal perspective) is the station. There is a lot more atmosphere in there now, from it’s new soundtrack to the new artwork and lighting displayed on the side walls. I really like how they’ve kept the oriental theming and enhanced it with things such as lanterns. There’s also a cool tiger effect that activates every couple of minutes too, which is an interesting feature. The exterior updates look nice enough too. Whilst not without it’s faults, Tiger Rock joins the theme park and zoo are one. As long as the enclosures meet sufficient requirements, this may be the best way forward for much of Chessington, by becoming immersed in rides complimented by animal experiences. The tunnel features are an original touch, but the fences aren’t the most attractive. The project has seen changes I like a lot, but others not so much. The tunnel after lift 1 epitomises this. The inside is finally back to it’s original length at long last, accompanied by some random effects/models which really complements the experience. However, the exterior looks hideous, ugly and out of place. Whilst a brightly coloured Dragon would never fit within the new theme, they could’ve done more from the hideous mess that awaits there now. Lift two still doesn’t look great especially without any theming. The added fencing on the side makes it look somewhat worse, but is to probably prevent injury from those less able to remain seated. A limited budget from Merlin likely prevented ‘non safety’ enhancement on this section in the first place, which is a shame really. The picsolve unit has been moved, and creating a new ride shop. A small one there too I should point out. Lift one looks a little nicer with the new decorations. Conclusion: Land Of The Tigers has breathed some new life into area and Flume ride, giving it a fresh identity on the whole as Tiger Rock. Whilst not without it’s flaws, the retheme can be seen as a much needed upgrade, from it’s stunning station to the impressive new theming on the main drop. It’s a shame some areas couldn’t have seen more work, such as theming on lift two and tunnel exterior, however I doubt they were offered enough budget to carry those out sadly. Whilst it’s no Chiapas (and was never supposed to be), I like most of what they’ve done which is probably now my favourite U.K. flume ride, which isn’t difficult to be fair. It may not look as good compared to it’s early years, but is much better than the ones between it. Seven Out Of Ten.

Had the pleasure of seeing the Tiger Talk today. Was really interesting to see the tigers up close and how they train them - they use a whistle like thing on the end of a long stick, so the tiger has to follow the whistle and blow into it to get his or her food. A couple of times they made her stand up and my god, those things are much bigger than they look. They also spoke a bit about Wildfire at Kolmarden - they explained how the tigers wouldn't be bothered by the noise of the log flume, because they were situated by the main drop of the ride back in Sweden, so they're used to it by now.

Yesterday’s trip was great fun. Kudos to Matt Wise and Marc for organising this trip. Double the parks, double the fun. Too many highlights to count, but that group ride on Tidal Wave was tonnes of fun (though very wet).

The Walking Dead Ride is definitely an attraction, which the more times I go on, the more enjoyable it becomes. Definitely great to notice little tweaks/improvements being made in places throughout, such as the horn etc. Live actors also helps enhance it. Only criticisms again are the issue Stuntman mentioned above, which just needs some sorting out and the house lights seem to be switched on a lot just after the train leaves the station. Something to do with resetting after a shutdown?

After a second go yesterday, I really think the ride keeps getting better! First just want to point out a criticism regarding safety. The lights going out in the corridor make it very dark. I assume this caused someone to run into the wall where the folding chairs are in the dark as they were lying on the floor. (They were ok) I’d put some bright black and yellow stripes or something around the corners so you can still see where you’re going. There’s been some tweaks to the exit canteen corridor. Having live actors here makes a huge difference! The horn of the truck was much louder and made you jump when it went off. The last walker sticking out the roof before the exit gives you one good last scare. I think one thing that would make the corridors better would be the sound of a group of walkers playing in the compromised sections of the entry and along the exit corridor. Overall, I genuinely like the ride, just keep making a few more improvements and get some full time actors or animatronics for the canteen.

Blackpool's marketing have really mucked this up here, as you're not the first person I've seen confused about this. They are currently selling the VIP boarding pass, which gives access for one ride early (IE, yesterday, today, tomorrow or Tuesday). They're now priced at £25(?) You then have the boarding pass for when the ride opens, which gives you access to the park, one ride on Icon and a special certificate, priced at £16. I think that lets you ride before the ride opens to everyone in the morning too. However, Icon is included in wristbands for all ride access. They have not made this clear whatsoever, making it sound like you have to buy an extortionately priced boarding pass to ride. No doubt the marketing push is there to make as much money as possible, but it really has left a lot of people confused.

Popped in for a few hours today as I had a meeting in Heathrow that was done by 10am and I was really pleasantly surprised! At the entrance staff were doing a good job separating people with bags for security search and the new turnstiles scan passes much more quickly than the old ones. Coasters were all running two trains and Saw had plenty of cars on. Really efficient team on Swarm with no stacking going on, and Nemesis Inferno not too bad but seemed to be having a few issues with restraints. Didn't ride Colossus but this seemed to be struggling to despatch with any urgency. Two boats on Tidal Wave. Queue times were bizarre and it seemed like a lot of people in the park were going round in a huge group; at one point in the day Colossus' queue time was indicated as 50 minutes, and later on Stealth was going out with empty seats while at the same time Nemesis Inferno's queue was reaching the second cattle pen! Swarm's fire effect was going off on every other train, but sadly still no water effects. Also the new fencing in the queue line while sturdy is totally out of theme - seems they got a job lot as the same stuff is used (in different colours) at the park entrance and in a few other places around the park. Stealth's smoke effects are back but still one of the green lights is out. On Saw the indoor drop and the bit with the arrows/air blasts is in total darkness for some reason. Vortex and Samurai both closed but work visibly going on to fix both of them. Generally a really nice atmosphere on park - plenty of people around but mostly small queues and good ops and it seemed lots of people were taking the opportunity to enjoy a beer or an ice cream in the sun. On my visits to Thorpe Park this year even on quiet days it's felt like it has some life and vibrancy and that it's being run fairly creatively (events, promotions, minor refurbs etc) - so why does Alton Towers with its brand new major coaster feel like an exercise in managed decline?

Well it beats Tomb Blaster's shed tbh.