Benin

The detail in Wild Asia was so great, the dodgem cars all seemed to have piles of dust in them already...Probs only saying it needs a soundtrack because we've been used to the old one...

I didn't notice the new fountain until my mate pointed it out...The elephant has been on/off for a few years now... But it still needs a proper fix up, that trunk used to rise up as it sprayed the water onto the boat...I approved of the new dragon noise, but something needs to be put into that tunnel to make it... Interesting... Also, bring back the non-PC announcements from last year please...

Had that on Saturday... Don't tell the guests how bad you think the staff are, because it sounds bad and the guests will think you're a idiot of the highest order... The offloader should be wandering up and down and doing that, or yelling loudly and people with a good old fashioned point, that worked... But the old exit rider sign seems to have gone missing, so that needs to be put in so that those people don't walk onto the front end of the platform...

Give it time... After Easter that look will go...

^I don't think the current management will be resting on their laurels much... At least I hope not... Wild Asia is a fantastic benchmark for the rest of the park's future... They just have to keep the standard up...

Opening Day was rather exciting considering the whole news about the re-launching...Although Chessie did spend most of the day confusing me with most new additions (I.e. the new traffic lights), it looks very nice at North Entrance and once the trees bloom it'll look great (as all parks do)...Went straight to Vampire where Keith was... But guys, if you're not letting people in the back two rows, block them off first thing before guests arrive, and then don't turn to us and say you can't go there and then as we return have people waiting... Especially when there's no-one at the exit...Indeed, the ride running felt a bit dodgy all day on some things... Bubbles suffered a break-down due to the onloader letting 6 on and pressing fast-stop for example... It was very on/off but hopefully it'll improve, otherwise I'll spend a year of wanting to jump over gates in order to do the platforming myself :mellow:After Vamp did Buccaneer, good as always, then wandered up to the new area...It's fab... Seriously fab... It looks so much better than Beano and has the two best 2010 new stuff of any park... Banyan Maximus and the Lorikeets...Although we didn't go on Kobra in the morning we went to meet the Lorikeets, and they've now a very close second to my Meerkats... Falls was followed before meeting Monsterdan5, after a donut we went to Tomb, then Rattlesnake (which was smooth and not as painful strangely) and Mine Train...Hopefully Rob Bishop and co have great plans for Mexicana... It does look poorer and poorer every year... Hopefully as well they'll be putting the Falls rocks back up... I've missed them so much...Bubbles was next... Another ride that looks worse and worse with each passing year... It needs gutting and restarting with the theming... No two ways about it... Make it related to Translyvania, but 'happy horror', meaning it's accessible for kids...Lunch was called after some faff at the Goblin, where didn't have to wait too long and the chicken skewers are quite nice...Hocus Pocus Hall has been repainted (and had a few new bits and bobs), and it looks much better now... The 'well' effect is looking superb and had all the guests standing around it in awe... Well done there...Chessie's 3rd best addition for 2010 followed... In Market Square... A new costumed character... Pip the Meerkat <3 Much love was given to Pip and more points to Chessie...Vampire again was followed by Fury, both of which are running well this year, Vamp not as rough and Fury just as spinny as always...Griffins Galleon is still awesome...Back to Wild Asia, and went on the Dodgems... Which looks great... Although new deceptive queue is not fun... And the pillars at the back did not look very themed... But I like the garage theme is has going...Kobra at this point had problems with it's platform, resulting in a million staff descending upon it, but after 10/15 minutes it reopened and we joined the mob entering the queue...It's a great addition to the park... Brilliant... Everyone was having fun and that's what Chessie wants... The bouncing as well loves it...Went back to the Lorikeets and then did Swinger in a shower, so ended up just as wet on the inside as I would've on the outside... Jungle Bus was ridden since it had no queue... Showing how empty it was really... And was fun if difficult to get in and out of...Meerkat times called as well as Savannah construction, it looks massive and could be another great addition for the park, especially if it evolves into a safari ride...Back to Kobra for one last go, and still a fun ride... So the day was amazing, Wild Asia is an amazing benchmark for the park's future additions, and if they keep it to that standard the future is very, very bright...Ride Count:Vampire - 2Buccaneer - 2Lorikeets - 3Falls - 1Tomb - 1Rattlesnake - 1Mine Train - 1Bubbles - 1Hocus Pocus Hall - 1Fury - 1Griffins - 1Tuk Tuk - 1Kobra - 2Monkey Swinger - 1

They redo the commentary every year it seems...But they need to re-route and refurb the entire thing... Maybe with the savannah area opening up and what-not, it could happen in the future...

One thing I don't like about Vamp's redone queue is that they've got rid of the graves as you walk into the building...I really liked that area... :mellow:Everything else is good though... Didn't get a good look at them though but least something else to look at now...

The park really has so many improvements all over the place... It's very entertaining to spot what had been changed since last season...The new entrance road layout threw me completely with the missing crossing...Shame Mine Train didn't get work done... And no air gates back on Buccy...The new safari section seems like it'll be bloody massive as well... The main building frame towers over that area by far...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh ride announcements "It's just like a bicycle"? Seems that 2010 is a bad year for ride announcements so far...But, it is a very minor thing tbh...Kobra also had a breakdown for about 10 minutes when the platform refused to play ball...

Kobra (and Wild Asia with it) are awesome...The random bouncing is great fun, and all the guests on it were loving it...The station platform needs a bit more... BUT it's a great addition to Chessie...

It's dead...Down all day today and had some issues yesterday...Least it lasted through 5 days before it did this

Just thought I'd mention (in case no-one's checking the website regularly) that this issue is now gone... 6 and 8pm closes are back, starting with tomorrow... No dossy starting weekend for the staff this year...

It looks exceptionally awesome...As long as Michael Gambon is in it as well, that'll give it even more points <3

Not just at the start... It happens throughout the year... Inferno can handle it better than Nemesis though since it's newer...

^My expectations of humanity have been low for many years...I have very little doubt that the park dealt with the situation well, since the parks usually do if emergency services are required... Just some people shouldn't be allowed outside...Argh... Stupid people are stupid...

If you're looking at taxis, you don't want to go from Stoke... It's further away than you might think... There is a bus from Stoke which is about £4/5 return which takes about 50-60 minutes...Alternatively, go to Uttoxeter and get a taxi/bus from there... It might be slightly busy but I'm not 100% sure when the schools up here actually break up... But the uni does on Monday week so you may or may not be lucky...If all else fails you can always fall onto fast-track for some extra... Dunno if they'll have it for Thirteen but that's not a horrendous queue...Another option is ERT time from 9-10 on Nemesis and Oblivion (to name the big two of the line-up)... If you don't have an AP get those tickets in advance and take advantage...

I doubt Chessie come the end of the season will beat Thorpe's total gate figure...But I reckon Chessie will see a bumper year... Bigger than 2008 (Which in turn was the best year for the park since 2000)...

Maybe the marketing are rusty at ad campaigns considering the last one was 6 years ago

^Pah, if I were at home I probs would've gone to Thorpe with my mum for mother's day, bugger all excuse...

Yep, in basically every ride case, a couple of high capacity flats replacing some low capacity ones, and a high capacity coaster and water ride, add in a big safari ride, and Chessie will have a bright future...Let's just hope as you say, it retains the popularity and Merlin see that Chessie has great potential and deserves the investment year in year out... A packed out AP day must show the managers something from the off...

There did seem to be a hell load of people there today from various photos...Hopefully it'll be slightly less next week...Chessie's target market of guests will see this as the third biggest ride at the park, and even with a reasonable capacity, with a really busy day (80 mins for Vampire apparently), of course the new big ride will be busy...Evidently there's a load of AP holders in Kingston...

^Same here Andy, it's always good to bump into people you haven't seen in a while... :)Best part of my day was the second time on Thirteen, with John Wardley operating it... Then it breaking down on him...

Thirteen was really dead after lunch it would seem... For my second go it was about 15 minutes at half 4ish... Amazing...Maybe it was the rain, maybe people left, but it shocked me how non-busy the park was yesterday... Hell after the first hour or so Air got the longest queue with Spinball, it was like Thirteen didn't exist it was so like previous years...Ride Count Thirteen - 2Nemesis - 2Oblivion - 2Rita - 1Duel - 1Congo - 1Mine Train - 1Charlie - 1Blade - 1

The restraints are on all Diskos... They're not bad as long as you tense your back up in preparation...Looking forward to it...