Zappomatic

It was closed in so far as it wasn't part of a body of water like Loggers Leap and Rumba Rapids at Thorpe Park, but the filtration system definitely wasn't there. You can see the filtration system to the left of the small drop near the start (Bing Maps birds eye view shows this best). I remember ever since this was installed the ride has had clear, chlorine-smelling water. Before then it was murky and lacked the chlorine smell, and the area contained derelict portacabins..

Chessington in 1997/1998 (an early Matt Lucas and Mark Williams show!)

Originally the ride didn't have a filtration system meaning in the summer the water was a disgusting opaque green from the algae. I believe the filtration system was added at some point in the 2000s. Of course, for truly disgusting ride water you need Storm Force 10 at Drayton Manor which is a reddish-brown colour and forms huge clumps of scummy foam and smells fishy (probably duck poo).

Interesting article which covers a good deal of the creation of Chessington and Alton Towers, kind of from a more commercial angle than the John Wardley side: http://blooloop.com/feature/ray-barratt-port-aventura-cwoa-and-a-life-in-attractions/ They asked the Pearson board for £6,000,000 - in 2016 that would be £16.7m so quite an achievement!

There will be an 8pm firework display for the John Lewis Partnership event on 4 November.

In my experience a lot of the fake rocks were removed by the boats themselves! Until it was fully removed it was quite common for the boat to catch on the rocks and rip chunks off.

Kind of sad that posters for the Digipass around the park still feature Loggers Leap

Slammer was open today: opened late and seemed to be up and down like a tart's knickers all day.

Saw was open at 9.30. Lots of shutdowns through the day and Slammer was being very unreliable. You know it's a bad day when they're giving out free tickets to return! As I was in the DBGT queue when it shut down I've got an extra one.

Beef short ribs at Fin's today - genuinely impressed and a real step up from the rubbish they were serving in the dying days of 360.

Stealth today was occasionally blasting out an advert for Ministry of Sound events... in 2013! Including special packages with an overnight stay at the Crash Pad. Um?

Weird that after a lifetime of being an oxidised copper colour that they choose to change it... it's going to look really bad when this coat of paint starts flaking off (unless the old colour was stripped first?)

People I know with kids of the ideal age for Chessington and Paultons all tell me how much better a day out Paultons is. A good part of that is that the place is clean and tidy, not falling apart and with no blanket penny-pinching.

Don't forget to go through a cashback website like TopCashback or Quidco for your AP! You get 10% if you buy from The Dungeons.

I seem to remember in its first year the insulators on the electricity pylons having some kind of simulated crackling effect too (just flickering lights inside) but may be imagining that.

In a way we've gone full circle by having an electronic display over the entrance!

And here's a clip about the boy injured on the ride in its opening year

A very new and fresh looking Thunder River

Mack Rides still produce monorails (trains on their website look pretty much the same design) so surely a new fleet of trains and new control system wouldn't be outrageously expensive? Of course there is the issue that the zoo is laid out differently to when the ride opened but hey who doesn't like looking at warehouse roofs and expanses of grass?

Rattlesnake is not 40 years old! It was brand new when it was installed for the 1998 season. The cars can stop perfectly well on the block brakes however it did have an incident some years ago where a car on one of the block brakes somehow came free and slammed into the back of another stopped car, causing whiplash.

It's just water so will be permanently plumbed in - here's the company that supplied the system: http://www.back-stage.com/gallery/480-2/ (in good company there, doing stuff for Disney and Universal) And looking at their UK site they've done loads of stuff with Merlin

Looks a bit like a mash-up of Merlin parks - mostly Chessington (similar standard of upkeep): http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/08/dismaland/

The positioning of the stage has really isolated Vortex - seemed to be a walk-on all day yesterday.

Interesting: http://www.artofjohnwalters.com/artofjohnwalters/project/chessington-world-of-adventure/ Also interesting to see on the Alton Towers Character Development page Ringo the Lemur who was at Chessington for a while.