Coaster

Finally experienced the improved Ghost Train today, much better than last year! The ending was really clever (and nice to see an anamatronic!) but the overall concept of the attraction still doesn't appeal to me personally. Too much waiting around and I just don't find it entertaining - would have much rather seen a high-budget actual ghost train.

Not a great day in honesty, ended up leaving at 2pm. A few late openings is sometimes unavoidable, I get that, but it seems that Thorpe were very unprepared with several rides down in the morning, then when they opened others went down, it appeared to be unadvertised rotation however may have been coincidence. It feels like a half-open park at the moment with the SBNO's, late openings and "new" rides for this year still not open. Genuinely had a great day at Thorpe back in March but today just wasn't enjoyable. Nemesis Inferno's operations were slack, what happened to the days of seeing a train on the lift as the other entered the brake run?

Stealth, Ghost Train, Slammer, Rumba all closed, and terrible operations on Nemesis Inferno - stacking on every train and Fastrack oversold. Also, what happened to the two "new" rides in Old Town opening at Easter?! They're both sat there shut! Awful...

^ Amazing that Merlin refer to their parks as "magical" and "spellbinding" when in reality this is what they look like.

Any airtime it would have is ruined by the trim brakes on almost every drop.

Probably knackered like most of Thorpe's flats.

I hate to say this but I'm not a fan of the name, it sounds like it's for a new corporate building not a roller coaster, and doesn't really make sense as things become "icons" over time rather than when they're new IMO. In a park which already has so many iconic rides this feels a bit forced, and it doesn't really do the low-to-ground layout of the ride justice. With that said, maybe the name will grow on me over time. However, "dare to ride" is frankly the laziest slogan I have ever seen. I like the logo however in my opinion it looks too busy, with "dare to ride" encroaching on the "ICON" letters and spoiling the effect. All that said, I'm very thankful it's not an IP, and as said above hopefully the name will grow on me. I'm still extremely excited for this!

Seriously? That's shocking!

The best way to react would be to learn from it, terrible days such as this happen at Thorpe far too often and the fact that they "handed out free returns" isn't good enough when the same problem keeps arising. Of course the way they use social media is up to them, but IMO it looks poor that the reviews section was removed following the Fright Nights 1 star reviews.

None of those are "good" though and I don't see an extension to 6:30pm as a positive either. These ridiculous situations occur too often at Thorpe, and any positive out of the past few days was "reactive" rather than "proactive" which is not how it should be. Proper planning would avoid this. The fact they removed their reviews section at Fright Nights speaks volumes about how little they value guest experience or feedback.

The fact they "extended" opening hours and handed out free returns is good but ultimately they shouldn't have to be in such a situation, especially not as regularly as it happens at Thorpe. Fright Nights last year was so terribly managed they actually removed the review section from their Facebook page, have they not learnt from that?! I remember when I first started visiting Thorpe, it was possible to get on all the major coasters within the first hour, this has become impossible now due to so many opening late on a regular basis, and when they do open they're often on one train until 11-12ish. It seems to have become "the norm" for several of the major rides to open late, I can't remember a visit in the last two/three years where the major rides have all opened on time. As for the staffing issues, words fail me, how can such a well established park let themselves get into such a terrible state? Ultimately it shows they don't give a jot about guest experience, operations have declined to the point where they are farcical and the park is only enjoyable when it's quiet.

Thorpe in terrible operations and free ticket handout shocker... Nice to see some things never change

Amazing operations at Pleasure Beach today and yesterday - all rides open on time, on capacity with fast dispatches and a 7pm close Wild Mouse is back open with its new magnetic braking system, only running 3 cars at the moment which I really hope is temporary (it has been testing on 4). Big announcement coming on Tuesday, I believe it may be a name reveal for C2018.

The Big One has been on one train due to bedding in the new lift chain, that doesn't make it any less awful for those queueing up but just thought I would explain the reasoning. The point of Construction 2018 is simply to be a good coaster; it doesn't need to be "the fastest", nor does it need a gimmick, it's a very long layout and the focus is on quick low-to-ground transitions, airtime and near misses with the park's other coasters.

Great day at Thorpe today, queues were very low, staff friendly and noticed lots of improvements around the park! The day started off very quiet, which meant we could get round the coasters easily, it got slightly busier later on but didn't really pick up at all. Stealth opened later but we were lucky enough to be in the area as it opened, so got straight on. The Swarm was running really well, as was Nemesis Inferno. Colossus was running terribly, very uncomfortable and unpleasant. A few of my thoughts from the day; The refurbished entrance area looks great, as does the newly painted bridge - great for a first impression! I liked the new entrance music but preferred the original - though there's no doubt that this is better than the chart music. The "Island Shop" (inside the dome) has had a revamp and looks great, I like the beach theme and having the tills as beach huts is a nice touch. There was generally a very nice atmosphere about the park today with the low crowds and new audio in places, though I'm glad they have kept some of the older ride themes. New playlist on X! Nemesis Inferno and The Swarm were running two trains all day, Stealth and Colossus on one train and X on two. Slammer and Zodiac were closed, as well as Derren Brown's Ghost Train which is reopening on the 31st March. The two flats in Old Town don't fit in at all IMO, though I suppose it's better than nothing for the families. As with Ghost Train these are not opening until the 31st. I'm all for increased security, but only having two scanners is not ideal - also the tents ruin the view of the entrance screen. New music on Rumba Rapids is terrible! Totally devoid of any character and to think it's replaced one of the most "fun" themes of any ride! Ride itself looks like it's part-way through a refurbishment, most of the trees are gone and the tunnel has had some lighting and sound changes. Also, the queueline has been repainted in duller colours to replace the green. Several effects weren't working such as The Swarm's water and fire, and the blades on Saw are still not spinning! With that said, the mist on Nemesis Inferno was brilliant. Loggers leap looks like nothing has happened to it since it closed at the end of 2015 - a very sad sight. Ride Count: Rumba Rapids x5 Nemesis Inferno x3 The Swarm x3 Stealth x1 X x1 Saw x1 Colossus x1 Detonator x1 Samurai x1 Overlooking the park; Entrance area and shop; Overall a very enjoyable day, was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things were running and the park is looking the best it has for a while. Thanks for reading

How is capacity on the coasters today?

It's a really nice park with some very good rides, but is let down by ride availability and (during busy days) capacity. Definitely worth a visit though I'd say.

Agree with this, they've kept The Smiler's closure very quiet.

I think it'd be a huge shame to lose some of the better themes in the park, I'm all for progression but there's absolutely no point in replacing entertaining quality themes with processed corporate music. Colossus and Inferno in particular have an identity with the current music.

It has become impossible to get on even half the rides you want to in a day, we managed six rides all day on Sunday! Dragon's Fury, Tomb Blaster and Zufari were running in such a way that they probably weren't even getting a third of their maximum throughput, and from watching Rattlesnake I'd guess the same for that - I've never known queues move so slow, it made Flamingo Land's operations look positively fast in comparision! Vampire and Gruffalo were the only saving graces, the queues were moving fairly quickly on these which was good. I think Chessington need to consider the quality of day they're offering, there's no point opening a new/refurbished ride if the operations across the park are as slack as they were on Sunday. It's just no fun standing in queues that move slower than watching paint dry, especially when all you have to look at is peeling paint and tired surroundings; and we missed out on several rides purely due to the terrible capacity on those we went on. Weighing up the cost of admission compared with number of rides ridden, and the standard (all except for Gruffalo were in poor condition), it represents awful value for money.

I completely agree, what it needs is a complete restoration IMO - but I think it's nice that the in house teams have done what they can do on a shoestring budget at least.

Good operations on Vampire today, the queue moved much faster than I've known it to in recent years! Louder audio and some additional theming items in the queueline were a plus, but it's still looking very tired and in need of refurbishing; I just hope this happens rather than a retheme.

Operations were beyond belief on this today, seven cars running but six stacked in the station with 90 second dispatch times! The amount of times I saw cars dispatched with only two riders was unbelievable, and the Fastrack queue was huge - we spoke to someone who said they'd waited 45 minutes! We queued 90 minutes from halfway through the cattlepen after the queueline shop - it used to take 25 mins from there!

Despite having doubts about The Gruffalo, I decided to give it a go in the hope that it would surprise me. The ride has a very calm and serene feel, a stark contrast to its predecessor. This is present in the station, which is wonderfully decorated with low level lighting, and some nice changes in moods as you queue; a theme continued in the rest of the ride. The mood lighting is extremely well done throughout, with a nice amount of darkness and scenes unfolding in front of you. The projected waterfall was my favourite scene; it's very effective and a new idea. I also liked the mist screen at the end - a nice touch! I found the ride doesn't quite feel "complete" - whilst some of the scenes are well finished, others feature whitewash walls and are devoid of anything of note; for example the very first scene and the one replacing the jacuzzi scene. I didn't like the use of TV screens at various points throughout the ride, nor the circular 'light-up pictures', IMO they become repetitive and cheapen the overall feel of the attraction. There is little in the way of animation, though some of the props do move slightly. The final has kept some of the fountains but also introduced some theming, the lighting is much darker in here as well. Where the fountains were the focal point of the room in IL Bubbleworks, they're simply additions to the rest of the room here and don't play a key part. It doesn't really feel like a "finale" now, more just "another scene." Audio is unremarkable, the voice overs work well at points but I think it was always going to be difficult to follow the iconic soundtrack of Bubbleworks! Overall, I'd say it's "good" - nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't really have a sense of "fun," but is very different and surpassed my expectations by a long way. I hope it'll be a success, but is it as good as Bubbleworks? Not for me. The exterior doesn't blend in well at all; Fortunately, the station looks fantastic!

^ So the redevelopment is progressing well then...