Coaster

Asylum had no recognition this year, nothing on the posters, no banner in the dome, no information about it..... But it 100% was my favourite this year! The exit is amazing, weaving in and out of the curtains!

Don't be so sure!
Okay, we jest........................................ probably.

CITW is definately better. There are loads of different routes to go and is a maze which can be done several times. I feel that MBV however is only worth doing once and is quite disappointing with not many scares and it is far too short. Make sure you go in the asylum though as that is by far the best maze!I can't bear to see the asylum go, I really hope it doesn't. It is such a good, long maze with so many scares and all the effects and the layout just make it brilliant. The actors inside were fantastic too. If thorpe EVER get rid of this I will be so upset,fright nights will be so much worse without it. I really hope asylum does stay and hopefully it can become an all year round thing aswell! I wouldn't mind paying £5 extra in the summer to do this fantastic maze!

To be honest, if the preshow only had the part with Chase (And no Gotzee), I wouldn't hate it as much.
Or better still, if they turned it into an indoor section of the queue with Chase being on a queueline TV.

I agree with the comments being made - up until this year I have enjoyed visiting Chessington.
This year they have gone completely downhill in every way possible. Rides closed, SBNO, theming falling apart, Zufari being a shambles (could have been a decent attraction, but the preshow, broken effects and tacky theming let it down greatly) and an awful replacement for Burger King - these are just a few of the many issues I have with the park this year.
- In the summer, at peak season they couldn't even be bothered to run their rides at even a suggestively high throughput.
- Vampire would have better operations if they left it to the monkeys out of the monkey enclosure (which is also a part of the park currently unavaliable to guests!!)
- Halloween event only open until 7pm
- No staff on the parking barriers on the way out, causing for long delays with only one barrier working (that didn't even work properly, causing long delays as it wouldn't scan the tickets. I Sent them an email of complaint about this, but got no reply).
Now, with Zoo days not including even the three small rides it included last year I have lost it with the park. I won't be visiting again for a while now unless they get their act together and actually make an effort.
Hopefully they will use the time that Bubbleworks is closed to sort the thing out - repaint the walls, new theming where needed and close the maintenance doors!
Chessington amazes me - it's the only park that after visiting for free (with a MAP), I still feel ripped off.

Anyone where you can find this years fright night ride music etc...?

When I was a teen, I used to ride things like Vortex, Zodiac, Depth Charge and Tidal Wave all the time but as I've grown up I ride them less and less because they've either been trashed by the park or they aren't as fun as they once were.
I never thought I'd say that about an entire park as I generally love visiting Theme Parks and I've always had the rose tinted glasses on when it comes to Chessington.
The hell with them. They are an utter shambles and represent poor value and poor care for their customers. Whats the point of visiting a park that has the capabilities of running Seastorm, Bubbleworks and Safari Skyway but don't because of apparent refurbishment. The last time they took a spanner to Bubbleworks they trashed it and made it an abomination. It's laughable that they are using Runaway and Falls as reasons not to open these rides.
Developed?! What does that even bloody mean.

Not even Bubbles, HPH or Seastorm?
Considering it's likely half the zoo will still be shut, the Zoo Days will seem rather pointless...

A wooden coaster would suit Chessington perfectly. If only Merlin knew the greatness of woodies and Kingston council were not so stringy about planning permission. Also, where would they place the ride as Chessie don't really have a lot of unoccupied space and the only ride I can see leaving the park in the next few years is toadies.

Small woodie like this at Chessie -
If only...

Someone I know on Facebook just posted this...

Go Rumba!

^ These people must be richer than I am
Seriously though, fifty quid for Thorpe Park? Fifty?

That's correct, the spinning doll door doesn't open, that was confirmed to us by Megan (head of ents I believe). That room represents the basement as it has loads of different items on the walls, we got stuffed in there by the pumpkin head people and were stuck for a few minutes before going out the way we came in.
On a different note, I watched a walkthrough of Universal's version of Cabin, and while it is undeniable that their maze looks 100 times better than Thorpes in terms of sets and themeing, it doesn't look anywhere near as fun as Thorpes, just a normal walkthrough, with the actors just popping out here and there to scare you. It really makes you appreciate Thorpe allowing the actors to make physical contact with you, it makes it so much more immersive.

I actually quite like Hocus Pocus Hall - good, quirky fun.
Still, it would be really nice to see a refurb.

Same for us on Sunday Jamie on both our rides. Looks so much worse without the lasers and with no smoke.

WHERE IS THE BASEMENT? THORPE PARKS HIDDEN SECRET HMMM?

This soundtrack (which plays around Stealth) NEEDS to be played on the speakers throughout the queueline of My Bloody Valentine. At the moment the only audio in that queue is bits that can be heard from inside, which is a real shame considering that they went to the effort of installing the speakers, but not switching them on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3b1CpeXgqc
CITW's queueline would also benefit from audio, as the atmosphere in that queue is dead (bar the actors).

Due to no queues on Sunday I went on my own in My Bloody Valentine for free. Whilst it was good, I wouldn't pay £15 for it.

The chavs and gypsies were horrendous yesterday! They really ruined parts of our day.
For example on Storm Surge (first and last ride of the season on that thing) we got put in a raft with some and they were standing up, swearing and being generally abusive the whole time to us and the staff.
Some of them also ruined our third run in Asylum - they kept pushing us into the fences as they were at the back.
Also on Nemesis Inferno two chavs kept trying to get back on from the exit, and asked us to move up (even though we were a three) so that they could get on. I felt so sorry for the staff yesterday, but why didn't they just call security to escort them from the park?!
Absolutely horrendous, there is no place for people like that in theme parks (or anywhere for that matter).

I really like the lighting on Stealth for Fright Nights!

The chavs and gypsies were horrendous yesterday! They really ruined parts of our day.
For example on Storm Surge (first and last ride of the season on that thing) we got put in a raft with some and they were standing up, swearing and being generally abusive the whole time to us and the staff.
Some of them also ruined our third run in Asylum - they kept pushing us into the fences as they were at the back.
Also on Nemesis Inferno two chavs kept trying to get back on from the exit, and asked us to move up (even though we were a three) so that they could get on. I felt so sorry for the staff yesterday, but why didn't they just call security to escort them from the park?!
Absolutely horrendous, there is no place for people like that in theme parks (or anywhere for that matter).

Back from Fright Nights today, park was literally dead after 8pm!!
Mazes done:
The Asylum x3
My Bloody Valentine x3
The Cabin in the Woods x2
Saw Alive x1
The Blair Witch Project x1
Due to there being nobody waiting (and my brother and friend daring me to), I went in My Bloody Valentine completely on my own!
Asylum is still the best maze in my opinion - no matter how much effort they put into new mazes it is still the most consistent and best in my opinion.
Very good day and evening today!

Back from Fright Nights today, park was literally dead after 8pm!!
Mazes done:
The Asylum x3
My Bloody Valentine x3
The Cabin in the Woods x2
Saw Alive x1
The Blair Witch Project x1
Due to there being nobody waiting (and my brother and friend daring me to), I went in My Bloody Valentine completely on my own!
Asylum is still the best maze in my opinion - no matter how much effort they put into new mazes it is still the most consistent and best in my opinion.
Very good day and evening today!

No. However, if these things changed:
- Audio in the queueline for every maze rather than just Asylum
- Park-wide theming added
- More audio in the mazes
Then I might change that viewpoint.
On another note, I agree with the comments about Asylum - the sirens need to be a lot louder to have any scary effect on people.

This is really bad. They just don't seem to be getting it. Thorpe had a bad year last year but they seem to have pulled out their finger and made some big leaps forwards, but Chessington seem to be going backwards.
I love the Zoo days, they are perfect as it is a low cost to get in, so people who like the animals but are not too keen on rides get to go in for a low cost. We went 6-7 times last year and it was perfect, Bubbleworks and Hocus Pocus open and the animals was the perfect balance IMO.
But with Halloween nights finishing at 7, no RMT, closure of parts of the Zoo, effects not working (Monkey Swinger), slow operations on loading guests on to the rides (Vampire), lots of complaints due to it being too busy in the summer, now no Zoo days. This is another reason not to renew our Annual passes. Looks like we won't be able to enjoy a half day at the Zoo with Pizza Pasta as a family
It is such a shame as Chessington could be such a great theme park, but it does appear that they are just not trying or Merlin are not funding it. How many times have they been full this year and had to turn guests away....