Weeksy

Thats incredibly poor - however, it is like when a car has a clutch which keeps slipping. Presuming its not been reprogrammed to be less intense (Samuari and its cracks), its not a disaster, presuming its fairly shortly fixed. Its struggling so much to even reach that height though, be very surprised if its been done intentionally.

There used to be one of the timber towers visible just next to the gates where Slammer currently is, but its long gone now. At least, I think thats what it was from. Bizarre thing to build otherwise! Back when it was a nice green lawn!

Brilliant find! What a shame it cut off there.

Just noticed, have they got rid of the old timber building near Stealth? Bit of a tiny Bronze age house or something?

Bit of a late night nostalgic browse and found this! Thought some may appreciate

Who's Nick? I thought Merlin owned the land?

Any updates on this... anyone been down? Hoping the plant room damage is for the cafe (consumer units etc), not Bubbleworks, would be a real shame to have any significant damage!

Sounds like someone from Thorpe Park's marketting department has moved to Chessington - try and get some press! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-24240527

Sounds interesting. Fairly sure its a way of trialling digital fasttrack, cut down on staffing costs to maximise its profit, but its not going anywhere I guess.

I'm intriuged by the girl whos life was saved by a ride on Colossus? Can only assume she got a headache from the roughness and went to hospital, at which point they found something wrong with her?

Anyone managed to get any pictures yet? I'm sure they'd already decided that the shortened ride life cycle was worth it for the water. I also don't quite understand that - its designed to work outdoors so rain comes with that. I'd say the blasters don't get you a lot wet than a bad shower?

Of the launched coaster type thing, I much prefer Stealth to say Rita - Rita has its charm, but Stealth is just incredibly high impact. I just wish the drop went underground for a bit! Some massive negative G's would be amazing.

According to some sites, the fire brigade were called by people trapped on the ride, not Chessington. Curious. http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/10489104.VIDEO__Chessington_s_Rameses_Revenge_ride__closed_until_further_notice_/?ref=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Sad times for Rameses Revenge.

Oh yes agreed, just trying to work out what the issue was, seeing as press and punters seemed to originally report a power loss Maybe it'll be deemed too scary for Chessington and be moved to Thorpe Park Or sadly, maybe thats it for Rameses Revenge

Very odd. The brakes on the car are hydraulic, so when they fail due to a loss of power the car would just swing freely. But the pictures of firemen on the ride suggest the brakes are locked (unless they strapped the car to the main body to stop it swinging... Or there's a manual lock to stop it swinging). The main arm is counterbalanced, powered by electric motors so again with a loss of power, it would just gradually descend ... Unless the balance is so precise that its perfectly balanced, which seems unlikely. In theory it would just swing down as Vortex does. Seems more likely one of the motors seized, thus why it couldn't drop down. If its true they were cutting through restraints though, no chance it's opening tomorrow, which is odd as BBC is listing that too!

Not really "that" off topic, but have a look at these amazing pictures of New Orleans abandoned 6 flags park... http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/05/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics/

With a large group yesterday, knowing what was coming in Thirteen, but they didn't, was brilliant! Never known the shutter to work so didn't actually know it existed! Good ride though, simple fun.

I went yesterday, and whilst it was disappointing it was closed, plenty to do. Doesn't make up for the rest of the park though; serious shortage of inside spaces that are pleasant. Got rather drenched in the odd hail/rain downpour and decided to pop to the bar in the court yard for a drink to warm up, doors all wide open, freezing inside. Ended up going round the Aquarium just to get somewhere warm! I appreciate there is food outlets, but compared to Thorpe with its various Neros and Bar 360 etc, theres not many places to chill with a beer in the warmth. Did admittedly realise we could have gone to Woodcutters bar/restaurant later but didn't think about that. Log Flume is very tatty, Duel had plenty of decor not working (tunnel being a major one), and breakdowns. Chicken World in X-Sector is ok, but admittedly the chicken isn't great, glad I went for a burger, some raw chicken going out! Plenty of breakdowns, the hydraulic locks on ripsaws seemed a tad temperamental. Rita was a bit screwed up by the weather, frequently closing. Oblivion though was running fantastically, as was Nemesis & Air. Most entertaining was seeing so many enthusiasts on park and the various meet ups! Seemed like everyone had a good day anyway, despite the appalling weather and breakdowns. Also managed to park right at the entrance as we were in a mini bus. Not entirely sure we were supposed to do that

Imagine the biggest queue will be at CS Heard independently that its to do with fire exits... bit of a balls up!

It is what it is... I'm going tomorrow but this was arranged before we knew Smiler was opening. Hoping for a nice quiet day on park seeing as there'll be plenty of people not going, and intriguingly staff numbers haven't been cut for the day...

Can't believe its actually happening! Genuinely thought it was Thorpe having a laugh at us! Coming next, Stealth... backwards. Actually that'd be quite cool. Totally impossible though for the stresses on the body with no support.

I reckon its a wind up! They would be covered to protect them over winter anyway presumably and someones having a laugh having seen all this. If it is that they're now backwards or tilting... very odd move, but interesting! My moneys on something completely unexpected. Flying Fish with a launch?

Good on them for pulling out all the stops to get it back for Fright nights. Impressed

Not to mention the price... haven't really paid much attention, but Alton is now £45 on the door... I appreciate there are BOGOF and online booking discounts, but thats a hell of a lot of money. Organising a work outing there next week and naively thought it was in the £35 region still. Hmmph. The days do sting and you have to work really hard to get value for money - I.e. eat at the right restaurants, bring your own drink, don't buy a beer, don't play any of the games, pick a quiet day so you don't get fasttrack, try to avoid parking... It adds up and puts me off going. And thats as a fully employed, coaster enthusiast - god knows how kids can afford it.

Any idea what the general dates are for half term this year? Just so I can avoid the park then