Matt 236

Getting three rides in an 8 hour day is ridiculous, especially as two of those aren't major rides and none of them are coasters. Chessington has really gone to the dumps this year. Theming, staffing and the overall experience and 2 hours for Vampire? I queued up an hour for the Swarm at Thorpe on one of its busiest days of the year (where even the grass car park is almost full). Chessington need to build newer higher capacity rides and personally they should remove toadies, truckers and replace them.

Looking a brilliant coaster so far and that track is going nice and fast (unlike some rides). I can't wait to see the new trains and theming appear when it's finished, it really does look like its a great wing rider and I expect better than Swarm in Thorpe. In terms of the log flume that was removed, it was apparently the better of the 2 (or at least seemed to be) which featured quite a lot of brilliant theming in the ride and big final drop and was made by Schwarzkopf (sp). The remaining log flume is ok but doesn't seem as good as there is less theming and the big drop doesn't seem as high too and is made by Mack. However seeing how exciting this coaster is looking, that should make for a great replacement to wildwasserbahn 2.

This ride looks as if it has the layout of a typical steel one. Just because its the highest ad steepest woodie definitely doesn't make it the worlds best one.

I very much doubt a maze would go in Sunken Gardens, this is because the area is to small to house a maze as the paths are not that wide and long plus also the noise of nearby Stealth may also detract from factors as well.

Tbh, though depth charge isn't perfect, I like it where it is now and as long as they keep it painted in aquatic colours, then I don't see a problem with it and also hope they keep the ride for a while longer due to its history in the park. I don't want depth charge and the beach replaced until we at least see the next 2 big coasters appear and if it does get replaced, I'd like to see a decent Atlantis themed coaster.

It's great to see Thorpe finally restore opening hours as well as increase operation days (Chessington take note).

Must admit Skullrock does look quite bland/unfinished at the moment and almost as if it was done in a rush job. I hope they consider concealing the warehouse with rock works and the addition of more enhancements to the drop as it looks not near as good as I was expecting and could potentially be a very good little flume ride if these medium scale changes are fulfilled.

Tbh, the day Thorpe get a top spin is the day Chessington get a topple tower .

Wow, Legoland seems to be very busy this year (although it usually is in summer months). Apparently they've also stopped selling online tickets too between now and the 2nd September due to high demand as well although tickets can still be brought on the day. I can see them hitting capacity at least one more time before the school holidays finish. Legoland may be best avoided before September.

Summer nights is well worth the money whether you do or do not have an annual pass. The atmosphere is a different one from the day with quite a calm one plus it should be very quiet as well. In some cases, you may even be able to re-ride on the following cycle too. Night rides on the coasters are amazing (even on Flying Fish).

Even so, but another thing to consider with the Swarm is not just is it smooth (like almost every B&M) and in terms of breakdowns, they were quite a rare occurrence whilst the Smiler seems to break down so many times you have a higher chance of being evacuated off the Smiler than a stealth rollback almost. In 10 years time, the Smiler could potentially be a rough ride whilst Swarm will likely still be beautifully smooth.

I think, the Blair witch project could work with the railway being used as part/all of the maze and then maybe some problem and having to go by foot on the rest. Could work quite well.

In order of preference, 1/ Inferno, brilliant speed and interacts with the shrubbery and surroundings brilliantly. 2/ Swarm backwards, a very disorienting but yet impressive experience which being pulled around in the dark backwards. 3/ Stealth, I love being thrust through darkness and then seeing the park at night above for a second or two. 4/ Swarm forwards, very impressive flying around in the dark and even better when the fireball goes on. 5/ Saw, the ride is a lot more coherent at night making the experience more like Saw, plus the pre-coaster section seems better too. 6/ Colossus, very good in the dark with the loops interacting, but the roughness does detract the experience (based on past ridings) 7/ Flying Fish, an interesting variation to day riding and one worth doing if there's time. 8/ X, the experience is very much the same as to riding in the day, however riding at night does make it feel more like a night club. Those are my preferences.

Well the must do rides at the park are Laser Raiders (a dark ride with laser shootings), The Dragon (a pretty good coaster with a dark ride section), Pirate Falls (a nicely themed flume ride), Viking Rapids (a decent rapid ride), Squid Surfer (sort of like a stand up whip ride on water), Fairy Tale Brook (a brilliantly themed scenic boat ride) and Star Wars mini land. I suggest doing boating school first and Laser Raiders after at the start of the day.

Nemesis is still number one for me because of the sheer force of the ride throughout and the constant speed it reaches flying through the helixes and loops and despite getting further through its circuit, the ride feels like its building up speed throughout and the. Suddenly finishing with about enough time to think of the amazing experience that has just finished. The ride isn't just brilliant in design and flow rate but the way the queue interacts within the ride really helps too how it suddenly travels away from the ride to come closer to it once again and at nearly 20 years old, the ride is still pretty smooth.

This coaster looks amazing with the heavy theming and the use of the space and layout available plus that pretzel loop looks gorgeous. Certainly looks better than the Swarm, shame about the colour. Looks like another park to add to the wanting to visit list.

Blue fire & Wodan.

I have been frustrated at Chessington ever since they removed train 3 at the end 2011 because I haven't queued less than 45 minutes since 2012 when I've visited and it annoys me how the staff still manage to stack train 2 in the brake run before the station for up to 30 seconds sometimes. Some where in the Vampire's maintenance area are a number of objects that were once train 3 and once fully assembled could still work perfectly. Is it just me or during the pre-floor less days, train 3 wouldn't wait on lift 2 and instead would wait behind train 2 in the brake run if stacking occurred as the bat trains were slightly shorter.

There recently has been numerous complaints on Chessie's Facebook about the bad queues Vampires been receiving lately (not a surprise with it exceeding 2 hours) in which Chessie have responded that due to H&S, it can no longer run on three and can only run a maximum of 2 now. Still feels like its just an excuse to not bother, though the train waiting on lift 2 does feel like one of several reasons as to why they don't run it on 3 now.

That is an impressive structure the park have done, it did look very impressive in person when I saw it today. Meanwhile, found out train 1 is the refurbished 2013 unit as it has different looking wheels on some of the carriages plus feels noticeably smoother whilst train 2 felt more bumpy and at times, a bit painful during my rides on Colossus today.

Having just been to Thorpe on one of the busiest days of the year (where even the grass car parks were filled up), I found the queues and busyness tolerable. They weren't great but certainly a lot better than Chessie's with the longest queue I saw being 90 minutes. Thorpe tackle crowds better than chessie IMO.

I mainly added it to give more of a choice and though its already in the dark, the aspect of walking in and out of the pyramid could be a more interesting experience at night. E.G, going to a night club.

Banned for not eating the cornetto

Seeing that the Swarm came tops, I thought I'd do another poll similar but this time which coaster everyone likes the best in the dark/night time at Thorpe. Things to consider your choice/s are Coherence to the theme Lighting (as too much ruins the effect) Interaction to surroundings (at night)

I think there may be more this year other than the 5 mazes & rides in the dark, I'm certain.