Matt 236

Some of the things I've heard about operations here are terrible to the degree that even on a weekday express is a neccesity. Especially hearing of the ratios of paid queue jumpers to standby queue and that it can take upto 5 minutes for a train to dispatch on a busy time that isn't even full. Seems to to make Chessington look like Europa park.

Fair point on Cassandra, which isn't the best mad house out there. Silver Star does seem to get a lot of criticism. For me it's the best hyper I've done, but then again I only have the Big One currently as a comparison. Glad the rest of the park was good though and I'm another who enjoys Poseidon.

Yes, as much of a good this TLC scheme is, parks shouldn't be rewarded for doing something that is expected to be a normal occurrence at all major parks. imagine how much triumph and fan there would be if Didney, Efteling and Europa announced every time they refitted a ride or added new lighting like Merlin have for the TLC.

Reading this made me feel a little sad, but the again it was a matter of time before the old Tooley Street building went under the knife. Never managed to experience the original one (regrettably) but remember walking past it once or twice. Certainly is gong to feel rather different when this view is gone.

As much as I may moan at Merlin a little too much, food is one of the things they usually seem to do right (except Burger Kitchen). Whilst it it may not always be amazing, I find the food quality they provide to be of very good quality especially for a theme park. Places such as Smokehouse BBQ, Roller Coaster Restaurant, Fin's and even Woodcutters usually offer decent food. Comparing their food food to places such as Oakwood, Drayton and even DLRP (shocker), their food typically seems better.

Wasn't it supposed to be like the lighter side of Transylvsnia though? I'm pretty sure the original area comprised of two main areas. The dark and scary area where Vampire is with the castle and forests whilst the other area where Professor Burps is was supposed to be the upbeat area with town/village a brewery. Ive always thought Transylvania has been one of the most coherent themed areas in the UK (let alone Chessie) and hope this show-horned IP doesn't ruin this.

Wow, this really makes me want to rush to the park to experience this before it shuts. Least Stealth is actually working, but wow! Closed rides are apparently a popular thing in 2016.

One day they'll sell you something to skip queue whilst queue to skip the queues. Whoops silly me, better not give them more ideas.

Oh boy, we do have some real idiots around. And that's why we are now seeing ridiculous measures of 6 foot fences and danger of death signs every couple of centimetres.

Fantastic news! Thats one less ride for people to complain about.

For those interested, I also made a vlog of the trip. To catch my overall thoughts and what's on offer, you can watch it here.

I think they made the right choice. An inflatable upcharge attraction is clearly tonnes better than a hefty support flat ride, even if it was on its last legs.

Good old reliable Intamin aye . I'm not complaining as long as it's back running by September.

2024, this is Chessington remember! I would love to see Ramesis replaced with a modern top scan like Talocan or even a complete rebuild. But seeing Merlin being Merlin,I can't see this happening and as a result the ride is slowly being driven into the ground which is a shame.

Who's to say there won't be tents or small marquees involved anyway. Or knowing Merlin, probably shipping containers. Hopefully this will be better than Big Top was.

Putting it into perspective (as one who isn't a fastrack fan), which may have been mentioned. If mobile fastrack ticket purchases are taken out of the existing proportion of Fastrack currently sold, then it is completely acceptable. However, if the sale of mobile fastrack will be added on top of current fastrack allocations, then it is completely unacceptable. Towers seem one one of the better handlers of paid queue jumping so hopefully they've got this.

I definitely think the beach needs to be nonride space (should it ever be removed). As mentioned, space may be at a premium, but the park does need some green spaces which at the moment is only properly served by Sunken Gardens since the closures of the farm and model world. the second thing to consider is, the beach is also one of the first things you see when you enter the park and the rides in the distance for a first impression isn't a bad one. I think putting a ride there would just clutter this up and ruin first impressions. Ideally, if the park were to remove the beach and replace them with grand fountains and grassy areas it would be a step in the right direction. Modernise and refurbish the dome and entrance pathways and I think the park would be onto a winner for a top quality entrance view. In in regards to the park's next big thing, I think it will either be going to the empty island or Canada Creek. As much I want loggers to reopen (being my first ever log ride), I feel the park is on a fence right now on whether to refurbish it and remove it. Knowing Merlin the latter is highly possible and we could even see the complete end of the area. Considering rocky and a few game stalls are all that remain open so far. Whilst expansion after these two are taken up will be strictly limited (also depending what happens to Shark hotel), it must be remembered a number of rides in the coming years will be reaching the end of their operational lives. These include Samurai, Slammer, X, lost city flats and eventually Colossus. No idea what we will see before 2020, but hopefully it will be more exciting than a low capacity maze and a quick area overlay (though the rides aren't half bad).

Yay, more upselling! Can't wait until we see HB leisure apps and mandatory annual pass brainwashing experiments. count me in!

Mark9 Name Mania

Thorpe lately is been having so many problems. DBGT downtime, constant ride breakdowns, fastrack not to mention most of the park looks like a rundown sea side town currently. Whilst number one may be unavoidable, something certainly needs to change as the same problems have reoccurred most years and the park can't properly improve until these are resolved. Think it says a lot when the last good attendance year was 2011. Can't say I'm tempted to go back until Fright Nights.

Paultons is more than just about rides those, as are the majority of the best parks. It's about appreciating the recent richly themed park areas amongst it's innocent atmosphere, walking from place to place passing numerous gardens, monuments and structures which don't need to exist but do. Which is why they enhance the experience. Whilst the ride hardware may not (yet) be up there with most leading parks, for an independently owned park they put in so much effort. So much of the park is well kept and nicely presented. Never do you get too bombarded with HB leisure games, upgrade your ticket posters or patronising safety. This is is because this is Paultons and what they do, is done very well.

Food wise I went to Base Camp (Lost Kingdom outlet) which mainly does Fast food style chicken (think Fried Chicken Co or KFC). was alright, nothing special, but acceptable for what it was. Paulton's food isn't the best but I've seen much worse. The food at Oakwood (with the exception of the main restaurant) is terrible.

Yeah, I heard about this a while ago. in brief they're getting two new coasters, enclosure upgrades, more accommodation and numerous other attractions. There will be a new Juvelin and/or Flying Dutchman style coaster/s opening in the next 5-10 years if plans happen. One will go on the grass whilst the other would remove the attractions listed above (one of which is getting removed/replaced next year. No real loss if these plans actually happen as a new coaster would be a much welcomed addition (especially for Chessington).

You're probably not missing on much at the moment. That said, I prefer Dragon Falls to Storm Force 10. I just think it's too wet not to mention lake water.

New for Chessington Howl O Ween in 2016: No Maze: the world's first maze that isn't actually a maze