Matt 236

People voted for Colossus to be sculpted out of sand and here it is, and I for one think it looks quite spiffing awesome tbh!

The little kids probably do, not that it's really any special tbh. I think the park with these dire operations need to get better trained staff and as much as it hurts, reduce guest interaction on the ride areas for the purpose of better throughputs on the ride.
The amount of negative feedback on Chessie's Facebook just shows how bad operations currently are at the park with many getting on only 2/3 rides in an 8 hour day. Though its not going to work completely, I do think Chessie should increase park hours with 7pm closures during summer/bank holidays and 6pm most weekends as well as closing at 8pm again during Haloween.
Whilst the other parks (debatably) move forward, Chessington is moving backwards.

The little kids probably do, not that it's really any special tbh. I think the park with these dire operations need to get better trained staff and as much as it hurts, reduce guest interaction on the ride areas for the purpose of better throughputs on the ride.
The amount of negative feedback on Chessie's Facebook just shows how bad operations currently are at the park with many getting on only 2/3 rides in an 8 hour day. Though its not going to work completely, I do think Chessie should increase park hours with 7pm closures during summer/bank holidays and 6pm most weekends as well as closing at 8pm again during Haloween.
Whilst the other parks (debatably) move forward, Chessington is moving backwards.

Well it's certain Chessie's ride teams have gone down in standards in the last few years. I remember the days of 2006 when the park though not perfect seemed a lot better then. The ride loading s were considerably faster and the park probably in slightly better state than it is now (bar Wild Asia and Zufari).
Whilst this is perhaps my most enjoyed season at Thorpe since 2006, this is certainly my least enjoyed Chessington season. The park needs big changes in the next few years for the better.

If its one thing TPM needs, its more polls.

What we mean is there will not be any charge during normal Park opening hours of 10am - 10pm.

The little kids probably do, not that it's really any special tbh. I think the park with these dire operations need to get better trained staff and as much as it hurts, reduce guest interaction on the ride areas for the purpose of better throughputs on the ride.
The amount of negative feedback on Chessie's Facebook just shows how bad operations currently are at the park with many getting on only 2/3 rides in an 8 hour day. Though its not going to work completely, I do think Chessie should increase park hours with 7pm closures during summer/bank holidays and 6pm most weekends as well as closing at 8pm again during Haloween.
Whilst the other parks (debatably) move forward, Chessington is moving backwards.

Congrats James, you've done very well.

I've had that precise situation with Kobra before with Fastrackers/Disabled, and I complained about it on the day... It's not great at all...
Chessie's operations have fallen off a cliff and sunk into that massive gorge in the ocean...

Count me amazed that people visit Chessington in the first place.

We're hoping to have it back before Fright Nights

Annual Pass tickets will be on sale very soon!

The pros & cons if this system ever happened.
Pros/
Better guarantee of going on the ride you want (e.g Swarm forwards)
Less queuing for rides
Plan your day out better
Better than fastrack
(Currently) free to guests
Cons/
Could disrupt normal queue down even more if fastrack (and normal queue) still exist
May congest further park areas
Could be problematic when a ride breaks down
Won't work on all rides (only primary (and maybe secondary) rides)
May be useless on off peak days (and perhaps even salt the wound)
Might make the ride less impressive to 1st timers (the build up)

Know what else is a simple concept? Standing one behind the other in a physical line waiting for your turn...
So I turn up for opening, I want to go straight to Swarm but don't know about this system... I go to the entrance but get turned away because I don't have a slot... Assuming I lack a Cloud account or WiFi access, I now have to queue to get a slot, missing a chance to get a big ride out the way...
Alternatively, I arrive late, what if there are no slots remaining for the rest of the day? How does restricting access to a ride like that benefit the guest?
Then it goes onto every ride... Now I have to think what ride to 'queue' for so much more than just pointing to one and riding it... That sounds exciting, planning my ride list in advance to ensure maximum ride count... Sure the average guest will REALLY love that on their single trip of the year...
Absolutely turd idea now that I've spent some of my trip home thinking over it...

I've been thinking about this quite a bit, and I'm getting less confident that they will get it to work...
I'm thrilled they've realised queues are an issue, but I can't see this being the way forward.
A few issues I can see...
If people can't 'wait' in a queueline any more, where exactly are people expected to wait? In the restaurants and around the paths? These are too overcrowded as they are on busy days! They will be condensing the crowds in to a very small area where there isn't a lot of space left for extra people. What happens if there are too few people ready and waiting to ride? Do trains go around with empty seats? Guests are going to have to be very organised to make the most out of their day... They can't just wander around and say "ooh, lets go on that one now!" People aren't going to stick to their ride times... It's just not going to happen. This will result in queues forming at certain times, and few people at other times. What happens in the event of a breakdown? Does everyone just turn up to the ride and wait at the entrance?? (dare I say, in a queue?!) This system would be PERFECT if it was a free replacement of Fastrack (same as Disney, and Merlin's old system), but I think removing the queue entirely is far too risky... The park is not designed to handle this at all.
People expect to queue at a theme park. Queueing is not the problem here - overselling of Fastrack is! If the queues were good in the first place, then this new system wouldn't be needed.
Sorry to be pessimistic, but that's my opinion. Thorpe might prove me wrong, but I doubt it.

I like the board and advert thing here but I somewhat can't say I like the location there as it seems to obscure the view of the towers in the distance, a beautiful, exciting and also important feature on entering the park in my opinion.

I'm rather impressed with Thorpe's attitude this year on how they're marketing and managing the park this year by all these small things they're doing to help guests stay happy. This is perhaps the happiest I've been with Thorpe since 2006.

Seems like they've gotten rid of Bewitched this year...

Closes at 5pm for the 19/20th weekend as well... Why? Guess is as good as mine... 7pm close for October Half Term...
Of course, no-one cares because Chessie are making Towers look good this year

Another little batch of scanning in...
Starting with the then new Transylvania, sponsored by Coca Cola don't you know?

Yes, I do have the flintstones on my jeans. And what?
Not entirely sure where I've taken this from, Skyway maybe. Doesn't it all look open?

Back over to Dragon Falls, it looks to me like this view would have changed very little in all that time. A better view of those spectacular jeans too.

To Circusland, before it became Beanoland and then Wild Asia. It's some front row hardcore thrill seeking on the Clown Coaster.

A short walk through the trees to some genuine thrill seeking, it's a decent sized magic carpet in the spot which would later give way to Samurai. Thrilling enough to give my Dad that slightly concerned face, I loved it.

Off to the zoo, and I'm sure the Giraffes at some point lived in the pit that now houses Rattlesnake, but this does not look like it is there?

And here's a novel idea, why not have the skyway look over some areas of the zoo for some nice animal views. Could work...

My Mum and sister on the cleaner and less crappy looking Skyway. Unbelievably that small bit of rockwork over my sisters left shoulder that is now the little creepy crawly area at that time held a bloody great polar bear!

Proof! You were not imagining it Han!

What a horrific enclosure for an animal that size! Different times, I know, but the zoo is clearly the area to have improved and moved on the most. Unfortunately it has mostly moved away from the Skyway.

That looks like quite a lumbering turd of a coaster.

I'm rather impressed with Thorpe's attitude this year on how they're marketing and managing the park this year by all these small things they're doing to help guests stay happy. This is perhaps the happiest I've been with Thorpe since 2006.

'The UK according to southerners'

How about Dragons Fury backwards instead

Fighting over queues on the ride, how stupid. It's a themepark, don't people know to expect queues at these places especially during peak season. Some people get too far these days and its guests like those that ruin enjoyment for everyone.
At least the park banned them permanently and they seemed to control the issue quite well.