Adam P

I thought the initial plan for Dragon Falls was end of 2014 but I could be wrong, a lot of work is going on at the park I saw teams working on the improvements in Market Square, Runaway Train, Hotel and Transylvania at once! There does seem to be a fair few plans in place I'd like to think this year will show off what they can still do.

The Pizza and Pasta was also open yesterday, via the back entrance.

Came back from Alton last night after what was a busy day at the park in particular the evening but overall a solid event for the park. Carnival of Screams I hadn't enjoyed since year one, when the finale was brilliant and the maze was of a good length. Yet it was great to see that the majority of this maze had been shifted around with a new finale, which although could have been better is a 100% improvement on previous years. Great actors of which many roaming the queue lines and really interacting with guests, it's not scary scary but is great fun. Terror of the Towers has become stale, whilst we noticed a few minor tweaks it's not enough to save the fact then generally this maze hasn't changed over the past 4 seasons and to the regular visitor just doesn't do it any more. The actors in the final scene we good but the start relied more on noises and smoke rather than actors to get the cheap scares, disappointed. The Sanctuary was amazing as always, one of the best put together mazes in the country with dark patches in the bed ward, to creepy depths of the towers to the light hearted white rooms it combines perfectly the story and works really well. Fantastic selection of actors who also interact with you to high standards. Zombie Scare Zone was fun, much like Blair Witch if you expect too much you will be disappointed. One where you can film again the actors will play to the cameras and genuine hiding places allow them to pounce on the screaming with ease. Was a fun way to end the day. On a side note The Smiler trim brakes (Which have never cut in on my previous 10 rides) have now completely ruined the ride in particular the second bunny hop, which you brake all the way over. If people wanted to compare this to Nemesis as a park beater it's just beaten itself up. Gutted.

I'll agree with a lot of that, with the exception of people smacking the MBV from the queue, We witnessed this with a group in front of us who had actually not been idiots through out the queue and the actor that came out to speak to them was out of order, my girlfriend and I told the member of staff his attitude was out of order as she moved the queue line further away from the walls and low and behold she disappeared and he re-appeared out of character to apologise to the group. I'm sorry but this has been my biggest upset of the year the way some staff have spoken to people and him saying "It's gets to you a bit after a while" isn't good enough for a paid actor to speak to people like a piece of dirt, It could and should have been done in character. There biggest upset much like ours was the usual "It's a 90 minute queue buy fastrack to skip it" when it took 28 minutes to get in. The maze itself was much better than last week as too was the Blair Witch which is getting some unfair criticism based on what it is actually supposed to be, loved it last night!

A quick review from yesterday: 1) Cabin in the Woods, we were lucky to get in the behind the scenes but made no difference on our first route through and ended up not where we wanted to be! Very clever maze loads of different combination routes and the secret room makes it all worth while! Possibly too many people let in but the actors were fantastic at either hiding still or holding up the people and great to see another free flowing maze. The clown swaying was epic! 2) Saw Alive I hadn't been in for a while, but yet again was a top notch experience and the surprise of the night, dark, solid acting and overall very intense. 3) My Bloody Valentine just worked on every level, some intense moments held together with the different routes and experiences, once again the acting was the best I've seen in the park. 4) Asylum was good but probably the wort "Maze" if I had to pick, still very full on with actors and strobe lights the extra couple of scenes added to the length of the maze along with the new final corridor, although at the same time props seen in previous years were missing. 5) Blair Witch Project I had low expectations for, yet delivered slightly higher. It's worth noting Thorpe only rate it 2 stars so it was never going to be intense, some clever hiding and banging still gave the odd shock I think it was a great use of the route. 6) You're Next were roaming the park with an actress, although never going to be scary again added a nice touch. Despite what others have put for me this was the best Fright Nights so far, yes some of the theme was lacking but no where near enough to distract from the experience. Curse and Passing were stale these are all new leases of life and the park have tried something different which is what most people wanted! The park just seems to have a great combination of clever, frightening and quite light hearted at the same time. I've been first to have criticism of the park this year after a shocking visit, but since June and in particular last night was the best visit I've ever had to the park, so hats off!

There is no Zoo Days this year, and the Christmas Openings aren't likely to be including the Monkeys and Birds. Some of the animals have been relocated in the Wanyama Village in temp homes, but it looks shocking. These were from last week http://themeuk.net/blog/?p=4307 Edit on that: A few more Christmas days have appeared also Annual Pass Days for 14/15th March.

The pre-show was the same as previous on Wednesday... Has it just changed?

Not only that Edge feels a lot faster!

I went Friday and in the park was what I would call "Queue Free" 10 minutes at one point for Swarm (reduced to one train mind) I'd be happy any day of the week to queue that length for. The only issue was the ticket collection as we queued in the morning for the ticket, and when we went to go back in at 7.30 we were then told we had to re-queue to get a wristband, which was 40 minutes in the queue. Once inside no issues and well worth the money. I did feel sorry for the people that left (we took family that didn't stay) as Stealth was shut all day Friday but opened for Summer Nights! (We got on though) Great event and really hope it's brought back and maybe extended to other dates.

I was really disappointed on the graffiti just as the top of the stairs in the station, the wall next to the "Man in barb wire window" looks awful, the ride was however running very well and very quick during summer nights!

I had the fortune if that's a way of putting it of going on Hero yesterday, I am retracting my "Fun" statement and placing serious shoulder pain in it's place!

Cracks at the footers? The Mirror today.

You're right it does rely on ToTT being changed, however if you "Experienced" Carnival of Screams, would you based on that pay for the other two? With the exception of year one COS there is no way I would, or anyone I have been with! Would people at Thorpe Park feel the same if Asylum and The Passing were swapped round...

In addition swapping a great maze free, for a poor one.

I found The Haunting In The Hollow more intense than The Curse, I seriously hope they don't dumb it down this year and if it's anything to go by along with Hocus Pocus, they could really pull it out the bag for Chessington this year.

Have to assume it's a slow news day how many members of the public actually care? Rameses Maybe but this?

Dare I say it looks "Fun" !?

Cut from the restraints?! I hope not or another ride down for the rest of the year!

From what I remember the coffins in the station never had air gates which is why the whole lot got re-done. Don't get me wrong ugly as it gets!

I get you enjoy the Big Rides in the ones you have listed, but Tomb Blaster, Monkey Swings, Sea Storm and Runaway Train are also all great Family rides, and I agree Rameses is a family ride. With ZUFARI it will be a great family ride but not until animals and the area is fully developed. You are right with Rameses but that's why so many people in the family stand and watch it too, Chessington don't need a massive collection of rides like this but do need another one or two and especially keep this one in the park.

My 9 year old loves Rameses, but by some peoples (probably including Chessington's) standards he should be enjoying Jungle Bouncers and have done with it. Not only has the park changed with it's re-branding in the early 00's but so have the dynamics of Theme Parks and Fairs, once upon a time Rameses was considered one of the biggest thrill rides in the country but let's face it regardless of what the manufacturer says it's not that bad. Children of this generation have grown up with much more thrilling rides than I did in the late 80's early 90's and are more custom to being thrown upside down. My 4 year old won't get off Zodiac yet people say get rid of Rameses it's in the wrong park? Without sounding negative those without children need to take a step back, they want the thrills they want to be flipped upside down but they also want the ZUFARI and Tomb Blaster too which is a key reason people want to take little ones on a bumpy ZUFARI, Chessington is finally starting to get to grips with this and it's also the reason Thorpe Park won't over take Alton Towers any time soon. You can bet the next big breakdown Vampire or Rameses get they won't be replaced and I applaud Chessington and really hope they look into removing some of the dead rides and cater like Alton Towers does.

I'm going to go all out and say I really enjoyed it and really wasn't disappointed as it's what I expected for theattraction. The Pre-show is a great touch to get interactive with the guests even if it is a bit cheesy, the ride itself will only get better as it grows and the animals come out more, it's really just what Chessington needed with what they have got space wise. My only concern would be through put as it's very popular, took 8 minutes to get through the pre-show and onto trucks even with 90 people at a time is only 600-700 per hour.

Nope, people didn't leave! The park was really quite busy

We went today and it was really quite busy even though it was snowing, people didn't seem to be leaving at all. Sure with everyone now being off it will be packed tomorrow Vampire was only on one train today with 90 minute queue, just to let you know

We've been to chessington today to check out the area. The tunnel and the dragon are still in tact ! Just to add Zufari was great! Really impressed!