BigBobJones

I think Merlin need a hand in deciding where to spend that £1.3bn profit they made last year... any ideas?

Alton is £6. But Thorpe really need to improve the quality of the car park.

We got soaked a few weeks ago, I guess it depends on the boat, and how many people are in it. The boat we had a few weeks ago had loads of water and we had 4 people in it, we got a wave over the front of the boat and the first two people at the front got a lap full of water. Other times we have been dry.

I have heard mixed reviews, but the 4 times I have eaten at The Burger Kitchen, the food has been good, but I guess it can change depending on who serves you and how busy it is.

Is it me or does that B&M Invert look boring, I'm sure Nemesis is much better (either of them)

Lee Mack, Tim Vine or Russell Howard would get me there

Yes, Pizza Hut at TP is over priced (No discount), too busy and one of the worst atmospheres I have ever experienced. BK@ Thorpe the staff are so useless, every time we go in they are slow and ALWAYS get the order wrong. How burger chips and a coke can in BK can be a difficult order to fulfil is beyond me. Also look a the signs "We don't accept any voucher or take part in any promotions" but they are happy to charge a premium price for an inferior product. At least with the Merlin attractions you get your discount and the food isn't bad. But that's my opinion.

Pizza Pasta is the best, but I do like the Burger Kitchen, I do enjoy the food in there, much better than BK IMO

When Merlin report profits of £1.3bn it poor they don't spend the money where it is needed.

I disagree, the Zoo is open all year round and is a very good attraction, if anything it is one of Chessington's strengths. If the queues are too long, you simply go to the zoo to chill out.

It always makes me laugh when people complain about smoke effects, but they are happy to smoke 40 cigarettes a day which of course are not doing any damage to them at all

For me I can fully see why school trips would be beneficial to you children, get he kids in to learn about the animals, put them on a few rides and they will all be asking their parents to come back for more and more. Get them hooked at a young age and you have people wanting to come back again and again. Chessington are trying with the pushchair pass etc, but I do wonder how they make any money during the week when it is so empty. No what I don't get is how a school trip to Thorpe Park can be educational....

I love the monorail and yes I will be in the car park for 08:15 tomottow to catch the 08:30 to Towers Street and will be almost at the front of the queue or even the front if I'm lucky. A short walk over to Nemmy is around 10 mins, so you get a good 50 mins ERT, more if you go to nearer attractions. The only downside with ERT is that the rides are so spread apart.

The big problem for Chessington is during term time, their main target guests are at school, so this produces 0 min queues during term time and very big queues at weekends, where as the other parks have a steady stream of guests during the week. But on the bright side they have got the 5 million upgrade thingy going on too

I remember getting double time for Sundays and tripple for bank holidays at Waitrose too all those years ago in the 90's

I have worked in a variety or business, for example my company expects people to do 24/7 and even work on Christmas day. If the business decides there is a need for the hours, they will force the staff to work, if the staff don't want to work they will get staff in which will do the hours. I have seen it happen where people refuse to be flexible, then they are out of a job. Also using overtime and even double time can get lots of extra staff to do extra hours when required. So basically if Thorpe want to open late they will, but it will upset the normal staff, but they will make it work. I doubt Saw will have a 2 hour queue at 11PM TBH

It's amazing how different a ride can be with a Theme.

I believe weekends and bank holidays they open at 9:30, most weekdays at 10. This is the pattern they used last year

I went on it today and I had an open mind. Now it might be due to the fact the sun was out and I didn't have to queue, but I thought it was very good indeed. We got to see all of the animals and we left the ride laughing and saying how much we really enjoyed it. I can fully understand if you have queued for 45 mins and it was a cold day and the animals were not out, then you would think it was a poor ride. But today we got to see it at its best, there are some improvements they need to make, for example the on board audio was too quiet, batching is a complete disaster, seatbelts are not that bad, but they should have the same release clips as a normal car belt to reduce confusion as my 11 year old niece who never has an issue on any other ride, didn't know how to release the belt. Over all its a great addition, I will definitely re-ride, but 30 mins is the max I would queue for it. Its not up to US park standards and could be longer, but with what Chessington had available they have done a good job. They also need signs directing guests to it as the entrance is hidden behind Tomb Blaster/Flying Jumbos.

It's a good interview and he speaks highly of us enthusiasts too which is great. Downloaded the book but not had the chance to read it yet

20 min queue this afternoon, but didn't ride, did the fish as I wanted to catch as much sun as I could whilst it was out.

Had one member of staff slam down the bar on Rattlesnake today, but the rest were very good, I'd say their A team as they were all on top form and the guest interaction was very good. Maybe its due to the sun coming out. Also Vampire, the train was leaving the station as the other one was hitting the brake run....

Several times I have been on it and the guns have not worked, believe me its such a boring ride with no gun. Duel, you can leave the guns and still enjoy the ride.

On Ride DVD, I doubt we will ever get that back

Somebody said to me last week when I was there that they loved the end of the day music as it was the first time they had heard it, I said they had good entrance music... now they have neither. On a busy day they should change the announcement to say "Queue time to get out of the car park is now 45 mins"