ashleyrose-66

Thorpe Park have confirmed the following are available this weekend, so if a ride (like X) is not list, it is not operating: https://www.thorpepark.com/events-experiences/events/annual-pass-preview-weekend/ The available rides for the Preview weekend are: - THE SWARM - SAW – The Ride - Stealth - Colossus - Nemesis Inferno - Vortex - Storm Surge - Quantum - Zodiac - Rocky Express - Mr Monkey’s Banana Ride - Storm in a Teacup - Flying Fish - Depth Charge - ANGRY BIRDS 4D - King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems

I would have thought they will have it up and running for the AP days, especially as The Vampire will be closed?

Chessington claiming 2015 is the "Year of the Penguins"... So they feature a boy riding the coasters with his Monkey teddy bear!

Cheers - I've booked and printed mine, so it shouldn't matter, but I did wonder. Just booked my Chessington ones as well and had to enter my AMP numbers.

The Chessington Preview Days is available to book. I just went to the Eventbrite website and entered Chessington in to the search section. http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chessington-world-of-adventures-resort-preview-weekend-14th-15th-march-tickets-15815635993?aff=es2&rank=1

Just booked for the day on the 7th. Was surprised to see that I didn't have to enter my Merlin Pass numbers for the tickets I required! I just selected 4 tickets and that was it done!! This means that anyone can go online and book tickets for the event. As I recall, you don't have to swipe your card at the barriers on the day, just the pre-printed ticket, so how will they actually know if you are a AMP holder or not?

Regarding the car park, we went last Monday and arrived just before 10am. The main (south) car park was already busy, and the staff were directing us in to a "staff car park" (well that's what the signs said) near to the coach entrance. The spaces were small, and it was tricky to navigate in to the spaces. I wonder if they are going to use this to ease pressure on the main car park, now that the 2 hotels are taking up so much more of it's availability? I would rather park there than have to drive over the awful bumpy field at the other side of the park. Tomb Blaster was also closed when we visited, so it sounds like it is really unreliable at the moment.

Hi all, is there any word yet on when (or if) there will be an Annual Pass Preview day this year? The Chessington weekend is 14/15 March (can't book it yet though) so was wondering if it was the same weekend or maybe the weekend before? Can't see anything on the Thorpe website...

I went on Monday and it was very busy then. Got there for 10am (opening time) and there were queues of people waiting to buy (or collect) tickets from the kiosks so they weren't all MP holders. Got on to Scorpion Express almost immediately for the first 30 minutes or so, but the queue gradually grew and by early afternoon it was long. It didn't help that Tomb Blaster had broken down and Sea Storm was also not operating. The park was very busy by then, with loads of kids climbing around the Amazu thing. The kids made masks and necklaces in the Mexicana Café though, and enjoyed doing them. I noticed quite a few families heading towards Bubbleworks and being disappointed to see it was closed. I was pleased though, as it never really gets the chance for a winter break and a bit of TLC (excluding the clean up after the fire) so I am hoping we may be pleasantly surprised when the park fully opens next month. All-in-all, the day was a 6/10.

So, my wife and I have decided to take our 3 children to Florida this summer. We are all booked and paid for, and fly on 31 July, and are staying in a hotel on International Drive. Our plan is to spend some days doing the Disney World thing etc. Take in Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Wet n Wild etc.. My question is, does anyone know of anywhere that can do Disney passes cheaper than the ones I have seen online - maybe a discount code or something that can get me some money off when I purchase? Any help and advice greatly appreciated!

Ah, but just think how nice they will look with a bit of tinsel wrapped around it next Christmas...

£89.99 if you buy now, £99.99 from 01 February. No mention of a renewal discount, so if you have the previous Thorpe Park Annual Pass, it doesn't look like you'll get it cheaper if you renew, you'll just have to buy the new Premium pass. https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/ticket-information/tickets/thorpe-park-resort-standard-annual-pass/

It doesn't need a major refurb (well, it does actually!) but some time spent giving it a bit of a spruce up. It's clear many of the animated scenes often don't work - And some that do, look awful since the Imperial Leather branding was removed. The duck rollercoaster has one large duck going around, whilst the other has obviously fallen off. It's things like that! But I think they should drain the ride and paint the blue and yellow "track" that the boats float along. The paint has worn off and is scuffed all the way along, and it looks really untidy.

It's a shame Bubbleworks is open again this winter. It really could do with a good bit of TLC and being closed (and drained) over the winter would have ideal for them to get in there and do the work required. I actually can't remember the last time it was closed over the winter (with the exception of the enforced closure last winter due to the fire!) I know Chessington like to have a few rides open for the Festive Zoo Days, but it always seems to be Bubbleworks!

I suspect they would have to put in an application for planning permission to do any work like that, and there isn't an application lodged to do so (yes, I am sad and checked - The last planning applications were for the re-theming of the RMT to Scorpion Express and the Amazu construction) so I suspect it won't be anything major.

I thought as much, but not well worded by Chessington. Going on what they have written, someone could turn up and say they only want their child to visit Santa and don't want access to the park. It doesn't say you have to purchase a park admission ticket and only says your Grotto ticket does not provide access to the rest of the park.

It says you can pay £5.00 to visit Santa (and get a present!) but that doesn't include access to the rest of the park! So does that mean you can pay just £5.00 to see Father Christmas and if you say you don't want to access the rest of the park, you don't have to pay the park entrance fee? And if that is the case, how are they going to stop those who have only paid the £5.00 Grotto fee from wandering off to the rest of the park? http://www.chessington.com/explore/event/chessington-winters-tail.aspx Grotto ticketsA visit to the grotto costs £5, which includes a gift. Tickets need to be pre-booked online before you arrive to avoid disapointment. (Their spelling error, not mine!) Grotto tickets do not allow you entry into the Resort, to enter the Resort please purchase a Winter’s Tail ticket or use a valid Annual Pass.

They have now started charging £5.00 to see Father Christmas...!!!

I went on Sunday and the only two rides not open were Safari Skyway (which we all know is closed) and Hocus Pocus Hall, as it is being prepared for Halloween. Rameses Revenge was running well whenever I went past.

It's working now (well it was when I went on yesterday) but there is just one large duck going over the left hand side of the "rollercoaster". The right hand part (that with the left hand side running just after to give the illusion of a duck running along the rollercoaster) does not work so the effect doesn't work. It's a shame as the finale has improved in the last year!

I went on Stealth a few weeks ago, and about halfway up, we noticed an iPhone in mid-air. Yep, someone had obviously tried to film a little memento of their ride and had obviously lost their grip. He was making a bit of a song and dance about it as the ride came to a stop... The fact is, it could have smashed someone in the face. Not cool.

Apologies if this has been answered but I can't see it... Does anyone know why Chessington have changed all the electronic information signs at the ride entrances? Before they used to scroll along, now they are smaller signs with just the waiting time permanently displayed. I guess everyone would just prefer to know how long the wait is without having to wait for the "Welcome to Chessington...." blurb first, but I just wondered what prompted the change.

Tomb Blaster was open on Saturday when I went to Chessington. Had 60 minute queues though, but I suspect that was due in part to Rameses Revenge being closed most of the day and Zufari was unavailable for a while as well so the nearest attractions became busier. Even the Flying Jumbos had a queue of 25 minutes!!!

Safari Skyway hasn't been operational for some time. It was late opening this season as they were doing some work on it, but it did open for a while. It's now been shut for a number of weeks!

I was at Chessington on Saturday and RR wasn't working for most of the day! There were engineers working on it, but every time I passed by it was closed. It just seems to be more and more unreliable these days.