HermanTheGerman

Well, I've just asked them on FB about the situation with the chandeliers, and although not explicitly stating so, the message certainly implies that they are still fighting for them. It makes the suggestion that their future is not entirely determined, so perhaps they could return next year with some more reinforcements added. I hope so anyway. In other news though, the organist now seems far more alive this year, I don't know if he's had a spruce up mechanics wise or whatever, but he was moving a lot more than I've seen him do in recent years.

This event sounds rather nice to be honest. Though I can't help but feel that with a little bit more thought it could have been a sell out. What should have been planned was a large stage in the Stealth plaza. Think a slightly smaller version of the Alton Towers Live stage in front of the main hill. Everybody could stand around the speedway for say an hour and a half of preformances after dark. Raise the ticket prices for the days of the preformances and make it valid for the full 12 hours. I'm sure the Towers event used to be really successful, so why not replicate that at the park who's target market is more suited to something of that genre? Oh well, I'm sure what we get will still be enjoyable, it just feels like it has so much more potential.

If it is a long term thing, maybe they should look into doing a ticked system like Chessington are doing for Vampire?

They don't put up with it, that's the simple answer. As far as I'm aware, Truckers and the noise of Fury overhead is the biggest complaint generator on park, which says a lot. I guess its just one of the many reasons why Truckers should be incinerated. Tare it down and replace it with a nice toilet block I say.

Oh yes, whatever they've done to the fountains has definitely improved the experience. They seem to just flow better, and its nice they're getting both rows wet again. Its just a shame the fountains aren't quite lined up properly and that the actual appearance of the ride hardware is somewhat... shocking.

480pph, on a really good day.

^ Blame the Skyway thing on the fact that they now offer Fastrack for it. Probably a worse decision than it was on Truckers tbh...

I swear they change the lighting in there ALL the time. I doubt since 2011 its had two seasons in a row of the same setup. Its a bit of a shame actually, I rather liked how it was last year.

Alas, Chessington not only suffer from low capacity rides, but also poor operations. Just be thankful you weren't there on last May bank holiday. I was, and it was two hours for Vampire, Fury, Tomb, Falls, Zufari and Kobra. Tuk Tuk also hit 100mins. Which was insane.

You NEED to try out Slammer. It doesn't look like much more than a torture device, yet its actually one of the best rides at Thorpe when it working...

Shoot-em-up rides are so boring and overrated. They are one of the most forgetful ride types around. I'd rather the money for a Tomb refurb be put elsewhere.

Interesting, I wonder if they're the parts they're waiting for. If so, its good to see their still testing it and supposedly doing staff training so that it can open as soon as they get the parts.

Did the trains have all their seat covers on? They didn't the other day.

Well that'll improve it no end. [emoji58]

^ They used to close at 6pm. But they extended it so many times last year that is seems very logical to make it standard closing. It's funny, Chessington have better opening times than Towers...

Because Scorpion Express, Market Square V2, Penguins of Madagascar Live and Penguin Bay all fit into the above... They only pick those themes because they work anyway! Even if Africa is becoming a bit excessive, its still better than the other parks where its just oil drums, satellites, and partially destroyed buildings. Two of Chessington's (10) areas are in derelict, two. Both are being sorted in due course anyway. Yay! Fanboyism!

That advert is pretty poor to be honest. Its just the exact same footage as the last few years with a new voice over. Whilst the branding of 'An Island Like No Other' is certainly a step in the right direction, it just feels like tagging on the cheap IAC branding cheapens the product to a point when eventually the park will have no brand value at all.

That sounds about right.

As a show, I thought it was far better than Prepare to Party. It feels of higher quality than expected. The songs are also fairly infectious and catchy. The costumes are soooo much better too. Moving beaks, blinking eyes and of course the Skipper transformation made the stage feel so much more alive compared to PTP's idle jumping and waving. Down sides are however that the set doesn't look even remotely African, it sticks out like a sore thumb, and although very impressive it's own right, it just doesn't really work with the area. The only other issue is that the music is so loud that you can hear it from Market Square.

Rattlesnake was very stop start. It valleyed in the morning, and then blew it air pressure after opening for about an hour. They evaced the ride and it started again 30 mins later.

Oh, Zufari was in horrible condition! The speakers in the trucks were broken, paint on the giraffe house was peeling, and like you said. The cave was broken for all but the final waterfall.

I really really hope noting has been done to the inside queue. I fear it could have been done to fit a single rider queue like Fury? If so then the build up for the ride has no doubt been ruined.

Errrggh! That's absolutely hideous! Why Chessington?! Why!

Queues throughout the rest of the park were virtually non-existent. Biggest I saw was 15 for Tiny Truckers.

It depends on what it's down for. My guess would be that bad weather or lack of communication from Maurer meant that the maintenance was delayed with the track. So as a result they haven't quite finished working on the cars. Oh well, at least it's only AP day.