HermanTheGerman

^ I'm pretty sure that was ditched for Dragon's Fury. Either that or it was Charterhouse being cheap again...

Alton have just over five more rides than Chessie, and both Tomb's and Bubblework's capacities exceed that of Hex and Sub-Terra...

Tomb Blaster and Bubbleworks both average at above an hour wait time. They're some of the most popular rides at Chessington!Just goes to show not all Dark Rides in the UK are unpopular. I do think its a shame how Hex is so unpopular. A ride that is just that good deserves hour waits.

Avoiding train three, The Smiler is very smooth. The only jolt I noticed was the exit to the cobra roll, and even that wasn't that bad. The rest was perfect. Saw on the other hand is just terrible. The jolt at the base of the drop is particularly rough. Just face it, Saw is rough, especially for a ride that is only five years old! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Zufari is green belt land, just saying... And as for dead spots, as far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong) the land behind Wild Asia that is currently a campsite is available, the restrictions in that half of the park are significantly lower as well. Other sites that can be used are Toadies (which takes up a surprisingly large amount of room) and Trail of the Kings (if Zufari had failed with the planners then that area of the zoo would have been relocated to the Zufari site, freeing up that area for expansion). The only other possible site is the field next to Black Buccaneer, but as far as I'm aware, that suffers the same issues and the Fury car park.

As far as I'm aware, Fury now has full planning. I believe it was sorted around 2009.

This better be sarcastic.

^ I've been told that two (out of five) trains have been running this season. I agree its dire. Whilst it may seem that staff are faffing about with loading, if you wait on the off load platform, once everyone is off the train moves into loading within about five seconds. It isn't being 'held' there because staff are slow, it is just that there isn't any point in staff being quick as they'd have to wait for four minuets while the ride completes its course. It would seem that there is something wrong with Tomb Blaster, the effects seem a bit of a mix/match while half the targets work and only two trains are operating. Normally, when all the trains are running, its is the second highest capacity ride on park (below Falls), but this hasn't been the case in a while. I reckon its on the list for the refurb treatment over the next few years. (I hope anyway, as Forbidden Kingdom is starting to look rather poor!)

^ They could put one behid Wild Asia, one next to Bucaneer and maybe fit one in the area that has Peeking Heights and Toadies.

Ahh, there's the Vampire music I've been looking for! Thanks electricBill.

The current announcements for Tomb Blaster were added in 2011 (what electricBill said) and are done by Graham McGrath (Chessie's old Head of Operations). Dragon Falls' and Wild Asia's announcements are also done by him.

Well, Jason Wills seems a lot better than their previous marketing director! If he can continue to develop the 'An Island Like No Other' tagline into a brand, I'll be more than happy. Whilst I don't think Angry Birds was the right choice, it is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of basic purpose.

Google the throughput of a Mack Blauer Enzain, thats the capacity! Zufari's throughput was stated in the plans, Bubble's was said by a Chessington engineer in a behind the scenes tour, and Falls, I was basing on Logger's capacity, a ride that has the same number of boats and a similar ride duration! Now that you say it, Vampire was 1,100pph, sorry, forgot that one!

^They are all including no holdups or Fastrack etc... By the way, Fury has been doing exceptionally well this season with dispatches.

Falls has a realistic of 1,200pph, Tomb's theoretical is the same (but it never achieves it). Scorpion Express & Bubbleworks can do 1,100pph. Zufari, with all trucks gets 1.000pph. Fury gets 950pph, same with Rattlesnake. Vampire can do 1,200pph on three trains, and I don't know what it gets on two, sorry. They are the only rides that have anything above 800pph. Hope this helps.

Skyway is old and very unreliable. As its a convenient way to seeing the animals if you have young children, it often attracts lengthy queues, but this is also partly due to throughput. I think it can only get something like 850pph. For these reasons, I believe its on the park's list for an 'upgrade' in the future.

The park will open for other guests at 10am as before, just ERT people will enter through the fastrack queue. A bit annoying, but hey, the lineup is brilliant!

Do you mean the one with a cackle every now and again?? The one that repeats seamlessly. If so, I don't think its back, I believe it was scrapped because of the pre-recorded announcements, which have the same laughs in them anyway. They didn't want them to overlap. I do believe the repeating issue has been resolved though!

Well, that entrance sign just looks sooooo inviting.

Unfortunately, Amity has been split in half. Amity Cove just has the KFC, Tidal Wave, Storm Surge and Flying Fish. While Amity Speedway has Stealth and the Teacups (which is actually themed to the storm in Amity Cove ). Such a shame, it really was a very nice area.

Well, considering these dodgems are going to be there for a lot longer than they would at a traveling fair, I would say that maybe they're doing a more thorough job.

I think you and I have been going to different parks...

Brace yourself for a Merlin style cattlepen. If the dodgems have the same throughput as Chessington's that'll be 350pph, then add overselling of Fastrack and you'll get a queue that moves slower than Saw would on one cart...

Well if the GP are still more than please with Scorpion Express (which is the case), then what's the problem? If it brings the guests in, it brings the guests in. Hopefully this year continues to go this well. It'll then show Merlin that top investment in Chessington is worth it. £14 million, I think that's the most they've ever spent on a single season!

So far, Chessington have beaten Alton's gate figure most weekends. So far, it has been one of their busiest seasons in a good few years. I'm sure that It'll change once CBeebies opens and the advertising for it hypes up. But then again, come August with Azteca... But the thing is, the majority of families won't know about CBeebies yet, unless the thoroughly research the park before visiting. It has only slightly featured on adverts once, it was barely shown off in that video anyway... I'm sure the influx of guests will massively increase when CBeebies opens, but it won't have decreased because it isn't open. It was different with The Smiler because it had already been heavily advertised pre to opening. So most people knew to save their trip. A large amount of Alton's advertising is on Social Media, which teens and thrill seekers obviously use more. Its not like a bunch of three year olds are going to go fishing around on the Alton Towers YouTube channel and stumble across the three part series. Anyway, me thinks this may be getting slightly off topic...