coaster38

Whatever FN 20 ends up being like, at least we're getting good teaser videos now! At last these have some decent production quality which is consistent with a major theme park..

Whatever FN 20 ends up being like, at least we're getting good teaser videos now! At last these have some decent production quality which is consistent with a major theme park..

Anyone have the Ghost Train one of these?

Thunderstorm in Chertsey, which meant all outdoor rides have to close. Ghost Train and Angry Birds are also open, but I guess the way the app is programmed means they show up as closed.

Although it may be low throughout, it will still be great to finally have another rollercoaster at Chessington after over 15 years! 
 
It is a shame it couldn’t be something a bit more exciting though...

Where have I heard these things before? Let me ask my buddy, Derren:

"I don't know Josh, I just don't know..."

Keep an eye on TPM's Facebook for some updates. I hear our very own @Marc has bagged himself one of those elusive time slotted tickets and will be experiencing it today...

Very exciting times, and most unexpected with the current climate. Very surprised to see this in all honesty as expected investments to be on hold.
 
For more details on this, here is a leaflet which outlines more. And a link to the booking page for the live video events (booking opens 4th May)...
 
https://www.chessington.com/our-company/local-residents/
 

They were pretty old, I would bet that some were still from the Tussaud's days. Because of this, a lot of them were either dead or dying quickly (e.g. areas such as Colossus with lots of rattling, broken speaker cones).
 
Yes Bose speakers do last a long time generally, and have done well at thorpe. They are more consumer level than they are "pro audio" though. RCF are heavy duty.
 
Saying that though, a lot of them were newer and still okay, such as Saw and Swarm's areas. So that leads me to think that they got a deal on bulk buying from RCF and decided to do the whole place in one go. It gives them a more consistent audio setup and it's better than having the new speakers waiting around until the existing systems die, which could cause problems mid-season.
 
As of this season it's only the new RCF speakers and some Electro-Voice EVID 3.2/4.2/6.2 models across the park now AFAIK. They began to rollout EVID speakers to many areas (e.g. they were fitted to newer areas such as Ghost Train from opening day, and were later added to areas such as the entrance bridge and Rumba Rapids) but they seem to have changed their minds, used up remaining EVID stock and bulk ordered from RCF for going forward with audio upgrades as of last year.

They were pretty old, I would bet that some were still from the Tussaud's days. Because of this, a lot of them were either dead or dying quickly (e.g. areas such as Colossus with lots of rattling, broken speaker cones).
 
Yes Bose speakers do last a long time generally, and have done well at thorpe. They are more consumer level than they are "pro audio" though. RCF are heavy duty.
 
Saying that though, a lot of them were newer and still okay, such as Saw and Swarm's areas. So that leads me to think that they got a deal on bulk buying from RCF and decided to do the whole place in one go. It gives them a more consistent audio setup and it's better than having the new speakers waiting around until the existing systems die, which could cause problems mid-season.
 
As of this season it's only the new RCF speakers and some Electro-Voice EVID 3.2/4.2/6.2 models across the park now AFAIK. They began to rollout EVID speakers to many areas (e.g. they were fitted to newer areas such as Ghost Train from opening day, and were later added to areas such as the entrance bridge and Rumba Rapids) but they seem to have changed their minds, used up remaining EVID stock and bulk ordered from RCF for going forward with audio upgrades as of last year.

The huge overhaul of the audio systems across the park seems to be continuing. Many new speakers that had been fitted over closed season have been connected and are working (for instance on the balcony overlooking the park when you come out of the dome, and there is now audio again on the climb up the volcano on Inferno, don't remember those speakers working for years prior).
 
Volume levels seem to be different in many areas every time I visit, showing they're experimenting a little to find the best levels in various places. For example the audio around Stealth's plaza and queue is so quiet at the moment it's pretty much inaudible, but Angry Birds Land and Storm Surge have had their annoying soundtracks cranked up.
 
Many areas (e.g. the entrance plaza, Colossus & Lost City, Swarm Island, Inferno & Jungle) that used to sound pretty meh now sound amazing.

There's air con somewhere inside, as it was the large condenser unit mounted on the side of the building that was running, they can only run to an AC system and don't really serve other purposes as they just pump and cool refrigerant. Possibly just inside the ops rooms and back areas but still it shows activity indoors.
 
I don't expect it to open this year either but at least it shows there is work ongoing to get it open.

Has the WWTP Radio truck from the plaza failed it's MOT? Where on earth has it been...?

I was on park yesterday for the first time this season and had a pretty good day. Social disancing IMO was handled really well, and props to all the staff who were awesome, working so hard to keep the rides clean and the queues moving as best they could.
 
Although there have been none of the larger scale refurbishments that the park has needed for a while, many areas look somewhat refreshed and cleaner than usual. I actually quite like the refresh of the dome, and the entrance plaza and bridge look much brighter and more welcoming. The car park improvements will really help when the park eventually gets busy, too.
 
It's disappointing to see Slammer hasn't been removed though. The space could really be used for a queue/plaza area for Black Mirror.
 
MAJOR work has been done on audio across the park. Thorpe seem to have bought RCF's entire stock of outdoor speakers 😂
Really not exaggerating here, almost every speaker has been replaced across most areas of the park, with only those that were already relatively new and working being left in place such as Swarm Island and DBGT. Audio has been introduced to areas where there was previously none, too.
 
It's clearly an ongoing project, as there were a few new speakers that have been mounted but not wired in yet, and the volume levels in some areas are lower than they should be, with announcements from ride staff being way too loud. Hopefully now they can measure ambient noise with guests in the park, they can fine tune the levels that aren't where they need to be.
 
RCF isn't a brand I've noticed being used in a UK park before. It's good to see they've bought some really high quality equipment which will hopefully last for many years to come. They've clearly invested a LOT of money here as audio has been due an overhaul for a long time, and the speakers that were setup yesterday and at the correct volumes sounded awesome.

Best Halloween event in Surrey...what exactly are they competing with there 🤣 
 
Assuming that they've now accepted that they aren't aiming to be the best halloween event in the UK anymore lol.

I'm all for them not over-egging themselves, but it's nice to try and push the boat out a bit...

Opens end of March - they must have been working on this for some time then, since Living Nightmare would assumingly need total removal with there being no theming in there that I can think of that would be reusable into this kind of futuristic style attraction.

Taken from MAP Facebook group. Never experienced this last year so have no idea what it is, but it's back!

May have already been mentioned but yesterday was the first time I noticed that SAW: TR has seen some vast improvements in its audio - the 802s in the plaza are much louder now and sound fantastic, the queue line audio has also had a volume boost, and inside the station the sound effects and announcements in the queue, loading area and from on the ride at dispatch are much louder and clearer. Really adds to the atmosphere of the whole ride experience, but of course then your head gets bashed about so much you forget all about it 😂

Exactly my thoughts.
 
It definitely can be done, and it would be great to have the Dome properly cooled to give a central place to cool off and eat, shop etc in the height of summer, even just as you walk through having queued for security in the sun. Probably wishful thinking though as with this year's highlight addition being a bouncy castle, it's probably at the bottom of the priority list for investment. It would be quite a large system to cover a space of that size too.
 
Even the toilets at DLP are heated/air conditioned all year round though! Little things like that make such a difference. And when late October Fright Nights comes around and its 5 degrees outside.. there's hardly anywhere around to warm up either!

Exactly my thoughts.
 
It definitely can be done, and it would be great to have the Dome properly cooled to give a central place to cool off and eat, shop etc in the height of summer, even just as you walk through having queued for security in the sun. Probably wishful thinking though as with this year's highlight addition being a bouncy castle, it's probably at the bottom of the priority list for investment. It would be quite a large system to cover a space of that size too.
 
Even the toilets at DLP are heated/air conditioned all year round though! Little things like that make such a difference. And when late October Fright Nights comes around and its 5 degrees outside.. there's hardly anywhere around to warm up either!