DangerTheme77

With the release of the new map it’s got me reflecting of the time I worked at the park from 2009 to 2016. Personally I think the park hit its peak during 2011, the brand identity was full on and they knew exactly what they wanted it to be! They described it as ‘Johnny Knoxville’ and they went wild with it into owning that aspect. It worked, it was just insane day out. I remember that summer also being extremely hot, the park hitting capacity regularly and everyday literally being chaotic fun. As they moved away from the thrills element and wanted to go back to families even though the plan with their locations being close to one another was Legoland would be for young children, Chessington for families and Thorpe for teenagers and thrillseekers they lost their own identity and you could feel the park being effected with it all over the place. The atmosphere changed, ever changing management and disorganisation. Hopefully Hyperia and the sparkle project bring a new life to the park but I just don’t think it will ever hit the highs like before unless there is a serious overhaul of the company or maybe even bought out by someone with a clear vision in mind.

It felt like the park found a specific niche for itself. Big, loud and fun. It described itself as Johnny Knoxville if he were a theme park and knew exactly what it wanted to be. The park was always busy and was an incredible day out. Even the fright nights was one of the best, debuting the first roaming actor team which were the clowns. Saw was the only IP they had and it was an absolute blast and the mazes were unique to their own original design. My memories of visiting back then are always positive whereas now it’s hardly the same feeling I get and my passion for visiting has massively gone down. The park doesn’t ever know what it wants to be and most of it looks like it’s being left to die out.