Mark9

Ah yes... yeah that's wrong I'm afraid.

Who said someone was coming down from Alton Towers.

I'd say Fury and Vampire are equally as important to be honest. Neither was set out to be THE ICON and yet both rides are iconic for the park in their own right.Besides, it re-opened today around 3 o clock.

It re-opened yesterday. It actually swapped places with Vampire as that is currently unavailable.

LOL... no.

You'd be amazed at how often the race card is played..

Bins or rubbish left all over the floor.. you decide.

It's really refreshing to hear some Chessington trip reports full of praise. I'm glad you guys had a good day and that the park is impressing people this season.

Dragons Fury is far more intense then a lot of people give it credit for. Just get the right weight combination and well.. I've seen grown women cry after it.

There is such a huge number of Annual pass holders that instead of queues going down at Fury/Vampire, the queue times were getting longer. 30 Minutes for express pass queue and 90 Minutes for the main queue between 5 and 6 is beyond stupid.

It's only been decided in the last two days that Ap entrance between 5-6 will no longer happen.

That's happening no longer I'm afraid....

I personally prefer Oblivion, the fall feels far more forceful and it feels like a longer drop. Saw's is over to quickly and well bloody hurts.

Nah it can't run with 8 cars. I know a few of the Spinball op's and they say its for the same reason as Oblivion, Fury and Rattlesnake.

It does.. It's weird but I've stayed at the hotels every year since 2005 and always have a fantastic time. As a driver it's also lovely knowing you don't have to do the drive up and down in one day but rest overnight.Definitly worth staying in.. especially for the Alton Towers hotel lift.

You may not, other people do.

Chessington is more like Alton Towers in that it takes a while for certain rides to build up, whilst others will have a long queue from the word go.I've always suggested that if you do not get to the park straight away do not even bother with Dragons Fury as everyone who comes through South Admissions pours straight away into Fury's queue meaning it can get up to a 60 minute queue almost immediately. Instead in the first two hours Runaway Train, Dragon Falls, Tomb Blaster, Rattlesnake, Billy's Whizzer, Black Bucaneer and Safari Skyway will still be relatively empty as the majority of people are stuck in Dragons Fury, Vampire and Bubbleworks queues.At around 1 all those rides I suggested will be incredibly busy whereas Fury queue especially will go down a lot, sometimes down to a 15 minute queue.If you are planning a trip for August, the park has been very busy of late so here are some average queue times Dragons Fury 60-80 MinutesVampire 50-70 MinutesBubbleworks - 40 MinutesRunaway Train 30-60 MinutesTomb Blaster 40-70 MinutesDragon Falls 70 MinutesDodgems 40 MinutesRattlesnake 30-40 MinutesSkyway 30 MinutesA few other things. Annual pass holders can use the Express Pass queueline between 5-6pm but often the queue for this on Vampire and Fury is very long. Dragon Falls has also had some technical problems recently and has opened at about 2pm for the last few days.

I actually found it slower going to Surbiton depending on the train you end up catching.Clapham -(25 Min train journey) Cwoa South (10 min walk) Chessington WOA takes about 35 minutesClapham - (10 Min train journey if Alton train)) Wait for Bus at Surbiton (Anything from 1-10 Minutes) - 20-25 Minute bus journey depending how busy the bus and roads are.The more direct route is to Chessington South.

So in that case... aren't they open at the moment for the same reason... (and not all rides may be available... just like Thrill Chill).

That's very unlikely as Thrill Chill got such low gate figures at times that they would barely even break even...

If its anything like Fury or Rattlesnake, it could never ever run with all 8 cars as there isn't enough room in the break sections and station for all 8 cars.

LOLSo far this August Slammer, Nemesis Inferno, Tidal Wave and Stealth have been down...So not just Rush

Hardly... the thing with most of the "not-we" is that they just go to the biggest rides and queue however long it takes (look at how this year, Saw and Colossus are packed early whilst Inferno and Stealth are empty for the first hour or so). This may be despite other rides having no queues at all.

It is just for August and is on the 6 express rides.For anyone planning a trip to Chessington the park is very busy, here are a few average queue times from today.Dragons Fury - 70 MinutesVampire - 60 MinutesRunaway Train - 45 MinutesDragon Falls - 50 MinutesTomb Blaster - 60 MinutesRattlesnake - 30 MinutesBubbleworks - 30 MinutesSkyway - 30 MinutesTruckers - 40 MinutesGriffins - 0 Minutes

The Mine Train is sheer class, easily one of Alton Tower's best rides. It has a fun factor that the other powered rides in the country don't have and I really really love the way that as you go through the Rapids tunnel everyone waves at each other.The ride ops are also in my opinion the best team in the whole of the Merlin group. Always happy, always interactive and they always make it a pleasure to go on their ride.