Mark9

Hi there, This is just a write up of a trip that I've wanted to do for what feels like my whole life but in reality is about twenty years. When I first really opened my world to theme parks beyond Chessington, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, there was three rollercoasters that were announced and about to begin construction. Those were Silver Bullet at Knotts Berry Farm, Storm Runner at Hersheypark and Hydra at Dorney Park. Silver Bullet was ticked off neatly a decade ago but a series of events has meant I've been waiting to hit the East Coaster for far longer then I'd have wanted. With 2022, the year of revenge travel kind of over, wedding done, honeymoon and 12 day cruise done it was time to think about where to go. And I straight away aimed for the East Coast, we got planning and this trip was very much designed around the idea of rest days and giving certain parks priority over others. At Six Flags Great America in 2018. we didn't give ourselves enough time so didn't get to really enjoy our day. A power cut scuppered several rides and it felt like a missed opportunity. Here I set up the trip so that big flagship parks got the time they deserved whilst the smaller ones got a day and less car travel to the next destinations. It went like this Day 1 - Kings Dominion Day 2 & 3 - Busch Gardens Williamsburg Day 4 - Six Flags America Day 5 & 6 - Hersheypark Day 7 - Dorney Park Day 8 & 9 - Six Flags Great Adventure Day 10 - Nickelodeon Universe Day 11, 12 & 13 - New York Tourism. Soo one thing that became clear on this trip is that the weather was not on our side. Unseasonable rain storms were a frequent occurrence and the sky was often grey and rainy. Kings Dominion is very much known for Intimidator 305, the Intamin giga that tries to anhailiate you from the word go. I'd write up about it but we never even saw it move. It was down for the entire time we were there and it would not be the first intamin that didn't open for us. For this park we did actually have fast lane. We wanted a relaxing day and it turned out to be a good move. We started the day by heading to Twisted Timbers, an RMC that opened in 2018. I really liked it. Chris did not like it. One thing this RMC does differently to the bigger ones is that at only 110 feet, it has a higher emphasis on lots of airtime and twisted track moments. This air time is pretty brutal. You are pushed each and every time into the restraint and you do this about 16 times throughout its layout. I prefer this smarter use of layout design to some of the others (Zadra) but I can understand that the variety is slightly lacking if all you feel like you're doing is being thrown up and down relentlessly. Our next ride was a classic, a racing wooden rollercoaster named Racer. As we got there fairly early on, only one side was running but later in the day, both sides were operating with one train a side. I really liked this and it rides well for its age. America has a lot of classic wooden rollercoasters and its nice to see they have retained these orders rides and kept them in such great condition. To keep up the wooden rollercoaster momentum we went to ride Grizzly which had some rebuilt track work in the last six months. I've come to expect that the old parts of the track are bumpy and the newer parts are silly smooth and Grizzly did not disappoint. It was a peculiar ride, very big but not particularly memorable. Chris loved it. I don't remember much from it aside from the entrance being in a gift shop. So far, so good. I was getting good feelings from Kings Dominion. The park wasn't crazily busy and the rides were running nicely. To keep the positivity up, we headed to Dominator, an absolutely huge B&M Floorless rollercoaster that used to live in Geauga Lake and then moved to KD in 2008. iIve seen POV's of Dominator and it always came across as bit weak, like the train just went off meandering with no purpose. it's nothing of the sort and I think it is actually my favourite floorless out there. It is absolutey huge, the vertical loop is a monster but I also like how the layout isn't atypical B&M. The train goes through high speed banked corners, up and over the station, down again with little air time moments peppered in there to break up the pacing. The interlocking corkscrews are full of force. This is a ride that hasn't got restrictions and is unashamedly big and bold. We took a dive into some dark ride that used to be Scooby doo themed, now isn't and is just sad. it was walk on so that was fine. We went to ride Reptilian, a mack bobsled which is my last one to do and I've done them all. We were about to get on when a code red was called. All rides were closed because of a thunderstorm in the area. Yes even the indoor ones. So whilst we waited around in absolutely stunning sunshine, nothing moved, nothing could be done. This closure ended up lasting three hours and that long in a park with no rides does take its toll. There was a five minute rain storm in that three hours. We didn't see any lightening or thunder. The park was in no rush to get things open is how it felt. We were about to see if there was anything we could do for our fast lane, it's not like we could just come again another day with a weather back guarantee. We then saw Dominator testing so thought we'd head back to intimidator to get on that when it reopened. We saw Backlot Stunt Coaster was back in operation so went straight on with the fast lane. These rides are just odd and I think without the Italian Job theme, just don't work. More and more rides were springing back to life. We got on Reptilian which was about what you'd expect from a Mack bobsled, got on Anaconda, a classic Arrow coaster with a terrifying dive into the lake followed by some inversions that I don't even know how the train got through them. We rode Flight of Fear which I was okay with but Chris absolutely hated. Like despised, easily one of his least favourite rides from the trip. At this point I started to lose faith that Intimidator was going to open so we did one last lap of the park getting rides on Racer red, Twisted Timbers, Woodstock Express and Dominator. We called it a day around 7pm, the weather had taken its toll on our enthusiasm to stay and something else was bothering me. The operations at Kings Dominion are not good. Cedar Fair are particularly guilty of running rides at full capacity but have you sitting on break runs for five minutes a go. Cedar Point is about the only place where the staff have energy. Here at KD they were quite happy to leave us waiting whilst they faffed around with something. So would I visit again? Not unless they add something of real value. I like Twisted Timbers and Dominator, but they aren't the solid main attraction. Maybe that ride is Intimidator 305. But that being down all day was a frustration that lingered throughout the day unfortunately. Thank you for reading.

Yes! It really bugs me too. It's such a stupid thing but it's just the pedant in me.

As long as it takes I guess. Depends on what the issue is.

I can ride Peter Pans Flight in 5 minutes time for only 13 euros so I guess it is exactly the same as Disney.

I'm finding Chessington really frustrating at the moment. According to the park app the queues for things like Kobra, Tiger Rock and Dragon's Fury have been around two hours, Vampire, Rattlesnake and Tomb Blaster hover at 90 minutes and everything else is between 30-50 minutes. I believe none of this is related to Land of Jumanji as the park was just as busy well before the new land opened. Yesterday may have been the perfect storm of good weather, new land and last day of half term but I think the problems are far deeper then this. The park is operationally damaged. Fury, Rattlesnake, Monkey Swinger, Tomb, Zufari, Rock and Vampire do not run the capacities that they should be or can do. The downtime across the park is worse than it's ever been. Scorpion will be reopening this month but that cannot do enough to spread people. The sheer amount of Annual Pass holders with RAP passes is having an enormous effect on just shifting numbers through stand by. And there is no magic answer here. The way the park is run, the staff just do not care. The only exception being the Jumanji staff who to there credit, are playing the characters and trying their best with compromised rides. Everywhere else though, you can tell the staff just aren't trained to the standard required. They do not give good service, they do not do good operations. There's no passion, there's no drive, there's no energy. And this comes from the top. The managers do not care. Not to the level that a family theme park requires. I think sadly, a lot of the efforts to make the park look better over the last two years has been wasted as the sheer basics of running a theme park have completely collapsed. If Merlin are to make Chessington a destination (which seems to be the intention) then some radical thinking needs to take place. Rattlesnake and Fury need to go and be replaced with rides that have capacity. Rattlesnake does not fit in this park anymore. 1.4 metres with a 1.2 metre B&M wing rider a few metres away, no sorry. Let's be real, Tiger Rock and Tomb Blaster are dead in the water. It's time for them to be replaced with modern tech, something like Chiapas and a newer slow moving dark ride, natural successors to what is there now. I love Chessington and I want people to have the same level of enjoyment and love that I had when I first visited in 1992. It's horrendous to hear the horrible days out people are having and I want this park to turn it around as it's the closest we have to a Toverland or a Nigloland in the UK.

Yeah she is getting on a bit now, almost 35 years old. I would love for it to get a bit of love now that Mandrill is open.

It will be far less intense than Ride to Happiness.

'Nothing is ever as good or as bad as the first reports of excited people' This has become my mantra in life. If I had walked onto half the rides and dark rides with the level of hype/hate thrown on them, I don't think I'd like anything.

Best part of Sub Terra reopening was the reopening ceremony and the subsequent video released by Towers featuring a blink and you'll miss it glimpse of someone with the old nemesis logo on a jacket. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPhhEWqnQE If Merlin put as much effort into their day to day operations as they do their marketing, we'd have the best theme parks on the planet. I don't know any ride anywhere like Nemesis that has had this much love and attention for a retracking. I only beg that Merlin get Nemesis Inferno in on the act. It's an odd admission now that Sub terra has become one giant Nemesis campaign.

Awkward. At least it's true to its predecessor in barely working.

It's definitely open today.

Visited last week, probably the quietest I've visited a theme park since before the pandemic. We were waiting in stations for ages for other guests despite everything being on one train. It was also very wet with it pretty much raining all day. Despite this, every ride was operational and there wasn't a single ride closure. And thats a lot of rides. Hyperion - Mostly on the back and front once. Really great ride. There's a tiny rattle on the edge but really enjoyed it. Aside from one air time hill which is dire, the rest is a speed machine and that first drop is fabulous. Zadra - Another power house. The more RMC's you ride, the more you realise they are all pretty much the same with minor differences. They are still excellent and well worth your time. This is probably my least favourite of the five I've done. It's just not as strong as the others albeit, the lack of running and the temperature probably had an effect. Abyssus - Sleeper hit, this was my favourite of the rollercoasters at Energylandia. Full of ejector air time, forces, really long layout. I've seen more criticism of this ride than the other three which I don't think is warranted as actually, this is a really solid, entertaining ride. To be honest though, these three rides compliment each other really well and are a good triple threat. The quality really falls off massively. Speed - Intamin water coaster. Yeah this was fine but we were soaked anyway from the rain. Various vekoma rides. So many. So many doubles. Various SBF rides. I mean they serve a purpose. So many rides. More rides that you can shake a stick at. Aqualantis for example has about eight rides tucked away all over the place. So yeah.. we had a good time. This is an efficient park with staff that are fast and safe, prices are affordable, everything about it should secure its future for decades to come.

B&M Wing-rider special. 1. Gatekeeper 2. Flug Der Demon 3. Fenix 4. Mandrill Mayhem 5. The Swarm 6. Raptor 7. X Flight

Wahoo, now open. Few comments from me. Park did a little opening ceremony, which was nice. Even though Jumanji is open for hotel guests (9am-10am), it was still good for something to recognise the significance of the new area. Short speech done, area opened. So to ride Mandrill Mayhem you need to join a virtual queue. This does create a massive bottle neck right off the bat but 20 minutes later there's no one waiting outside to get their QR codes scanned. Its launch day was quiet in the park with only the Jumanji rides having any significant wait times (for reference, Vampire was less than 10 minutes all day). This ran out around 3:30pm so just as a warning, on a busy day it could run out a lot earlier. The most we waited for Mandrill was 30 minutes and the team working it were doing the best with the limited capacity. They made a point of filling every seat, deliberately holding back single riders to pair them up with groups of three or other single riders. This being an intense, geek heavy day there was a lot of single riders so I wonder if this will continue on a more traditional park day. The station is fine, the thing I like is that unlike the Swarm where you just wait on either side of the station (and one is significantly longer then the other), here you are pre batched and let pretty much straight onto the ride. But this does create a bigger problem where the train is still for several moments as you can't get onto the platform until a staff member opens a gate. There were points that the staff were only one on each side, its a lot of work for one person. Again, low capacity ride being made lower. Trains felt exactly like the other Wing-riders, it begs the question, could The Swarm be a 1.2 metre ride or is there something I'm missing? The ride itself is surprisingly good. I had reservations about this being a proper lower tier B&M but actually its a pretty varied ride experience. The spike for example as you launch out the station is full of hang time particularly in the back part of the ride. The launches feel really nice, sitting between Mack and Intamin. The turns are full of whip. I love the turn coming out of the station heading in(or out) or the zero g roll. It's so snappy. The Zero G roll is really good. It's taken at the perfect pace and is in the perfect location over the entrance to the area. The helix around the monument is surprisingly forceful on the right hand side of the train. The backwards return journey is lovely too. We had 6 rides overall and it was pretty unanimous in that this is a perfect fit for Chessington and a good step up ride for those that want a bit more then Dragons Fury but aren't quite ready for Thorpe. I think one of its main positives is a weird one in that the earlier B&M Wing-riders were very graceful rides, The Swarm for example has a natural flow and each element works in conjunction with the next. It always feels in control. The newer ones such as Fenix at Toverland and Mandrill have jerkier elements and feel less refined weirdly. And I kinda like that. So yes, a nice surprise. It has all the strengths that you'd expect from a B&M in that it's reliable and efficient and is a strong Premier ride for the park. It perfectly fits in next to Vampire, Kobra and Dragons Fury and I'm very happy and hope it brings the park the success to take it through the next decade. Ostrich Stampede isn't great to be honest. Takes way too long to load and only one has twenty seconds of really good jumping energy. The rest is a bit meh with you just spinning around. Mamba Strike was much better and weirdly jerky and seemed to be the busier of the two rides. Both of these rides were doing the job well of support flat rides and makes the area feel more complete and rounded. So to conclude it was a successful launch for a park that really needed the investment. With Croc Drop two years ago, Blue Barnacle, Trawler Trouble and Barrel Bail Out last year and now Jumanji, the ride offering has seen significant and much needed changes and I hope to see this continue. I love Chessington and I do bring out the rose tinted glasses out for it. it has so much potential that has been locked away for what feels like two decades. This needs to be the start of something because Chessington can be a great park again.

I love your optimism.

So you're saying we shouldn't expect OzIris excessive theming then =(

Yeah thats cool. I Like gold as a colour scheme.

Dunno if anyones keeping up with this but things continue to get worse in Florida. A bit of history. Before Disney World was built and just after the land was purchased, the Reedy Creek area was set up. It's essentially a private council that maintains everything in the Disney World area such as roads, plumbing etc. In 2022 the Republican govenor , Ron De Santis, started setting up his stall for his Presidential campaign by setting up increasingly far right motions such as attempting to ban abortion in Florida, banning Trans people from using their preferred gender in public bathrooms and banning LGBT and Black/race history in schools. The last one is what has ignited a state versus private company issue within Florida. After weeks of no comment, Disney spoke out against the 'don't say gay' bill. Described as retribution, De Santis since has used the full power of government against Disney World. The Reedy Creek improvement district has been overturned and has become the Central Florida Oversight District, essentially run by the De Santis governor with new rules and laws put in place that specifically target Disney World. In the last few weeks Disney has sought to sue De Santis. They have stated a private company should not be punished for expressing their first amendment rights, ie free speech. De Santis is counter suing. Meanwhile specific laws are going in against Disney such as harsher and more frequent inspection of Walt Disney Worlds rides in comparison to Universal, Sea World and Busch Garden. A new law in the last day passed specifically targets the monorail system for example. Regardless of the conversation around how powerful a private business should be, this has all come about because of the rights of minorities. I'm sad that Universal, Busch and Sea World have said nothing. Without Disney, these companies would not be making the profit that they currently do. It's a huge driver for the state.

We should continue to compare Merlin to premium theme parks as that is how they price themselves. Ryanair don't price themselves like they're BA.

'Rooms'

What annoys me more is that Merlin food used to be pretty good and pretty affordable. But its completely the reverse now and the crap you get is no where near worth the money. I'll pay the premium for good food but I'll spend as little as possible if I know the food is questionable. And as I'm more then willing to shovel out $80 for a meal at Tiffins in Disney World, the fact that I really don't want to spend £10 for a burger and fries at The Burger Kitchen says a lot.

Supports are being installed, track has started to arrive. Ginger and Brown from twitter posting pictures of the installation of the track.

I'm sure Sony are impressed that Merlin are completely incapable of negotiating with the engineering team and stopping these strikes.

An absolute crime that Parc Asterix only has five pages of discussion whereas Port Aventura has 26. Anyway.. Toutatis is great. Top notch. I was worried about the pacing of the thing, especially as similar like Taron and Taiga are very well paced. Nothing to worry about though, this is a very fast rollercoaster with the most aggressive ejector air time I've experienced so far. Those little launch dips are just fantastic. The rest of the ride is also very pleasing and we had about 8 rides on it over two days. I didn't have a favourite seat preference. Loved the front and back equally. Definitely my favourite Intamin, traditionally, I'm a bit luke warm with their rides but they've really made a step forward since Taron. Oz'Iris, is excellent. It's just the best B&M inverter out there right now. It combines the whippiness of Nemesis with the weird floaty air time of one of their hypers. There's so much air time on Oz'Iris or zero g feeling, it's very odd to describe because aside from Monster, no other inverter rides like this and it's absolutely joyful. It's a shame that only Banshee and Monster were built after Oz'Iris, because actually, Oz'Iris feels like a proper evolution of what B&M were doing before. Managed eight rides, should have done more. Pegasus Express is lovely, we had three rides and really enjoyed each one. Chessington should really be getting something like this, not a wing rider but I digress. High capacity, lovely moments, fast and snappy. Really accessible for everyone. Tonnerre 2 Zeus was odd. Should have really re tracked the whole thing as there's a significant difference between the old and the new. It makes it a very mixed ride. I still enjoyed, but I also felt like there's a missed opportunity here. I don't like the trains. Really chunky, giant restraints that reminded me of Maurer Sohnes X car ones. A lot has changed at the park since I went in 2017. Every rollercoaster now has a batcher (before it was a free for all), operationally everything was on point and the staff work bloody hard to fill seats, even when the ride is walk on. Twice on Oz'Iris, they were making us run through the queue to fill two seats. Literal walk on. I don't know if we hit a quiet day as Toutatis queues were all over the place. From 90 minutes, to 20, then back to 45 and down to 15 then up again.

Don't be silly, they only do things like this for rides that people actually care about.