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Scorpion Express


Dan9

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I rode for the first time today and have to say I was very impressed! The theming was excellent and the water and fire effects really added to the ride. The queue line is a lot more enjoyable than before and the whole ride in general feel likes its had some much needed attention paid to it. Well worth the money spent!

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I rode for the first time today and have to say I was very impressed! The theming was excellent and the water and fire effects really added to the ride. The queue line is a lot more enjoyable than before and the whole ride in general feel likes its had some much needed attention paid to it. Well worth the money spent!

I haven't been myself but hope to get down soon to try it. There seem to be mixed reviews on it so far and if it is decent I hope they keep the effects as by the sounds of things without the effects it doesn't sound like it would be too good! As for the queueline, I hope it is better than before because I remember a couple of year back when I went and I remember the queueline wasn't exactly great!

I hope things have been done well as it has been said chessington are off to a nice start this season: I hope this doesn't go downhill!

First post in a while eh? ;)

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The rocks really did add to the ride experience of RMT and I was gutted when I heard it was going to be rethemed. However, I went on Scorpion Express yesterday and was surprisingly impressed - even walking through the queue I was saying how naff it was going to be because it sort of does look like it off ride. The ride itself, for me anyway does seem a bit slower - maybe because there is no tunnel there (or I am just odd) - but the fire and other effects make up for a lot of what was lost and I came off the ride with a complete change of mind. I did and do wonder how long the fire effects will last though and do still miss RMT, but I think Merlin have done a pretty decent job with Scorpion Express - it is much better than it looks in pictures

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Howdy, I've just uploaded my Scorpion Express video have a look :) I like the ride and actually think I prefer it to the old theme. Don't like the queue inside the building isn't very entertaining just some holes to stick your hands in and get blasted by air part from that its a very long boring wait. Theres fire and smoke effects and some water that only gets the left row wet, The effects work well and adds to the young thrills experience just hope they last and not get switched of after a week of operation. Not sure on the 2D buildings would be better if they had a roof at the moment it look like a movie set. Impressed with what they have done with the ride and will enjoy riding it again.

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I thought it looked good; and if I'm honest an improvement on the tired looking Runaway Train. They've refurbished the buildings walking towards it which gives a nice fresh approach, and as a whole it isn't bad - definitely looks better than the Fish (sorry Flying Fish). Also didn't ride, but did watch and found it weird how it crawls up the back, and then goes at it's usual speed - has it slowed down? No. The fire effect is impressive and can be felt from the main path, but by the afternoon it seemed to fail to ignite. The scorpion doesn't look bad, but isn't fantastic. However when we were watching it a lot of kids seemed to love it, and loved the fact that you got a bit wet. So I think they've done really well. I agree with Benin, he has high standards. It's not anything spectacular, but it's brilliant for little ones and a really good move for Chessington, and definitely has brought life back to an old ride.

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I love how she's confused as they pull away. Maybe that's why they introduced bar locking.

Miss those days though, is it seriously that much of a big deal that guests are still walking off as the ride moves? You know how to stop the ride if they suddenly decide to lurch for the train etc.

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Miss those days though, is it seriously that much of a big deal that guests are still walking off as the ride moves? You know how to stop the ride if they suddenly decide to lurch for the train etc.

Exactly, and what is the chance that people are going to do that.

It's got so ridiculous now, that staff don't batch guests to the air gates until the ride has stopped now, what's the point in having air gates?

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Just thought I'd show the result of my experience on Scorpion Express in terms of my imagination for theming in RCT3. This is Scorpion Mine, therefore no prizes for guessing what lurks within that cavern on the left, guarding it's treasure! ;):

Shot00013_zps47190212.png

Did a bit of parkwide advertisement for the ride as well! (and yes, the slogan used is also used on Scorpion Express!):

ScorpionMineAd_zpsc0347ce7.png

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So, did this today and I think the ride essentially sums up Chessington for me...

The queue is a bit of a mixed bag. The cattlepen is probably horrendous to queue in and I feel sorry for anyone who ever has to queue in it. The indoor section is boring and too hot (WHY was the heater on on such a nice day?). However, when the train goes over the 'mine shaft', it does sound a bit like a scuttle of a scorpion; not sure if that's me wanting to finding positives or whether that was intentional though. The outside queue section is a bit more interesting - there's actually things to look at! - and is nice.

As for the ride, did the original Runaway Train only do two circuits, or did it do three (I genuinely can't remember)? Well, Scorpion Express only does two circuits. This means it takes two thirds of one circuit before you even get up to a fun speed which the family can enjoy, and spend half of the second circuit cruising down so you can safely land back in the station. Makes the ride feel lacklustre and even some of the younger kids seemed unexcited by it.

As for the ride's effects. I liked the smoke effects; good touch. The fire is good, but goes off too much. When you're queueing outside, it gets a tad annoying (especially considering the way the queue seems to move like a decrepit scorpion on its last legs...). Having it go off once per ride, as opposed to every circuit, would be more preferable for me. The water effect is more like a dribble and only got the closest side to the scorpion. The large scorpion was pitiful; it's tail moved in the wind, and I noticed the claws twitch with movement as I was exiting. I almost felt like there should be some comical sparks from inside it was that bad...

Now the most important thing really - the theming. When it boils down to it, Runaway Train had some brilliant theming which made it feel more than a figure of eight circuit. Unfortunately, Scorpion Express doesn't do the same thing. The backdrops feel lazy, with them just going for very generic shop fronts in the wild west, and not even hiding the red building to the right of the ride. Nice one. The smaller metal scorpions are quirky and clever though. The warning signs are a nice touch, but make no sense to the ride, seeinghow the big scorpion is out in the open, and the mine shafts have nothing bar a couple of the smaller scorpions. Oops.

Perhaps I was just wanting it to fail deep down, so I feel like I had the right to moan some more about the park not upkeeping the old cave. But still, this ride is pretty much a Chessington ride; it's quite 'meh', despite the fact you can tell a lot of thought went into it.

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As for the ride, did the original Runaway Train only do two circuits, or did it do three (I genuinely can't remember)? Well, Scorpion Express only does two circuits.

Generally Runaway only did 2 circuits as well, unless it was particularly quiet with no queue. Or the ride op didn't park it in the right place and had to send it round again, or the ride op just felt like giving an extra circuit!

I do agree though that for some reason they wait for the whole train to be out of the station before accelerating now, no idea why - they didn't use to.

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Before the camera was installed, you got three circuits on Runaway. But now, any more then two and it messes up the camera cycle. Therefore you can thank Photos for the shorter ride cycle. As for taking an age for it to leave the station, thats just the knackered ride system. It's supposed to go as fast as Fish does. When I worked there it wasn't running on all ten motors.

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