I know it won't happen but I'm looking forward to them seeing sense with their opening hours and extending them by at least an hour. Then I'll go again for the first time in about 6 years, which would be nice.

If they did give me a reason to go I'd mostly be looking forward to the general atmosphere and beauty of the place late at night.

I wanna be honest...Haunting in the Hollows looks DAMM good

http://themeuk.net/blog/?p=4307

new contruction updates for hocus pocus , its getting closer only about 22 days untill the spooktacular fun begins !

I'm looking forward to this

I seriously need to go to Hocus Pocus AND Fright Nights this year!

scare acting at one (hocus ) , going to the other ( FN) , best halloween ever !

Chessington seriously need to extend their hours...

Chessington seriously need to extend their hours...

ok , the park is for familys , with kids ranging from 3 - 14. Even if the rides shut at 5 or 8 the park will physically stay open untill 2 or 3 hours after that, depending on the rides queues ect. so even thought the rides close early , the time the park physically closes will be roughly on par , or a couple hours behind thorpe park . Its for kids and young families kids from 3-14 , not for teenagers and adults

ok , the park is for familys , with kids ranging from 3 - 14. Even if the rides shut at 5 or 8 the park will physically stay open untill 2 or 3 hours after that, depending on the rides queues ect. so even thought the rides close early , the time the park physically closes will be roughly on par , or a couple hours behind thorpe park . Its for kids and young families kids from 3-14 , not for teenagers and adults

The whole point is that you are meant to be able to do the coasters in the dark and with 5pm closing you can't do that.... The 7pm closing is more reasonable but I really think it should be till at least 8pm

The park won't be open 2-3hrs after that at all. Vampire will close with a half hour queue somedays, the park will be empty by 8pm.

Bring back the days when you could actually ride rides in the dark, the point of visiting during october half term. All those poor children are missing out on incredible memories (everyone remembers the parks when they're dark!).

ok , the park is for familys , with kids ranging from 3 - 14. Even if the rides shut at 5 or 8 the park will physically stay open untill 2 or 3 hours after that, depending on the rides queues ect. so even thought the rides close early , the time the park physically closes will be roughly on par , or a couple hours behind thorpe park . Its for kids and young families kids from 3-14 , not for teenagers and adults

Yep, Chessington is a FAMILY park; it should cater for everyone.

Closing at 6pm (or whatever ridiculous time they're closing at) does not cater for everyone.

I think Chessie should start closing again at 8pm for Halloween plus 1-2 hours of night riding at the best of times, still isn't really enough and I expect it will just be getting dark on the days of the 5pm closures.

8pm for chessie is the right closing time IMO because 7pm is too early with not enough night rides and 9pm is perhaps too late for their target audience. I hope they revert back to these in the future.

In terms of ride availability, does anyone know which rides (if any) are shut at dusk in the park?

Skyway shuts early and is the only ride to do so... Zufari might depending on how the animals are thought of...

If Zufari shuts early then it should be advertised around the ride and at park entrance - as when it has done that in the past there hasn't been any warning sometimes.

As for the park closing time, 7pm is much to early! 8pm would be better, but 8:30pm would be the right time in my opinion.

Skyway, Toadies & Zufari so far will close at dusk. The reason for closing early is all down to money.

Skyway, Toadies & Zufari so far will close at dusk. The reason for closing early is all down to money.

Quote From chessington:

Please note our animals need their rest and the following closing times will be in place during the Halloween period. To allow all those waiting to ride before dusk the ZUFARI: Ride into Africa entrance will close at approximately 3:30pm. The Children's Zoo will close at 5pm and Lorikeet Lagoon will close at dusk. Due to insufficient light after dusk Flying Jumbos, Safari Skyway and Canopy Capers will close when it gets too dark to operate the rides safely.

Jumbos?! They could light that up so easily. I understand capers and Zufari of course.

To allow all those waiting to ride before dusk the ZUFARI: Ride into Africa entrance will close at approximately 3:30pm.

3:30?

That's very early!

3:30?

That's very early!

Presuming it gets dark at 5/6ish they are probably expecting zufari to have a 1hr 30- 2 hr queue. This means that it would be dark by the time the queue had ended and they would have to put the animals away etc.- I can understand this. I think the park are just trying to save money by closing jumbos and having shorter hours which is making the guest experience worse which is bad for them...

I remember the days of capers never closing. The area has permenant floodlights.

I remember the days of capers never closing. The area has permenant floodlights.

So do you think they purely close it to save money and effort of having it open....?

You'd save an entire one member of staff. Probably considered unsafe nowadays.

3:30 sounds very early for Zufari to close, I was expecting its closure to be more like 4/5 tbh and as for jumbos not being able to operate sufficiently in the dark dazzles me. I don't know why skyway can't operate either.

Skyway has so many blind spots so people could go missing in the dark and would be a nightmare to evacuate in an emergency. Plus with the zoo closed there wouldn't be much to see and could cause noise for the animals.

I guess the times make sense, not really a great Halloween attraction though :s I know it's a family park but an extra hour wouldn't hurt. There probably isn't the incentive though as the park fills up easily anyway!!!!!!!