CWOAfanMalcolm Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Well I visited Yesterday Bit of A mixed Day tbh We got there for park opening And Went straight to the vampire I hate too say this Because I Normally couldn't give a toss about it first thing but what should of been a 10-15 minute q turned into a 25 minute wait due too the terrible operations it literally took 2 minutes 30 seconds to send one train and at least 90 seconds for the others we had too wait for this meant we got off the ride at about 10.35am not the best start to begin with really. Next we headed over to dragon falls a nice short q however due too stupid people standing up the conveyor had to be stopped about 3 times Which extended are wait time for an extra 5 minutes not the parks fault but still annoying! next we proceeded to rameses revenge Which was nice and quick and we had no problems waiting one cycle and then being let on. However we then went for lunch which is when the problems began. We Q'd for Curse of the lost tomb for around 35 minutes brilliant We were enjoying how quick the Q was going however we got too the safety speech and we were about too go in and the maze had a shut down This was fine we thought we'd wait around As they said it would only take around 5 minutes for it to reopen however this didn't happen and we got evacuated out of the Q and we never got on the maze we waited around for a bit incase it reopened however it didn't so we went to rattlesnake one of the few positives of the day it was running really quickly we waited around 35 minutes and the q was back in the bit before the mine tunnel. Never have I experienced rattle's Q moving so fast and it was really good too see. Then we decided to head over too trick or treat wood which was hilarious it is a really nice Little attraction for kids It is re ridable with the two different routes and I just found it really fun tbh pros of it being really short meant a short 5 minute q. I can understand how it could be disappointing as a scare attraction however as a nice fun part of you're day it does it's job wonderfully. we then returned too curse told the welcome host what had happened and were let through the disabled entrance which was nice as the q was even longer now. this attraction has the potential too be extremely scary. The way I liked to describe it was being inside a low budget mummy themed horror movie especially the ending I was expecting something a hell of a lot more forceful however what you actually get is a very funny ending it is very good and would have been a great addition along with mystery and haunting however as the leading maze it just is a little weak unfortunatly. we spent the remaining amount of time on about 5 more rides queing an hour for scorpion express was a particular lowlight in the rain even though the q said 45 minutes however the end of the night we went to vampire which ended the day on real highlight we were on the 3rd too last train of the day and when we came back round there was no one in our row the op let us stay on for one more go on the last train of the night which we were extremely grateful for ended the slightly dissapointing day on a high. unfortunatly the event and our day is like the whole of Chessington has been this year full of mess ups and Extremely extremely average. hopefully it will pick up next year! OldFarmerDean and dk3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry-go-girl Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Several props, the stage and most likely Haunting in the Hollows haven't returned as a result of some irreversible damage happening over the summer. Are you referring to the Smiler incident or something else that happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Deleted my post by accident. Doh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 This Howl'O'Ween lacks theming, Rameses Lasers and an atmosphere in general because most of the ents team walked out about a month ago. Several props, the stage and most likely Haunting in the Hollows haven't returned as a result of some irreversible damage happening over the summer. Couple that with the budget cuts, meaning that they can't replace them and that is why they haven't been able to put on a good event this year. It's disappointing, I agree. Entertainment Staff leaving? Irreversible damage during storage? No money to replace anything? That doesn't sound like Chessington at all... HermanTheGerman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Are you referring to the Smiler incident or something else that happened?Why would the Smiler crashing miles away damage the Haunting In the Hollows props? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack F Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Several props, the stage and most likely Haunting in the Hollows haven't returned as a result of some irreversible damage happening over the summer. What is this irreversible damage you speak of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry-go-girl Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Why would the Smiler crashing miles away damage the Haunting In the Hollows props? The only event happening over the summer that's public knowledge is the Smiler incident so I thought possibly maybe it was in reference to Merlin budgets. After all even Chessington had to make modifications as a result of that. But I don't see why I need to be called out for asking for more information. It's not like I made any kind of bombastic misinformed statement about the situation. JoshuaA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleyrose-66 Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 Went along today, my review as follows: Firstly, the car parking was shambolic... There has been a bit of rain over the past 48 hours, and as we arrived and were sent to the "Leopard" field to park, there were cars slipping and skidding on the grass. Once you parked, you then faced walking along a very muddy and slippery path, just to get to the end of the car-park! The car park tracks are also very badly damaged with deep pot-holes, and it's only a matter of time before someone's car is damaged by one of them! The queue to get in (pay and collect day tickets) is HUGE... Trick or treat wood: did this twice, was lucky to get the 'trick' side first, and the 'treat' side on the second occasion! The 'trick' side was far better. The 'pixies' spent a bit of time making fun of everyone, and the whole process seemed a bit slower. The 'treat' side was rushed and felt like they were just trying to move us on! Considering how much space there is in that pen, it's a shame it was quite bunched up and we were able to hear the other groups! It is a decent attraction for the children as it didn't scare them (apart from the tree people!) so it's an 'OK' attraction. Curse of the lost Tomb: what a shame! Everything was going so well, they were building the tension nicely, and there were a good few moments which made up jump a bit, but the finale was so rushed and before we knew it we were in a gift shop in Wild Asia!! I thought on the whole, this attraction was quite good - I think it could do without the drama student over-playing the lost girl routine, and showing everyone her husband and daughter on her phone (especially as she is only about 18 years old anyway!!) I don't know where they get the 10 rooms from. From what I can gather, there were 6-7 rooms at most. And the ending is horribly rushed and you are quickly out of the attraction and in to the shop! All-in-all a decent attraction that even some kids would be OK to go in to with their parents! As mentioned above, there was far less theming this year than there has been in the past! No Market Square show at all which was a real shame! Every now-and-then, they would wheel a cart out, and kids would be given the opportunity to put their hand in to a box to try to find a (plastic) spider. Upon success, they would get a CWOA pop-badge! Hardly makes up for the lack of entertainment! On a final note, I had the privilege of being 'rescued' from The Vampire, after it stalled at the base of the second lift hill!!! We were flying along as normal, then just ground to a halt before our ascent up the second hill. After a couple of minutes an announcement was made that engineers were on their way... After about 15-20 minutes waiting, a team of staff and engineers came along and released us all manually and led us out through a gate, where we were give a handful of fast-track tickets and an apology! The fast-track tickets were valid for 2015, and as I am not going to Chessington again this season, were no use to me and my friends/family, who had also been stuck on The Vampire! So a further wait of 35 minutes at Adventurers Services ensued as we had to queue up to then request them to extend the fast-track passes. Which, to be fair, they did! Vampire was still down an hour after we were 'rescued' and were leaving the park... This led to horrific queues elsewhere in the park... Fury was 120 minutes, Kobra was 70 minutes, Scorpion was 70 minutes!! All-in-all, a mixed bag today. There are clearly areas that need improvement, but that will take time, and money! And in some respects, a bit of common sense! Was nice to get a freebie "Cadbury's Scream Egg" on the way out though! That was a bit of a highlight for some of us unfortunately! JoshuaA and Merry-go-girl 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 A mixed day? I dread to think what you consider a bad day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 It's not like I made any kind of bombastic misinformed statement about the situation.No, it's not.. I don't think I or anyone was suggesting anything like that or calling you out on anything. But Ben is talking literally - the sets were apparently damaged in storage - so it's nothing to do with budgets or The Smiler at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 Took boyo yesterday evening too, did trick or treat, got utterly picked on by the hosts and dare I say it the best bits were the trees lol, didn't have time to do the haunted so we'll go back Sunday for that. Park was utterly packed, we had to park in an overflow carpark by the entrance before you even get to the barriers, which made getting out fantastic. I would pretty much echo everybody else's comments, not mych theming and operations were reasonable, if a tad slow, they delayed dispatch on our ride on vampire so we could get on, which meant the other train stacked when for timing it would have been far quicker to dispatch the first train and let us go on the next one, I even said to the guy we'll wait but no they insisted. This wouldn't be a problem if the place was empty but delaying dispatch for two minutes while people run from the gate because someone miscalculated the numbers just makes matters worse, the queue was already 90 minutes lol. For us it's not a problem as we're used to it, but there was a lot of unhappy parents about trying to keep their kids entertained in the queue line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraX Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 I would say following last year, the team realised how difficult the other two mazes (vampire and hocus) were to build. From what I can gather studios did the install last year because more people had left, and no one else has the knowledge to do it. This year the park have had to focus on Trick or treat woods, staffing the curse.. and that's literally it. Poor show, but Chessington all over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry-go-girl Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 No, it's not.. I don't think I or anyone was suggesting anything like that or calling you out on anything. But Ben is talking literally - the sets were apparently damaged in storage - so it's nothing to do with budgets or The Smiler at all And that's why I asked electricBill the innocuous question, to find out what he meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 Sounds as though a lot of negative events have happened back stage then. Overall it's been a poor year for Merlin as a whole (except Legoland) which is a shame to hear this. Howl O Ween was alright last week but did lack in many areas, in that it needed another maze, at least one stage show and some roaming actors (that are more eccentric than scary). Really hope things can get sorted and HITH can make a come back next year, even if it's under a different name as that alone would entice me fully to return for next years event. Chewing ton (or Merlin eve), do need to get their act together and make these good events great again. 'This will do' attitudes will never be acceptable. I look at other uk Halloween events and the likes of Screamland & Screamfest Burton look like they wipe the floor here personally, and that's before any mention of the fantastic looking Scarefest this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 I must admit even my boy asked 'is that it?' to the tree in trick or treat wood last night after he said 'that way to the exit'. Tonight we went proper trick or treating and there was this one house that had converted their garden into a maze and honestly Chessington could learn a thing or two from it, as much as I love the parks, when a fat chain smoking plumber on a council estate consummately out does you in all areas, it's time to sack those in charge of your special events and start from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 And that's why I asked electricBill the innocuous question, to find out what he meant. Ok I see, in that case Jack F and pognoi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insider9150 Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Well, another season is over, and to honest the Halloween event was a complete shambles, both mazes were terrible and poorly executed, a very poor script and too rushed. The lack of extra theming made the park look really empty. Music around the park thank god was not the MoHPH from last year. Market Square Halloween Tree looked excellent as usual. Why they decide to pull the Rameses laser I don't know, as this was the best part of last years halloween event, Rameses just looked dark and dull. The lighting around park looked great but too much white light and not enough colours as previous year, black buccanear and vampire looked amazing. No show in market as well. Come on chessington, get your act together, heads should roll for this year Halloween attempt. pluk, onair and TraX 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onair Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Totally agree. Really wish I did not bother visiting Chessington's Howloween this year a waste of an evening. In 2014 I rated Howloween as one of my favourite Halloween events of the Merlin group. Yes Rameses Revenge with the lasers, smoke machine and audio created a great atmosphere. Park lighting was not as good this year but Kobra was a little better. Definitely something missing without the show and did not see any characters around the park at all. With numerous closed rides I think Howloween was a very very poor show this year from Chessington. Budget cuts or not why remove some of the best features from the event. Sorry but The Towers topped Halloween events for me this year ! OldFarmerDean and pluk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I had nothing to compare Chessington to (aside from Dave's impromptu maze through his garden), so I'm glad I'm not the only one who was generally unimpressed with the parks efforts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I went on Sunday for the first time since last year, never done a Halloween event at Chessington before, but I had a really good time Obviously it could be a million times better with more roaming actors/events going on around the park and a couple more mazes, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Trick or Treat Woods was a bit of fun obviously aimed at very young children, but as it never had a queue it was a decent walk through attraction. As 1 of only 2 mazes at the park though, it should've and probably could've been a lot longer. The acting was good though and the costumes were very good, it's nice to see a Halloween event where the actors have good makeup/costumes. Curse of the Lost Tomb was very cool, I loved there being a storyline, with people helping you out along the way and not everyone being 'the bad guy'. The theming in here was top notch, and the room with the puzzle on the floor would've made a better room than the Roman Numerals one in Containment at Thorpe. Just a shame they told us there was 10 rooms and it was over 10 minutes long, maybe they skipped out a few rooms for certain reasons? Also wtf was it with the disco lights shining down in the corridors, definitely lost the effect of being in a tomb with them Then it just ended and that was it, a shame really as the build up was very good, it deserved a better ending, Kerfuffle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachoMachine Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Ryan's pretty much said what I was going to say but I think I'll add a few points (as I am a Chessington newbie) The park itself didn't really feel amazingly spooky aside from all the pumpkins everywhere, I think the fog definitely made it more creepy. Curse of the Lost Tomb was a very good concept! The storyline was good and I thought the actors dealt with children wonderfully, but they also worked with adults well too! Good/bad guys was a really nice touch opposed to the evil actors you get elsewhere! Themeing was lovely, aside from some effects didn't work but the actors saved it! Was a bit too short and the ending was anticlimactic aside from the people in masks, they were terrifying Trick or Treat Woods was cute, I loved the interaction and the actors were really good once again. They do need to add more elements of spooky for next year, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I went. Very pleased I went and had a good time! Merry-go-girl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraX Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Well, another season is over, and to honest the Halloween event was a complete shambles, both mazes were terrible and poorly executed, a very poor script and too rushed. The lack of extra theming made the park look really empty. Music around the park thank god was not the MoHPH from last year. Market Square Halloween Tree looked excellent as usual. Why they decide to pull the Rameses laser I don't know, as this was the best part of last years halloween event, Rameses just looked dark and dull. The lighting around park looked great but too much white light and not enough colours as previous year, black buccanear and vampire looked amazing. No show in market as well. Come on chessington, get your act together, heads should roll for this year Halloween attempt. Well said. Looks like tech services did all the work with some great lighting. Scruffy Dog did a good job of their maze, and that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Same lineup as last year for "Howl'o'ween", Curse of the Lost Tomb and Trick or Treat wood. Think I'll pass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I think the lineup fits Chessington's image remarkably well. After all, not much seems to change there and things that do are rarely for the better. JoshuaA, Coaster and SteveJ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I enjoyed Curse of the Lost Tomb, glad to see it back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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