April 28, 201411 yr comment_182094 I hope Chessington isn't turning into one a park whereby you can only enjoy it if it's really quiet... Based on my experience over Easter and recent experiences from members on quiet days, certainly seems like it's that way at the moment.
April 28, 201411 yr comment_182108 I hope Chessington isn't turning into one a park whereby you can only enjoy it if it's really quiet... Based on my experience over Easter and recent experiences from members on quiet days, certainly seems like it's that way at the moment. Sounds like the best way to visit Thorpe tbh... Or any park tends to be better when empty, a park's true quality can only be seen on the busy days, which Chessie certainly struggles with on a regular basis... Also the differing opinions on the perceived quality of Scorpion Express are very over the place, think the issue lies with a relative drop of expectations in the quality levels Merlin provides, but at the same time the likes of Market Square and Transylvania look a lot better... A consistent level of quality is missing from Merlin parks, which is probably the most frustrating thing...
April 29, 201411 yr comment_182139 Weight restrictions, it'll depend what each host classes as an adult as to whether you may have seen this or not but it's been like this for a good 5 years or so now.According to the ride host it was because the ride would 'spin too much' and make you sick. I knew about the rule for Fury although not Rattlesnake, is it a restriction everywhere or just with the UK spinners?I'm glad you liked the rammy run Alpengiest! My friend who ops it spotted your post and smiled a little haha. Fun day.We moaned we didn't get wet and we certainly got our just desserts haha well I'm glad, another operator didn't do it so I think we got lucky with ours
April 29, 201411 yr comment_182186 According to the ride host it was because the ride would 'spin too much' and make you sick. I knew about the rule for Fury although not Rattlesnake, is it a restriction everywhere or just with the UK spinners? Bollocks (excuse my French but that is the only word I can find) is it. Fury is three adults because of incidents that occurred in the past. Fury is the only Maurer spinner with a permanent three adult rule. Spinball has specific rules in the rain but always runs four adults when its dry.
April 29, 201411 yr comment_182211 Bollocks (excuse my French but that is the only word I can find) is it. Fury is three adults because of incidents that occurred in the past. Like what? Rollbacks? (I've seen that happen before during testing)
April 29, 201411 yr comment_182247 Bollocks (excuse my French but that is the only word I can find) is it. Fury is three adults because of incidents that occurred in the past. Fury is the only Maurer spinner with a permanent three adult rule. Spinball has specific rules in the rain but always runs four adults when its dry. Yeah I had a feeling it wasn't down to the spinning and to do with something else. Cheers
April 30, 201411 yr comment_182263 Like what? Rollbacks? (I've seen that happen before during testing) More weight would decrease the chance of rollbacks!
May 1, 201411 yr comment_182416 Noticed today that a lot of rides are now opening at 11 or 12, similar to what Alton do. I assume they will start doing this on weekdays, seeing as they are always dead?
May 1, 201411 yr comment_182420 They've done this for a couple of years at least. Save on the staffing budget.
May 5, 201411 yr comment_182533 Well clearly the staffing budget forgot that the weekend was a bank holiday, as the park was horrendously understaffed... 4 people on Vampire in total, 3 trucks on Zufari... Ew... The problem the park needs to address is the awful lack of throughput all over the park... Vampire was running slightly better than recently, but the station queues are now extremely pointless, why not batch about 3 trains in each queue? I'm sure people would prefer doing that a lot more than a long burden outside... The park still has a mixture of awful looking areas mixed in with the nicer repainted parts... Falls is a great example of this, as the ride looks awful but the dragon/station look nice... The park needs to sort lots of stuff out though still... Why Skyway still doesn't have a queuetime board is really strange (given it was advertising a 60 minute queue)... Amazu is hilarious, because most of it is shut already... Great job Chessie! Also I like the walkthrough that only one group can go through at any one time and take as long as they want... Another one step forward, two steps back design from a Merlin park... Days like yesterday show a parks flaws, and for Chessie, that's the throughput... Build new stuff quickly please guys... But make sure it can actually hit 1000 pph...
May 5, 201411 yr comment_182555 Oh also, Lorikeet Lagoon's nectar price has gone up to £2 a pot... Not worth the money anymore... Silly Merlin...
May 5, 201411 yr comment_182556 I noticed that on my visit last month. Pretty sure when the area first opened it was 50p a pot? For the amount of nectar you get, £2 is just a ludicrous cost, especially if you go at a time when the lorikeets are hungry and one greedy one eats your entire pot.
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182585 Amazu is currently having extra bits added to it which may explain why parts of it are closed at the moment.
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182586 I wonder if the new price is to do with over-feeding the lorikeets? Several times I've been in there the birds didn't want to eat any of the nectar as so many people had clearly already fed them. One theory anyway. I noticed that on my visit last month. Pretty sure when the area first opened it was 50p a pot? For the amount of nectar you get, £2 is just a ludicrous cost, especially if you go at a time when the lorikeets are hungry and one greedy one eats your entire pot. Might be thinking about the annual pass discount? As far as I can remember it's always been £1 and 70p (?) with the discount. If they're still doing stuff to Amazu then why open it in the first place? It was mainly closed when I went through last month a week or so after it opened and there's no visable work being done to it.
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182588 They wanted to incorporate a new technology which was a very late decision in the construction process an I suppose they wanted to at least open it as they had already advertised it as open. On another note- I hear that the park has had more guests visit the park than Alton towers so far this season!
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182596 That's cos people are waiting till CBeebies Land to open until visiting... But I'm informed that Amazu was opened completely (when it eventually did) initially, then a few weeks later had all the bits closed... Non-sensical planning is non-sensical... Especially when it's an 'attraction' that doesn't NEED technology... Indeed, the technology it NEEDS is a staircase that isn't inaccesible to children or indeed anyone not 6ft tall... How daft was that design?
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182599 That's cos people are waiting till CBeebies Land to open until visiting... I can't believe that the majority of guests are putting off their visits for cbeebies land...
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182603 On another note- I hear that the park has had more guests visit the park than Alton towers so far this season! Unless Chessie is getting a solid 5k gate figure every single day then I highly doubt that (obviously more for weekends but weekdayswise!)
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182606 Noticed today that a lot of rides are now opening at 11 or 12, similar to what Alton do. I assume they will start doing this on weekdays, seeing as they are always dead? I have been to Chessington on Weekdays and yes it is dead, managed a good 6 or 8 rounds on the dodgems without getting off or any other riders wanting to join last visit. Some rides are just in the wrong place such as griffins galleon or just the wrong age range for weekdays as so many will be at school. This is Chessington's problem, during school holidays (and weekends) they really don't have enough capacity and the park is busy with long queues. During term time the park is quiet as older groups will usually prefer Thorpe Park.
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182607 I can't believe that the majority of guests are putting off their visits for cbeebies land... Why not? Same could be said of last year and Smiler's later opening and the sheer change in attendance before and after it opened... A lot of families will be saving their one trip of the year to go when CBeebies Land opens...
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182620 Why not? Same could be said of last year and Smiler's later opening and the sheer change in attendance before and after it opened... Smiler I can understand, they were promoting the hell out of it for a good length before it opened and the hype is always larger for a roller coaster then for a land or a family ride. You wouldn't want your one trip of the year to be before the major new roller coaster was added, particularly if you are an adult or a teen. But I can't imagine families thinking in the same ways that older groups would.
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182621 Unless Chessie is getting a solid 5k gate figure every single day then I highly doubt that (obviously more for weekends but weekdayswise!) So far, Chessington have beaten Alton's gate figure most weekends. So far, it has been one of their busiest seasons in a good few years. I'm sure that It'll change once CBeebies opens and the advertising for it hypes up. But then again, come August with Azteca... Why not? Same could be said of last year and Smiler's later opening and the sheer change in attendance before and after it opened... A lot of families will be saving their one trip of the year to go when CBeebies Land opens... But the thing is, the majority of families won't know about CBeebies yet, unless the thoroughly research the park before visiting. It has only slightly featured on adverts once, it was barely shown off in that video anyway... I'm sure the influx of guests will massively increase when CBeebies opens, but it won't have decreased because it isn't open. It was different with The Smiler because it had already been heavily advertised pre to opening. So most people knew to save their trip. A large amount of Alton's advertising is on Social Media, which teens and thrill seekers obviously use more. Its not like a bunch of three year olds are going to go fishing around on the Alton Towers YouTube channel and stumble across the three part series. Anyway, me thinks this may be getting slightly off topic...
May 6, 201411 yr comment_182624 It's probably more to do with the opening times - would you want to spend £40+ on a day out and then be chucked out at 5/5:30?
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