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Chessington General Discussion


Ash

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RE: Circus World. I remember it, and remember going to the Circus when I was a teenager with a mate at Chessie because of the hot acrobats - did I just say that out loud? :P

 

I remember the Clown Coaster with that drum - that I was convinced would give you an electric shock (not quite sure where that came from) and the Juggler, which looked straight out of a fairground with it's garish backdrop.

 

Can't believe the casual slagging of original Bubbleworks, how very dare you :D Original Vamp, Bubbles and an awesomely themed McDonalds, thems were the days I tell ye! 59p for a burger inside a Merlin park, unbelivable scenes.

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I remember circus world and riding The Juggler and being surprised that I didn't puke.  Can't remember for the life of me whether I went on the clown coaster as it's going back a long time.  But original Bubbleworks was fantastic, as was the original Vampire.  I remember going on Bubbleworks, possibly the year in opened or the year after and getting a bottle of Prof Burps fizzy drink (it was pretty much Panda Pops with theming!) those were the days

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Theme park Fanantic said:

Is it going to see the 2018 season out. Also what's happening with Peeking Hights (Eclipse) is it going back to Thorpe or being scrapped.

I'd say there's an incredibly strong chance Toadies will last until the end of the year. After that, who knows. I personally think it'll stay for next year too.

 

EDIT Oh, and Peeking will probably be scrapped thank god.

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I don't think it will be a Topspin but maybe another big cat of some description? I think Animal Welfare would be called if they di install a Topspin in the middle of the zoo section due to the noise generated from the ride and the screaming guests on the ride! Tiger falls looks awesome though! I wonder how they will remove the Buddha statue? I think by Crain but what's you opinion on this do you think a Crain will remove Buddha?

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So I visited the park yesterday, and noticed a fair few closed rides.  On top of Dragon Falls and Peeking Heights (which was obvious), there was Rameses, Black Bucaneer, Galleon and I'm fairly certain Zufari opened a lot later than 12.  And no Lorikeet Lagoon.  Is that all standard procedure for off peak days or is something up?

 

Yesterday was absolutely dead though.  Everything was walk on all day.  The restaurants had way too much food prepared and I'm sure most of it would have ended up in the bin..  Good to see the park open and stuff of course, but it certainly felt like they were operating at a massive loss...

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2 hours ago, BaronC. said:

So I visited the park yesterday, and noticed a fair few closed rides.  On top of Dragon Falls and Peeking Heights (which was obvious), there was Rameses, Black Bucaneer, Galleon and I'm fairly certain Zufari opened a lot later than 12.  And no Lorikeet Lagoon.  Is that all standard procedure for off peak days or is something up?

 

Yesterday was absolutely dead though.  Everything was walk on all day.  The restaurants had way too much food prepared and I'm sure most of it would have ended up in the bin..  Good to see the park open and stuff of course, but it certainly felt like they were operating at a massive loss...

Galleon and Rameses I'm pretty sure are closed on off-peak days.

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I went a couple of weeks ago - was really quiet and Rameses wasn't open all day which I sort of expected.  Surprisingly Lorikeet Lagoon was open which was nice as I hadn't been in there for ages - absolutely love those birds although I had one that decided to lick my face ? - think it's a bit of a pee take though that they charge £2 for a tiny pot of whatever it is they eat

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I went to Chessington last Saturday and I have to say, I was hugely disappointed.

 

Hocus Pocus Hall was open, but we had an announcement on the way in that the Goblins had made off with the 3D specs so we just had to walk through without any of the effects.

I know it's better than closing the attraction altogether, but what reason can there be for not having the 3D specs available?

 

We went on Zufari, and it really is shocking now.  I know they'd cut the audience interaction a couple of years ago, and to be honest I don't miss the Goetze stuff in the queue, but the actual ride is so poor now.  There was no sign of the Flamingoes as we first started and the truck whizzed straight past.  We arrived where the Giraffe were and there were 2 Giraffe feeding, which was nice.  No sign of the Zebra or Ostrich though.  On we went and were able to just see a Rhino the other side of a fence, almost hidden by a tree.   There were a few Blesbok to our left, but we didn't stop to take a proper look.  In the cave; we just went straight through.  No lightning or waterfall, just straight through and unloaded.  Whilst I know you can't account for all animals being available or visable, the experience itself has become rushed and it is unattractive.  I'm fortuante to have ridden it when it was better than it is now, but if I rode it for the first time on Saturday after queuing for 45 minutes, I'd wonder what the fuss was about and question where the aminals are!

 

I used to love going to 'Chessie', but I have to say I feel quite sad when I am there these days.   There is so much needed to improve the park and whilst I have only been a MAP holder for 6 years, the decline in the park in the past 3-4 years is alarming. 

 

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Zufari being awful is no surpise. The cave’s always been a missed oppurtunity but it’s certainly worsened since. If I remember rightly the pumps for all the water effects are grossly inadequate for the pressure they’re under (no doubt a little cheap as well!)

 

As for the lack of animals, that was always going to happen with a rise of this nature, the real problem is the ride’s far too short. There’s only two proper paddocks, so if you get a bit of bad luck and the animals are off somewhere else, there’s not really any other sections to make up for it. Not building down into Wanyama was their biggest mistake... the ride’s a fraction of the size it could be! 

 

I appreciate what you say about it being a sad place to visit now; I quite agree. I live within half an hour of the park yet haven’t been for years. I used to get really frustrated remembering how it used to be, or seeing how easily things could be so much better, so I just stopped in the end. If you’re not enjoying yourself there I suggest you do the same. :) 

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Chessington have installed self service machines in Burger Kitchen, a nice little addition because it means less time having to deal with their useless staff. I mean they still managed to mess up my order but progression is going to take time!

 

A real shame they can't replace their ride staff with robots. This is an unedited real life interaction.

 

I'm in the Fury single rider queue line, the ONLY one there. At first the batcher simply ignores me. 5 minutes later he comes over with a sneer. "Single Rider?". "....yes", would have assumed that's obvious but maybe not to Chessie staff. "So just the one of you then?". "....yes", f**king hell man...

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Quote

still doesn't beat the amazing Heroes Wanted marketing at legoland

This says it all!

 

Yeah Chessington in the 90s was a big hit with the public, with fans, with everyone. It was the park's best era in many ways and the current management /Merlin could learn a lot from it if they dropped their corporate preconception.

 

Bear in mind Merlin's resort theme parks overall make a loss (even with the addition of hotels), while Tussauds' parks were very successful, that even on the hard-nosed business side the 90s were the best period for it. Chessington ought to be less proud of their falling apart, bland Zufari and cheapo repaints of old rides and learn a thing about the success of their past.

 

Still we're not in the nadir, that was 2006-7, but it's tacky and extremely poor value for money now, in my opinion.

 

Quote

the Goblins had made off with the 3D specs so we just had to walk through without any of the effects.

Literally a joke that they have run out of glasses stock.

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As far as I'm aware there are H/V polarised (IMAX), Circularly Polarised (Real D), Differential Colour (Dolby Cinema), alternative shutter (NVIDIA) plus the red/blue 3D glasses. Get the right type and they'll work. Been ages since I went into Hocus Pocus so I can't remember what type they used. Pretty shoddy though.

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