August 4, 20187 yr comment_259244 Chessington was decent today. The park wasn't too busy and operations seemed marginally better than our visit last year, also ride availability was excellent throughout the day with only a couple of breakdowns. I mean sure, it's becoming bland and stale like all the Merlin parks and has completely lost its character, but was a fun day today.
February 9, 20196 yr comment_262792 Chessington have followed Towers in introducing pin badges of old attractions... Skyway one is a bit iffy, but that Rodeo one is fantastic!
February 10, 20196 yr comment_262803 I mean, I'm sold. Rodeo being Chessingtons must under rated ride and Skyway was one of my personal favourites to work on ?
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263385 RotB is looking good from what I've seen on Facebook. Looks like the refurbishment is up to the same standard as the Gruffalo. Also the chicken place has had a makeover. The park definitely needs better food now there are no fast food brands.
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263388 Lots of updates through theme parkguide https://live.themeparkguide.biz 1 hour ago, Stuntman707 said: RotB is looking good from what I've seen on Facebook. Looks like the refurbishment is up to the same standard as the Gruffalo. Also the chicken place has had a makeover. The park definitely needs better food now there are no fast food brands. A shame the same can't be said for the queue. Shocking! Not painted (although I'm sure it will eventually), half the tiles are clean or new with the rest rotten and the floor all eneven. The chicken place looks nicely done, but I'm sure it's the same food as before, the artwork just makes it look nicer.
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263390 What is with this infestation of IPs at Merlin parks? Are original attractions a thing of the past now?
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263396 It's a shame Chessington seem to only be capable of putting quality into rehashed IP attractions, and not general standards of maintenance around the park. Like, they did a decent job with Gruffalo and this looks okay (interior) but they have their signature ride with a poorly maintained station and everything feels disjointed and bland now.
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263397 1 hour ago, Mattgwise said: A shame the same can't be said for the queue. Shocking! Not painted (although I'm sure it will eventually), half the tiles are clean or new with the rest rotten and the floor all eneven. This is M£rlin remember, course they ain't gonna bleedin' paint those fences or repave that flooring. Not gonna knock this until trying it of course, but there's no doubt exterior-wise this is looking like a contender with Walking Dead: The Ride for being the worst outdoor queue line for any attraction I know of.
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263398 30 minutes ago, Marhelorpe said: This is M£rlin remember, course they ain't gonna bleedin' paint those fences or repave that flooring. Not gonna knock this until trying it of course, but there's no doubt exterior-wise this is looking like a contender with Walking Dead: The Ride for being the worst outdoor queue line for any attraction I know of. You're going to be rethinking that when you have been to Cedar Point! Oh and the outdoor queue of Walking Dead is one of the best out there. How many queuelines let you sit down. ?
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263401 1 hour ago, Mattgwise said: You're going to be rethinking that when you have been to Cedar Point! Oh and the outdoor queue of Walking Dead is one of the best out there. How many queuelines let you sit down. ? Japan do. And technically you can sit on the floor in any queue sooooooooo...
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263402 Ooooo! Sticking up for Marhelorpe are we??? ? It's a running joke that those of us of the last couple of Thorpe TPM meets would understand, because we know how much Marhelorpe loves Walking Dead Ride! But back to Room on the broom, regardless of what the outside looks like it will still be a hit for most families who visit the park.
March 9, 20196 yr comment_263408 If you're in a stationary queue for long enough, you can find a seat. Probably why there isn't a lot of graffiti at Europa Park because their queues on the whole keep moving. Probably helps there's no priority system too. Also someone needs to buy the farting chair. ?
March 11, 20196 yr comment_263473 So I visited yesterday and overall operations were kinda meh. Ride ops on Scorpion and Dragons were pretty slow with Scorpion dispatching every 3 hours. The winds didn't help either, a lot of the coasters were down (all 4 were at one point) so that didn't help the queues. Not bad though for the first day,, Vampire was running surprisingly good today, the staff really seemed eager to load the trains which meant the stacking wasn't as bad as usual. Room On The Broom was closed for technical issues everytime I went over there so didn't get to experience it sadly.
March 16, 20196 yr comment_263602 Aaaah, on park today and it's so refreshing to see that the retheme of Hocus Pocus Hall to Room on the Broom has been executed perfectly with no reference of the old 4D attraction anywhere across the park. More importantly, the goblins are nowhere to be seen. Excellent work Chessington...... Oh.
March 16, 20196 yr comment_263604 1 hour ago, Marhelorpe said: Aaaah, on park today and it's so refreshing to see that the retheme of Hocus Pocus Hall to Room on the Broom has been executed perfectly with no reference of the old 4D attraction anywhere across the park. More importantly, the goblins are nowhere to be seen. Excellent work Chessington...... Reveal hidden contents Oh. That is very good going! I haven’t been yet, but was expecting to see the odd goblin on a lamppost still! So that’s great to see!
March 21, 20196 yr comment_263682 Ahhh, I don't know, I say leave em up, it's a little surviving clue to the past! They've removed the signage
March 23, 20196 yr comment_263723 Well, I got to experience Room On The Broom last week. I particularly liked the scenery, effects, animatronics and retaining of (most of) the old mirror maze. The dog scene is my favourite (because it features a dog) and the opening scene has it’s charms. What I don’t like about the attraction though is that it seems to take noticeably longer than Hocus Pocus to batch people through with smaller groups and some scenes seem a little corny. The queue line also seems too long and bland for what is essentially a cattle pen on a mish-mash Of Old tiles. The repurposed tunnel is probably the worst thing the park have done since Tomb Blaster. Overall- Not a bad little attraction with some nice scenes and areas, but not without it’s faults. It can’t help but also be noted it’s a noticeably more kiddified too. Gave Dirty Fries a go, which is their new eatery. Whilst it’s not the best place I have eaten for food, it was still a unique and interesting place to try. Rest of the park was alright, staff were good and with the park being ‘literally dead’, there was little to no queues all day. Apart from the new Go Karts thing, queue TVs and Just Chicken, I didn’t really notice many other changes. I guess most of the money went into the Walkthrough given it is a small year. Four rides were shut on the day of vidit, Ramesis, Tiger, Sea Storm and Black Bucaneer. Whilst safety and checks and upgrades are essentially, it’s rather poor to witness this. Merlin don’t seem to have a good track record for opening things on time clearly. Yay for better Vampire audio quality.
March 25, 20196 yr comment_263762 On 3/23/2019 at 9:40 PM, Loggers Creek said: it’s a noticeably more kiddified too. An attraction based on an children's book is to 'kiddified', shock horror
March 25, 20196 yr Popular Post comment_263764 1 hour ago, StevenVig said: An attraction based on an children's book is to 'kiddified', shock horror StevenVig being unnecessarily sarcastic about a justified comment? Shock horror
March 25, 20196 yr comment_263765 One would assume that the attraction is more simplified, not that HPH was the peak of imaginative walkthrough story telling, it had side parts and interactivity throughout... Room on the Broom is probably more of the kids don't use their brains so why bother being imaginative nonsense...
March 25, 20196 yr comment_263767 A bit like Gruffalo compared to Prof Burp's, these dark rides are decent but their appeal narrowed down to 'little kids' rather than something that can be enjoyed by a range of kids.
April 27, 20196 yr comment_264247 So after visiting the park today, it's becoming quite concerning that Silver Black Buccaneer is showing absolutely no signs of being open anytime soon, as the supports are still hidden behind Dragon's Fury's track and are just laying there ready to be assembled. The site itself looks no different to back in mid-March. It really does look like naff all has been done to it. I understand rides take longer than others to get ready for the new season, heck, Tiger Rock took forever to get some trim brakes installed on both drops, but seriously, it has been over 6 weeks into the season now and one of their main attractions is still in pieces with no work (seemingly) being carried out on it. This is taking far longer than it should and is inexcusable by this point. Also, quick observation I made today elsewhere if you plan on visiting - 22mph gusts of wind is enough to close down Tiger Rock it seems, but not Dragon's Fury, which correct me if I've been wrong for the last 15 years is the taller ride of the two?............!
April 28, 20196 yr comment_264251 I don't think Black Buccaneer is going to return this season and they're just trying to brush it under the carpet. Maybe it won't be returning ever. Painting it silver seems to mean it has some engineering problems due to its age, just like Blade at Alton Towers. The difference is Blade actually got money for a refurbishment granted and it was re-engineered over winter.
May 5, 20196 yr comment_264374 On 4/27/2019 at 10:51 PM, Marhelorpe said: So after visiting the park today, it's becoming quite concerning that Silver Black Buccaneer is showing absolutely no signs of being open anytime soon, as the supports are still hidden behind Dragon's Fury's track and are just laying there ready to be assembled. The site itself looks no different to back in mid-March. It really does look like naff all has been done to it. I understand rides take longer than others to get ready for the new season, heck, Tiger Rock took forever to get some trim brakes installed on both drops, but seriously, it has been over 6 weeks into the season now and one of their main attractions is still in pieces with no work (seemingly) being carried out on it. This is taking far longer than it should and is inexcusable by this point. Also, quick observation I made today elsewhere if you plan on visiting - 22mph gusts of wind is enough to close down Tiger Rock it seems, but not Dragon's Fury, which correct me if I've been wrong for the last 15 years is the taller ride of the two?............! As I said a few weeks ago, it's questionable whether Bucaneer will return at all. If it was all fine and dandy it would be constructed and open.
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