Paul Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Thank you. I'm going to try the walk from Chessington South, and try the bus as well. I'll see which I prefer. How long is the walk? I just looked it up on Google Maps and it didn't look too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 I actually found it slower going to Surbiton depending on the train you end up catching.Clapham -(25 Min train journey) Cwoa South (10 min walk) Chessington WOA takes about 35 minutesClapham - (10 Min train journey if Alton train)) Wait for Bus at Surbiton (Anything from 1-10 Minutes) - 20-25 Minute bus journey depending how busy the bus and roads are.The more direct route is to Chessington South. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 My current journey is looking quite simple:1 hour to London Victoria5 mins to Clapham Junction25 mins to Chessington SouthTotal time: 1 hour 30 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Less walking with bus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 I'll try both and see which is easier. But then again, I suppose it depends on the traffic on the day with the bus, whereas you can be guaranteed that the journey will always take the same amount of time when walking. Another Chessington question because I haven't been there in such a long time....Do the queues build up as quickly as Thorpe's do? I.e.: If you arrive for 9.30am at Thorpe, you can usually get 3 or 4 walk-ons, and then the queues start to build up. Is it usually the same at Chessington, or do the queues not build up until later on in the day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 I'll try both and see which is easier. But then again, I suppose it depends on the traffic on the day with the bus, whereas you can be guaranteed that the journey will always take the same amount of time when walking. Another Chessington question because I haven't been there in such a long time....Do the queues build up as quickly as Thorpe's do? I.e.: If you arrive for 9.30am at Thorpe, you can usually get 3 or 4 walk-ons, and then the queues start to build up. Is it usually the same at Chessington, or do the queues not build up until later on in the day?Dragon's Fury is usually the busiest and Vampire can build up quite quickly too.I would reconmend going to Vampire first if you are near the front.Then do others such as Rattlesnake, Runaway Train, Rameses Revenge, Tomb Blaster and Dragon Falls.Then do other rides you wish to ride such as Dragon's Fury, Bubbleworks, Seastorm, Safari Skyway, Hocus Pocus Hall... (etc).(Just a suggestion on mu thoughts on how to get on the most with minimal queueing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Dragon's Fury is usually the busiest and Vampire can build up quite quickly too.I would reconmend going to Vampire first if you are near the front.Then do others such as Rattlesnake, Runaway Train, Rameses Revenge, Tomb Blaster and Dragon Falls.Then do other rides you wish to ride such as Dragon's Fury, Bubbleworks, Seastorm, Safari Skyway, Hocus Pocus Hall... (etc).(Just a suggestion on mu thoughts on how to get on the most with minimal queueing).Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Chessington is more like Alton Towers in that it takes a while for certain rides to build up, whilst others will have a long queue from the word go.I've always suggested that if you do not get to the park straight away do not even bother with Dragons Fury as everyone who comes through South Admissions pours straight away into Fury's queue meaning it can get up to a 60 minute queue almost immediately. Instead in the first two hours Runaway Train, Dragon Falls, Tomb Blaster, Rattlesnake, Billy's Whizzer, Black Bucaneer and Safari Skyway will still be relatively empty as the majority of people are stuck in Dragons Fury, Vampire and Bubbleworks queues.At around 1 all those rides I suggested will be incredibly busy whereas Fury queue especially will go down a lot, sometimes down to a 15 minute queue.If you are planning a trip for August, the park has been very busy of late so here are some average queue times Dragons Fury 60-80 MinutesVampire 50-70 MinutesBubbleworks - 40 MinutesRunaway Train 30-60 MinutesTomb Blaster 40-70 MinutesDragon Falls 70 MinutesDodgems 40 MinutesRattlesnake 30-40 MinutesSkyway 30 MinutesA few other things. Annual pass holders can use the Express Pass queueline between 5-6pm but often the queue for this on Vampire and Fury is very long. Dragon Falls has also had some technical problems recently and has opened at about 2pm for the last few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Thanks very much Mark. It looks very much like it will be quite similar to my days at Thorpe in that I will get probably around 5 or 6 walk-ons at the start of the day, and then if I time the rides right, I can probably manage queueing a maximum of 30 minutes.I think I might be going on Saturday, and catch the train that arrives to Chessington South at 9.49am. This should give me time to walk to the park, and get through admissions to still get a few walk-ons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Just as it hadn't been mentioned - Chessie have had another Power Cut this week - click here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Just as it hadn't been mentioned - Chessie have had another Power Cut this week - click here.I feel sorry for all the teams at Chessington, especially the R&A team, that would of had the most complaints and having to do all the ride evacuations etc.Also, I can imagine there was a very long queue for GS those days of the power cut! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Rush Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Just as it hadn't been mentioned - Chessie have had another Power Cut this week - click here.I was just about to mention that. It was news on my local radio station. I wonder what's caused all this power outage?It must have been scary to be there, mainly if you were stuck on the rides but at least the Chessington staff got everyone out as quick as they could. I think the worst situations (or where I'd be most scared) is either in the middle of Hocus Pocus hall or at the top of the final hill on Dragon Falls, just before the drop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 I was just about to mention that. It was news on my local radio station. I wonder what's caused all this power outage?It must have been scary to be there, mainly if you were stuck on the rides but at least the Chessington staff got everyone out as quick as they could. I think the worst situations (or where I'd be most scared) is either in the middle of Hocus Pocus hall or at the top of the final hill on Dragon Falls, just before the dropOnly rides that can cause problems is Skyway, Whizzer, and Runaway Train. All of the other rides can be evacuated by Ride Staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 I was just about to mention that. It was news on my local radio station. I wonder what's caused all this power outage?It must have been scary to be there, mainly if you were stuck on the rides but at least the Chessington staff got everyone out as quick as they could. I think the worst situations (or where I'd be most scared) is either in the middle of Hocus Pocus hall or at the top of the final hill on Dragon Falls, just before the dropI would imagine Hocus Pocus Hall would have security lights that came on for an amount of time incase of the event of a power cut etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpey Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Its also caused problems at all of the UK merlin parks. The servers for Thorpe, Alton, Lego etc etc are all run directly through Chessignton, hence why there were no card machines at Thorpe (last weekend I believe) and also for a few hours today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Just to say how incredibly well the staff at Chessington have coped this week with the problems they've had that are obviously not their fault, EVERYONE has worked SO hard in these two days of power outages, everyone has kept calm when dealing with evacuations, guests and other problems they've encountered, and if you're CWoA staff and reading this, well done because you the team has pulled together so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 And I think you deserve a well done as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Just to say how incredibly well the staff at Chessington have coped this week with the problems they've had that are obviously not their fault, EVERYONE has worked SO hard in these two days of power outages, everyone has kept calm when dealing with evacuations, guests and other problems they've encountered, and if you're CWoA staff and reading this, well done because you the team has pulled together so well.Good on you for writing that Seb!And Well Done Yourself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4n Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...theme-park.html Mothers and terrified children were stuck 20ft above the ground near a lion enclosure as a major power cut plunged a theme park into panic today. Scores of school holiday thrill-seekers were stranded when every single ride at Chessington ground to a sudden halt. Visitors were trapped on roller coasters and other high-speed rides for up to two hours as staff struggled to free them. Some needed treatment for dehydration after their ordeal in the blazing sunshine.....I LOL at how exaggerated that article is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Yes Lol, "Near a Lion enclosure" is my favourite bit!Here is a short clip from youtube of a family being evacuated from Skyway, if anyone's interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9APJzS7WRk...feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6 Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 I heard it on the radio a few minutes ago and actually laughed out loud.Huge well done to the fantastic Chessington staff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theme Park bloke Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 Just as it hadn't been mentioned - Chessie have had another Power Cut this week - click here.The second powercut?! I think the worst situations (or where I'd be most scared) is either in the middle of Hocus Pocus hall or at the top of the final hill on Dragon Falls, just before the dropWhat about Vampire, at the highest point?Its also caused problems at all of the UK merlin parks. The servers for Thorpe, Alton, Lego etc etc are all run directly through Chessignton, hence why there were no card machines at Thorpe (last weekend I believe) and also for a few hours today.Why the hell are servers for other parks run from Chessie? Is it the theme park or Merlin's offices in Barwell Business Park they're run from?This must've been pretty scary stuff, yet for passers-by, interesting. What time did yesterday's powercut happen and do we do know what rides were half way through when it got cut off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6 Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 This must've been pretty scary stuff, yet for passers-by, interesting. What time did yesterday's powercut happen and do we do know what rides were half way through when it got cut off?I would guess the majority of them would have been unless they had already broken down, if Vampire was on 3 train op at least one train would have been on the circuit/2nd lift. And same with Rattlesnake and Dragon's Fury, at least a few of the cars will have been doing the circuit.The second powercut?!2nd in 2/3 days I heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 Does anyone know if Dragon Falls is still having some problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 Yes, it was the second powercut in the past week. Silverglade (NOT Barwell Business Park as this houses Sega and a college), which is further down the road past Chessie holds all of the server for the parks resources I.e email etc, and the power was cut to this as well. Vampire was easily evacuated at rides staff can simply go up there and evacuate them, so it was quick and easy.Slyway was the only problem on both days, with Whizzer being slightly awkward on Saturday. And yes, Falls is having intermittent problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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