How weird… these are pretty major rides to have unavailable.

That’s pretty p1ss poor!  Anyone know what’s going on with Scorpion Express while I’m here?  I’ve not visited Chessie yet this year and honestly don’t feel a need to - except maybe for the sea lions…..and capybaras….and the lorikeets only if they don’t crap on me 🤣

54 minutes ago, Han30 said:

That’s pretty p1ss poor!  Anyone know what’s going on with Scorpion Express while I’m here?  I’ve not visited Chessie yet this year and honestly don’t feel a need to - except maybe for the sea lions…..and capybaras….and the lorikeets only if they don’t crap on me 🤣

 

I've heard rumors of a permanent closure but no one knows for sure I guess as they've still not communicated any update. Its still showing on their ride availability page as 'closed until further notice'

 

Although it was testing a little last season I don't think theres been any movement since and the area is closed off so its not looking like it'll be open any time soon!

On 4/5/2024 at 11:17 PM, Cal said:

 

I've heard rumors of a permanent closure but no one knows for sure I guess as they've still not communicated any update. Its still showing on their ride availability page as 'closed until further notice'

 

Although it was testing a little last season I don't think theres been any movement since and the area is closed off so its not looking like it'll be open any time soon!

If these rumours are true I hope Scorpion Express is demolished promptly. The area occupied by Scorpion Express is a sizeable plot. In my opinion a River Rapids ride,of a similar size to the former Viking River Splash at Legoland Windsor, would be perfect. I have always thought a River Rapids would be perfect for Chessington’s demographic. Furthermore being located within Mexicana the River Rapids could have a extravagant theme. A Rapids Rapids themed to Mexicana could be epic. I can imagine the animatronics,special effects and theming such a Ride could include.

 

years ago there were plans for a River Rapids Ride on the area which is now The World Of Jumanji. Just because these plans were cancelled doesn’t me they can’t evolve into a River Rapids in Mexicana.

 

Chessington have shelved proposals in the past and reinvented them years later. To me this signifies that a River Rapids isn’t off the cards.

 

A couple of years before the area’s retheme to Land Of The Tiger,Chessington had planning permission to build a Watermania ride in  Mystic East. The ride would’ve been next to Peeking Heights on the site of some Pay Per Play attractions. For various reasons this attraction was cancelled.

 

Fast forward to 2022 and Barrel Bail Out opened in Pirates Cove following its retheme to Shipwreck Coast. Barrel Bail Out is a Watermania like the originally planned addition to Mystic East.

 

 

Temple of Mayhem has now updated to be closed for the remainder of the season. 
 

Not a big loss but still a strange decision to close an attraction before peak season. 

The fact that they started closing this on off peak days before closure makes me believe this is another cut, rather than something wrong with the attraction/building. 

 

Wonder if they’re ever going to make an announcement/update on Scorpion Express 😂

11 hours ago, Cal said:

Wonder if they’re ever going to make an announcement/update on Scorpion Express 😂

Apparently no other investment can be put forward until they have an answer to the water park so literally all decisions including Scorpion Express are supposedly on hold. It is all very strange as there still isn't a decision and planning went in late June/early July last year (13 months ago)

The old Temple is 24 years old nowadays (originally living at the Millennium Dome).

 

If they hadn't decided to build that daft Glamping/Go Ape behind it would've been perfect for a half decent coaster.

Temple is no great loss right now as it has like 10 balls throughout the whole attraction anyway.

Can we start a petition to bring back the action man assault course….

I went to Chessington the other day and it was pretty good. I'm just saying this because I had heard the park has been pretty atrocious this year, but actually they were running things well and aside from Fury, everything was open at 10am. There's clearly staffing issues with platform staff having to shout at guests from afar to batch rows on Vampire and Tomb Blaster.. which for me just comes across as unprofessional.

 

But they were making the best of a bad situation which I can't really blame them for. 

Last weekend (April 12th), I finally got to meet industry legend John Wardley.
 

It’s pretty clear 2025 is not the year to be visiting Chessington. With Project Play under construction and Wild Asia mothballed, under the guise of early construction for the Minecraft area. 
 

Operations were mixed, with mandrills being decent, despite a breakdown and Vampire doing a decent 2 train op, with just two platformers (one of which was batching). Rattlesnake’s operations were atrocious. The less said about the hideous Tiger Rock tunnel changes, the better. It looks more like an industrial estate than a theme park now.

 

Now onto the event. At first there was a Vampire themed buffet in the temple restaurant. Buffets are known for either quality and quantity, unfortunately this one was neither. Burgers were the main event and as expected tasted vile. Salt, pepper and ketchup couldn’t polish this monstrosity. The curry was at least was just about edible. The desserts were comparatively bette. Black died soft serve, sundaes, sweets and jellies comprised the selection. 
 

Thankfully the event improved from here, the VIP team were generally attentive and chatted to everyone and we got a Vampire themed welcome drink.
 

After making our way to the event suite, the main event kicked off. In the first segment John Talked about the different projects he’d worked on. Things mentioned included how the park almost became a housing estate, due to it being a failing attraction, his work with the McNamaras at the (sadly now closed) Oakwood and early ideas for the Vampire. Wardley reckons the ride still has much life left and the trains have less impact on the track than say Nemesis. 
 

On the second segment, John answered attendees questions. He said Universal GB wouldn’t impact the U.K. parks as much as people think and it’s not a David and Goliath battle. He also mentioned as far as developments go at the park. We would be in for a treat. 
 

At the end, one of the park’s long serving ride engineers Martin went through a lot of the ride’s mechanical statistics and gave away a few random ride bits to some who answered the most correct/accurate answers. There was then an opportunity to meet John, have things signed and have pictures with him. 

And now the 12 million pound question, was it worth it? 
 

At £125, even after discount it was perhaps an eye watering amount to spend, regardless of circumstances. On hindsight the food was mostly disappointing and other features were interesting, but I guess the important thing was this. I finally got to meet John Wardley. The man and legend who brought many of the countries most exciting attractions to life and such an inspiration to many. Without Wardley, Chessington may have well become a large housing estate.

Looks like Chessie will be "on a roll" with their next addition........

 

https://www.chessington.com/paw-patrol/

 

Made up of a cred and 3 flats. One of which likely to be Jungle Bus judging by the plans.

 

https://www.attractionsource.com/2025/04/29/chessington-world-of-adventures-announce-paw-patrol-themed-land-opening-spring-2026/

I hope, and I'm sure it'll be successful for them.

 

I can't help but feel sad though that Chessington is just turning into an IP park though. Not the same Chessington I grew up in 😢

I'm really not happy that Chessington is becoming an IP dumping ground like the Disney parks. Sadly this is the future of theme park investment, and we all have the wizarding world to thank for it.

 

 

Chessington Studios! Chessington World of IP!

 

It's a good IP. But equally, it's a reasonably small space, so its success might be limited by that.

 

I do wonder whether they are consciously turning Chessington into an IP heavy park (once Temu Nintendo World opens, nearing on half of the notable things on park will be IPs). Or if it's just been sheer coincidence each time they've decided the best project was an IP and we're at the stage we're at now.

Either way, it'll be undeniable for Merlin to not recognise that.

1 hour ago, JoshC. said:

It's a good IP. But equally, it's a reasonably small space, so its success might be limited by that.

 

No different to most areas at Chessie then. Though this is also taking up the old children's zoo area as well as Mine Train.

 

Rattlesnack survives somehow.

 

Convince me I’m wrong. 

Chessingtons opening hours for the whole summer holidays (and for the rest of the season) is 5pm. Same with Legoland.

 

Going back, 6pm has always been standard, and for most weekends throughout the season. Infact a few years ago there was even a lot of 7pm closes in the holidays and weekends. 

 

Ouch.

It's even weirder given they're currently a whole area down (which you would expect has knock on effects to queue times, so cutting hours would lead to people getting less rides), and that Chessington are getting the most investment out of the Merlin parks currently. You'd expect them to be the crown jewel all round right now. 

 

Unless the fact that a third of the park is basically a construction site has reduced visitor numbers drastically, I don't get it.

I'm assuming that the 5pm closes in October will be changed. Otherwise that's a real cut down.

 

Strange decisions from the higher ups.

How have the queue times been at Chessington?  Perhaps the demand isn't really there this season? (I have no idea)

 

Attendance feels like it's lower in general at Towers and Thorpe this year. Don't know about Lego and Chessington.

On 8/5/2025 at 12:43 PM, Cal said:

Chessingtons opening hours for the whole summer holidays (and for the rest of the season) is 5pm. Same with Legoland.

 

Going back, 6pm has always been standard, and for most weekends throughout the season. Infact a few years ago there was even a lot of 7pm closes in the holidays and weekends. 

 

Ouch.

 

Since this post theres been a couple of changes;

 

- 6pm closes from 9th Aug - 31st Aug 4

- Mondays + Thursdays throughout September and October have been cut from 5pm to 4pm

 

Don't think Chessie has ever had 4pm closes so thats a shame. Still no sign of any hours past 5pm in October, usually 7pm in the holidays + weekends.