NickD Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I am not sure it is really being maintenaced probably, I went on a zoo day a couple of weeks ago and the carriages were just sitting off the rails! When I visit tomorrow, I will see if it is in the same condition and if work is actually in progress on it! As for the zoo days, I think in future we will have to see more of the park open due to it becoming full. I don't actually understand why they cannot open tomb blaster up during the week. I think if they opened up runaway train, peaking heights, tomb blaster and a few other small rides we would be seeing more guests put through the gates and less complaints. The more space there is avalible, the more happy customers chessington have! Qualified engineers work on the rides. I'm sure they are being maintained correctly, don't worry. As I have said in the AP Holder Day topic. The park has reached capacity twice in how many years of the zoo-only days. The guests may be happier, but the park wouldn't be when their overall running costs outweigh the total income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Where does it say that? I can't see that on the website Also apparently safari skyway is up and running too I think we could be seeing sea storm getting its gates flung open through this half term period! http://www.chessington.com/plan-your-trip/african-adventures.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 If they open that amount of rides, then they may as well open the rest of the park, that's practically near-on 50% you've just listed.Well I don't see why chessington can't open up a few extra rides when alton towers have 2 of their star attractions open during half term. You have to remember it is NOT a zoo days this half term it is African adventures. I would like to see a few extra attractions open and in future I think they could expand so they have wild Asia open too. This could mean the monkey swinger and jungle bus would be running with the possibility of Kobra. This could then expand to forbidden kingdom and Mexicana where they could open up tomb blaster and runaway train. Part of the mystic east could be open as peaking heights could be open too.I don't think that is half of the rides but is certainly a large amount, I do have to say that the ticket prices would have to go up to about £20 per person in this situation though but I think many people would be willing to pay extra so they could get on a wider range of rides. Here is what would be open including the sea life centre: Hocus pocus hall Bubbleworks Sea storm Black buccaneer Safari skyway Tomb blaster Runaway train Monkey swinger Jungle bus Peaking heights And possibly Kobra. Even though this is a big amount of rides I think chessington would do well in opening them, yes there are maintenance issues so they would not all necessarily get to be open but they could select a range of rides from this list, therefore getting more people through their gates and making more people likely to return. No mentioning if they bumped ticket prices up(£20 online £25 on day) I think they could be making more profit aswell- but of course the weather determines everything if the rides will be open etc.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 There's not just maintenance issues with that list of rides there, though, there's logisitics issues. At the moment, all the rides that are open are close together and, more importantly, close to The Zoo. Having rides open in Wild Asia means treking all the way over there, past rides which will be having maintenance and such; doesn't look particularly exciting really. When Wild Asia and Mystic East are usually dead in the first hour or so of an off-peak day, why would the park want to risk opening those parts of the park on a day where they're not advertising a full park? Whilst some rides may be able to open, is there any point in having to trek a long way to get to one or two rides? In the case of Chessie, where the main focus is still the Zoo, probably not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 If they have that long pathway open however they will be able to get more guests through their gates. It's a benefit and a non-benefit to be honest! I think even if they didn't open up wild Asia and mystic east they could open up the rattlesnake instead of Kobra along with runaway train. Then it could expand over to tomb blaster and peaking heights because they are quite close together. One thing I noticed on the zoo days was that the stalls/shops were opening and closing at random times, usually they will be open during the course of the day but this time one was opening at opening and closing at midday and then another one opened one hour after the first one closed. Very strange if you ask me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Chessington's hit capacity AGAIN!? Is it another nice, sunny day down south? Not even the weather can be a sole reason why the park is hitting capacity, and having to refuse entry to many guests 3 days running, surely? (Not saying it's a day thing, it's a very good thing that they're so popular. More just confused as to how? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Wow I have to get there about 9:30 tomorrow morning to secure a place! Do you think this will be early enough to get in with my merlin pass? Thanks guys it will be a real help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideAddict Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Well I don't see why chessington can't open up a few extra rides when alton towers have 2 of their star attractions open during half term. You have to remember it is NOT a zoo days this half term it is African adventures. I would like to see a few extra attractions open and in future I think they could expand so they have wild Asia open too. This could mean the monkey swinger and jungle bus would be running with the possibility of Kobra. This could then expand to forbidden kingdom and Mexicana where they could open up tomb blaster and runaway train. Part of the mystic east could be open as peaking heights could be open too. I don't think that is half of the rides but is certainly a large amount, I do have to say that the ticket prices would have to go up to about £20 per person in this situation though but I think many people would be willing to pay extra so they could get on a wider range of rides. Here is what would be open including the sea life centre: Hocus pocus hall Bubbleworks Sea storm Black buccaneer Safari skyway Tomb blaster Runaway train Monkey swinger Jungle bus Peaking heights And possibly Kobra. Even though this is a big amount of rides I think chessington would do well in opening them, yes there are maintenance issues so they would not all necessarily get to be open but they could select a range of rides from this list, therefore getting more people through their gates and making more people likely to return. No mentioning if they bumped ticket prices up(£20 online £25 on day) I think they could be making more profit aswell- but of course the weather determines everything if the rides will be open etc.! Exactly - this is what I was saying! There's not much on your list that you've missed, therefore if they were to open everything on that list they may as well open the whole park! Chessington's hit capacity AGAIN!? Is it another nice, sunny day down south? Not even the weather can be a sole reason why the park is hitting capacity, and having to refuse entry to many guests 3 days running, surely? (Not saying it's a day thing, it's a very good thing that they're so popular. More just confused as to how? ) I'm not surprised, like I said earlier in another topic, the temperatures and weather conditions don't keep people everyone away! I've seen it too many times. Even if I'm not going in the Chessington direction via car or bus, I see the A243 queueing from either mid-Malden Rushett or or the M25 roundabout, and I know that 9 times out of 10 it is queueing traffic for Chessington. Today, the weather down here started off with drizzly rain, it stopped about 7:00am and is now about 3c, with outbreaks of sunshine very occasionally. So I think it will be cloudy for the rest of the day. I certainly didn't expect rain, especially after that heavy frost that was glittering on cars around 11pm lastnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam P Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Chessington was very busy today and were turning people away come 10.40. Even then the park was too busy inside and I thought it was poorly organised (and I LOVE the park) especially the free for all around the popular animal areas. Skyway should have been open however broke down on day one, they appear to be working on it but from the ground the announcements in the cars are still playing that it's unexpectedly stopped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Would like to say I arrived at 10:07 to be turned away! Spent 1hour in traffic jams left at 8am! For a 80min drive Not impressed! I really think merlin need to sort out some sort of prebooking system with the merlin pass... Yes the park is full and once it is full it is full but people turning up just after opening and not being able to get in is ridiculous! If merlin invented a prebooking system where passholders could book their day out for free online by typing in their pass code, then everyone would be happy and there would be no need for complaints as there would have been a way to prebook. I am aiming for 9:30 tomorrow to the park but with traffic no one knows what can happen. If I turn up to chessington to be turned away, there is not going to be a happy look on my face and they are going to recieve a big mouth of complaining about no prebooking system! I say they need to get this sorted out in future, if they have unhappy customers, people are unlikely to renew their merlin passes. my friend got there at 10.15 today and couldn't get in! Another complaint from facebook- I better not get turned down tomorrow! Were all the rides open yesterday bar safari skyway? Will be interesting to see if they have it up and running tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam P Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 They weren't being turned away that early 100%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 They weren't being turned away that early 100%. I am not saying they were but the people on facebook are! Were all the advertised rides open excluding safari skyway which should have been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam P Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Don't get me wrong a lot of angry people outside still at 1! The other 4 rides were open without issues, although Bubble Works had less working than usual. TPJames 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Don't get me wrong a lot of angry people outside still at 1! The other 4 rides were open without issues, although Bubble Works had less working than usual. By less working than usual do you mean less boats or what? And on the topic of the rides what were the queue times like? Were they really bad or just a reasonable 10 mins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 although Bubble Works had less working than usual. In static - the ride, how is this possible?!! I like the idea of zoo days with a few rides thrown in, but don't think it includes quite enough to work properly at the moment, to be entirely worthwhile. Especially when it comes to half term. Not sure what exactly should be added to the line up, but defiantly should be what works geographically and obviously with maintenance schedules. RMT and jumbos seem like obvious ones to me, along with seastorm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 When I was there, a few of the boats in bubbleworks had boards on top of them which said "boat out of use" maybe that's what made bubbleworks less than usual. Do you think the queues will be about an hour long or maybe half an hour tomorrow for the rides? Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 This is a rather unexpected turn of events for Chessie... Maybe people think Zufari is open? Or most of the park is open... Either way, it's interesting... As for opening more rides... Depends on what they can do... It's a surprise Seastorm isn't up but it might well be a year for such a winter of rebuilding for it... But really the only two areas I think they COULD open are Mexicana, 'Africa' and Forbidden Kingdom... But that in turn needs a budget, something Chessie rarely gets, and knowing the luck if they WERE to do that no-one would visit... Chessington road is ALWAYS busy as well, especially as it's half term, meaning it's getting both kids AND commuters... Nothing to see there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Most people on facebook are complaining that most of the park isn't open but then its a zoo day and if they went on the website they would find out that most of the park wasn't open. People these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam P Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 The Bubble works parts that so still move, no longer do (Duck coaster very obvious!) A fair few people were running to the Vampire today with total shock when they were met by barriers, I think people see it's open and don't read the fine print. I'm sure the park could get open Tiny Truckers and Runaway Train, this would also open up Mexicana food outlets with the queue for Pizza and Pasta back at Ben and Jerry's by 12.30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 The Bubble works parts that so still move, no longer do (Duck coaster very obvious!) A fair few people were running to the Vampire today with total shock when they were met by barriers, I think people see it's open and don't read the fine print. I'm sure the park could get open Tiny Truckers and Runaway Train, this would also open up Mexicana food outlets with the queue for Pizza and Pasta back at Ben and Jerry's by 12.30. Haha classic! People need to look at the website before they actually go to the park because half the people there think all the rides are open... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Haha classic! People need to look at the website before they actually go to the park because half the people there think all the rides are open... Says the guy who asks a question on here every 5 minutes coz he hasn't read the website... (jk, don't get upset ) I kind of understand it, people thinking open is open or closed is closed and not expecting something in between. As much as I'm rarely on the side of morons Chessington obviously need to make the deal a bit clearer if that many people are mistaken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 It's a bit ovbious isn't it though. If the price is 1/4 of what it would be normally then ovbiously something isn't going to be open. In this case half the park. However, I would love to see rattlesnake, runaway train and sea storm open during these zoo days. I'm off tomorrow anyway, aiming to get there for 9:00am so we can avoid the queues and do a couple of rides before it gets busy and then we will hit the zoo(not literally!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam P Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Unfortunately the public don't think this, I agree a couple more rides would ease the pain and I'd imagine Zufari will remain open for Zoo Days next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideAddict Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Most people on facebook are complaining that most of the park isn't open but then its a zoo day and if they went on the website they would find out that most of the park wasn't open. People these days... Reading the comments on Chessington's and Annual Pass pages on Facebook is amusing!The Bubble works parts that so still move, no longer do (Duck coaster very obvious!)It only seems to function very occasionally these days, although I don't think it's completely broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBobJones Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I guess the problem is if they open more rides, then people will want more and more rides open, it is where do you draw the line, the more rides you open the more people will turn up. But if the weather turns nasty then the park will be empty. Just going to Alton Towers this week, it was clear the Rapids lake and main lakes were all frozen, so any rides which are weather sensitive will not be able to function. I can't see any reason why the RMT, Tomb Blaster, Flying Jumbos, seastorm, Vampire, Dfragons Fury and Rattlesnake can't operate. But a Zoo day is a Zoo day, so you should only expect the zoo. I agree being able to book MAP online would be good, but this is not in Merlin's interests as they gain no entry fee from MAP holders, but they do from the general public, they know people with an MAP will come back at another time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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