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Chessington General Discussion


Ash

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  • 3 weeks later...

2020 park map is available here:  https://www.chessington.com/media/msbjs1wa/2020-park-map-theme-park-zoo-sea-life.pdf

 

It's interest to note that Blue Barnacle, despite being an entirely new piece of ride hardware with a new theme, isn't in any way being marketed as 'new' or even 'returning' for 2020, which is refreshing.

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I hate to be picky, but I’m really not sure I like that new map. There’s not much that’s exciting about it. What’s with the blocky pathways? Also, each land looks a bit... empty? The pointers for the new additions are in solid colours. Where’s the excitement?

 

I wouldn’t exactly call the map bursting with life, which is a shame as that’s what I imagine Chessington to be like. 

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It's been the same design for a few seasons now but it's dreadful. (almost of bad as the 2004 alton Towers map with the aeroplanes)

 

What has worsened this year is the key. It used to be sorted by land and now its by thrill type which makes less user friendly and somewhat confusing. 

 

 

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From reviews it seemed like a generally successful day for Chessington, bar the 1 hour queue for RAP, ironic do people really need these or just see them as a free fast track, same with carer passes, I wonder if people just see that as free entry nowadays.

 

On another note I saw a post about allowing a full train of RAP users to drop queue times, is this not theoretically an operations nightmare if something went wrong, I thought you were only allowed 1 RAP holder on any ride at a time for safety and evacuation issues.

 

Doesn't seem like these issues will go away soon now either with  RAP passes being valid til the end of 2021.

 

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34 minutes ago, Han30 said:

On more than one occasion (guessing must happen a lot during busy times) they’ve filled the Vampire with RAP users/carers - dread to think what would happen if an evac was needed 

When I visited Chessington years ago we waited about 2.5 hours for vampire (was on a two train operation) but every other train was being loaded with RAP holders, therefore the ride was essentially on one train for the main queue. Seems to me the problem of too many RAP holders and carers in ratio to the main queue has been around for a long time now in merlin parks. Bear in mind this was maybe like 8-10 years ago.

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19 hours ago, Glitch said:

On another note I saw a post about allowing a full train of RAP users to drop queue times, is this not theoretically an operations nightmare if something went wrong, I thought you were only allowed 1 RAP holder on any ride at a time for safety and evacuation issues.

Don't know about the evacuation side but this happens more often than you'd think. The Vampire even has a pre-recorded announcement to play if it needs to happen.

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  • 2 weeks later...
42 minutes ago, StevenVig said:

Makes sense, every now and then Chessington is the location for emergency response drills for things like terror attachs etc.

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  • 2 months later...

Upsetting to see the state they let this get into too... 

 

You'd think Tiger Rock was closing down like its sibling!

 

Do Merlin parks ever take care of the ride vehicles. Rumba boats had similar treatment but on the roadside, inferno train left on brake run virtually all winter etc... 

 

Screenshot_20200619-162704_Messenger.jpg

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6 hours ago, JoshC. said:

Left without further comment...

 

 

20200619_101350.jpg

Lets look at this logically. Clearly it wouldn't pass QC standard. 

A contractor who was brought into the park for one day to install multiple LED screens, has done his job and installed the screen.

The new ride signage boards are probably still being produced however the screen is in the correct position ready for the new board.

Perhaps the company who do the boards are closed for the pandemic, hence the delay and once ready to be installed it will be placed in the correct positioning creating a nice looking queue times and ride information board.

 

However in the mean time, I'm surprised that they didn't cover it up with a box or something whilst waiting for the delayed queue time board to be printed.

We also have to remember that these parks are still running on skeleton staff so perhaps this wasn't priority.

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3 minutes ago, Glitch said:

Lets look at this logically. Clearly it wouldn't pass QC standard. 

A contractor who was brought into the park for one day to install multiple LED screens, has done his job and installed the screen.

The new ride signage boards are probably still being produced however the screen is in the correct position ready for the new board.

Perhaps the company who do the boards are closed for the pandemic, hence the delay and once ready to be installed it will be placed in the correct positioning creating a nice looking queue times and ride information board.

 

However in the mean time, I'm surprised that they didn't cover it up with a box or something whilst waiting for the delayed queue time board to be printed.

We also have to remember that these parks are still running on skeleton staff so perhaps this wasn't priority.

Of course there are reasons, but it's not acceptable for this to look so bad when the park is open. Why do we see this kind of terrible standards so regularly at Chessington?

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25 minutes ago, Mattgwise said:

Upsetting to see the state they let this get into too... 

 

You'd think Tiger Rock was closing down like its sibling!

 

Do Merlin parks ever take care of the ride vehicles. Rumba boats had similar treatment but on the roadside, inferno train left on brake run virtually all winter etc... 

 

Meh, don't have a problem with this really. You have to store the boats somewhere, and it's largely impractical to create a workshop big enough for holding all boats of a log flume / rapids (especially when you consider you need room to work on the boats too). It doesn't do them any damage, and they'll be cleaned before opening. This sort of stuff doesn't look good out of context, but for the most part, it's never really seen in context. Rumba Rapids boats have almost always been left on the service during winter, and times when they're awaiting work, so that's not a Merlin thing.

 

Similar with leaving a train on a brake run if there's not enough room for both in the workshop: if work needs to be done to station track, there's not always another option. And again, it doesn't really do any damage.

 

It's the same for lots of theme parks, it's just you don't see it.

 

19 minutes ago, Glitch said:

Lets look at this logically. Clearly it wouldn't pass QC standard. 

A contractor who was brought into the park for one day to install multiple LED screens, has done his job and installed the screen.

The new ride signage boards are probably still being produced however the screen is in the correct position ready for the new board.

Perhaps the company who do the boards are closed for the pandemic, hence the delay and once ready to be installed it will be placed in the correct positioning creating a nice looking queue times and ride information board.

 

However in the mean time, I'm surprised that they didn't cover it up with a box or something whilst waiting for the delayed queue time board to be printed.

We also have to remember that these parks are still running on skeleton staff so perhaps this wasn't priority.

There's a million and one reasons why it could be the way it is. But the point is, it is the way it is and it looks terrible.

 

Also, don't buy the coronavirus reason. Here is the Gruffalo's board from opening day before the pandemic (ie: when most places were open) 

57_2020-03-141584196971.7516934891453.jp

Source: https://live.themeparkguide.biz/?event=Chessington 2020 Preview Day&_ga=2.174020643.1630671449.1592582375-1327971191.1592582375

 

Sure, they might be getting new restriction boards and there was a delay. But ultimately, it doesn't matter: it still looks terrible. At least this is better in that they didn't cut a hole that's awkwardly too big a la Room on the Broom...

 

We as visitors, and particularly fans, can be forgiving to a degree (in the sense of every company can hit unforeseen snags, and the pandemic could potentially cause issues), but it doesn't mean we can just brush away what is ultimately shoddy-looking work.

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I'd guarantee that someone was bought in to do it with no direction so they did what they thought was best. As we've seen across the Merlin brand, when something is thought through with passion, its normally pretty good. Here it's just embarrassing as who ever was in charge of getting the boards installed couldn't care less about image and presentation. 

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  • Mattgwise changed the title to Chessington General Discussion

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