Chessington Trip Reports

[Tom]

Parkwide Halloween loop from 2010, I think Kevin may have linked it in the Chessington Music Topic.

[Mattgwise]

It was very annoying to hear that all over the park during halloween. Gets very repetitive listening to it all day, everywhere!

[Tom]

It wasn't the halloween loop last year so I'm guess the staff must've agreed with you!

[Fred]

No, that's not the music played in the area whatsoever. It was a recent change.

It doesn't fit with the area at all - it sounds more suited to Mexicana. The change was brought in to lighten peoples moods, apparently the halloween version depresses people somehow.

Vampire entrance area used to have a modified vampire theme playing. Alas, it does no more.

[Mark9]

I felt inclined to write this...

The internet is quite down about Chessington. I often join in the public stoning as well. "The park is going nowhere", "it has no amazing rides" "everything looks rubbish"

And yet.. everytime I go, I fall in love with the place. Chessington has always been a park that I have been fond of. 20 years ago, I first had a go on The Runaway Train, Safari Skyway and The Flying Jumbos. Of course, since then the park has changed beyond recognition (despite what people say).

In saying that though, the park has major faults but I do think they are exacerbated by the power of negativity. Because on park, no one points at the yellow foam poking through at Runaway or how Bubbleworks isn't playing the right music.

So my day. Well we arrived at opening and the first thought was bad. They've redone the car park by building a huge wooden fence through the middle and green bollards have been placed. Only issue is the fence stops people walking through the car park and instead aims guests at oncoming traffic. Not a good move Chessington. But once in the music is held. The lack of the third Vampire train is going to really hurt that ride, particularly as one of the trains is the third one, so it's either train 1 or 2 that have turned into spare parts. Abdab in the queue now looks ridiculous. One of them has no hair, the other has fallen over and looks like he is masturbating. The ride itself is its usual arrow bizarreness. It's a great family ride and a real crowd pleaser. It's humbling that a 22 year old ride has such a power to entrance kids.

Next was onto Black Bucaneer. It's getting ridiculous now. Why is the operator now having to check each bar. If I want to jump out, a bar suspended several inches above me isn't going to stop me, so why check something so trivial. The same thing also happens on Tomb Blaster. Bucaneer is great. Next ride was Kobra. It's okay, quite a long cycle but doesn't have the same pulling power as its opening season.

Now, Dragon Falls. I generally hate log flumes. Waste of time. But Falls is so gorgeous, so lovely to ride and BEAUTIFULLY themed that I wanted a go, if only to look at the station. But it's such a lovely area and the theme hides a multitude of sins that the ride contains. The ride itself is dull but it's so nice to look around. Next was Rattlesnake which only had a 5 minute queue, nice. Then onto Runaway where the operator (who I recognised from when I work there) was like he had sniffed glue before the start of his shift.

Jumbos is worse then it looks on the internet. I like the viewing area but it is so plonked down that I could have done a better job in my Garden. Things like the fencing going from new wood to the old Rodeo queueline looks embarressing, as does having Jumbos happy chirpy music next to Mexicana. Stupid!

Next was the Skyway which is a nice diversion. The platformer (who I also recognised) was telling everyone how he wished Ice Age 4D was at Chessington. He repeated this four times. Then was Dragons Fury which had a modest waiting time for a bank holiday followed by Tomb Blaster (which is a gorgeously themed ride) and Bubbleworks.

I enjoyed my day. Chessington is a park with average rides in a really well themed environment and its testament to the early days of Tussauds how good the park was, is, and what could potentially be. I just wish someone beyond enthusiasts (and someone with money) could see.

[JoshC.]

So then, went to Chessie today with the family for our first visit since the park fully opened. We'd gone to a zoo day in January, and were more or less happy with the place (though learnt to avoid the chicken shack..)

Now, the past couple of seasons, I'd been enticed to go to Chessington earlier in the year. In 2010, Wild Asia drew made me go during opening weekend, and last season I went to celebrate Vampire's 21st over Easter. This season, however, nothing has yet made me want to go to the park (well, probably not the best way of wording it actually, as I love going to Chessie, but nothing has actually made me want to go back, I've wanted to go back of my own accord, as opposed to what Chessington have done - if that makes any sense...). Nonetheless, we went excited and looking forward to the day..

One thing which really has stuck with me about the day is the staff. They were brilliant, absolutely brilliant. From platformers and operators being helpful and always having a smile on their faces (and the latter effectively using the PA systems on all the rides), to staff who were just walking round and being funny and chatty (one commenting on my Swarm baseball cap, and one waving to us whilst we were on the Skyride). It's little things like this which turn a good day into a great, and all the staff deserve praise for how well they were interacting with guests. *Claps*

As expected, the park was very quiet. Only a couple of school trips were going on, which didn't really affect the standard Tuesday crowds I'd assume. Longest queue I saw was Tiny Truckers, which was apparently 10 minutes according to the queue boards, and longest we queued was just a shy over 5 minutes for Dragon's Fury; all good. On top of having good weather - sunny and warm, but not too hot - for most of the day, our choice of day was pretty much perfect.

Though we knew we'd pretty much not need it, we went to AS to get my nan's disabled wristband. The card was only signed once during the day, which was for Vampire for 10 minutes, even though they were struggling to get a full train.. Not complaining, as it's not like it really mattered. It was kind of the Skyway team to also let us exit through the entrance (due to there being less stairs, making it easier for my nan), as I know some staff usually frown upon random things like that..

Another stand out point of the day was Bubbleworks, for all the wrong reasons... Our boat seemed to have some pretty bad issues, as for the duration of the ride, part of the bottom of the boat was skidding along the bottom. Almost certain it wasn't to do with how we were sitting in the boat, as however we positioned our selves, part of the bottom would always skid. This meant we were always tilted at a precarious angle during the ride, with the water being rather close to the edge, and splashing over quite badly following the boat behind us dropping before the final scene. Two boats also caught up with us, and all in all, the experience wasn't a pleasant one. We were waving at security cameras (and shouting, which I guess was a bit pointless, considering they don't record sound, but ah well...) for most of the ride for attention, but none was given seemingly, which again, wasn't the greatest of experiences. The issue was brought up with AS, who assured as the security cameras would be checked and the boat removed for inspection. As said, almost certain it wasn't to do with how we were seated, as no matter how we balanced ourselves, it made no difference...

Dragon's Fury was brilliant today, probably got my best ride ever on it - SO spinny. Enjoyed the likes of Black Buccaneer, RMT and Lorikeet Lagoon as well. Also watched the Madagascar show, and I have to say, I'm not a fan. Nothing really I enjoyed if I'm honest. Though, to be fair, I guess it is aimed more for children / families, and I'm not the biggest fan of the franchise, so if I don't like it, then it's probably true to the franchise and suits those who enjoy this sort of thing. Will say though, it is a good quality show, so congrats there.

Went for a spin on Kobra as well, which was good fun. Loved the operator, who was great with interacting with everyone. Also, he was able to slightly confuse me for a short period of time - thanks for whispering my name across over the PA system and making me slightly paranoid that I was hearing things. Nonetheless, nice to get a chance to finally meet you briefly (as, no doubt, he'll read this!)

One thing which has annoyed me with Chessie this year is their need to staple 'NEW FOR 2012' in shops, signalling that new merchandise is in stock. I doubt many people, if any, actually care if there's new toys, teddies and sweets in shops, people are more going to care about how good the park looks and new additions they've got in the park and zoo... Little bug bear of mine at the moment.

Also, with this week being National Insect Week, the park had a few insects 'creepy crawlies' on display near the exit of Rameses Revenge. When we went past, you could even hold stick insects or a millipede. There were also little things being given away, pencils, rulers, etc. Nice little thing from the park there I'd say!

So, that is that really. Despite Chessington's lack of drawing power to me this season, I really enjoyed my trip. The staff were brilliant, and the atmosphere was great as well. Many are quick to slate the park for one reason or another, but despite all the criticism, they have a LOT of positives about and I'm pretty sure most people who are going there are willing / wanting to go back again. However, I think we'd all agree that the one thing Chessington really needs is a bit more investment in the actual park - a new coaster and another general ride or two would do the park some real favours. Hopefully next year sees the first of a couple of large investments to come in the next few years!

(As a side note, may add a few pictures to this post if have the patience too; my laptop seems to hate me at the moment...)

[Joegibbon]

I'm at the park today. Live updates can be found here: http://coasterupdates.com/

I probably won't be doing a full trip report for this visit because I still haven't finished my ones from Germany

[Mattgwise]

Just got back from the park, didn't go on that much as I was with a friend who had a 7 year old who was into this Moshi Hunting.

A lot of kids seemed to be enjoying the event, hunting around the park for the different Moshi monster things so worked very well. They had to find a symbol at the eight Moshi locations, and convert it into a letter using the code breaker sheet, and then had to unscramble the word to win a prize of a 3 day Moshi membership (exciting!) and be entered into a competition to win a family four day pass and some Moshi stuff.

The park was quiet for the first hour but soon got busy.

Unusually ride reliability was pretty poor for Chessington today. Upon arrival Jungle Bus and Black Buccannear were advertised as closed all day, Black Buccannear was however open when I went past at about 11:45am. Dragon Falls was down from opening and opened in the afternoon, looked like problems with the conveyor belt at the top of the main drop. Vampire closed for a short time, due to first aiders needing to attend someone coming off the ride and was also seen running a few empty cars quite near that time, so may have also had a problem around the same time. Dragon's Fury went down at around 2:30pm from what I saw and later began testing, reopened and closed again after a few people started queuing. At 4:15pm it was testing again, and I didn't get to see if it reopened.

Atmosphere still seemed good around the park and staff as friendly as ever.

Vampire advertised a 100 minute queue and I chanced it and waited 80 mins. Very slow at dispatching, train always waited on break run, Although we would all love the third train to return, seeing it's poor loading today makes me wonder how they ever managed to run three trains, without it stopping on the second lift for a long period of time.

Tomb Blaster again very slow at loading and dispatching, and queue reached an advertised 90 minutes.

Other queue times:

Runaway train - 60 mins

Safari Skyway - 30 mins

Dragon falls - 60 mins

Black Buccaneer - 30 mins

Toadies Crazy cars and Tiny Truckers - 40 mins (insane)

Kobra - 80 mins

Bubbleworks - 70 mins (although it was only 25 mins in reality)

Tuk Tuk Turmoil- 40 mins

Others between 10 - 25 mins

Only got on 5 rides due to having a relaxed day, this silly (IMO) Moshi Monster hunt, and long queues but still had a god day.

[Mitchada04]

Went to Chessington yesterday as my sister wanted to go for the Moshi Monster thing. Overall a good day, other than Vampire and Dragons Fury which had a steady 80min queue all day the queues weren't that bad. We followed are usual route of get there at 9:30 to have a wander around the carnivores before the main gates open at 10. Love doing this as most of the animals are out as it is so quiet. Got to see the new gorilla baby and my favourite animal, the tiger. After passing the fossa, we realised that the gates to the theme park were all ready open at 9:50. I'm usually not adverse opening earlier than advertised but Chessington have never done it in all the years I've visited which meant we had a 25min queue for Vampire instead of the usual dash and no queue at 10 (suppose it doesn't matter as we were of by 10:15 which we usually are when the gates open at 10). Did a quick ride on the duck infested Bubbleworks (not real ones, the yellow plastic ducks). As it was nearly 10:30 (the time of the first Moshi show) we headed to Wild Asia. Whilst my dad and sister watched it, I got on Kobra, Monkey Swinger and the Dodgems. The Jungle Bus (smaller version of Quantum with a roof) was broken which it always seems to be and was even in Beanoland (Chessingtons version of Slammer for reliability). This led us to Dragon Falls which had a wierd rule of only 3 per boat in operation but was still walk on so no complaining. I do love the fast section after the dragon tunnel but I wish you'd get a bit wetter on the drops. Tomb Blaster was next and after walking through the Arab prison queueline we were straight on. It's great to see all the effects working, a slight variation in lighting and other bit and bobs around the ride. t was now time for the Madagascar show which I avoided and did Rattlesnake. All the effects in the queueline were working and some new audio for the guy with his head in the bucket. Dissapointed to hear a new voice for the 'sit back, hold on tight, this is a bumpy ride' which didn't sound Mexican in any way. That was it for the rides so we had are lunch and walked around the whole park again just to find all the moshlings. It was great to see how popular this was with loads of kids completing the sheet and finding all the Mega Block Moshlings. Great to also see huge piles of mud behind Wanyama Village for Zufari and loads of posters promoting it around the park. And that's it. Sorry for it all being text, I promise pictures galore for my next trip report.

[Benin]

I caved... I went... I had a decent day considering 11k other people turned up, which can result in a dire day...

Arriving at 9:30 and walked in at turnstile opening time, wandering up to containment gates, which... WEREN'T OPEN What a shock... Turns out Chessie (in a mixture of magic moments and saving costs) have decided that if rides are open at 9:30, then they will be (as a unscheduled surprise to guests) open... This is something Thorpe were really credited for, so I think Chessie deserve it as well (especially as THEIR rides open at full capacity)...

So to Vampire, nothing too strenous (although we avoided the 70 minute queue advertised after 10) for the staff, yet they still managed to stack the train... What's with chaining the exits as well? Health and Safety must LOVE visiting Chessie and sorting out all these random things that make absolutely no sense... But by jove it misses that 3rd train in the summer... Call Vekoma and get a nice new set with the new restraints...

Buccaneer was next as Bubbles had yet to open (still before 10 mind) and it also has randomly pointless added gates on the platform... Do they use these in busier times? Although with one man operation being common, whats the point in them? Especially as they don't have enough gates per row... Ride is still good though, but it confuses me why these gates even exist...

Bubbles had opened, so we joined the short queue... Nothing has changed so let's move on...

SEASTORM! YAY! Actually, we realised there were a LOT of exit riders today (on Bubbles as well) as many circuits had 3/4 boats filled... This was not to be the last incident including them...

Apres, we hit up Runaway Train and my first view of Jumbos... WHAT... THE... HELL... It's amazingly bad, I just hope they can repaint it next year... Otherwise it'll be even more embarrassing... Only 2 circuits on Runaway though

Rattlesnack's cave filled queue was next, with new lights shining up those old animatronics that could do with a good clean up... God it was jerky, and have they got rid of the old announcements? Disappointment if so...

We headed to the Punjabi Prison that is Tomb Blaster's queueline, which was snail like in it's approach... Now the bars are silly, as kids are (as I'm sure I predicted) climbing on them MORE, and potentially gonna get their feet caught in them as the gap is wide enough for such events to happen... It'll happen soon and then more stuff will be added... Look wise, it could be a lot worse, and it doesn't look overally bad... However talk of them being rethemed are apparently incorrect, as the park feel (relatively correctly) that they fit enough (as well as metal prison bars do)...

For the ride, someone really over-exaggerated the changes inside... The only room with new lights was the Snake Pit, and that was lit up by a floodlight it seemed... Everything else just seemed to work which is what should be expected... Oh well...

We headed to Zafari for lunch, which had some fafftastic staff serving us... Wish they wouldn't cover their burgers with relish, but the 2 courses for £10 is still a decent offer, especially with the new garlic bread but annoying they took the wings off that

We pottered around the zoo for a bit, not a lot really going on around there, Zufari is still dirt and not much else... But is being heavily advertised throughout the park, which shows they are really pushing it... A good thing...

After the zoo we headed to Dragon Falls, which had a BURDENOUS woman queue jumping almost the entire queue... Karma turned up however, as we saw her have to leave avec children at batching point... The height change making a difference <3

Not so adventurous Lorikeets were next... No more AP Discount on Nectar makes me sad... Then we queued for Tuk Tuk (which were running REALLY well, and the staff were good with parent swapping and the like)...

Then Kobra happened, and it was such a bad queue... Why? Because the staff insisted on when batches of Fastrackers AND Exit Riders appeared, they would let them ALLLLLLL on in one go... So for many a go, 50% of the ride was filled with them... That is AWFUL batching from the staff, and made a 35 minute queue actually double in time... Just because they were letting in 20 odd (or less at times) from the normal queue...

After that debacle (one full go? Sod off), we trundled home after a quick visit to the shop... Overall it was a good day, but a few improvements are still needed, especially with some ride staff systems and some rides in general (Bubbles, every single low throughput ride)... Zufari is gonna be an interesting addition to the park to see what happens with it...

Also, the Madagascar area? It looks SO AWFUL... What a waste...

[alexander]

Went today and arrived about 2:30pm, I haven't been for a few years so it looked quite busy but god was I wrong, there was no queue for anything all day other than the front row for Vampire. I really forgot how beautiful Chessington really is and the foliage growing around is really lovely.

I headed to Vampire first and despite the long winding empty queue I enjoyed the screams of the train over head and headed straight in to the enclosement. I forgot how dark it is in the queue leading up to the dispatch area, the station looked great and atmospheric with the old organ player still functioning (was surprised this was working) along with the lighting. The station could do with a clean but I suppose the cobwebs contributed to the eerie setting I got on about the 5th row back and I was pleasantly surprised how intense it was, I think it has gotten better with age. The drop down into the tunnel in the second half of the course was really quite intense swinging along the tracks which completely took me by surprise. The ride attendant was very enthusiastic and congratulated us on 'being alive'. The only thing I'd criticise is loading and dispatching was a bit on the slow side.

I headed to Dragons Fury next and the cattlepen queue was horrendous, although, no one was in it. I enjoyed this a lot and I have to say I love the speed of the lifthill, looks like it needs a bit of a lick of paint and the brakes, well, hurt.

Next I moved on to the Wild Asia area and was really impressed with the re-theme, the area looked really great. Kobra wasn't unavailable, they seemed to be cleaning something off of it but I saw this throughout the day and found out they were cleaning the whole park free of dust. So on this note I headed towards Monkey Swinger and enjoyed a very 'individual ride' with just two other people, mind I managed to get a little more wet than I bargained for. Dodgems were next and they were a lot of fun except I had some woman on her own moaning at me for bumping into her. I know it's Dodgems and everything but what do you expect?

Wandered off and about again and because I was already wet I thought why not keep up the trend and go to Rameses. The Madagascar area looks awful by the way! The host was very playful and was a right crowd pleaser as there was more people watching then riding! I sat back middle row, got reasonably wet first time and then he took us for a second round on a more intense setting and I can honestly say I was absolutely soaked. I decided to not opt for Tomb Blaster in the end as I didn't have too much time - might I add the fences look horrendous.

Runaway Train. An old favourite of mine and I hadn't been on it in about 5/6 years. Raced around the queue dripping with water and got into the front seat. The staff were very pleasant and addressed me as the 'drenched driver' and asked why I was so wet. After a white lie about a dip in the pond he asked if I had come on to have a bit of a tumble dry. It's nice to see people enjoying their work! Rattlesnake was next on my list and it smelt great in the caverns, kind of similar to the Alpine coaster at Europa Park. There was no queue but it hurt (in a good way?) and my elbows took a bashing.

Dragons Falls was closed unfortunately although it insisted it was going to open that day on the board when we bought our tickets, strange. The setting is so beautiful and I wish I had taken some pictures! I had a last run on Vampire - back row - and enjoyed sweeping over the pavements and small crows.

Finished with Hocus Pocus hall but I didn't really rate it too much as I wasn't really pay attention or interacting inside as I had to get going. Have to do a major shoutout to the guy on the turnstiles selling car parking tickets on exit. He asked us how our day was and everything and we got into conversation about car parking prices and he proceeded to tell me Alton Towers is £6?!?! I told him I was meant to be going Thorpe today (didn't in the end unfortunately) and he said it was rammed so I took his advice and decided against going.

Didn't manage to get many photo's but here are a couple! Pardon the quality, they were taken on my phone!

http://imgur.com/a/LE4TN

Can't say I was impressed with the late opening times for certain attractions, it didn't affect me though as I wasn't there till late!

[Fred]

Love Chessington, absolutely adore the place.

Being able to just stay on fury countless times, on a friday, and being able to just relax and have fun is fantastic. Monkey Swinger 5 times, my friends found their new favourite ride!

Yes, the place is falling apart a bit, but hopefully they'll get those areas sorted eventually. The Zufari is coming along thick and fast and that has high prospects. I think staying in the hotel also completely changes your feelings about the place.

The ride opening is awful though, even though there's no guests it is a bit messed up (some rides opening at 11, some at midday, HPH at 1pm.. Tomb Blaster shown at entrance to be open 10-5, bit weird considering thats the parks opening hours). Really have to concentrate on staying in a particular area until the others open to not get distracted. Both Rameses and Dragon Falls were shown as not operating at the entrance, however the park had full availability yesterday.

[Mitchada04]

So yesterday was my annual trip to Chessington's Halloween Hocus Pocus. This event has always had a spot in my heart as the theming is better than Thorpe's, the lighting is by far the best in the country and it is all fun and surprising, not scary. We arrived just after 1 and headed straight to the new maze, Vampire: The Haunting in the Hollows. It was great fun with a few surprises and makes a nice change from the previous Black Forest Haunt walkthrough. A full review of it can be found later in the report and will contain spoilers. After this, we went over to Wild Asia and rode the dodgems. Some kid wet themselves in one of the cars so this was removed just before we boarded. It amazes me that the parent of this child didn't tell a staff member as someone almost sat in the wet seat. Do love the dodgems, especially when its been raining and you can skid on certain areas where the rain has come in. As Kobra had a huge queue and Monkey swinger was down we moved over to Dragon Falls which was as it always is, fun but not that wet. You get a great view of Zufari's construction and the scale of it. We then followed the path around to Tomb Blaster as you know can't get to Dragons Fury from the area with the wheel and trampolines. The new fencing is horrid but no where near as bad as Rameses Revenge's new staircase.

We then thought it would be good to join Vampires advertised 75min queue which could have easily been 60 but turned out to be 90. This was due to one thing and for once its not fast track. Every 5/6th train was being loaded entirely full of exit pass people as there were so many of them they were causing a health and safety issue. The staff were also loading the trains so slowly that they were stacking for easily 30 seconds and this was on 2 trains. Wouldn't like to think how bad it would have been on 3. By the time we were of it was 6:30. Usually at this time I just go where I want as I know I have the time to but with only 30 minutes till closing a logical decission had to be made. This led to us doing Dragons Fury as I had never done it in the dark. The queue was 45 minutes and it is great in the dark as there are few lights around the ride. So now the park was closed but there were still 40/50 minute queues for Dragon Fury and Vampire and loads of people milling around. 7 is way to early to close for a halloween event and I hope the 8pm closures return for next year.

Vampire: The Haunting in the Hollows review:

The queue starts next to Vampires ans moves quite quickly with gorups of 10-12 being let in. You are first spoken to by an actor who tells you all the safety information and other boring stuff. Upon entering the gates an actor pops out at you and rushes you to the side. He then tells you about the strange goings on and is just generally in your face and moving ver quickly. You are then told to go up the hill a bit through a cloud of fog to meet the next character. I wasn't excactly sure who he was but apparently he was being controlled by Dracula. A lady then rushes out from the building behind and tells you to stand around the dead body on the table. She tells you that the dead body is her husband and was killed by Dracula. The lights then go out and he comes alive which then leads to the entrance of the next character, the grave digger. You stand in the very foggy grave yard and are told that you need to escape the Hollows but as the darkness is near you should take cover in the Krypt. You are then made to stand in this pitch black room for a few seconds then suddenly the lights raise and there is Dracula. He introduces his two children and tells you that if you can escape you live, if not you die. You then go through to this very foggy, dark room which is very dissorentating. The two children of Dracula are in there popping out at you and just being generally creepy. Once you finally make your way to the end of this fog filled room you have escaped. The maze isn't scary but more surprising so may frighten younger kids. It makes a nice change to the Black Forest Haunt and the ending is very strong and shows Chessingtons attempt of a maze style.

For next years event I would like to see Hocus Pocus Hall bewitched changed around as from what I have heard it is now becomming very repetitive. They have also been using the same halloween music for the past few years so it would be nice to see that change. And of course open till at least 7:30 because it is very difficult to fit in a few rides in the dark otherwise. Overall a great afternoon to early evening out.

Instantly more theming than Thorpe Park

Vampire, you are not cool enough to have red lights like Swarm

Believe it or not, their is a car in this picture

Thanks for reading

[NikhilSharma]

I went yesterday too. The theming and lighting for there halloween event is fantastic, beats any other merlin park, thorpe park needs to learn a thing or two. It was pretty busy yesterday vampire was 90minuets at the end of the day... very long. But everything else wasn't so busy. The coolest thing though was being in tomb blaster with no one else on, me and my family took the first cart up with no one else on the other carts. It was pretty cool to have the ride to ourselves and having us score very high.

It was a good day out.

[RideAddict]

I've just returned from a few hours at Chessington.

Considering how cold it has been lately, I was wondering how busy it would be. As I waited for my bus home I was chatting to a chap who was also waiting for the bus, he works in The Burger Kitchen and told me today has been the busiest since opening last week.

Upon arrival about 1:45pm, the queue times were what I would expect on a normal weekend. I only managed to get on 3 rides - Bubbleworks, Zufari and Peeking Heights. I would've liked to get on more, but with my slightly-than-later arrival and the long queues, I had to sacrifice the main ones - wasn't a big issue really, considering I've rode them lots of times before and I will get to during this year.

So I decided to kick things off with a late lunch in The Burger Kitchen. This was one of my reasons for visiting today. As I walked into Transylvania and admired looked at the new exterior, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They've totally ruined it IMO, and it really doesn't fit in with Transylvania's ageing look. I think the touch-ups done to Bubbleworks' exterior please me more. Anyway, I walked inside The Burger Kitchen and down the steps, and bang - was instantly hit with a long queue for food. Couldn't believe it really, although I was tempted to go elsewhere I decided to wait, it took about 15 minutes and during this time I took the oppurtunity to admire the inside changes. A lick of paint here and there seems to have done the trick, the colours are bearable. The tables and chairs do look a little on the cheap side, yes, but at least we can sit down! I soon got my quarter pounder meal, not bad value. Now for the verdict on the burger. I'll give it about 6 out of 10. The burger tasted OK, although I prefer smooth buns to seeded. It contained the usual sauces and extras a quarter pound does. 2 issues though; firstly, typical Merlin haven't made it the biggest burger. Secondly, the temperature of it could've been better, and this is something Merlin let themselves down on a lot in their outlets. The chips seemed fine, just like any McDonalds or BK ones. A 16oz coke does seem a little small and not big enough, but it did me.

After eating that, I had a ride on Bubbleworks, before heading over to Mexicana to check out the closed state of Runaway Mine Train, where no visible work is occuring on the rocks. That's probably the first time I've ever seen it intentionally closed.

As I wandered past Rameses, I looked at what a fading state it was, and then wondered where Zufari's entrance was. I was at this point it was totally oblivious it was right in front of me, so I headed down into the area to take a look.

On entering the area, it is nice looking and nice to be in an area of the park I've never been in before. I wasn't intending to ride Zufari today, but decided to as I was there. I must've queued for about 40 minutes before entering the building for the pre-show, and then emerging back outside into the cold to board the jeeps. The jeeps are nice and comfortable, and as set off I couldn't help but wander what we'd see; giraffes, white rhinos (blackened, as they were dirty), and not a lot else, seeing as the jeeps each have a "animal checklist". It was an interesting ride and enjoyable, we had to stop to let animals "cross the road". We then got to the cave. In we went, got a little wet, out we came. Not sure if I'm impressed by that, in some ways that was the let-down part of the ride whereas others will consider it as the highlight. I think Rumba's tunnel with flowing water impresses me more!

A look at the state of Dragon Falls saddened me. I took a ride on Peeking Heights to have a peek from above. Freezing, I left the ride to head to the Original Sandwich Co to claim my free coffee. Note that anyone who gets one here will have to show their Annual Pass, plus sign the back of the free reciept and put your postcode on it - it would appear the Merlin police are keeping an eye on this offer!

I left the park about 5:10pm. Generally, it was an OK afternoon there, not much has changed apart from little things. The Creaky Cafe seems like a brilliant change.

[Fred]

Out of interest, how much was your meal at BK? It always seems more expensive at chessington than at towers, in regards to other merlin eateries.

[RideAddict]

It was £5.20 with my pass discount. Have you paid a different price for that meal deal at Alton then?

[Fred]

Meals at towers range from £5.50-£6.50, with your meal costing 6.50 without discount.

With discount, 6.50 = 5.20, so it's actually the same price for the time being. Impressive, seeing as chessies FCC is way more expensive for way smaller portions.

[RideAddict]

I'm going to Alton Towers in early June and will probably have the same meal. I'll remember this price and if it is different I'll have to pay it, but I will also query why it is different.

[RideAddict]

I wasn't quite sure where to post this, so I decided to here. It's basically a review I wrote on Facebook about Chessington on 12th September 2011 (Facebook's changes the other day has uncovered this amongst my profile! ). Although it can probably be reviewed and edited, I have simply copied and pasted it, so please be aware there may be a few differences at the park now compared to when I wrote this 18 months ago.

The Changing Face Of Chessington

At the moment Chessington is definitely the best it’s ever been. Since Wild Asia opened last year, the area has been a massive success and as a consequence, has massively improved the park.

Wild Asia is the park’s unique selling point, and that’s exactly what Chessington needed - something new and fresh to point their advertising in the right diection. The previous unique selling point was Land Of The Dragons which opened back in 2004. Wild Asia has been Chessington’s biggest investment since Land Of The Dragons, and Kobra is the only new ride since Dragons Fury opened in 2004.

As we know, the Sea Life Centre opened in 2008. Although it was new, this, to me, seemed like a small addition to the park. And since it’s been there, Chessington have used it a few times in advertising, but not to the full extent they could have.

In 2009 I was still visiting the park regularly, but not as much I was would’ve liked to. If you compare 2009 season to the 2010 one, there is a massive difference. In 2009, things generally seemed to be failing a little, and it wasn’t the best, this was disappointing for the park. And many regular visitors knew that Beanoland was closing in September 2009 so that work could commence for it to be re-themed into Wild Asia for 2010. At the time of opening back in 2000 Beanoland had work well, but by about 2006 the novelty of it had worn off, and something needed to be done. It was fortunate the sponsorship was due to end at the end of 2009. I remember seeing the advertising banners in 2009 for Wild Asia, and I was unsure as to how good it could be. However, little did I realise it would have such a massive effect on the parks image the following year.

Chessington have made many improvements to the park since the beginning of the 2010 season, and they are constantly making improvements – this is their time to shine! After many years of a confusing car park, it’s finally been sorted, together with the new road entrance and exit from the A243. For many years, that was a much needed improvement, but with traffic lights now controlling the traffic along the road and access to the park, it’s not only an improvement, but it looks a lot better. And now cars can’t exit through the coach entrance, it’s a lot safer. The only cock-up to have been made to the car park is the charges imposed in 2011, which many object to.

The main entrance to the park by the ticket booths was also improved last year. Gone is the spinning globe which worked when it decided it wanted to, and a good job too, as this symbolised the old Chessington. The “Welcome to Britain's wildest adventure” slogan together with the bamboo fences and signs symbolises the new Chessington. And to compliment it, fresh, new entrance music, suitably titled The Call To Adventure – the first and much needed change of the entrance music in many years! It lives up to its name, as the music is a catchy tune, and to me, is calling people in to the park – and the guests are greeted with a fantastic selection of ever-improving rides and attractions. This music alone really gives power and delivers the new “wildest adventure” theme across the entire park that Chessington are trying to achieve – and it’s working!

As I say, this really is Chessington’s time to shine – they have got things spot on, and the park is at its best. For a family theme park, it's heading in the right direction and it's future investments have never looked more positive and brighter. Alton Towers and Thorpe Park are slowly improving and heading in the right direction too, considering their target audiences, but Chessington really is leading the way. The park celebrates its 25th anniversary celebrations in July 2012 – Chessie's performance cannot afford to slip now.

[pluk]

please be aware there may be a few differences at the park now compared to when I wrote this 18 months ago.

At the moment Chessington is definitely the best it’s ever been.

LOL

[Tom]

I'm going to Alton Towers in early June and will probably have the same meal. I'll remember this price and if it is different I'll have to pay it, but I will also query why it is different.

And the staff will not be able to explain it. You must know that the staff cannot answer these ridiculous questions such as 'why is this burger 3p more expensive that the one from Chessington, 200 miles away, in a similarly named outlet?'

[RideAddict]

LOL

I did warn you what I wrote back then is different to now - even I admit it's not the best now, but I simply can't be arsed to go through and edit bits of it yet.

[BigBobJones]

I have to say I think Chessington is upping their game and making lost of improvements, I'm very concerned over the theming for Dragon Falls and RMT, but where they have done work, they have made lots of improvements and it works for their target audience. I hope they get Zufari sorted as I'm reading lots of negative comments on it.

The number one question is how long will the Safari Skyway last... its got to be on its last legs now

[RideAddict]

The number one question is how long will the Safari Skyway last... its got to be on its last legs now

I wouldn't say last legs, it's just been poorly maintained. The track itself is solid and going nowhere. The cars have been neglected of maintenance and got beyond repair. They should buy some newer ones.