Chessington Trip Reports

[Tom]

I still want to enjoy my day without having interruptions.

Totally agree! But of course they would try and cater for the majority which is families. Not all the rules can suit everyone!

[Mark9]

When we didn't play ball our day was not interrupted. If I paid a lot of money to get in I don't want to have to interrupt my day to smoke and I won't not smoke.

You enter their property, then you abide by their rules.

[Fred]

It's about being considerate to others, and respecting rules and procedures. Smokers just don't seem to realise how much it stinks and how it affects other people they walk past - like people with asthma.There's plenty of smoking areas at chessington, and they seemingly have the bare necessities of benches. Should put more to it, but least they do it.

[StevenVig]

I Find it very hard to light up at Chessington, in terms of the fact that there are so many children around. Wherever I am I hate smoking around children. If for example I'm on the street and I walk past a child I will tilt my head upwards and blow into the air, or ill blow in the complete opposite direction to the child.I completely understand that not everyone else wants to smell it, and thats fine, if your gonna smoke around other people, just present and do it in a way that blatently shows your thinking of others.

[JoshC.]

Okay, sorry to detract from the whole smoking conversation, but I just realised I didn't post the second half my TR. Ah well, better late than never...So, after my ride on Vampire, it was decided that I HAD to buy an ORP, what with it being the 21st anniversary. We decided to get a photo pass; on offer - 5 photos for £17.50 - very fair in my eyes.The Vampire ORP.Greeted by this in the ORP desk area.To say I bought a bit is an understatement. In the Vampire shop, I bough two Vampire XXI bears, two Vampire XXI pin badges and one of the original Vampire bears! And, I bought more later too in the main shop. :whist I was in the mood for treating myself, okay? Oh, and you got a Vampire ice cube tray if you spent over £2 on Vampire merchandise. Meh, all the more really!Anyway, we felt it was time for lunch. We were wandering to what the rest of my family thought was the Greedy Goblin, but when I told them it was the Chicken Shack (or whatever), we still decided to eat there as we were basically there. To be honest, it's just a Nandos rip off and, whilst I like Nandos, I much preferred GG. Waiting for food makes me do strange things... Though, it does show of the Vampire XXI bear nicely. After food, we decided to wander round the Trail of the Kings, which is a sorta must do now when I'm with the family.The silver back (correct name for the biggest one?) sleeping by the window.Taking a poo...Hiding the evidence.A wider shot of the gorillas.Roar, it's a tiger.The other one was lazing it up in the heat.Random photo of the tigers really; just wanted them in the same shot. Rawr, I'm a lion.Erm, I dunno, I'm running out of witty captions now. It's a lion okay? Smile for the camera!One of the tigers seemed to be having a funny five minutes...A fossa. How cute!Awwww...The info board.So that was that for the Trail of the Kings. I must say one thing that increasingly annoys me is the two way walking system. In honesty, I'd prefer it if it was just one way - it makes it so much easier and would probably be a bit nicer too.After that, I headed over to the Twilight Zone for a third time, again, I was alone. The actors had changed, but I must say I found it simply incredibly - quite possibly one of the best experiences I've had in a scare attractions - ever. Review in the appropriate topic. We did a bit of wandering a little bit of shopping. We popped into the main Chessington shop, and I picked up a Vampire keyring and Vampire mug with a teddy vampire inside as well. Meh. We then decided to do Tomb Blaster, for fun. ORP was bought with the photopass:The Tomb Blaster ORPAfter a bit more wandering and taking in the general atmosphere, it was time to go home. I must say that whilst we didn't have the largest of ride counts, and with it being extremely busy, I still had a marvellous day. However, Chessie really has turned into a park that is just too big to explore in one day!The Vampire merchandise I bought! :coffee So, that's it. Was more photos then text in the end, but still, thanks for having a look!

[pluk]

My first ever trip report…. A Bit lot heavy on text and light on pics as I forgot to charge my camera (idiot), but I’ll give it a go.Decided to go to Chessington for the first time in 6 years. I hadn’t realised it had been that long but they’ve given me no reason to go in that time, what with it being aimed at young families (I don’t have one) and there being a grand total of one ride introduced in that time (which I’ve been on elsewhere anyway), but me and wife thought we’d give it a go anyway.Arrived bang on opening and joined the first and only queue of the day. As it was quiet the little huts with a sensible queue line were not in use so instead it was a bundle at what I presume are usually the pre book windows. The hard of understanding kept trying to queue at the sides for the edge windows, what they thought the rest of us were doing queuing in the middle I don’t know, so they had to be re-educated. Only took 15 mins or so, but they should have separate windows for coach load ticket pickups as it kept grinding to a halt.The place was basically empty. The only other people that seemed to be there were every single 10 year old with a skull cap from the south of England, with about 1 adult per 50 children. More on them later. Every ride was walk on, even Vampire front row.Into the park it immediately felt so green, clean, well-kept and just a nice place to be compared to the grey and run down feeling of Thorpe. Straight to Transylvania of course, to relive my childhood on what is one of my fondest memories, and Vampire when it was in its original state. I had forgotten just how beautifully themed the area is, it looks and feels the same as it did all those years ago. Loved the little touches added, like the headstones of past characters and the ghost of Rodeo (shame he is hidden behind caricature man). But then the ride itself just seemed to hit me with waves of disappointment. The horrible bright purple metal queue line, the over lit tunnel into the station (I used to have to feel my way along the walls, now I could safely navigate it in sunglasses), the lifeless organist, the wonderful theme being played too quietly peppered with a shouting ride op so loud it actually hurt and I had to cover my ears, the shiny metal barrier splitting the exit line and worst of all the crazy amount of light coming into the building washing out any possibility of atmosphere. How hard can it be to hang up some light blocking sheeting or something? We took a seat in the middle of the train for what was an uncomfortable jerky flight, it felt like we were constantly shunting back and forth into the surrounding carriages, nothing like the smooth and exciting rides I remember. I got off thinking the trip was a bad idea where I would slowly spoil all my fond memories. Oh my gosh, I've only covered the first 10 minutes in the park and just realised how much I’ve written. It feels like some sort of therapy. Keeping it brief from now. Promise. Then on to bubbleworks. I don’t need to go through all the problems that make this a travesty of its former self, just a soulless, humourless mainly statically themed bore but if they could do one thing just sort out the ‘finale’. The new lights are so bright and constant, and just make the whole thing look cheap and dull. How much did they cost compared to a couple of strobe lights? Without strobes this ride is nothing.To break this up here is an unflattering picture of me taking more pleasure from the bubbleworks than it was ever trying to give me.From then on, though, I pretty much loved everything else. Fury is amazing, so much better than Spinball. Dragon river, with the exception of the horrible cheap great wall thing, was very pleasant and as I remember it. New sponsorship not too bad or intrusive, we’ll never get the full rocks back and the ones that are there have worn down to show the wire mesh underneath. It does need a bit of TLC and was probably the most run down looking of the attractions.Theming in wild Asia is stunning. Kobra is not the best example I’ve ridden by a long way, it’s so jerky and feels like it has some weird vibration issues but a bit of fun none the less.Mine train is what it is, I still like it. Had forgotten how nice the theming on Rattlesnake is, and it’s a whole bunch of fun to ride. Ramesis feels like it is trying to shake itself to bits and I can’t believe it has much life left in it.Big surprise of the day was Tomb Blaster, so much better than I remember it. All the theming seemed fresh and interesting (still strikes me that with the laser guns the fifth dimension would fit a whole lot better), the only thing missing was dry ice which I think would give it a lot more atmosphere.Loved the zoo, seems a lot of effort has been put in to these areas and it shows. Impressed with sealife too, which does not feel temporary on the inside like it looks on the outside.Rode Vampire again later at the front and back which proved much smoother and more enjoyable rides, but it is still a long way from where it should be.So, the kids. It was empty but still the new restrictions on buccaneer and Dragon River were causing chaos, I dread to think what it’ll be like when it’s busy. A lot more effort needs to be put into communicating the adult to child ratios required at the queue line entrance. We even took two boatloads of children round to try and help out. Probably need to increase the adult to child ratios on the school coach trips too.Overall the place is looks stunning in most places, all the staff were great and we loved it. But at some point they need to invest in something new and substantial to make it worth our while to revisit.Sorry for the rambling and length, I’ll get better at this at some point!!EDIT - can one of you clever people tell me how I get pics to show in the text, instead of as a link? Thanks.

[Sheepie]

Excellent trip report Pluk! You should do more in the future. ;)I do agree with you on your Vampire and Bubbles disappointment. It's a shame because at points Vampire can still be an impeccable attraction- when I rode it last November it was probably the best rollercoaster I'd ridden all season. Thank you thank you thank you on the vampire ride operator comment. It really is too loud. There are some people who are trying to defend the loudness of it, but like you said, it hurts.I certainly think there is one train that feels rougher than the other two, there are times when I ride it and it's not too bad at all and there are others that beat me to bits. I could go on and on about Vampire's faults, but I can't help but enjoy the ride, people adore it and it's arguably still Chessington's most Iconic ride.Once again thanks for posting, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. :PEdit: Embedded the picture for you.

[pluk]

Thanks for that Sheepie, think I understand the picture thing now.Vampire was only on 1 train op, so it was the sitting in the middle that was causing the problem, feels like the couplings need to be tighter so the train moves as one. It is their most iconic ride, but when I got off the first time I was so disappointed by the overall experience I thought they may as well tear it down if that's the best it can do, and I never ever thought I'd think that. I warmed to it after better rides, but it kills me that quick wins to put it right are so cheap and easy (around the station I mean) but just not done.One thing I forgot to mention in the report are the smoking areas. I do not mind at all that we have to be segregated in some way, but I hate the way it is done. Behind the rope of shame you feel like an exhibit in the zoo, and they are put in such prominent positions. I'm sure it would have been easy to tuck them away somewhere, which would also have been better in achieving their aim of not letting the suggestible little kiddies or easily offended adults see or smell it.

[Tom]

Although you could argue that is they were so secluded, they would be difficult to find!

[Fred]

Or alternatively, risk the chance of shame even further.Lego has one smoking area, and its behind a high fence so others dont have to see it. Now THAT'LL make you feel like you've been a naughty boy!

[pluk]

Both true, but a few signs could do it. And if they were really hidden away they could have other 'adult' entertainment on offer. Now that would make a revisit well worth while!

[themeparkmad]

They are becoming more and more aware of how loud the PA is compared to the theme music... Hopefully will be changed soon.

[Benin]

Rain? Pah, me and John manned up and went to Chessie, although lots of train issues meant that we arrived after 10:30, but, we arrived to an empty park...So Vampire's PA is still too bloody loud... I swear Chessie cannot sort these out, as now they seem to have several that are too quiet... So you're either too loud, or too quiet... Tuk Tuk Turmoil can't be heard for example... Sort it out...Due to the rain, Fury and Rattlesnake were both on 2 people per car... URGH... Why does Chessie have to follow so many rubbishy H&S rules in comparison to the other parks? Buccaneer still has silly rules as well...Why does Griffin's Galleon NOT have it's ride music and pre-recorded announcements?Fair few breakdowns, Sea Dragons down for most of the day (apparently they can't use the hoover in the rain anymore), Truckers was dead at the start of the day, Seastorm and Carousel both died at one point, Skyway down throughout the rain (unsurprisingly)... All however did open before the park shut...Why did no-one mention there's a new Spike show? It's usual stuff but still, NEW!Squirt-a-lot's new SFX are random...New fence has been put into Wanyama, as well as red tape returning which hasn't been seen since it opened, possible new arrivals in the future?Hocus Pocus Hall still closed...Erm, I think that's all the 'interesting' stuff... All in all it was a good day as it was empty and generally had walk-ons on everything but Fury and Rattlesnake... Actually went on Skyway and Seastorm for the first times this year... Good fun day regardless of the rain...

[Mark9]

Rain? Pah, me and John manned up and went to Chessie, although lots of train issues meant that we arrived after 10:30, but, we arrived to an empty park...So Vampire's PA is still too bloody loud... I swear Chessie cannot sort these out, as now they seem to have several that are too quiet... So you're either too loud, or too quiet... Tuk Tuk Turmoil can't be heard for example... Sort it out...Due to the rain, Fury and Rattlesnake were both on 2 people per car... URGH... Why does Chessie have to follow so many rubbishy H&S rules in comparison to the other parks? Buccaneer still has silly rules as well...Why does Griffin's Galleon NOT have it's ride music and pre-recorded announcements?Fair few breakdowns, Sea Dragons down for most of the day (apparently they can't use the hoover in the rain anymore), Truckers was dead at the start of the day, Seastorm and Carousel both died at one point, Skyway down throughout the rain (unsurprisingly)... All however did open before the park shut...Why did no-one mention there's a new Spike show? It's usual stuff but still, NEW!Squirt-a-lot's new SFX are random...New fence has been put into Wanyama, as well as red tape returning which hasn't been seen since it opened, possible new arrivals in the future?Hocus Pocus Hall still closed...Erm, I think that's all the 'interesting' stuff... All in all it was a good day as it was empty and generally had walk-ons on everything but Fury and Rattlesnake... Actually went on Skyway and Seastorm for the first times this year... Good fun day regardless of the rain...

I was going to take Michaela and I to Chessington today on the way back from Alton,but knowing how much I despise Rattle and Fury on 2 people per train and all the other stuff you seemed to encounter, I'm glad we didn't bother.

[Mattgwise]

Went to Chessington today. All rides I went to were walk on - 5 mins except for Dragon's Fury which was about 15 mins due to 3 adults max per car rule. Was very surprised at how dead it was and I reckon without the school groups it would have almost been desserted. All rides closed at 1:30pm due to th massive thunderstorm which was right over the park and had the loudest strike of lightning I have ever heard in my life. We then left at 2pm as we couldn't see rides reopening any time soon.

[thorpeparkjack]

Right. After last week's fun at Thorpe Park, It was time for a change this weekend. Time for the first CWOA visit of the year. I have always had a soft spot for this park, but today it really did show me that it is a fantastic, top class theme park. Depsite the AMAZING weather the park managed to keep queue times to a minimum with only fury peaking at 50 minutes. Managed to get pretty much all major rides done, however there were still areas of the park I wanted to explore. I was longing for more, more sun, more animals, more rides. And that was what was missing from my Thorpe Park trip. Everything was done, it was either more rides or home. Chessington offers a much more rounded experience with a variety of attractions and the opition of the sea life centre or zoo. That to me makes it a much more enjoyable experience. The staff were happy and helpful and downtime was minimal. I believe that attractions such as Vampire and Fury provide the 'fun' factor that some of Thorpe attractions miss out on. We were not even trying ride wise and spent a good 30/45 minutes in lorikeet lagoon. This is really one of my favourite attractions, the interactivity with all age groups and the beauty of the birds is just stunning. So overall, Chessington is brilliant. I should and will visit more this season. I will let the photos/captions do the rest of the talking. Until next time...http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac333/jackhoneywell/P1010198.jpgWe have arrived!Car park was fairly full on arrival. Of course, first ride was the mighty Vampire. It was already low/mid twenties by 10.15!Swinging through the trees. Still one of my favorite rides. It is a classic.Arty shot. Worked out pretty well methinks. ZOOM. We waited around 25 minutes. Worth every second. It was pretty hot already. That meant it was time for Rameses. We got stuck on the first cycle for a few minutes, but got two more!After that it was time for another one of my favorites. Tomb Blaster. ORP, didn't pay for one sorry Merlin! :$ Dragon falls simply brilliant. The setting, the theming the landscaping is just wonderful. If only they could sort out that tall section before the drop. Me and my friend took our tops of too cool down (sorry everyone that was on park that day! tehe ) but were told over the PA to put them back on before the main drop!The main drop isn't that wet, although it looks soaking. Arty. Yes, if you were wondering this is a how many pictures of dragon falls can you get competition O.K! Nicely repainted dragon. Time for the lagoon. I was really pleased with this shot, seem to be getting a bit better with the new camera. Thirsty!The nectar was going down well!Ducks just chillin'.Me chillin' with the birds!Marco shot. The infamous Mandarin Duck! I have never seen it before but it sure is beautiful!Just for good measure. Lorikeet and waterfall = nice snap. I promise this is the last Lorikeet one!

[thorpeparkjack]

Continued!Didn't bother with Kobra. Good addition to the park though. FURY TIME! It is hard to choose between this and Saw for my favorite Surrey ride. Into the Immelmen. Simply brilliant. This ride is great fun. It is the perfect family attraction. Suitable for such a wide target audience. Lunch time. Lovely as always, especially the pasta. It was AMAZING to chill outside in such a nice environment. Go Chessie!This is what I love about the park. OPEN SPACE. Especially when the weather was as hot as it was. Didn't have time for Safari!Mis-timed sealion shot!I hardly ever check out the zoo. It really is fantastic. A lovely place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the main park. Meerkat's know what to do in this weather!One of the best shots of the day. More open space!I don't think I have posted enough dragon falls pictures yet!Some great views from Peeking Heights. Wall to wall blue skies and Chessington goodness = win. I like my camera's zoom. And again. Fury's first MCBR. Rameses was really refreshing, but intense at the same time!Our Tomb blaster scores (I got 19600). Not bad I suppose but room for improvement!Fury's sexy little immelmen. Through the trees!Incident alert! We heard a big boom from outside the Chessington Shop and a LOAD of staff running towards the Aqua Adventures. It had collapsed with Children still in the balls! Dads rushed to help and first aid were quickly on site. Here it is shortly after the accident.

[thorpeparkjack]

Continued!Another one of my favorites. Just about time to fit in some Black Buccaneer. Vampire again. And a last ride on Rattlesnake just before the queue closed. A great day. I'll leave you with my best of the day. Thanks for reading, well done if you made it through! More to come this summer if you can cope!

[Mark9]

Some very beautiful shots there again, fantastic camera you must have, but a camera is only as good as the person taking the photos.Agree with you on Chessington, despite being a small park it has so many nice areas of greenery. One thing you highlighted (which I'm glad you did) is Dragon Falls. In the summer that is the most beautiful ride of any Merlin park, somehow the greenery and flowers really make it stunning to look at.

[Benin]

It's amazing how much foliage can make a park so much nicer to spend time at...

[Mark9]

It's amazing how much foliage can make a park so much nicer to spend time at...

"If I wanted trees I'd go to a garden centre"

[Sheepie]

A great Trip Report once again Jack. It really sounds as though you enjoyed your day. I think the difference between your two reports reflect this. Some fantastic photos as well. I'm very jealous. ;)I'm looking forward to the July meet now. You should join us Jack!

[thorpeparkjack]

Thanks once again for the positive feeback guys! I might well do Sheepie, especailly after the great reviews of the last meet!

[Sheepie]

Many of you guys know; I love Chessington, at one point I even lived and breathed it. The truth is, along with Alton Towers, I have some extremely special memories at these parks and I've sort of grown up with them and seen them develop and change into what they are today. Whenever I talk of these parks, it is from my deepest passion and enthusiasm for them, their beauty and the potential that they have and genuinely, how much I want them to succeed. With that in mind, I'll begin...This rather sexy fellow (below), our friend Kirsty and I, decided on a spontaneous visit to Chessie earlier this week.

Smoking kills. Don't smoke kids.

We spent the afternoon at the park, from around 1pm. So not very long at all, but still, it's not as though we've never done any of the rides at the park a thousand times before and we always enjoy a chilled out pace, taking the day as it comes. We spent absolutely ages just enjoying the beauty and awesomeness of the park. Particularly in Wild Asia, where we spent about an hour chilling by the fountain, observing guests in the area and how much everyone was enjoying themselves. Some of the guests comments were brilliant and very interesting. It's a very humbling and facinating thing to listen to what guests actually think and say. This is why I feel Chessington truly have got Wild Asia spot on in every single possible way imaginable. Excellent.Let me also say, operations from the front line staff were consistently very good indeed all day. Very pleasant and went out of their way to ensure our visit was special. Not once did we feel as though we were just a number in a long conveyor belt of people, but actual individuals. Top work. There was also a lovely girl who offered to take the time (probably coming back from her break and she did not need to offer at all) to take a group photo of us at the Jeep by the Trail of The Kings entrance.Now, if anyone from Chessington is reading this- and I know you are *waves*, then please take the time to pass on the praise, just as she took the time out of her day to make our day great. Unfortunately, I didn't catch her name, however she was wearing black so I'm assuming she was from Pizza Pasta in F&B. I will officially send in the good comments but in the mean time, I just want to get that out there.However, from an operational and guest satisfaction point of view, the health and safety restrictions on Black Buccaneer really put me off from riding this. There was just one ride's worth of guests in the queueline, yet, it took more than 10 minutes to load this ride. Or at least, we had been sitting there for that long- I hadn't seen it go round for ages before that. It's a bit shocking when you think about it. It's ironic, these Health and Safety rules designed for the enjoyment and safety of the guests actually does the complete opposite. I'm pretty sure Chessington do not need to go to such extreme measures on their age restrictions for guests; if the restrictions do not need to be there then for the sake of hindering guest enjoyment, please get rid of them! I heard several guests complain about this, which is a shame because it's such a good ride. I know I'll think twice about riding again. So frustrating!More Wild Asia goodness- it really is awesome. So, getting to the crux of what I want to say; with the exception of Wild Asia and a few other spots, the park is sadly looking very tired and not in the best condition. This is a Merlin- wide comment I suppose. It's all well and good creating themes and investing in scenery, but you need to maintain it please, provide these parks with the money to keep everything looking as though it was built yesterday. By this I mean, keep the illusion going and don't let things deteriorate so much that guests can see the construction methods behind it. It really breaks my heart. Honestly does. A couple of examples:There have been some great improvements across the park this season, which really shows the passion from the park management about this great park. However, you can clearly see that these are low budget additions, I'm clenching my whole body in anticipation that the park will eventually get the budget to properly redo some of the scenery at Chessington. The coyboys that have appeared on the Mexicana facades are great, excellent, but then you take a few steps to Runaway Train and see a faux mountain literally crumbling away so you can see the dated construction method underneath. We know it's been like this for years but it's still there and it hasn't changed.I'll make a few, brief observations from my visit before going into more detail about Vampire:Smells in Bubbleworks are great, music is great (but not when it still doesn't loop), lighting in the lift before the drop is still my fave throughout the ride. Really can't polish a turd though, the ride is still pants, even by UK standards.Falls- station interior I love, station exterior however, looking very tired and needs to be cleaned and re-painted. I'm putting a very critical eye here, but I hate seeing cables for things such as lighting, sound equipment and general infrastructure blatently on show to guests. It seems so silly but these small things really impact my enjoyment. Perhaps this is just a reflection of the "that'll do" culture that we have in the UK though. The landscaping team have done a marvellous job across the whole park and it's beautiful.I got my picture taken with Cinders, she was standing in one spot on her podium. But once I actually approached them for a photo, the ents team were great. It should be them interacting and approaching me though- makes all the difference.Vamp's interactive tombstones are more or less destroyed. You can see the polystyrene that they used to make it completely blown all over the place, huge chunks of it missing, looks pathetic.In fact, going into Vampire in more detail. Well, the good- the music has returned to a decent volume within the station and ride operator was using the PA very well and at a respectable volume, not loud at all. Well done Chessington. I'm sitting on the fence about my next comment:I love that they're changing things with with the lighting and I'm pleased to report that the organist is moving quite well at the moment. However, I am not a fan of the slight lighting change. It does look quite nice but I can't help but think it all feels a bit "discoish" in there now. The green was fantastic, I loved the red and blue combo too. Thought this, in addition to the green and other minor lighting changes makes it feel too colourful and it just doesn't quite feel right. Personal preference perhaps.I'm definitely not a fan of this though....Having worked operations before, I totally get why this has been done. To make the lives of the staff easier, perhaps to try something different, to make things clearer for guests... there are plenty of reasons why and I totally understand why from an operational standpoint, these could be very useful. However, it just looks so unprofessional and tacky. I'm sorry, but I hate them. I hate them on Tomb Blaster as well. In fact, my Team Leader and I ripped them down in 2008 (but have since returned) because, well, it's not very theme parkish is it?I'd love for there to be a budget to get studios to make some proper themed ones, make it all fit in and make the aesthetics flow, but sadly, this is another area where the park have been neglected. Hell, I'd even make them some for both Tomb Blaster and Vampire if they wanted. I've come to the end of my slightly critical report I guess. What I will say is that I still had an absolutely brilliant time at Chessington, this is due to the fantastic staff, interactive family rides, variety of experiences and great atmosphere the park does provide. However I think I'll think twice before visiting any of the UK parks until next season (or perhaps Halloween). I genuinely am very fond of our theme parks, they just need to cash so that it can be splashed!I'll leave you with some yummy food from the Monkey Puzzle and a um, "interesting" photo opportunity. :)Cheers for reading guys.

[Fred]

Three things to add/respond to on that thread.Buccaneer restrictions - I've been told, through our wonderful team leader friend, that they've changed their restrictions.. to what huss ACTUALLY tell them to do, not what chessie does. Which is people over 1.3m on the edges, regardless of age. Finally, they should have proper loading on that ride again and back to being able to bother riding it!Disco lights - I remember these being put in 2006, and everyone moaned about them then, as well as the staff, and then it was changed to all green. I honestly dont understand why they cant keep it the same bloody colour, instead of going around in circles. This park ALWAYS goes around in circles. So many times have I seen stupid things implemented, removed due to being ridiculous, then re-implemented by some numpty a few seasons later.Batching lanes - makes sense, but.. lamenated signs, I hate. It's weird that the park allows them to get away with them. Signage at lego and alton have to be confirmed first, and have to be relatively proper. The lack of this process allows for awfulness of that. Although I'd say they need them, they need to actually spend a *bit* of money on it. It's not hard! Get some thirteen style ones hanging from the ceiling.