Benin Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 The batching system on Vampire is AMAZING....Lol jk, it wasn't being done today, indeed, some guest had a go at me for walking into the empty queue for row 10 when they were in row 9, ignorant tart...It was rather rainy today, which we got through until we (rather Nicky here) elected to go on Fury... Which didn't end well as per usual, Fury went down to 2 people per car, multitudes of exit riders turned up, and of course the staff were too busy trying to make everyone embrace their bloody inner dragon to actually dispatch the bloody cars... "NO I WILL NOT FLAP MY WINGS! OH, YOU WON'T SEND THE CAR TILL I WILL? FINE THEN *sits*"There's good interaction, then there's BAD interaction that gets in the way of actual operations... Cars shouldn't be stacking cos staff are trying to get guests to roar or flap...Elsewhere was good... Vampire's new lighting was... ok... It's a nice idea to make it seem a lot more active on a visual scale, either that, or Chessie ordered a hell load of extra green and red lights from the Bubbleworks refit... Still, at least the PA had been turned down slightly... Though now it seems very much the operator loves the sound of their own voice, as the second op was louder than the first we encountered...Other positives, NEW CHARACTERS!!!! I spied 3 pirates outside Buccaneer (and one later in Mexicana) who did some great interaction with both the queue and ride itself, then whilst wandering around Wanyama we encountered an Explorer, who is essentially Nigel Thornberry and therefore EPIC... We bumped into him again in the hotel (Zafari wasn't great, over-cooked burger ¬¬) and he also did good interactions... Great to see improvements and hopefully we will see characters in EVERY area...And finally, remember that lion rockwork planning permission thing that appeared last year? It's been built now and looks very nice from the hotel (since that's where the front is mostly visible) and whilst still being worked on, shall hopefully make the animals go closer to the tower in the safari area...All in all a decent day, only ruined by Fury being crap in traditional British summer weather... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Chessington - erm.. today.This trip report may be slightly controversial but this really irritated me today (as some may have seen on facebook). It's no secret that we live in a country with a wet climate. Our summer lasts for two weeks in June and then its rain and overcast skies. If you are to visit Chessington on any rainy day you are pretty much screwed. The park luckily have Tomb Blaster, Bubbleworks, Hocus Pocus Hall and several sheltered areas such as the Zoo to keep you out of the wet. Unfortunately it has so many attractions that are effected by rain.Skyway trains can't get up the hill by SeastormPeeking becomes a battering storm of rain and wind VS pod.Rattlesnake and Dragons Fury go down to a maximum of two people per car, essentially making Fury have a 250 pph and Rattlesnake 175 pph throughput.Truckers is lucky to even start.For such a fantastic theme park it is an utter shambles that something hasn't been done to sort out this problem. Five of their 24 attractions affected by weather and what happens if a major ride like Vampire or Tomb Blaster goes down. Well yesterday happens with Fury having a two hour queue because when you throw reduced capacity, express pass, 10,000 gate figures, disabled riders and exit passes at a ride with such shockingly bad numbers.. its not a good thing.I don't want to make out I had a bad day, my day was great and I got on everything but to queue an hour for Fury when it should have been 15 minutes maximum is shocking. Guests around me in the queueline were naturally and frustrated but the operator of the ride didn't feel the need to make any PA announcements about why the ride was going around half empty.I hear you brother. I adore Fury but it really doesn't deserve to be at Chessington anymore. 300 throughput in the rain for a rollercoaster that appeals to every park visitor, it's a recipe for disaster. Why they don't do something about it is even worse. Why have a ride that can't run properly is ridiculous, idiotic and stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 I'm thinking its them being overzealous though. Why is it only 2 people per car, when other spinners (mauhrer or not) generally go down to maximum 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 It might be changing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 It might be changing...It NEEDS to... Like, can imagine they got a hell-load of complaints about it this weekend... Lots of grumbling people in the queue behind us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I hear you brother. I adore Fury but it really doesn't deserve to be at Chessington anymore. 300 throughput in the rain for a rollercoaster that appeals to every park visitor, it's a recipe for disaster. Why they don't do something about it is even worse. Why have a ride that can't run properly is ridiculous, idiotic and stupid.It has now changed back to four people per car for wet weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noob230 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 It has now changed back to four people per car for wet weather.Today, during the downpour it was still 2 adults per car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Today, during the downpour it was still 2 adults per car...Nope, it was four because I loaded four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Went today for 4 hours. Vampire sooooo needs the third train added on.Park was busy - hence why I left.Managed to get on:Vampire x2Bubbleworks x2Safari Skyway x2Tomb BlasterDragon FallsAlso tried out the Adventurer's Chicken Shack for the first time this year. Unlike the Fried Chicken Co - I really liked it. Just need some spicier sauces... :)Vampire - amazing as always. *biased*Bubbleworks - won't even bother ;)Safari Skyway - nice and relaxing for chilled day.Tomb Blaster and Dragon Falls - something about these two rides I really enjoy.Not my worst trip - but not my best. :PVampire - 80 minsRattlesnake - 60 minsKOBRA - 70 minsDragon Falls - 40 minsTomb Blaster - 20 minsDragon's Fury - 60 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Seems weird that they've just gone back to 4 per car.. so whatever the reason they had originally has been solved then?Seems weird that other rides of similar nature are still on maximum 3... But hey ho, I can't complain.. full capacity is only a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 When raining - I.e normal operation is still 3 adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 What wait... so, in wet weather.. they increase the weight in their cars?Wow. I want it to rain EVERY day now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 No, the operation was changed so you load 2 people per car in wet weather, however it's constantly normal operation regardless of weather, with 3 adults in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_A Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Right, so I visited Chessington today and had a great day, wasn't as busy as expected either and got plenty of rides in from being there ready for opening and leaving at about 6:20Didn't take any pictures, sorry. But will do this TR in bullet points for easier reading... Vampire-Only running Train1+3 today, so they haven't got it on a 3 train operation in time for the school holidays yet again… Not really complaining though as they were dispatching very quickly, and out of all my rides today only stacked on the brakes once due to exit pass riders going onto the train in front due to a large number of them being there because of a minor 20 min breakdown earlier in the day. The Operators mic has still NOT been turned down… the music is only playing at full level out of the two rear speakers in the station and very quietly at the front. The new lighting system however does look fantastic, as does the organist. So overall, Vampire was pretty good today =) Dragon's Fury. Fury was also doing well today, and didn't have as much of a big queue as I am usually used to with this ride. Not much else to say about Fury really… Other than it was absolutely awesome as usual! Rameses Revenge. Rameses had no water today Which was just annoying seeing as one of the main rwasons I go on it on a hot-ish day is to cool down This however was compensated by the ride operator making water noises when we started the second cycle and when it ended. LOL Wild Asia. Did everything here except for Jungle Bus and Monkey Swinger, was just waiting ti get on it and it had just started going up, started to spin and then wwwhiiine. It stopped, engineers came and lowered it down, then it didn't open for the rest of the day. Banyan seemed to be asleep today… Sad times Other random points... Food at Pizza&Pasta was nomnom tastyyy. All staff were really friendly and interacted well on rides (not to the point of releasing your inner dragon today though). Vampire needs it's station audio sorting out... I think we all know why. Oh, and one last thing... Fastrack was managed VERY well today, to the point where it wasn't affecting the main queues and it was providing a good service to the ones that had it. Queue Times-Vampire 50 minsDragon's fury 40 minsRattlesnake 40 mins (it was actually less though)Kobra 50 minsTomb Blaster 20 minsRunaway Train 20 minsFastrack queues were empty most of the day and were just the queue on from the split points.Sorry it's just been text, but thanks for reading, and overall what an awesome day it was! Liam T 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Vampire not doing well this year at using 3 train op. As soon as someone says it is running 3 trains a day or two later it is back to 2!Must have been a technical hitch with the jets on Rameses for them to have it off on a hot day. Hope that gets sorted soon as it's never the same without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Vampire not doing well this year at using 3 train op. As soon as someone says it is running 3 trains a day or two later it is back to 2!Must have been a technical hitch with the jets on Rameses for them to have it off on a hot day. Hope that gets sorted soon as it's never the same without.Every year I've known Chessington, they've never had three trains at the beginning of the Summer holidays. At the moment it isn't really essential anyway because this is the quietest part of the holidays. A lot of people have gone on holiday and as Luke said, the park was quiet. It's towards the middle where the third train will be needed otherwise Vampire's queue will be absolutely heaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Maybe quieter than later on in the holidays but, I think if I ran a theme park a 50 minute queue would warrant the use of a third train and try to get it ready for the whole of the school holidays, especially the summer holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Maybe quieter than later on in the holidays but, I think if I ran a theme park a 50 minute queue would warrant the use of a third train and try to get it ready for the whole of the school holidays, especially the summer holidays.On the other side of the coin though, I've seen times when Chessie have run 3 trains on Vampire which has caused a 5 minute queue tops... Which whilst nice is really crap to work in with the constant trains when there's no real need for it yet...It's not in parts at least this year... Will probs be on in a week or so give or take... No need to panic since as been said, this is not the busiest time of the year and it was only the first summer weekend... It'll be on when Chessie feel it's best to put it on, and not before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 A lot of staff I've heard have wanted 3 trains back on now. Gotta love 3 trains <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 A lot of staff I've heard have wanted 3 trains back on now. Gotta love 3 trains <3That's just you though, what about the other staff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Maybe quieter than later on in the holidays but, I think if I ran a theme park a 50 minute queue would warrant the use of a third train and try to get it ready for the whole of the school holidays, especially the summer holidays.Vamps could have a 50 minute queue at any time in the year. Later in the holidays when Vampire has a 90 minute queue with 3 trains, that the time that Chessington require the extra train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 That's just you though, what about the other staff? Others have said it as well - so not just me... For once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 So I went to Chessington for the weekend, 1) because I haven't been for months and 2) It was Benin's 21st Birthday.I had Chris in hand and off we went. Got there on Saturday about 1 o clock and went straight for the Skyway. Wonderful ride but Chessington, how many times must it be said DO SOMETHING WITH IT. It's a wonderful unqiue use of a transportation system and it is going to waste in its delapidated state. Got off and went to ride the Bubbleworks. It was starting to rain so it was sort of the right choice. We queued the whole length of the queue and it took 20 minutes. Lack of fastrackers at the park it seems, even since they changed what each fastrack offers, people seem less willing to purchase.. excellent.Bubbleworks staff were on something, trying desperately to pair up twos with whoever they damnest could. Now the rain was coming down hard so spent half an hour in Caffe Nero soaking up the atmopshere. With the rain starting to die went and rode Tomb Blaster. You can say what you want about the ride, it certainly has a sense of scale and is actually quite epic in terms of scenery and props. It fails on pace but its theming is top notch.Came out and the sun was out in full bloom. So off to Kobra and the delightful Wild Asia. There's something about this area that makes it so special but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe after several years of nothing, it was a breathe of fresh air. Whatever it is, Wild Asia works and is a real asset to the park. Kobra is lovely to, although.. a little short. Seemed to only go over the hump twice despite only a 15 minute queue.I noticed a new bit of theming in the queueLoved it. It's amazing that after years and years of Thorpe Park flat rides, one flat ride at Chessington knocks them all out of the park in terms of theme. Kobra is a delight.So afterwards, we'd had enough of rides and went for a long journey through the zoo. You guessed it, its brilliant and adds that little extra dimension over its Merlin stablemates. All animals seemed out in force, ready to pose and eat dead rats. I particularly loved the ostriches which looked ready to kill. What the area needs is some more animals though, I'd love to see giraffes on that land, they'd really suit the park to.Next was off to Rattlesnake. I love what they've done to Mexicana this year, actors seem to be roaming, wanted posters are dotted around and was it me but are some effects on Rattle now working again to? Was working well to, only a 10 minute queue. After our hotel jaunt we decided to go check in at the hotel. For Benin we'd decided to get views overlooking the safari area. We got upgraded to an executive room, top floor, overlooking the area and it was a gorgeous place to stay. I could watch animals all day long to be honest. Met Benin and Nicky and had food downstairs in their new restraunt. Great food even if the service was slightly bizarre. Much coaster chat was had before bed times. The Ostriches were watching us in the dark, very creeeeeepy.SO next morning, had breakfast (So Expensive!) and went into the park. Rattlesnake, Runaway Train, Tomb Blaster, Monkey Swinger and Dragon Falls were done before Benin and the Nickster headed home. Chris and I stayed and queued 45 minutes for Vampire (good work by the team in the station) and took advantage of a Fury breakdown and queue evacuation to only queue 10 minutes for the Fury. We took one last wlak round the zoo before leaving.It was a really nice weekend to be honest. Chessington is such a cozy little park. You don't need to rush around from ride to ride and you certainly don't require huge ride counts to have a magical experience. I want investment in the park but I also want them to stay true to the way they're running the park at the moment. Little touches and theme effects are being added all over the place such as extra theming on Dragon Falls or talking gravestones at Vampire. It really adds to a top day out. Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Got there on Saturday about 1 o clock and went straight for the Skyway. Wonderful ride but Chessington, how many times must it be said DO SOMETHING WITH IT.Mmm yes, I have to say that out of the old branding left at chessington - this is one of the most prominant, and most important to change (before was Chessington shop - glad that got sorted out).When will it get a towers monorail style rebrand? Now that'd be good! And only involve a simple vinyl wrap. Mmm cheap!Good report markus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 No-one been to Chessie since August? Bout time for some Halloween mentions then...So I went to Chessie with the mob known as Coasterforce yesterday, after 3 years of not going with them for the annual Halloween meet-up due to several factors including uni and some annoying people, I found myself lacking a thing to do on Tuesday, so popped home solely for Chessie...The park never changes, even for Halloween, and it looked the same with all the usual cobwebs, witches, spiders and voodoo dolls we all saw last year (and for most of it, before as well), but it does look good and the fact they make an effort across the entire park for extra bits and bobs makes it more superior to Towers (which has theming in two areas) and Thorpe's nooses...The park itself was rather busy, and after an hour of faff, Vampire happened, and a 50 minute queue on two trains in half term is quite alright to me... Interaction from the Vampire in Black Forest Haunt and some of the peasant ones who walked through the entire queue was heavily approved of as well... Still the usual ride and mess around in the station though... Bubbleworks was next, and involved a mass dance in the station on the stairs... I forgot how often enthusiast groups get more insaner in larger numbers, and needless to say the staff were amused by the entire staircase dancing simultaneously...For some reason we did Seastorm then lunch... Me and John (of Italy trip fame) went off to the hotel, and both had the sausages and watched the Zebras... Such a tasty (and empty) restaurant during the day... Especially with the £10 for 2 courses deal they do... Noticed the new Fennec Foxes enclosure having netting around it... But they weren't to be seen which depressed me... Charlie was out though and all was well... Off to Dragon Falls!The trip consists of a Raffle (Faffle) were random theme park tat from many parks is given away... Always entertaining to see what gets given away, such as Greenwood mints, Vampire dummy, Gardaland dragon, and the best prize, a Rainbow Magicland mousemat and mouse set... I won something for the first time ever, which made me happy...After a jaunt on Falls, we headed towards Tomb Blaster, which was open yet closed, as apparently the 80 minute queue it had gained ( ) meant the staff wanted to put the 5th train on, so closed off the queue, got everyone through the queue and got it on... Surely the park should have been running such rides at full capacity already, considering it's half term? Oh well, Rameses was called upon to fill the void...As always with CF, something breaks down, and this time it was Rameses mid-cycle... After a LOT of faff and strange things going on, people got off, and we headed to Mexicana for a Runaway Train and Rattlesnake double bill... Nearly all of Rattle's queue theming is working again, but they need to redo the cave part of the queue... Because it is VILE...Light was falling, but we headed off to Wild Asia and the Tuk Tuks were first to be ridden as Swinger was closed due to sick (really?)... As Kobra's queue looked bleh and it was being unreliable, we elected for the new addition of the Krypt...This part of the review is in spoilers... Located in the Hospitality Tent, I had no idea what to expect from this attraction, but one thing was for certain, it is themed extremely well... And that's just the inside part of the queueline (half being outside)...Batched into groups of 10, you are led into a chamber by an explorer, where he tells you about the krypt and the curse, when a kobra head goes RAWR at you and sprays mist... Providing a decent jump and sogginess to follow... Around the corner we are faced with some excessively weird walls, which either have an extra pressing through the spongey material, or just animatronics... Either way, one member of the group didn't notice and walked right into the arms of the wall, providing much amusement...Another corridor, we are told to stop and the explorer mentions that there have been lots of scarabs seen, cue things being dumped on our heads (later to be discovered as rice) with some air pops as well... Well done feature tbh... We are then handed over to a new explorer who leads us into a dead ended chamber with no windows, or no doors... He lights up a wall to reveal a riddle, and we work it out using our awesome skills and push open a way out... Into a tomb no less... Naturally inquisitive (and in the presence of Cheryl Cole (excellent joke by the actor)) he opens the coffin to reveal a mummy jumping up and off we run into the arms of a 3rd explorer...He tells us to conga line up and off we go into the dark maze portion of the attraction... For eagle eyed members, it is the same layout (ish) as Twilight Zone, and in a shipping container as well... Good old Merlin... Still cool with all the additional spider webs but could have maybe done with a few extra features such as pistons or bits that light up? Either way we got out and into the extremely foggy jungle... Inching deeper into the fog, we are greeted by a giant gorilla head and run out into the exit and the light/dark of day...Whilst not the scariest thing ever, for Chessie, it's perfect... Fits the adventure theme, has a good mix of things throughout, rather good actors... I think the ending could have done with some work as it didn't really have a finale like feel, as the majority (including ourselves) just ambled out with very little screaming or scares... Perhaps having something akin to the gorilla of Carnival of Screams actually running at the group could help to provide something a bit more interesting, especially as the exit is right next to the queue... But maybe a bit too unsuitable for Chessie... It's a tricky one, but it's certainly an excellent addition to the Halloween line-up... After our journey, we headed back to the group and glowsticks! These are the big thing about this trip, and several hundreds of them appear every year... After faff with them, we headed to the Fury queue which was fast-moving and provided us with much entertainment... Fury itself was brilliant... Good spinning and just reminding how amazing it really is... Loved it...With only 15 minutes left, we legged it to Vampire (missing out on the annual Buccaneer in the dark, but for valid reasons this year) and enjoyed the dark queue atmosphere it always provides... The ride again was typical Vampire... I do really like it because it provides an extremely fun ride no matter what, even with the bumpiness... And the darkness as per all rides, really makes a difference...And that concludes my 2011 season... It was a very good end to the year for me, Chessie being it's usual self really and the group being entertaining... Although didn't do every ride (Tomb and Buccaneer) it was still a fab day out for me...Roll on next year then...And in case anyone cares, I have some pics up on the Book of Face HERE!!! Luke_A and Nicky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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