Chessington Trip Reports

[Matt 236]

Well it's certain Chessie's ride teams have gone down in standards in the last few years. I remember the days of 2006 when the park though not perfect seemed a lot better then. The ride loading s were considerably faster and the park probably in slightly better state than it is now (bar Wild Asia and Zufari).

Whilst this is perhaps my most enjoyed season at Thorpe since 2006, this is certainly my least enjoyed Chessington season. The park needs big changes in the next few years for the better.

[Mattgwise]

25 minutes for Fury Fastrack?

You say the queue hit 2 hours...

That is not a valid complaint... Fastrack does not grant instant access to the ride, it shortens the individual's queue-time in comparison to the main queue...

Fair comment as it is there to reduce queueing times not a VIP system with no queuing at all, BUT I have heard the fast track sales team on several occassions, whether it be in the fast track kiosk or at ride entrances advertise it is skipping the queues. That would be perceived by many as instant access. Do you think paying for fast track and waiting 1 hour for Kobra is acceptable as that was the situation going on there which led to the exclusive rides occuring.

[Benin]

I've had that precise situation with Kobra before with Fastrackers/Disabled, and I complained about it on the day... It's not great at all...

Chessie's operations have fallen off a cliff and sunk into that massive gorge in the ocean...

[Fred]

Chessie is useless with any sort of guests. I'm surprised noones ever bothered to try and do anything about it. Maybe noone actually gives a monkeys there anymore.

2006, operations side was way better, but the rides themselves were falling to bits still.

[Merry-go-girl]

Insane day. Just look at the "Recent Posts by others" section of the Chessington Facebook page!

Funny thing about that is those awful reviews used to only come after the weekend. Mid week people had more nice things to say about the park. But now they're coming in all week long, this must be the absolute worst time to visit the park.

[Coaster]

They are idiots.

Not running rides at full throughput will seriously affect people's days - especially when they oversell fastrack as well.

They don't deserve customers.

[Benin]

Found out tonight they run 3 cars on Toadies...

No clue... Absolutely none...

[Tom]

Probably another thing they've recently introduced to lower the likliehood of colisions. But they could always just train staff properly!

[Fred]

Oh, but training staff would never reduce the likelihood of it NEVER happening again!!!!11 .

Just close all your rides and become a zoo again Chessie. You know you want to. How safe would that be then?!

[Benin]

Just close all your rides and become a zoo again Chessie. You know you want to. How safe would that be then?!

But then people might see Bintorongs getting eaten by Lions again and permentantly scarred for life...

Might as well just close

[Mark9]

They are idiots.

Not running rides at full throughput will seriously affect people's days - especially when they oversell fastrack as well.

They don't deserve customers.

The problem is they are running rides on full capacity. How can Vampire run three trains for example if the third train no longer exists.

The Toadies 3 car thing is a blinder though. Truckers crashes frequently, does that mean it should only run one Truck per cycle.

Man, Chessington's gone to the dogs.

[J.S217]

And one other Thing they do not run Fury on full Capacity with the odd 3 adults only rule

[Mark9]

And one other Thing they do not run Fury on full Capacity with the odd 3 adults only rule

It used to be two adults maximum per car, so thats something Chessington has sorted out slightly. Does that rule still apply on Rattlesnake, as it did the last time I went to Chessington.

[Fred]

The only thing which seems to run as intended, and get a higher capacity over peak periods, is Tomb Blaster and 5 trains..

Oh crap, probably just reminded Chessie of that. That'll be gone soon as well, no doubt

[Coaster]

The problem is they are running rides on full capacity. How can Vampire run three trains for example if the third train no longer exists.

Its the dispatch times as much as anything! They may be running two trains but with dispatch times like that it's no better (if not worse) than running one.

[Mattgwise]

Not a great day at Chessington today, got on 7 rides, but at least the park did extend ride opening until 6:30pm, although I think it should be open until at least 7 during August as Standard. I can also confirm the wasp saga really is not that bad. Saw more than usual but not too many and could comfortably hold food or drink (only had a wasp come near me three times in the whole day)

Upon arrival the park was already extremely busy and by 10:15 Vampire already had a 75 minute queue. 70 minutes later we were on. They really are useless with this ride. The whole ride system needs an upgrade, the staff need rockets up their bums and the third train needs to return. I timed on two occassions in the station 2m30s between train arriving in station and leaving. Then when I said to the worker that they used to dispatch in 45 seconds at one point he said that it was impossible and that I must be wrong!!! By the time we got off the queue had reached the 2 hour mark.

Next wandered over to Dragon Falls to be presented with an 80 minute advertised queue although 45 minutes later we were on. Why are they redeveloping this ride? Other areas look in much worse condition. In my view all they need to do is restore it back to it's former glory putting back the rock work.

After this headed over to Wild Asia. Attempted to join Monkey Swinger queue to be told it had shutdown and needed to be tested. We then headed over to Kobra which was advertised as 2 hours. We decided to leave that and lined up for Tuk Tuk Turmoil. 30-40 minutes later we were at the front and it started to kick off between to families as one tried to let people through the queue to join them. The staff member was very professional and dealt with the situation very well defusing the argument. Though we were going to have a repeat of Legoland at this point.

After this Monkey Swinger had reopened so waited 40 minutes to ride that. It is ridiculous that only one member of staff operates this ride, causing loading, unloading and checking to be painfully slow. What happened to the days of being counted into the batching area during the ride, not after the previous rides guests have left. At least 5 minutes passed between each cycle and of course large numbers of people using the exit gate, slowing the queue further. Also does anyone know how long the water has not been working, it was off or broken today and really reduces the experience?

Then had lunch in a deserted Zafari, which was pretty average.

Next headed to bubble works to be faced with a 60 minute queue.

After this was offered a free fast track ticket for Dragon's Fury by a random who had to leave the park early. As much as I HATE fast track of course I didn't decline. However we had to wait 25 minutes for the ride. I found this outrageous and would have complained to AS had I purchased the ticket.

Finally at 5:20 decided to attempt the 70 minute queue for Kobra. This ride is another that has a painful waiting time and I was horrified to find twice throughout the wait the operator announce that the next ride will be exclusive to fast track ticket holders and exit passes to reduce theirs and then the main queue time. Fast track was clearly over sold and caused even Tiny Truckers to have an hour queue. I mean seriously, an hour for that!!!!!

And by then it was 6:40pm and the end of the day.

Some other queue lines we saw included 90 minutes for Zufari, 100 minutes for Tomb Blaster, and Fury peaked at 2 hours 10 mins at one point.

Apart from the poor operations still tried to make the day a good one and have to say all retail staff were amazing.

Have had a response today for my visit described above:

Thank-you for taking the time to email us regarding your recent visit to Chessington. Your comments are valued and we appreciate your feedback. What’s more, we aim to respond promptly and honestly and, whenever practical, act on the comments to improve the total guest experience. Firstly, please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to the specific points you have raised; we have been experiencing a high volume of incoming communications. We aim to give each message the attention it deserves.

We’re very pleased to hear about the positive aspects of your time spent here. I have ensured that your lovely comments have been passed on to the relevant members of our team. It is, however, very disappointing to hear that you were unsatisfied with several aspects of your visit.

In regards to the opening hours of the park, as a resort committed to providing a family day-out, we operate within standard commercial opening hours. We believe that this allows our adventurers to make the most of their visit while respectfully observing that many families will have a long journey home and with young children. Furthermore, while Chessington is located conveniently within ease of the local centres of Kingston and Chessington, we understand that these areas have a high residential population. Thus, to reduce noise and traffic disruption, we respectfully observe our neighbours and operate within general working hours. We apologise for any disappointment caused by this factor and as part of our consistent development, I have passed your comments on to our marketing team for review.

The Fastrack system, as you will know, is provided for guests who wish to save time on queuing. The number of tickets available for each attraction has a maximum allocation that reflects the capacity of each attraction. We’re sure you can appreciate it can be very difficult to anticipate in which order our adventures will use the attractions available on their Fastrack packages, therefore we ensure we monitor guest feedback on a daily basis and look for trends in queue times to ensure we are providing the best service possible to both Fastrack ticket holders and the main queue line. It appears on this occasion that our Fastrack allocations were not monitored effectively. I have ensured that your comments are forwarded to our Xtra Adventures team to review our systems to make sure that our loading and dispatching of the rides is consistent and fair.

In relation to the operation of our rides, the waterjets on the Monkey Swinger are a permanent installation and it appears that during your visit, these were not operational. In terms of the dispatching of Vampire, as a company dedicated to developing upon the feedback of our guests, we will most definitely review our current methods and, if necessary, make any changes and/or modifications.

As I can see you and your family did not have the day that you had hoped and planned for, I shall be sending out a return certificate for the 2 of you to return any time between now and August 2014. Once again I do apologise for the unusual events experienced during your visit with us.

I do hope I have been able to effectively address your comments and resolve any issues that you may have. Here at Chessington, your feedback is extremely important to us, guiding and shaping our future development and ultimately, helping us to provide world-class customer service. Please rest assured that your comments will be fed back to the relevant departments and staff members. Should you wish to discuss your concerns further, please do not hesitate to contact me and I shall assist you duly.

We have a number of incredibly exciting, new, wild adventures waiting to be discovered here at Chessington this year and beyond, and we look forward to welcoming you to enjoy the vast array of fantastic, unique experiences we have on offer.

We hope to see you soon at "Britain's Wildest Adventure!"

[pluk]

Your comments are valued and we appreciate your feedback. What’s more, we aim to respond promptly and honestly and, whenever practical, act on the comments to improve the total guest experience...

...The Fastrack system, as you will know, is provided for guests who wish to save time on queuing. The number of tickets available for each attraction has a maximum allocation that reflects the capacity of each attraction. We’re sure you can appreciate it can be very difficult to anticipate in which order our adventures will use the attractions available on their Fastrack packages, therefore we ensure we monitor guest feedback on a daily basis and look for trends in queue times to ensure we are providing the best service possible to both Fastrack ticket holders and the main queue line. It appears on this occasion that our Fastrack allocations were not monitored effectively. I have ensured that your comments are forwarded to our Xtra Adventures team to review our systems to make sure that our loading and dispatching of the rides is consistent and fair.

I like the length and time they're taken to respond, but this bit grates. They've been running the system for years, they know how it works but they've chosen to take the money over giving anyone a good day out. It's a concious decision they've made, it is no mistake. Maybe they won't admit it to customers but if they are not admitting that to themselves things won't get better.

[Michelle]

Had a lovely visit to Chessington yesterday. It was very quiet, with pretty much all rides walk on. The staff were also incredibly friendly, even when walking between attractions which really added to the atmosphere on park. I can't really comment on operations for the day because queues weren't long enough to try to achieve a high througput.

Also had my first ride on Zufari. I think it fits Chessington perfectly and will improve over time as the plants grow and the area will hopefully look more natural. I don't like the idea of waiting in the cattlepen queue though!

I enjoyed looking at the zoo, particularly the baby gorillas (awwww!) and took in the sealion and wild wood shows. The staff presenting these shows were enthusiastic and knowledgeable and these shows are a great feature to the park.

Generally I thought that the park looked nice, but I do think certain areas need some attention. The area with the picnic benches next to the Dragon Falls exit for example. This could be a very nice area, but it just looks unkempt. The station exterior also really needs a good lick of paint. I also think Bubbleworks needs some care as some of the scenery is starting to show wear, with paint rubbing off etc. This should be easy to fix but would make such a big difference to the presentation of the ride.

And on another note... I know it's only temporary but the fencing around "Big Bad Boo" looks really ugly and ruins market square... There must be a better way to keep nosy guests out?

[dragon2000]

Went to Chessington on Tuesday, a trip report:

Day was very busy!

Started off the day being directed all the way around the grass car parks to the flat field at the top near the lorikeets, despite the closer gravel car park being empty - weird. Was 9.50 and the park was already open so went straight in.

Dragon's Fury (10min), good as always.

Vampire (40min), very slow loading.

Bubbleworks (20min), fun times, looking ok.

Safari Skyway (20min), chance to have a look at developments in the zoo - digging!

Quick stop at the children's zoo to say hi to the goats - best part of Chessie...

Rattlesnake and Tomb Blaster both had 45min queues so off to Zufari (also 45min) - saw a good number of animals, didn't get soaked in the cave unlike most of the other people sat on the outside so was relieved!

Lunch at Pizza Pasta, yum!

Looked around Trail of the Kings and watched the sealion presentation - excellent.

Decided to see what the fuss was about with the Hocus Pocus Hall transformation. Had to queue 75mins for it due to the popularity and number of priority pass users. Only 8 or so people go through in each group due to the tight spaces inside. It was very well done for an attraction aimed at younger adventurers - actors did well and I would recommend it, now if only it had it been a smaller queue!

It was now dark and so was time to start night riding. We were hopeful we could get at least 3 rides in the dark...

Headed back to Rattlesnake - was now 60mins so skipped it again, went towards Dragon's Fury and on the way noticed that Tomb Blaster was also 60mins. Just as we arrived at the Dragon's Fury queue (advertised as 80mins) we heard those infamous words 'Dragon's Fury has ceased operation due to a technical fault'. Cars stopped on the mid-course brake runs and lift, so on we walk again!

Arrived at Vampire which was displaying a 60min queue. Turned out we waited 100mins due to slow loading, what seemed to be at least 2 breakdowns (of course in the queue you don't know because there are no speakers, but the ride wasn't dispatched for at least 10mins each time), and despite there being no Fastrack there were a huge number of people with priority passes coming up the Fastrack gate - can you imaging how long the queue would have been Fastrack in operation ?! On a positive, the ride is pretty good at night and the majority of Vampire's lighting looks great at night - though they have missed out on lighting the train front & backs this year, and there was no lighting in the tunnel . There was also no lighting on the horse rider figure at the base of the second lift, bit of a wasted opportunity imo.

After an eternity in the Vampire queue, the time was now 6.45pm. A quick stop off at the toilet and then on to Dragon's Fury which had thankfully decided to work again... Queue said 60mins but of course as usual the stoppage of Fastrack at that time of day plus staff wanting to go home meant dispatching was happening at a good pace. Got on the ride in 30mins - very cool at night.

Very busy day and can only imagine the length of the queues today on Halloween itself, Friday, and on Saturday. I would be pretty disappointed with the amount I got to do at the park if I was just a day visitor. Compared to a trip to Thorpe Park earlier this week we did 6 rides (2 in the dark) + 1 haunt + 30mins in the zoo at Chessington VS 15+ rides (5 in the dark) + 1 haunt at Thorpe Park. Perhaps the visitors will be better spread out next year when Rameses and Runaway Train re-open. Having queues of 60mins+ at closing time really shows Chessington that they should be opening past 7pm - back to 9pm would be good!

The park looks excellent at night, probably spending the most effort/money on the additional lighting of all the Merlin parks - ironic seeing as they have the fewest dark opening hours! Finally, getting out the grass car park was actually pretty painless compared to previous years - they have even concreted one of the bends on the exit road instead of the muddy craters. More cement to create a proper 'road' that links to it now please!!

[TPJames]

I really don't see how they can let priority pass users through when they have stopped fastrack? Confuses me so much!

[Dan9]

I really don't see how they can let priority pass users through when they have stopped fastrack? Confuses me so much!

Because they're not sold, they're given out by guest services on an individual basis.

[TPJames]

Because they're not sold, they're given out by guest services on an individual basis.

Yes but it still creates the issue of the queue moving slowly...

[Benin]

Priority Passes were probably given out due to Fury conking out and been told that they could use it on Vampire...

As such, cannot be considered a burden in the same way as Fastrack because it's down to unexpected things...

[BigBobJones]

Festive Zoo day 7th December 2013

To start of with I was in two minds if I was going to go at all. The reason for this is that Legoland have been advertising on the local radio that they have 8 rides open, each child gets a Lego toy, free entry for the kids, it all sounded too good to be true. In reality all the rides Legoland had open were pants, and the cost to get in for adults was £20 for normal guests and £15 for annual pass holders. So this means two adults who own a pass will pay £30 to get in for most of the park to be closed, but if they went during the main season it is free entry and for normal guests it is still cheaper for them to go on a BOGOF and get the full experience..... Still a hell of a lot cheaper than Lapland UK of course. Where as for Annual pass holders it was free to get into Chessington.

Then put the added advantage that our lunch would get MAP discount, free fizzy drinks, it was going to be a cheap day out.

Looking on the Chessington Website, it is very clear there was going to be very little open.

"7th - 9th, 14th - 16th December, 19th December – 5th January (excluding 25th December) - Open 10am - 3pm.

NEW FOR 2013 - Take a magical adventure to visit Father Christmas* and his elves in a brand-new walkthrough attraction "The Night before Christmas - A Magical Adventure". When you enter the home of Father Christmas, you’ll find yourself in a world of wonder and excitement!

• Journey into the Elves workshop and help them make some very special toys.
• Discover how Mrs. Christmas makes all those delicious Christmas cookies in her kitchen.
• Assist the Head Elf in sorting through all those Christmas cards and letters in the Mail Room.
• Finally, enter the study of Father Christmas and show him your Christmas lists!
• Don’t forget to collect your free chocolate as you leave!

That's not all - take your photo with our Reindeer or have a walk on the wild side and visit Trail of the Kings. See our Lions, Tigers, Gorilla, Binturong, Fossa and Lynx, then come face to face with the creature beneath the waves including sharks and rays in our SEALIFE Centre. Don’t miss our Sealions making a splash over at Sealion Bay, and be fearless explorers and brave snakes, lizards and spiders in Creepy Caves.

Plus, with our daily animal shows there will be lots to see and do this winter."

For those people who have moaned they don't get a present, it states you only get chocolate. I was disappointed to see there were no rides advertised as open on the website as previous Festive Zoo days have included Seastorm, Bubbleworks and Hocus Pocus.

But it was very clear what you were going to get, half the Zoo, see Santa and no rides. If you had any additional expectations, you will only be disappointed.

Plus there was no map to download showing you what was open. Here is a copy for those who are going to be visiting

Entry to park

This is something they got very right and very wrong at the same time. Let me explain...

I checked the website the night before and the scrolling message said to get there early if you were an Annual Pass holder. So we got to Chessington at 09:25, we were the second lot of people at the gates. We were greeted by locked gates, no Christmas decorations, no members of staff. As the queue started to build guests were queuing on the Zebra crossing and delivery trucks were trying to get through, not very safe for young children. It really would not have hurt for Chessington to have a member of staff on the main gates to talk to guests and manage queuing on the Zebra crossing. It was not until 09:55 that a member of staff came to open the main gates. They were playing Christmas music inside the park, but guests queuing outside could not hear it.

Now this is where things could have improved. Have at least one member of staff on the main gates at 09:30 to answer any questions and greet the guests, this really doesn't cost much but gives a better impression. Let guests through the main gates at 09:45, allow those purchasing tickets or retrieving Annual Passes to get them and other guests to go directly to the turn styles. It is madness that they have a perfectly good queuing system inside the park, but they choose to have their guests queuing over a zebra crossing with traffic trying to use the road. I won't go into details about an extremely rude guest who though queues were not for her and that everyone else "had to get out more" or "Have a hernia" when they pointed out she was queue jumping.. This would have been fixed with a member of staff getting guests into line.

Then we were let in, got up to the machines to scan our tickets and I can say the staff were brilliant, asking guests if anyone had a birthday, singing happy birthday to somebody and getting everyone excited. Then at 10am we were let in, and Chessington have indeed done up the park. The lights are still in place from Halloween too.

The Night Before Christmas walk-through

Located in the Creaky Cafe, the venue itself is very small. After visiting and reading the description, Chessington really did oversell this attraction. The staff were very friendly and professional, yes we were the third group through the door as we chose to run directly here rather than queue for ages.

• Journey into the Elves workshop and help them make some very special toys. - You just walk into a room and a member of staff chats to you to kill time, this is all really
• Discover how Mrs. Christmas makes all those delicious Christmas cookies in her kitchen. - I didn't see any kitchen, there was talk about things she makes and some fake food (See picture below), but I'm sure everyone who has done this bit will remember "Don't touch" is all I can remember
• Assist the Head Elf in sorting through all those Christmas cards and letters in the Mail Room. - I must have missed this bit

To be honest for a free attraction it was good, if you had paid just to come to see Santa, then I can understand how people would be disappointed with this. The theme was good, it was warm in there and we didn't queue, but there was a very big queue outside most of the day.

AND of course there is the up selling part which Merlin can not resist, the photo with Santa, we got a photo and it was good quality, the Picsolve guy was on his own, he couldn't get the photos into the holder as they were not fitting, he couldn't get the photos into the photo Christmas tree decoration as the plastic was not fitting together. We were the 3rd group of guests through as a disable group had been fast tracked in front of us and already the queue to get photos was causing a delay in guests getting out of the Santa room. I mentioned to a member of staff about this bottle neck, I'm not sure if anything was done about it or not.

I guess if I had waited 30+ mins for this, I would be disappointed.

Employee of the month

Somebody said they didn't have Christmas trees, I saw 4 of them in the kitchen area and more with Santa, here is proof of one of the trees

The kitchen

Meeting Santa

Picsolve picture

The queue was very long

Rides

I was very happy to see that there were rides open this year, I am guessing the reason for these not being advertised on the website is to only attract guests who want the Zoo and Santa and not guests who are expecting a full theme park. I can understand this, but looking at what was on offer, you have half the Zoo missing, some guests would be put off by no rides. But the park was very busy indeed, so it looks like they got this one right. I won't be returning for February half term as it was too busy last year and Alton Towers have a much better line up of things on.

The Bubbleworks was the same as it always is, one or two effects fixed, but still in need of a good clean. Seastorm was good, the first time I went on it, I didn't realise the cars turned around. Hocus Pocus was good, either I had a pair of 3D glasses which were working well, but it looks like the place has had a good clean and the 3D effects looked better than normal.

Food

This is what really let our day down. They had the doughnut shack open at he main gate and the Market Square sweet shop open, but the only resturant open was the Chicken Shack. We wanted a Burger Kitchen, but that was closed and we could not get to Pizza Pasta as most of Market Square was a construction site. Now unless you could gain access to Pizza Pasta from the Childrens Zoo, it all looked very much closed off to us(See picture below).

The Chicken Shack is just a nasty place, every time I go here, either high season, low season, it is just a nightmare.

Now I have never had any complaints about the quality or taste of the food on any of my visits, in fact I prefer the food in there to Burger Kitchen, but the service is just so shocking and it is the same every time we go in there.

Queue to get a table, the tables are too close so you bash into guests to get to your table. Then the queue to order food is always out of the door, the staff are either too slow or they do not have enough staff on and the knowledge of their very limited menu was not good. They could not work out how to get the post mix machine working so we could get our drinks.

We had 1 kids chicken meal, 1 beef burger, 1 chicken burger and 1 Panini. We waited over 10 mins at the main counter, then was given a hot panini and no drinks as they would bring them over when they worked out how to use the machine. So 1 child had their full meal, but we we waited for ours. After 15 mins we queued up to remind the staff they had forgotten our drinks. Then the food I had seen under the hot lights for a good 10 mins was brought over to our table. It tasted good, but it is really not that difficult to have the food arrive at the same time. They really need to sort out the queue system or employ more staff as it is always very bad in there.

Plus they need to learn how to clean properly, we sat at the table far right at the back, near the door where the staff took the used plates. The windows next to us had 6 live flies crawling over it, there were two dead wasps on the window seal and the amount of dust and old bits of food which had clearly been there since the main season really is off putting. The tables and the kitchen looked clean, but you would think that with the park being closed for 6 weeks, they would have done a deep clean of the whole place.

But they put up some decorations

Sealife

Being an indoor attraction this was very popular, to be honest way too popular and busy, but the staff were on full form and for us it killed 20 mins of our time. The displays were fine and guests looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Animals

Sea Lions were good as normal, we missed the Penguin presentation, Otters and didn't bother with the Childrens Zoo as we have done those many times this year. Creepy Caves were closed but advertised on the website as open. The Reindeer were popular which you would expect. The Trail of the Kings was good and most of the animals were out despite the cold weather. Most of the glass viewing windows have been cleaned or replaced, so you can now see through and take pictures which has made a huge difference

Construction work

Market Square was closed and lots of building work was taking place, there were at least 3 lorry sized skips near the Black Buccaneer so it looks like the £5 million upgrade is going well. I was not able to get close to the Mine Train or RR. Fury did look in need of a good paint.

Other photos taken on the day

[Benin]

What the hell are they doing in Market Square?

That's rather surprising that half the buildings are covered in scaffolding...