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Chessington 2013


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Thing is, you say its outdated but then the Jumbos are key important rides at all the Disney Magic Kingdom parks so there quite clearly is a draw there. The problem with Jumbos is something that lies through every Chessington ride. It just isn't looked after. Jumbos could look amazing, everytime they repaint the elephants, they look like new. But they've let the structure fade into a really dodgy green giving the ride this ancient looking edge.As for keeping it, well it is a popular ride. Throughput plays a part in it, but it is terrific for young kids and far more eventful then Sea Dragons or Carousel.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's interesting the merlin parks in the uk are all kind of in bad situations.Chessington is surrounded by green belt.Alton towers is in protected woodland, and very strict height restrictions.Legoland has now pretty much swelled to as big as it can get.Thorpe park has the unusual situation of having plenty of expansion space and higher restrictions, but unable to do much because its surrounded by lakes.Kind of a no win situation for all the parks.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Fantastic news. :) Been having a thorough look through all of the documents; if you haven't done so, I highly recommend; there are some cool mood boards and visualisations (some we haven't seen before) in some of the files, do some digging if you have the time. I wasn't too excited about this project before but after having a proper read and look, this can only be good news for the park.

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Not created by merlin studios.

Interesting.

However, what is more interesting is this letter http://images.kingston.gov.uk/images_dellstore/DC/1210008/Image_97.pdf - it states what chessingtons been doing in the past decade, why they've rebranded, that the park has continually had ideas and applications which have been shelved.. It shows they do actually care for the place and need this in order to succeed.

Only weird thing is they're planning to maintain visitor numbers through this investment, not increase it. But does show what an arse the local council are to them.

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A source off ttf also reports that Merlin are putting £12 million into the project so I look forward to see how this turns out!

Ahh some investment, I'm happy now all we need is a new rollercoaster like Manta at SeaWorld San Diego and I'm very happy

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Only weird thing is they're planning to maintain visitor numbers through this investment, not increase it. But does show what an arse the local council are to them.

I think that may be a tactical piece of wording. If they tell the council they plan to increase visitor numbers they would probably try and squeeze some infrastructure money out of them, if the plan is for visitor numbers to remain static the council have not got grounds to make such a claim. When visitor numbers exceed those planned everyone is happy!

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  • 1 month later...

Apart from the council who will take a negative view due to congestion on Leatherhead Road.

Just going back here, Leatherhead Road is always busy during the day regardless of whether Chessington is open. During the season when the park is open, the traffic lights at the North entrance have helped ease the flow of traffic. The South entrance doesn't help at all and is quite frankly dangerous but I've travelled to Chessington many a time during November to February and that road is just a nightmare.

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Just received my Merlin annual pass Magazine thing for the first time and there is quite a good section on Chessington over the years. Although it does say "The resort has changed beyond all recognition" which I think is at odds with what we think, that the park has stayed pretty much the exact same. It does also state that it has received "huge investment" have to say I haven't seen any...

Still it is a nice article with some great pictures, and it states that the finale of the Safari Tour next year will be "one of the most spectacular you're ever likely to witness at a theme park."

Nemesis also gets a mention as the "coaster king" :P

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^ I agree with Merlin on this. They are writing a history of Chessington over 25 years and the park has massively changed. Firstly in its transformation from Chessington Zoo to Chessington then as the park has developed. Just look at the map from 1987 to see the changes!

Granted there haven't been many recent changes but it looks like the Safari Trail will be good.

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  • 1 month later...

Love the name actually; simple and to the point but also quirky.

They really seem to put a lot of emphasis on THAT cave as well, hope that all goes to plan. Nonetheless should be a brilliant attract for the resort.

On a separate note, the Africa theme is spreading - could that mean that Forbidden Kingdom is going to join in properly with Africa as well? Would create a great, large African area if rethemed to fit in properly..

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Problem is that for me, it's too similar to Zafari, granted that's not technically on park, but surely there's a plethora of other potential names? It doesn't have to be short or quirky really, and this name to me just doesn't sound good... Hell just put Safari or Rally in it and then think up something...

This is almost Cedar Fair naming style territory it's that bad imo...

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