October 1, 201212 yr comment_141913 Had a quick look at the construction yesterday, coming on well Sorry, I didn't take and photos. Next time I will try to remember a camera
October 6, 201212 yr comment_142090 I don't really care about the name, it fits in with what they are trying to do. All I care about is the ride lives up to what they are trying to do and you get to see many animals.
October 6, 201212 yr comment_142093 I don't really care about the name, it fits in with what they are trying to do. All I care about is the ride lives up to what they are trying to do and you get to see many all three animals. Fixed. That's what gets me from the plans, it is not worthwhile at its current size. Maybe that is unfair American comparisons at work, but it does seem small with three proper enclosures taken in.
October 7, 201212 yr comment_142134 They're getting a few new animals to come in as well you know, not just the existing mob, Giraffes are a definite, and I think Rhinos are on the way as well... Considering there's nothing like this in the UK, any scale is good...
October 7, 201212 yr comment_142141 I think according to the plans the actual ride itself goes through just three enclosures, each marked as for one animal. That might be wrong and they'll mix a few up in there so that'll be much better, just seems for a little extra effort it could take in so much more. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea and think it is perfect for the park.
October 7, 201212 yr comment_142146 I think Chessington have run out of space to expand and most of it is green belt around there too. The only way I can see Chessington expanding is to purchase the garden Centre next door and make that the new South Car park and build on the existing South Car park if they are allowed. I am sure Zufari will be a real success. Once Zufari is up and running, I'm sure many families will be looking at going to the Zoo and think Marwell or Chessington... well you get a reasonable Zoo and rides at Chessington, or just a Zoo at Marwell.
October 8, 201212 yr comment_142161 There's a zoo at Marwell? Never even heard of the place... Surely Drusilla's or London Zoo would be more likely candidates for competition against Chessie in a zoo aspect?
October 8, 201212 yr comment_142227 Marwell is just down the M3/A3 and is very large. To be honest as I live outside of London I wouldn't visit London Zoo as its too expensive to get in by train and get in, Chessington would win on a Zoo day for me. Anything you do in London is just too expensive when you add the cost of the train, food, drinks and entry into places. The only way it becomes viable is if you have 4 people using a group discount on the train and taking advantage of 2 for 1 London vouchers.
October 8, 201212 yr comment_142228 That's from an outside London point of view, considering Chessie is located within the Travelcard Zones (very important to Londoners, especially with Oyster PAYG on Zoned stations), I was more thinking of an internal London viewpoint more than anything...
October 9, 201212 yr comment_142243 Well I see it from the point that until I was 18, I was able to get to CWoA completely free via 2 buses.
October 9, 201212 yr comment_142285 I'm so glad that Chessington have come up with the unimaginative and turned it into real life.. Lets just hope they can pull a great trick out of the bag!
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143441 Unless my memory is getting a bit dodgy, I think the Zufari page has had a bit of an update, which gives a bit of a story to the attraction: Deep in the heart of the African outback, off the beaten track, lies a new world of wild adventure! A small specialist conservation team, ACRE*, have stumbled upon previously undiscovered land in Africa which they have named ‘Zufari’. There are no signs of civilisation although it would appear human tribes once visited but something scared them away…. Early investigations by the team have shown that amongst the beautiful animals, a ‘dangerous hidden secret’ exists although they haven’t been able to get to the bottom of this mystery…yet. ACRE need help to find out more about their intriguing discovery and that’s where you come in. Adventurers up for the challenge will enter the Base Camp station for an interactive cinema experience where one of ACRE’s leading investigators will outline the details of the quest they are about to set. You'll form a team and jump aboard the ultimate off-road truck specially designed for this mission. Don’t worry you won’t be alone. ACRE will track you via GPS devices and stay in radio contact with your driver, just make sure you stay on track and ensure you don’t take any diversions. More information coming soon... *ACRE: African Research, Conservation & Exploration Sounds very good!
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143450 It sounds brilliant and just what Chessington need, a solid, high throughput (1000pph I believe was stated in the planning permission) ride and a great way to link the zoo and theme park together. We also have a new restaurant opening next March as shown on the Zoo Days map, the Burger Kitchen replacing Burger King. http://www.chessingt...ys-map-2012.pdf So I guess the rumour about Burger King leaving Merlin is true. Lets hope the quality of food at the Burger Kitchen is as high as the other Merlin outlets.
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143453 They won't re-theme the restaurant though will they? I mean the BK stuff will be gone obviously but they'll still have the haunted trees and such right?
October 31, 201212 yr comment_143467 Sounds good really, decent backstory, let's just hope there's some quality behind it eh? Would be surprised if they rethemed BK drastically... Minimal stuff will change I reckon... Just wish they'd give some form of themed subtitle to it...
November 1, 201212 yr comment_143473 They didn't retheme in any significant way when it from McDs to BK so I don't think they would this time. Unless they are going to complete the retheme of 'Transylvania' into 'inferior theming land' so it fits with what they've done already to Vamp and Professor Burps.
November 19, 201212 yr comment_144094 The site has been updated again, with a little bit more back story, and a competition for kids. http://www.chessington.com/zufari/ Join us on a great new adventure in 2013... Hello Adventurer, we are the African Conservation, Research & Exploration team (ACRE) and we are going to need your help. 2013 will be an exciting time to join our expedition. Initial investigations have already unearthed a previously undiscovered land which we have named “Zufari”. The only signs of civilization are some mysterious African carvings that we believe are warnings. So come and jump aboard our ultimate off-road truck, splash and career through the extreme terrain, encounter towering giraffes, powerful white rhino and many more impressive species. Help us get to the bottom of the mysterious goings on. Must admit, I'm slowly getting more and more excited for this!
December 5, 201212 yr comment_145253 When I found out about Zufari at the beginning of the year (I just love that name - simple and to the point, not too clever and perfect and quirky for the family) I was excited from the word go. It's an investment Chessington needed and it's just a perfect addition to the park in my opinion. In terms of the scale of the project it's a good scale - we cannot compare everything to our American counterparts - our parks don't have the land or the height restriction pass. For a UK addition this is a BIG project and will be unique to the UK and for the target market it caters for will get people talking about it. I unfortunately only went Chessington once this year in April and that was it after many years of often visits and I know this Zufari will be certainly getting me to the park more than once next season!
December 6, 201212 yr comment_145329 Maybe it's just me but I have the feeling that something even more exciting will come / be installed after the Zufari attraction.
December 12, 201212 yr comment_145884 http://www.facebook....></param><embed Chessington have released a video via their Facebook page showing the arrival of the 3 rhinos. Also gives little pieces of info: -Zufari is the size of "15 football pitches". -The rhinos came from Portugal, France and Holland. -Zufari has been in the works since 2009 (perhaps this was the "major investment" that was rumoured for 2014 when there were behind the scenes talks for Wild Asia, except pulled forward a year?)
December 12, 201212 yr comment_145886 Makes sense, they were definitely considering it in 2010, when Wanyama opened, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a Phase 1 jobbie... Yay Rhinos, wonder if this will be ready for opening though...
December 13, 201212 yr comment_145909 I'm really excited about this attraction now. Not really bothered if the story turns out to be utter bull, it's the animals that I want to see. I know it will never compare to Kilamanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom, at the same time I know that this is much needed investment that binds the zoo with the theme park in a proper attraction. Giraffes soon too.
December 13, 201212 yr comment_145910 How long do Giraffes live, I wonder if they'll get back any of theirs that used to live in the Rattlesnake pit? At Colchester zoo you can hand feed the giraffes, hope that's something they do at Chessington too, great being so close to them.
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