TalTheMajestic
Roller Poster
The day after going to Paultons, Tom (@Coasterfreck) and I went to Chessington World of Adventures to experience their new area, World of Paw Patrol. Tom had already been to this new area but I had not.
The new area was very clean and tidy, you can tell Merlin has put effort into making it look good. Unfortunately, it does look like they've cut costs a bit on materials for the theming - parts of the theming were already showing signs of wear & tear from children climbing on them, despite the area only being open for 3 months. This gave a permaturely aged look, and they could have achieved the desired cartoon look with a higher level of quality.
There is also a notable lack of shaded areas. All of the areas of shade were taken when we arrived, and the vast majority of people present were not in shade. The queue lines also have no shelter whatsoever - I hope this is something they add in the future but feel like this is unlikely. We started with our first ride of the day, Chase's Mountain Mission.
Chase's Mountain Mission 5/10
We were lucky enough to get front row for my first ride on this! The theming for this ride was quite good, however I wish that theming extended to the station. I skipped the preshow due to being forewarned the room can get very hot, and didn't want to risk overheating with the lack of shade available. I was surprised at the lack of an on-ride photo, as every other kids coaster at a Merlin park has one (as far as I can remember) and they appear to be very popular. The ride was relatively smooth, although I think this was helped by being in the front.
We left the World of Paw Patrol afterwards, as it was very busy and I was starting to get overstimulated by the large number of children around. I plan on returning on a quieter day to complete the flat rides within the area.
Next was Rattlesnake, which is notorious for being rough but I still find fun despite the roughness (I find it more tolerable than the roughness of Colossus and Saw due to the lap bar restraint & lack of inversions). Both of us sitting in the same row helped, as it was very snug which prevented me getting thrown around as much as I previously have been.
After Rattlesnake, we headed to Dragon's Fury. I always love to ride this, in my eyes you can't go wrong with a good spin. Unfortunately the photo didn't capture both of us, however I got a slight laugh because the photo numbers were upside down on the screen - whoops!
After Fury we relaxed for a bit due to being timed out, then did Griffin's Galleon via main queue because it was walk on. It's a nice ride, not particularly exciting but good to pass the time on. I normally do it at least once on Chessington trips.
We then did Tomb Blaster. They've changed the entrance point for RAP on this ride since I last went - instead of entering via the exit, you now enter through the neighbouring fire exit and merge with main queue. Fortunately, if you are a wheelchair user you can still access the ride via the exit as this route has some stairs. There was no prior communication or signage regarding this, we found out from another RAP user who had been sent back down. Hopefully this is not a permanent change though, as we only found out after scanning in, and the wait after the merge point was dark, crowded and noisy so I struggled to cope with it.
After Tomb Blaster, we stopped for an early lunch and a cold drink, then headed to Rattlesnake for a re-ride. We had another group of 2 in the car with us this time. Advantage of this was we got more speed into the drops. Disadvantage of this was we got more speed into the block brakes - this unfortunately did wind me a bit!
After Rattlesnake 2: Electric Boogaloo, we headed towards Mandrill Mayhem (we were planning on riding it sooner but it had a delayed opening). On route we stopped to watch the Adventunes World Tour show, which also allowed for me to recover a bit from getting winded on Rattlesnake. This was fun, however there was a lack of shade in the show area so I did start to overheat slightly, which stopped me from enjoying the show as much as I could have.
At Mandrill Mayhem, the RAP queue was quite long as fast track uses the same queue at Chessington (at least 2 groups in front of us were fast track). I personally don't think they should do this, as it makes wait times inaccessible for some RAP users and causes some people to think RAP is a free fast track (it's not, you're timed out for the length of the main queue). This can lead to RAP users being accusing by other guests of faking a disability to get on rides faster for free. Fortunately the length of the queue was manageable for us, partially due to Tom bringing his collapsible stool enabling us to sit. We got row 2 (so close yet so far from front row).
While we were timed out, Tom queued up for another ride on Griffin's Galleon via main queue due to it having a low queue time, however I instead took the opportunity to sit in the shade for a bit to cool down. One advantage of the spot I chose was that I got to watch some of the layout of Dragon's Fury (the part before the second lift hill).
Unfortunately, the zone fire alarm went off midway through the cycle before Tom was due to get on! This meant we had to be evacuated from the Land of the Dragon area, and we took this as a sign to get an ice cream then leave because we knew queues for other rides would spike for an extended period as a result. Fortunately, after cancelling my Chessington RAP to free it up for someone else, I managed to secure an on-the-day RAP booking for Thorpe Park.
So off to Thorpe Park we went, to lap Samurai and ride some coasters in between (thankfully I could save some energy as a passenger princess)!
On arrival to Thorpe Park, the car park was packed so we knew it was going to be busy. Fortunately the wait for security was only a few minutes, and once we were in the park we headed to Swarm for our first Thorpe ride of the day. This also meant we rode both UK B&M wing coasters one after the other, as we had finished with Mandrill at Chessington due to the fire alarm.
After Swarm we had a leisurely stroll towards Samurai ready to lap it as many times as possible. Since the single rider queue was empty we decided to hop into this, and both got on the next cycle (in different pods). Unfortunately operations were a bit slow due to there only being 1 host, fortunately after our first ride it became 2 host operations again. We did Samurai twice in a row, then I elected to take a break due to starting to feel tired.
Tom did Samurai twice more via single rider, while I found a spot to sit and watch from. I ended up using a tree as a backrest which was surprisingly comfortable!
I also managed to get some nice action shots of Tom on Samurai.
We then headed to Nemesis Inferno. Always love doing this ride, and also continued the streak of getting back row! After Nemesis Inferno Tom did Samurai some more while I relaxed.
We then did Colossus, and were placed in row 4. Unfortunately, because we were in an even numbered row the ride felt rougher than normal to me, and it aggravated a past injury in my shoulder.
After Colossus we had food at Burger King (allowing my shoulder to recover a bit), then did Hyperia because the RAP queue was empty. It was extremely long earlier on, but this is because it was only on one train until later in the day.
Tom then did more Samurai rides via single rider while I rested again to allow my shoulder to recover further. I also managed to reclaim my comfy tree spot!
I then joined Tom in the single rider queue, but we ended up in the same pod because there wasn't a group of 2 in the main queue. We then used our one shot fast track perk (thank you platinum passes) to guarantee we rode together for our final Samurai ride of the day, which was also Tom's 100th total ride on it! I was the one who eventually managed to encourage him to ride Samurai in the first place ("dragged me onto it" - Tom) so it was very exciting to see him hit this milestone. The staff were also very excited for him which was great to see! (yes we're wearing matching Samurai tops, this was deliberate)
We then finished the day with a second ride on Hyperia, which we did as an eyes closed challenge - fun as always.
This was my second time doing two parks in one day (did Drayton and WMSP in the same day last month), and my first time doing three theme parks in a single weekend. Doing this in summer probably wasn't the best idea because struggling with the heat definitely made me get tired quicker - this meant I got to do fewer rides than I would have liked. Definitely happy to do it again when the weather is colder though!
The new area was very clean and tidy, you can tell Merlin has put effort into making it look good. Unfortunately, it does look like they've cut costs a bit on materials for the theming - parts of the theming were already showing signs of wear & tear from children climbing on them, despite the area only being open for 3 months. This gave a permaturely aged look, and they could have achieved the desired cartoon look with a higher level of quality.
There is also a notable lack of shaded areas. All of the areas of shade were taken when we arrived, and the vast majority of people present were not in shade. The queue lines also have no shelter whatsoever - I hope this is something they add in the future but feel like this is unlikely. We started with our first ride of the day, Chase's Mountain Mission.
Chase's Mountain Mission 5/10
We were lucky enough to get front row for my first ride on this! The theming for this ride was quite good, however I wish that theming extended to the station. I skipped the preshow due to being forewarned the room can get very hot, and didn't want to risk overheating with the lack of shade available. I was surprised at the lack of an on-ride photo, as every other kids coaster at a Merlin park has one (as far as I can remember) and they appear to be very popular. The ride was relatively smooth, although I think this was helped by being in the front.
We left the World of Paw Patrol afterwards, as it was very busy and I was starting to get overstimulated by the large number of children around. I plan on returning on a quieter day to complete the flat rides within the area.
Next was Rattlesnake, which is notorious for being rough but I still find fun despite the roughness (I find it more tolerable than the roughness of Colossus and Saw due to the lap bar restraint & lack of inversions). Both of us sitting in the same row helped, as it was very snug which prevented me getting thrown around as much as I previously have been.
After Rattlesnake, we headed to Dragon's Fury. I always love to ride this, in my eyes you can't go wrong with a good spin. Unfortunately the photo didn't capture both of us, however I got a slight laugh because the photo numbers were upside down on the screen - whoops!
After Fury we relaxed for a bit due to being timed out, then did Griffin's Galleon via main queue because it was walk on. It's a nice ride, not particularly exciting but good to pass the time on. I normally do it at least once on Chessington trips.
We then did Tomb Blaster. They've changed the entrance point for RAP on this ride since I last went - instead of entering via the exit, you now enter through the neighbouring fire exit and merge with main queue. Fortunately, if you are a wheelchair user you can still access the ride via the exit as this route has some stairs. There was no prior communication or signage regarding this, we found out from another RAP user who had been sent back down. Hopefully this is not a permanent change though, as we only found out after scanning in, and the wait after the merge point was dark, crowded and noisy so I struggled to cope with it.
After Tomb Blaster, we stopped for an early lunch and a cold drink, then headed to Rattlesnake for a re-ride. We had another group of 2 in the car with us this time. Advantage of this was we got more speed into the drops. Disadvantage of this was we got more speed into the block brakes - this unfortunately did wind me a bit!
After Rattlesnake 2: Electric Boogaloo, we headed towards Mandrill Mayhem (we were planning on riding it sooner but it had a delayed opening). On route we stopped to watch the Adventunes World Tour show, which also allowed for me to recover a bit from getting winded on Rattlesnake. This was fun, however there was a lack of shade in the show area so I did start to overheat slightly, which stopped me from enjoying the show as much as I could have.
At Mandrill Mayhem, the RAP queue was quite long as fast track uses the same queue at Chessington (at least 2 groups in front of us were fast track). I personally don't think they should do this, as it makes wait times inaccessible for some RAP users and causes some people to think RAP is a free fast track (it's not, you're timed out for the length of the main queue). This can lead to RAP users being accusing by other guests of faking a disability to get on rides faster for free. Fortunately the length of the queue was manageable for us, partially due to Tom bringing his collapsible stool enabling us to sit. We got row 2 (so close yet so far from front row).
While we were timed out, Tom queued up for another ride on Griffin's Galleon via main queue due to it having a low queue time, however I instead took the opportunity to sit in the shade for a bit to cool down. One advantage of the spot I chose was that I got to watch some of the layout of Dragon's Fury (the part before the second lift hill).
Unfortunately, the zone fire alarm went off midway through the cycle before Tom was due to get on! This meant we had to be evacuated from the Land of the Dragon area, and we took this as a sign to get an ice cream then leave because we knew queues for other rides would spike for an extended period as a result. Fortunately, after cancelling my Chessington RAP to free it up for someone else, I managed to secure an on-the-day RAP booking for Thorpe Park.
So off to Thorpe Park we went, to lap Samurai and ride some coasters in between (thankfully I could save some energy as a passenger princess)!
On arrival to Thorpe Park, the car park was packed so we knew it was going to be busy. Fortunately the wait for security was only a few minutes, and once we were in the park we headed to Swarm for our first Thorpe ride of the day. This also meant we rode both UK B&M wing coasters one after the other, as we had finished with Mandrill at Chessington due to the fire alarm.
After Swarm we had a leisurely stroll towards Samurai ready to lap it as many times as possible. Since the single rider queue was empty we decided to hop into this, and both got on the next cycle (in different pods). Unfortunately operations were a bit slow due to there only being 1 host, fortunately after our first ride it became 2 host operations again. We did Samurai twice in a row, then I elected to take a break due to starting to feel tired.
Tom did Samurai twice more via single rider, while I found a spot to sit and watch from. I ended up using a tree as a backrest which was surprisingly comfortable!
I also managed to get some nice action shots of Tom on Samurai.
We then headed to Nemesis Inferno. Always love doing this ride, and also continued the streak of getting back row! After Nemesis Inferno Tom did Samurai some more while I relaxed.
We then did Colossus, and were placed in row 4. Unfortunately, because we were in an even numbered row the ride felt rougher than normal to me, and it aggravated a past injury in my shoulder.
After Colossus we had food at Burger King (allowing my shoulder to recover a bit), then did Hyperia because the RAP queue was empty. It was extremely long earlier on, but this is because it was only on one train until later in the day.
Tom then did more Samurai rides via single rider while I rested again to allow my shoulder to recover further. I also managed to reclaim my comfy tree spot!
I then joined Tom in the single rider queue, but we ended up in the same pod because there wasn't a group of 2 in the main queue. We then used our one shot fast track perk (thank you platinum passes) to guarantee we rode together for our final Samurai ride of the day, which was also Tom's 100th total ride on it! I was the one who eventually managed to encourage him to ride Samurai in the first place ("dragged me onto it" - Tom) so it was very exciting to see him hit this milestone. The staff were also very excited for him which was great to see! (yes we're wearing matching Samurai tops, this was deliberate)
We then finished the day with a second ride on Hyperia, which we did as an eyes closed challenge - fun as always.
This was my second time doing two parks in one day (did Drayton and WMSP in the same day last month), and my first time doing three theme parks in a single weekend. Doing this in summer probably wasn't the best idea because struggling with the heat definitely made me get tired quicker - this meant I got to do fewer rides than I would have liked. Definitely happy to do it again when the weather is colder though!