Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Chessington World of Adventures: YOUR VIEWS WANTED

^ Thats rather depressing. So merlin are just leaving chessington to rot. But occasionaly chucking it something to chew on. I think merlin are realy missing out on something! So have they announced what theme this years new area will be yet?
 
^Erm, how long have Merlin actually owned these parks? Jesus it's only been 2 years, Tussauds were leaving it to rot, we seem to be too eager to blame Merlin for Tussauds' mistakes and that just gets on my nerves...

I think after 2008 Merlin have seen what Chessie is capable of, with it's best season since 2000, and of course still having a million odd people a year with nothing of note for nearly 6 years there's massive potential available, and I think Merlin realise that now which Tussauds never did really...

Yes we do know the theme, have you really not paid any attention? It's India, with massive retheme of the area and a Disko Coaster coming in, not that much is being put into it (around £2-3 million I believe), but hopefully it'll be popular and help bring in more guests like (for some reason) the Sea-Life did...

I'm on a roll here, so let's do a massive plan post! :lol:

2011
- Topple Tower where Rodeo was
- Removal of Truckers to make a new entrance to Land of the Dragons
- Rocks back on Dragon Falls with the tunnel being heavily themed inside
- Renovate Mine Train
- Remove Berries and replace them with a Forbidden Kingdom themed Zamperla family drop tower
- Retheme Jumbos and the shop/cafe to Forbidden Kingdom as well

That as a whole would help improve the park's look, add a new unique ride to the UK, and make the layout a bit better...

Then 2012
- New coaster, be it Gerstlauer launched or GCI
- Bubbleworks retheme, serious one, as in shut it in 2011 and restart from the beginning into the "Phantom Factory"
- Return of the old Vampire entrance and new facade/theming on the building and inside.

New coaster is obvious, the park needs something really big and new, and on the scale of Fury, and one of Anubis or Troy (or similar as I don't know Troy) would be awesome, hell even Mammut would be awesome...
Bubbleworks should die in it's current guise, a hard painful death, I would happily shut it at a similar time to Beanoland now in order to rip all the theming out and replace with a factory run by little monsters to suit the area theme, it's quite easy really...
Vampire needs it's old entrance back, and needs a facade on the tin building...
I would be tempted to add the full blown safari section in that year as well, but that would only be with a very tasty budget overall, something that wouldn't happen with a new coaster and practically new dark ride...

2013
- Safari section and a total revamp of both entrances

Safari section would be where Creature Features is today, and bascially just a safari outpost where you go on a Rhino Rally ride...
Both the entrances at Chessie need work, simple as, it's very old looking and they need to be more bold, as well as re-paving the car park(s), the Paved one should be safari themed as it's the zoo entrance and the Grass one should be ancient themed and actually expanded as that car park is more popular than people seem to realise...

2014
- Removal of Dennis' Madhouse and replace it with a Vekoma/Mack Madhouse
- Removal of Dragon's Playhouse and Canopy Capers and have a Demolition Derby there
- Improve Land of the Dragons theming, just needs more rocks really, and maybe a decent Fury queue

Simple here, removing the kids only attractions as they are the worst to work on (and compared to the old Action Man, not good at all), and replacing them with two good family rides, Hex is awesome, so a mini India temple themed one at Chessie would also be good, but Mack ones have the extra effects, so could go either way...
I just like Demolition Derbys...
Land of the Dragons definitely needs more theming, adding some around blank spaces like behind Griffins, Fury lift 2, and so on could really make Fury even better if you're narrowly avoiding rocks...

2015
- Remove Peeking Heights and the two trampoline things and put in a new Wheel that doesn't have the balancing issue Peeking does and a Musik Express or similar spinning ride
- Mack Supersplash with a pirate theme in the Fury picnic field, only taking up half of it, and being reasonably themed with a big fort and elevator lift.

Platforming Peeking Heights is a nightmare... Because you can only load about 6 pods, maybe 8-10 if you're lucky, it's just really bad looking for the park and guests get really annoyed with it, so if possible would remove it sooner rather than later.
The park is apparently looking at getting a new water ride, but this should be staved off until other things are done really, as it's not THAT important, but a Supersplash with a good theme could work really well, also be more unique to the UK...

Obviously there would be extra things like repainting and zoo additions, but that is not my area, so I have ignored them.

So yeah, my 5 year plan, I would imagine further along I would expand the park behind Dragon Falls and Runaway Train (probably removing it and either getting a new one or just relocating), and maybe then have one or two new coasters, maybe the Gerstlauer or GCI that didn't get built first, maybe with Roman themes or similar, I don't know yet, but working with the park as it is now, all this could work and make the park awesome...
 
^ I like your thinking! Especialy the madhouse idea and the supersplash! But what do you think should happen to vampire, bar the obvious themeing stuff, becasue at the moment the ride is incredibly rough! Even though I love the ride and stillride it atleast two times everytime I go, something needs to be done weather its another train thing or a completely new ride. I personaly would try to keep it at all costs but at the moment.............
 
^Honestly my plans for Vampire are entirely dependant on the costs of removal against renovation...

Whichever is cheaper would be the solution eventually, but with BBW going it's worrying that Vampire will follow eventually...

But of course, it is rather Chessie's most well known ride, so there would be a lot of sad people if/when it does go, it's just a case of cost for Vampire, and without the finacial sheets, I cannot possibly say what will happen...

Of course, the old bats cars again would be awesome, with a renovation of the station stopping it being the madhouse it is...
 
I am worried that if the water ride were to be placed in the field next to Fury, there would be to much overlap between the two lands and the themes would clash. You would look one way and see Land of the Dragons, look the other, Pirate's Cove.

Something needs to be done with the inside of vampire whilst you wait for unloading. It takes so long there that it gets boring, and ruins the end of what I think is an enjoyable ride.

Don't bring in a topple tower and a drop tower in the same year, would be seen as too much alike.

I do have other comments on your five year plan, but its just too far into the future to really be able to say what should be done. We need to see what happens in the next five years.
 
I think a kiddie drop tower and a Topple Tower are vastly different enough to be put in the same year, I don't think the GP are THAT stupid to not determine which is which :p
 
I may put a ban on the words "Topple Tower" and "Aquatrax" :lol: They just seem to be everyone's stock answer to any question relating to the future of a park :roll:
 
I was at the park a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, the place could look really nice, and be almost the top Theme Park in england in terms of theming, but it feels like theres no effort. None of the park feels like its been taken care of, and that its being left to rot away.

For example, over at dragon falls, take a look at the massive chandeliers inside the station. Absolutely covered in huge cobwebs that must have been there for MONTHS atleast. Yeah it wouldn't be that bad if it was high up above everyone so it could be hardly seen, but the queue goes right past them. I doubt it would take more than 5 minutes to get a ladder or a long feather duster to clear the majority of it up.

Also taking a ride on the weird toad ride, most of the creatures needed a paint, to be fixed and the whole area just looked like it needed cleaning. Yeah its a ride for a little kids, but still.

Loads of areas of the park just look like they could do with ALOT of TLC, but most of its simple stuff that could easily be done within a couple of hours.
 
It has been said a number of times Topple Towers break down a lot, that was one of the only rides broken in Denmark.

Chessington used to be good, Thorpe had nothing there. Chessington had the better rides and was just better in every way. Chessington as a park is nice but its just old and dated. The zoo I would not even walk round as I do not think its fair the way the animals are caged up, they do not look like they have enough room.

I think though they cater for their age group well, but for me there is no real reason to go there I was riding the Vampire since I was 15 and its worse now than then anyway.

It is almost like the forgotten park which is a shame really.
 
^I agree with all you say marc really...

The zoo needs general improvement more so every year, but I think most of the animals seem to have enough space, it's certainly better than the 90s zoo which I remember vaguely, though again the Gorillas still need a lot more room...

Hopefully though Merlin will realise that Chessie has the potential due to it's large catchment area (much easier to get to than Thorpe in general, and cheaper as in the zones) and just improve it in general... New rides are certainly key, but making them unique would be even better, much like Thorpe has Rush and Slammer unique to the UK...

Uniqueness would sell so well to the public, and making it kind of a step between Legoland and Thorpe is the best avenue to work on...
 
^When you say that, do try to be clear what you mean. Do you just mean another flat and a coaster? Or do you have something more specific in mind?
 
jokerman said:
^When you say that, do try to be clear what you mean. Do you just mean another flat and a coaster? Or do you have something more specific in mind?
Click to expand...

Something a tad more thrilling, which could be a coaster of a flat ride
 
If Rameses is so popular, why does it often only have a 15 minute queue maximum with it only reaching 30mins on either really hot and/or really busy days, and Vampire has a much larger one at a much more constant level?

1.2m rides are the way to go for Chessie, as that's their target market now, not 1.4m, 1.2 going on 1.3...
 
Why does all the rides necessarily need to have a height restriction of 1.2 meters or below? Is it something that has been announced from chessington? All I know is that their "new" target audience mainly are 10-12 year olds. And according to wikipedia the average height of a 12 year old (boy) is 1.5 meters (conclusion: 1.4 m height restriction will do fine).
 
Chessington needs, what it's getting to be brutally honest. :lol:

Plus a little bit more. They're owned by the UK's leading chain (surprisingly this doesn't belong to Fleetwood Mac, I'm mortified); and as such I would like to see them be a bit more adventurous with their additions.

If you're not going to get a roller coaster, then there should be more than just one Disko, it's feeble and inexcusable. Yes I know there's going to be lots of theming, and it will most probably look very pretty and I for one am looking forward to it. But the inclusion of a small safari type train akin to the dinosaur one at Legoland for the smaller kids and then a decent play area/mad house for those children (9-12) that are just too big for the one in the Land of the Dragons.

Now I'm not being stupid, and I'm not asking the world. But doing something along those lines is much more like what you should expect from a company with the financial accumen of Merlin Entertainments.
 
andrus said:
Why does all the rides necessarily need to have a height restriction of 1.2 meters or below? Is it something that has been announced from chessington? All I know is that their "new" target audience mainly are 10-12 year olds. And according to wikipedia the average height of a 12 year old (boy) is 1.5 meters (conclusion: 1.4 m height restriction will do fine).
Click to expand...

According to Wikipedia is never a good arguement... :wink:

Let's look at how popular Rameses Revenge, the 1.4m ride is at Chessie... The look at how popular Fury and Vampire are, the clear winners are of course, Fury and Vampire, because the current park demographic and indeed the future one lends more to these two than Rameses...

Rameses has been slightly more popular this year, but Chessie will always be a family park, and it's great to have rides that families can do together (As furie will no doubt mention if he sees this) because they've spent around £100 to get it, doing things together is better than sitting out because the child is too small or whatever...

The amount of kids who love Fury is the main reason behind my belief that a 1.2m ride is the best bet, if the teenagers want stuff, they can go to Thorpe and go away from Chessie, making it a better park... But the kids adore Fury, and having a 1.4m ride may make them think twice about going on, because kids aren't as brave as you may think, hell I've seen some wimp out on Vampire as well over 3 years of working there...

Parks don't need tall or intense rides to be successful, indeed, Disney have made that a living forever, although the brand is the main attraction, so what Chessie need to do is advertise itself much more than it has done and intice people along a lot more and it will be a successful park...
 
Isn't ramses a flat? While vampire and fury are coasters? Of course the coasters are more popular! And isn´t ramses an uncomfortable top spin ride as well? If chessie gets a good 1.4 m coaster (mega lite style or whatever, nothing to intense) I think it would be very popular. I were never suggesting a new flat..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top