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CWOA | Mandrill Mayhem (World of Jumanji) | B&M Wing Coaster | 2023

Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Guys, I have some very exciting UK coaster news! According to Chessington Buzz, it would appear that Chessington is beginning the planning process to install some form of new roller coaster at the park:
https://www.facebook.com/203612636346124/posts/5592034894170511

Little is currently known, but it’s going on the “Picnic Field” at the south of the site along with some children’s rides, and it’s been indicated to draw upon Chessington’s master plan from 2016, so I’m thinking either a family launch coaster (listed as “Jungle Ride”) or a water coaster (listed as “Pirate Ride”) based on what that said! The plans will become visible on 17th May, and an online consultation will run from 18th-31st May, so I assume that’s when we’ll hear more!

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty exciting, personally! Chessington could really do with some new blood in its roller coaster lineup, in my opinion, seeing as their last coaster was Dragon’s Fury in 2004, so I think this is an absolutely amazing move!
 
About time.

Can I have Juvelen with 5 train ops please, since this place always seems to be heaving. Also haven't these been in the works for years? I imagine there is a thread on this from way back when, but I imagine this is coming to fruition now, mainly because of the competition with Paultons.
 
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"A new roller coaster and other children's rides" - sounds like a kiddie coaster to me. As much as I'd love it to be a mini GG woodie, I think something like Octonauts is far more likely.
Still, any investment is good news in this day and age, especially as it's been so long since Chessington got anything really significant.
 
It's good to hear that this idea is still alive and kicking in some sense, since the original consultation happened way back in 2016.

Personally, I think we'd be kidding ourselves if we said this had been in the works for a long time, as it certainly feels like this idea was shelved at one point, and has now been brought back to attention. I do wonder how much Paulton's continued success is affecting Chessington's plans, but in any case, if the park build a new coaster, that's only a good thing in my books.

I'm still cautious with the optimism that it will happen. The previous consultation was 5 years ago now, and many things will have changed. As I say, I very much feel like the idea was shelved at one point, maybe even changed at another. I imagine the ideas from the concepts in 2016 will be much changed too, if they even were a true reflection on what was genuinely being considered.

I don't know how realistic it is to expect another coaster on the scale of Dragon's Fury or Vampire, but at the very least, that seems to have been what was considered in the past, and I'd've thought that if they're having to do a consultation again, it would be a bigger ride. I wouldn't rule out a smaller ride based on the limited info we have, but I do feel it's less likely.


Going on face value of 'What would I like if Chessington get a new coaster', my answer would be 'Pretty much any family thrill coaster'. There's an abundance of coaster choices out there which would suit the park (though not necessarily practical per se)...
-Family launch coaster (either like Juvelen, or a more standard sit down experience)
-Mack water coaster
-Wood
-Vekoma mine train
-Even any coaster with a single inversion for a 'My first loop the loop' type experience would be cool

If this does happen, I wouldn't expect to see it any time soon though... 2024/5 feels most likely at the moment.
 
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I just hope they go for something sensible (I know, this is Merlin we're talking about), something with a good capacity and unique to the UK. Seeing they also plan a couple of kids rides either means the whole area will be designed with small kids in mind or they'll be there to offset the coaster aimed at a slightly older audience.

I'd love to see them get something like Juvelen, it's just a great family thrill coaster and would be a perfect addition to the park's lineup. I'd rule out a wooden coaster, purely from a noise perspective, but if they were to then something small and fun like Twister at Gronaland would be fab.
 
For some idea of what this could be, the park is referencing their masterplan from 2016 as their reason for building this ride (they referenced roller coasters in the masterplan).

With that in mind, the two ride types cited back in the masterplan were a “Wild Jungle Ride”, depicting a jungle-themed family launch coaster similar to Juvelen, and a “Water Coaster”, depicting a pirate-themed water coaster. For that reason, I’m personally expecting either a family launch coaster or water coaster to come out of this, which I think would both be pretty good fits for the park, personally.

So if the park sticks to its masterplan, I’d expect either a family launch coaster or a water coaster.

Here is an overview of the masterplan from Attraction Source, if you want a look at what I mean: https://www.attractionsource.com/20...ntures-begin-consultations-on-long-term-plan/
 
I can picture Chessington building a Duplo Coaster but with motorbike trains so they can claim they stuck to the plan tbh?
 
coasterboy said:
Perhaps even something similar to Ice Breaker? Family-oriented but still thrilling and could be advertised as the first "swing launch" in the UK unless I'm forgetting one.
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That’s a great suggestion, but it might be a little too thrilling for Chessington. Ice Breaker, while not on the scale of SeaWorld’s other coasters, still looks pretty intense, and would almost certainly be considered a big thrill ride by UK parkgoers as opposed to a family thrill coaster. It’s also possibly a bit too high for Chessington; Ice Breaker is 92ft tall, and Chessington has very strict regulations on not building above the tree line. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think they may even have tighter regulations than Alton does; they had to dig the 49ft tall Rattlesnake into the ground for the planners to accept it.

Chessington is a bit more of a families/kids park these days, so I wouldn’t be too shocked if this coaster was something a bit milder. Certainly nothing more thrilling than Dragon’s Fury/Vampire.

If we’re sticking with Florida rides, I personally reckon that a lower budget version of something like Hagrid’s at Universal would work well at Chessington. Hagrid’s doesn’t look too thrilling, but looks like the type of thing that everyone can ride and enjoy. Merlin have even worked with Intamin before on something not too dissimilar in the form of Thirteen at Alton Towers, so I certainly reckon that something of this vein might work well and be a plausible fit, personally. Based on Thirteen in its initial years, it would also give Chessington a very high throughput coaster; Thirteen allegedly hit over 1,400pph at points in its first season!
 
jj23w said:
I’m going to be honest the Picnic Area is greenbelt, I highly much doubt it’ll get Planning Permission but if it does go ahead sounds fab.
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Zufari is built on Greenbelt land. As will the approved Safari Lodges be. Then there’s Glamping, that’s on the green belt. There’s a lot of things at Chessington built on greenbelt land. It just means the park has to tackle planning in a different way. Hence the consultations.
 
It's hard for me to be interested in new additions at Chessington because the rest of the park has deteriorated so much over the years.

I would much rather them bring back :

- the rocks around the runaway mine train
- the rocks around the log flume
- the rocks around the Vampire cave.
- the monorail

....and give the whole park a general refurb/lick of paint.

This is why I haven't been there in over 10 years and it's my home park.
 
Jamesss said:
It's hard for me to be interested in new additions at Chessington because the rest of the park has deteriorated so much over the years.

I would much rather them bring back :

- the rocks around the runaway mine train
- the rocks around the log flume
- the rocks around the Vampire cave.
- the monorock

....and give the whole park a general re-rock/bundle of rocks.

This is why I haven't been there in over 10 rocks and it's my home rock.
Click to expand...
This is how I read your post.
 
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