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

rctneil said:
I've been saying for years that a coaster such as the next gen version of Juvelen would be perfect for the park.

It's family thrill, can run multiple trains, unique riding styles, gives the park a launch coaster, quad bikes fit the jungle/safari theme and can handle larger crowds.
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And that’s exactly what was on the table in 2016. Here was the concept art for it

bf06271d646e13e272ea31dd02372c8a.jpg


What made them change their minds to the B&M I doubt we will ever know.

Everyone predicted the capacity issues as soon as they knew it was a shuttle.

You just know this virtual queue system is going to be a disaster.

Now a case of well Merlin you made your low capacity bed now your going to have to lie in it.
 
Hard pass. It’s difficult to imagine anyone knowing that this system is place travelling fair distance to have to deal with that?

I do wonder how they will combat people trying to make multiple bookings using different phones. The system seems to encourage that everyone does this to maximise their chances… which will only make it more difficult. People will try to ride more than once if they can.
 
This clearly wasn't the initial plan, nor the long-term plan. The plans indicated a sizeable main queue, Fastrack and RAP queue, all of which I believe has been built(?)

This is Chessington's operation team acknowledging that the ride will have a low throughput and be hugely popular. So rather than be met with complaints of extremely long queue times, etc, they're doing this to minimize that issue. It's a sensible idea.

Obviously virtual queueing has its own issues, but right now it's the lesser of two evils I reckon.


Now here's the real kicker question, which has been asked since the idea first came to light. Why?
Why did they opt for a shuttle coaster?
Why, of all possible shuttle coasters, did they opt for a wingrider, which is one of the trickiest rides to load and unload efficiently?
Why, in a time where switch tracks have become much more reliable and commonplace on coaster, did they not opt to create a shuttle coaster capable of running 2 trains?

As much as people like to make the jokes, we know that Merlin aren't complete idiots. They have extremely talented individuals at MMM, and they do do a heck of a lot of market research. Which makes you wonder even more how flying monkey coaster came to light.
 
JoshC. said:
Now here's the real kicker question, which has been asked since the idea first came to light. Why?
Why did they opt for a shuttle coaster?
Why, of all possible shuttle coasters, did they opt for a wingrider, which is one of the trickiest rides to load and unload efficiently?
Why, in a time where switch tracks have become much more reliable and commonplace on coaster, did they not opt to create a shuttle coaster capable of running 2 trains?

As much as people like to make the jokes, we know that Merlin aren't complete idiots. They have extremely talented individuals at MMM, and they do do a heck of a lot of market research. Which makes you wonder even more how flying monkey coaster came to light.
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Its even more questionable when they build the same model at Legoland Germany, that would have been absolutely perfect for Chessington.
 
I'm amazed that Merlin have gone down this road at Chessington. I visited last year and was far from impressed - the downtime of major rides, excessive queues at the others, horrible car parking situation (especially when leaving at the end of the day). Everything just screams out that this park needs better capacity attractions. So what do they do? Install a shuttle coaster 😂 I honestly think they would have been better off cloning the Jumaji dark ride from Gardaland at Chessington, at least that would be a bit more of a queue eater. If Mandrill Mayhem had been open during my visit last year, it would only have added to my frustrations - 'what, so you've got loads of rides down and now you want me to book a slot for the new headline attraction?'

Part of the problem I think with this is how dominant Merlin have been in the UK theme park market. It just feels like issues such as capacity/queue times and ride reliability don't really seem to bother them? Until they start to feel threatened by other parks doing things better then I don't really see anything changing.
 
Coastiesaurus said:
I'm amazed that Merlin have gone down this road at Chessington. I visited last year and was far from impressed - the downtime of major rides, excessive queues at the others, horrible car parking situation (especially when leaving at the end of the day). Everything just screams out that this park needs better capacity attractions. So what do they do? Install a shuttle coaster 😂 I honestly think they would have been better off cloning the Jumaji dark ride from Gardaland at Chessington, at least that would be a bit more of a queue eater. If Mandrill Mayhem had been open during my visit last year, it would only have added to my frustrations - 'what, so you've got loads of rides down and now you want me to book a slot for the new headline attraction?'

Part of the problem I think with this is how dominant Merlin have been in the UK theme park market. It just feels like issues such as capacity/queue times and ride reliability don't really seem to bother them? Until they start to feel threatened by other parks doing things better then I don't really see anything changing.
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Went to Chessington yesterday and we had a good time but the ride availability is shambolic compared to somewhere like Paultons. At one point there were 9 rides closed (with Dragon's Fury and Rattlesnake alternating between closed and 90 min queues all day). That's on a sunny bank holiday weekend so doesn't bode well.

For us the key value really is the Merlin annual passes, giving you access to 4 major parks and flexibility. If we'd paid full price to get in or it was the only visit of a year i'd be somewhat annoyed. Hopefully 3 new rides alleviate the queues somewhat but i don't understand why they're so bad after several months of being closed (when i imagine they have time to do repairs?)

I wonder if any of the other parks have had discussions about teaming up to offer something similar (eg Paultons, Drayton and Flamingo). The cost of the Paultons annual pass versus Merlin is astronomical, presumably it's firmly aimed at local visitors but when Merlin are offering access to 4 parks for less than access to 1 it's hard to resist.
 
Bowser said:
Went to Chessington yesterday and we had a good time but the ride availability is shambolic compared to somewhere like Paultons. At one point there were 9 rides closed (with Dragon's Fury and Rattlesnake alternating between closed and 90 min queues all day). That's on a sunny bank holiday weekend so doesn't bode well.

For us the key value really is the Merlin annual passes, giving you access to 4 major parks and flexibility. If we'd paid full price to get in or it was the only visit of a year i'd be somewhat annoyed. Hopefully 3 new rides alleviate the queues somewhat but i don't understand why they're so bad after several months of being closed (when i imagine they have time to do repairs?)

I wonder if any of the other parks have had discussions about teaming up to offer something similar (eg Paultons, Drayton and Flamingo). The cost of the Paultons annual pass versus Merlin is astronomical, presumably it's firmly aimed at local visitors but when Merlin are offering access to 4 parks for less than access to 1 it's hard to resist.
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Paultons is actually a great comparison. I've visited 3 times in the last 2 years and every visit was absolutely flawless from a capacity/ride downtime perspective. The ride availability is always excellent and they basically only close for a month a year. You are right about the price being high, but every time I've come away from there thinking about what a great day I've had. With Merlin I always feel that, yes, the price is probably fair but that their (in my opinion) cost-cutting on things like maintenance has a negative effect on the experience. I'd rather pay more if it meant having a better day out!
 
Coastiesaurus said:
Paultons is actually a great comparison. I've visited 3 times in the last 2 years and every visit was absolutely flawless from a capacity/ride downtime perspective. The ride availability is always excellent and they basically only close for a month a year. You are right about the price being high, but every time I've come away from there thinking about what a great day I've had. With Merlin I always feel that, yes, the price is probably fair but that their (in my opinion) cost-cutting on things like maintenance has a negative effect on the experience. I'd rather pay more if it meant having a better day out!
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Ha yeah i was thinking the same after i posted that, very much getting what you pay for i suppose. Paulton's even have an advance calendar for the whole year of when rides won't be available due to maintenance!

Ride Maintenance at Paultons Park | Paultons Park

News & updates on ride maintenance here at Paultons Park. Paultons is fully closed during January, and on selected dates throughout the year.
paultonspark.co.uk paultonspark.co.uk

I hate complaining about things because we love the parks, there are great rides and staff and we generally always have a good time (albeit boosted by experience/planning) but it is frustrating when you see things being done better.

Still optimistic for Mandrill though, it looks great in the flesh.
 
Ignoring the usual cringe you'd expect from a TV piece like this which is unavoidable, the ride looked really fun for a second, then it didn't. I really don't know what to think of this anymore, whilst it's so satisfying to see fresh new B&M track in a UK park, why could it not be something full circuit?
 
It’s a kiddie coaster on steroids. For a child who just meets the height limit (1.2m which is the average height of a 7-year-old), this is going to be the best thing ever. It’s also not completely dull for the parents like usual kiddie coasters
 
coasteraddict10 said:
Looks kinda ****, can't help but feel Chessy would have done a lot better getting a clone of the baby wing that's being built in Legoland Germany.
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I have to say I disagree. The only benefit of that one is obviously the capacity, but other than that it would just be a lackluster version of Swarm down the road. At least Mandrill has the launch (which I've seen described by staff online as better than Icon's!), the added thrill of going backwards and the scorpion tail spike. It's unique which I appreciate, over the Legoland one. From looking at Chessington Buzz's twitter, it seems we won't have to wait long for the park's next coaster, so hopefully that's something with better capacity!
 
Sandman said:
It's just so....????
That's all I can say
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Yeah, that. I'm still reserving judgement until I ride, because in all honesty I think it's going to be a lot of fun, it's just the inescapable question of whether this is the right ride for this park (capacity!!).

I want to like it.
 
James W said:
I have to say I disagree. The only benefit of that one is obviously the capacity, but other than that it would just be a lackluster version of Swarm down the road. At least Mandrill has the launch (which I've seen described by staff online as better than Icon's!), the added thrill of going backwards and the scorpion tail spike. It's unique which I appreciate, over the Legoland one. From looking at Chessington Buzz's twitter, it seems we won't have to wait long for the park's next coaster, so hopefully that's something with better capacity!
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What's this?
 
James W said:
I have to say I disagree. The only benefit of that one is obviously the capacity, but other than that it would just be a lackluster version of Swarm down the road. At least Mandrill has the launch (which I've seen described by staff online as better than Icon's!), the added thrill of going backwards and the scorpion tail spike. It's unique which I appreciate, over the Legoland one. From looking at Chessington Buzz's twitter, it seems we won't have to wait long for the park's next coaster, so hopefully that's something with better capacity!
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to the tweet? I'm intrigued as it's taken 19 years to get a new coaster, so would be good to know what they're thinking if we won't have to wait long for another!
 
Not sure what everyone was expecting, it looks pants.
Wrong decision for the park, but they've dressed it up well. Will be a capacity and complaint nightmare.

+1 on a midweek jaunt for me.
 
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