After fifteen years of operation, Chessington World of Adventures Resort has officially confirmed that Wild Asia has been retired from the park and will not reopen for the 2025 season. In this article, we’ll take a look back at the history of the land, celebrate the highlights of the area, discuss the reasons behind its closure, and what guests can expect next as Chessington evolves with a new chapter of the theme park.
Beanoland
The area where Wild Asia sits today opened in the year 2000 as Beanoland, which replaced the former Circus World that was an original area of the theme park in 1987. Themed to Beano, one of the most successful British comics of all time, Beanoland was vibrant and featured attractions based on some of the fan favourite characters from the comics. Below you can see some images from the construction phase, as well as a look at the land during its operation. Beanoland was home to four different attractions – Bash Street Bus, Billy’s Whizzer, Roger the Dodger’s Dodgems and Dennis’ Madhouse which was introduced a year after the area opened. As with most IP based lands, their relevance can dwindle quickly if the IP loses popularity within general culture. After only nine seasons at the park, Beanoland closed to make way for a retheme into Wild Asia.
Plans
In July 2009, plans revealed that Chessington intended to redevelop the existing Beanoland area of the park into something more suited towards the designer John Wardley’s original ‘World of Adventures’ concept of countries and nature. Within the planning application it was shown that the existing Bash Street Bus and Roger the Dodger’s Dodgems would be relocated within the land to make way for the addition of a new stand out ride. The application provided the first look at the area’s largest attraction, a Zamperla Disk’O Coaster, now known as KOBRA. Another new addition to the area was Lorikeet Lagoon, an interactive walk-through aviary experience, that aimed to spread out the zoo offering around the park more evenly.
Concept Art
All the existing buildings, rides and facades were to be re-developed with theming that resembles the cultures of Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, and Thailand. The area was set to become an ancient and mythical Asian kingdom referencing multiple animals such as elephants, snakes, lorikeets and monkeys within the carvings and murals. It was clear that some inspiration had been taken from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida which had set the precedence for theming of this nature.
Marketing
Beanoland closed in September 2009 with an arranged pie fight across the area. In October 2009, Chessington announced the new land would be named Wild Asia and provided details on each of the attractions within the area including their names.
Opening
With only a six month turn around, Wild Asia opened to the public in March 2010. Within the area there were multiple guest photo opportunities such as the overloaded traveller’s backpack to ‘wear’ and Tuk Tuks to sit in, a large Banyan tree that would host exciting shows, multiple life-sized theming items throughout, along with a reimagining of the fountain to make it fit in. Overall, Wild Asia was a welcome addition to Chessington, was true to the park’s original concept by offering another continent for guests to explore, and incorporated zoo elements within the land – making it one of the most ‘complete’ additions at the time.
Attractions
KOBRA
With larger than life theming, KOBRA stretched along the length of Wild Asia, bookended by two large cobra heads. Manufactured by Zamperla, riders would sit atop a bicycle-like seat facing outwards on a large disc which would then begin slowly rotating, whilst moving back-and-forth along a track. As momentum built up, riders crossed over a hump-back in the track then into an incline, where it reached the top and then travelled back the way it came, doing so several times. With a top speed of 43mph, this was a thrilling flat ride that combined rotation with a powered roller coaster-like experience.
Monkey Swinger
The rocks appeared to rotate on Monkey Swinger, a chair swing ride that was themed to look like the ruins of a building featuring design motifs inspired by monkeys! Spinning riders around the central pillar on single seats attached by chains, the ride progressed to a wave like motion. The monkeys were known to spray guests with water as they passed over them which was a fun additional feature that separated this version of the ride from similar models elsewhere.
Tuk Tuk Turmoil
This Preston & Barbieri bumper cars attraction took riders around the busy streets of Wild Asia in a Tuk-Tuk, accompanied by a fun and exotic soundtrack. No head on bumping was allowed!
Jungle Bus
Originally known as Bash Street Bus and opening as part of Beanoland in 2001, the ride was reimagined as Jungle Bus when the area underwent retheming into Wild Asia for the 2010 season, along with being relocated by the main entrance. With a ‘magic carpet’ style ride system designed for younger guests to enjoy, the quirky looking bus rotated around two arms affixed to rock work of an ancient ruin. During the 2023 season, Jungle Bus recieved a full refurbishment which included an all new ride system from Zamperla.
Temple of Mayhem
Young adventurers loved the two-story adventure house Temple of Mayhem, with its air powered cannons that could be used to fire foam balls across the interior. The attraction started life in 2000 as Timekeepers of the Millennium at The Millennium Dome in London, and was then relocated to Chessington once the celebrations were over and featured in Beanoland as Dennis’ Madhouse. Sadly not for adults unless accompanying a child, Temple of Mayhem was an energetic adventure that had younger guests running, laughing and eventually tiring out!
Lorikeet Lagoon
Located at the rear of Wild Asia in a quieter corner, Lorikeet Lagoon let guests walk amongst the beautiful Lorikeets and their friends in an aviary type enclosure. With small pots of nectar for sale, guests were able to get up-close and personal with the residents of the lagoon, especially if they were hungry!
Explorer Glamping
In 2016, Chessington opened Explorer Glamping directly adjacent to Wild Asia in the field to the west of the Lorikeet Lagoon. The glamping tents featured beds, power and Wi-Fi to ensure a more comfortable nights’ sleep and became a unique accommodation option at the resort. Guests utilised the restaurant in Wild Asia for breakfast.
Closure and Removal of Wild Asia and Explorer Glamping
In November 2024, following a public consultation, Chessington submitted a planning application for ‘Project Refresh & Renew’. The project included the removal and transformation of the Wild Asia themed land as well as the Explorer Glamping area at the park. Originally expected to close for redevelopment in September 2025, Chessington announced that both Wild Asia and Explorer Glamping would not reopen for the 2025 season. Whilst being one of the most immersive themed areas at the park, the rides in Wild Asia were slowly ageing, with some coming to the end of their life. Additionally, most attractions in the area featured a lower throughput and with Chessington’s ever increasing popularity, was an essential area for redevelopment for the future success of the theme park. There were some concerns in regard to how Chessington would handle the crowds and associated capacity across the following two seasons with a significant section of the park under re-development.
The application detailed the removal of Jungle Bus, Monkey Swinger, Tuk Tuk Turmoil, Temple of Mayhem and KOBRA. Of these attractions, only KOBRA would be set to remain in the new area, being stripped of theming and moved to an alternative location within the reimagined land. Jungle Bus would also remain at the park, receiving a re-theme and relocation as part of ‘Project Play’, the proposed redevelopment of Mexicana for which a separate planning application was submitted at the end of 2024. Tuk Tuk Turmoil, Monkey Swinger and the glamping were to be dismantled and stored within the park until a decision regarding their future was made. All temporary structures within Wild Asia, such as marquees, tents and mobile kiosks, would also be relocated or stored. As part of the development site, Lorikeet Lagoon would also be relocated within the park, finding a new home in the Wanyama Reserve. As a non-portable structure, this would require the construction of a new exhibit.
The Future
As one of Merlin’s most profitable attractions, Chessington has experienced a shift in direction over recent years. The theme park now seeks to implement large scale IP based areas while moving away from the original concept of country and nature based themes. The World of Jumanji marked the start of this transformation which joined other IPs such as Elmer, Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Cocomelon. With Merlin’s announcement of a global strategic partnership with Mojang Studios to bring Minecraft to life, it was expected that the new themed area would be based around Minecraft.
Project Refresh and Renew sees the implementation of a brand new indoor roller coaster from Intamin Amusement Rides, alongside a new flat ride and playground. The area also features a variety of other amenities such as a new restaurant and gift shop.
Whilst it is amazing to see Chessington receiving much love from Merlin Entertainments in the form of significant new investments, it is at the same time sad to see the majority of what made the theme park so special for so many people stripped away. However, at Attraction Source, we cannot wait to cover all of the progress of the park’s development over the next few years.
What do you think of the change of direction for Chessington? Are you excited to see what the future holds? Let us know via our social media channels.
