Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:31 pm

Thanks for the update! What is VERY strange though is that Chessington have got almost exactly the same additions as Alton Towers, even more-so than the 2004 Spinball/Fury bonanza!

New entrance barriers.
Addition to in-park SEALIFE centre.
Up-market new restaurant in hotel.
Minor improvements to main dark ride.

How odd.

monsterdan5 · Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:40 pm

Yeah, they are pretty similar arn't they!

Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:54 pm

I should imagine the new turnstiles (or, to be precise, new ticket scanners, as the actual turnstiles remain unchanged) are part of the rumoured Merlin-wide upgrade/standardisation of ticketing.

Along with AT and Chessie, the new scanners have also been installed at London Sea Life, the AT Waterpark, the exit barriers at the Chessie, Thorpe and Lego car parks, and I fully expect to see them at the entrances to Thorpe and Lego. They're fairly nifty, as the same scanner reads tickets, passes and print-at-home tickets, and does so at any angle, so long as the barcode faces upwards. They also have the ability to display pictures and messages on the screen, though at the moment I've only seen them set to the default 'traffic light' graphic.

Tue Feb 22, 2011 7:12 pm

[quote=""Islander""]They also have the ability to display pictures and messages on the screen, though at the moment I've only seen them set to the default 'traffic light' graphic.[/quote]
I'd like to see a picture of a Victorian-era street urchin whenever someone scans a standard MAP.

Tue Feb 22, 2011 7:47 pm

^Does that mean those who get Premium Passes are given top hats and monocles with it?

That would be awesome...

On the Chessie side, well Wanyama's had a side entrance from the hotel since the hotel and Creature Features opened, so nothing tooooooo new there...

New restaurant at the hotel is also difficult for me to be excited about since I'll probably never stay there... But evidently the bar wasn't that popular otherwise they wouldn't get rid... Nice to see them improving the hotel though at any rate...

Turnstiles aren't THAT exciting...

Car Parking doesn't affect me at all this year (not that I drive to Chessie anyways)...

But I'm still excited for next month... May have to pop in before opening day to get a Meerkat fix...

Wed Feb 23, 2011 12:01 am

[quote=""Islander""]standardisation[/quote]

One word which seems to sum up Merlin perfectly.

Every park seems to be getting the same generic things these days - fancy turnstiles, SEALIFE centre, restaurants and cafes (Pizza and Pasta Buffet, Fresh Fish and Chips, Mexica Cantina, Coffee Shack) and...car parking charges. If they're not adding them they're improving them.

This is what seems to qualify as new attractions these days... :sleep:

Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:00 am

I dunno, even if its standard - they are generally well themed and in suiting to the areas and the parks they're in!

Tussauds were bigger ones of this.. think fresh hot donuts, refresh, hotdogs (with the orange swirly ****), fish and chips (the only brand, apart from 2 refreshes to not have changed).

Anyway, i'd far prefer all the restuarants to be improved at the same time - cheaper for them, better for us. Can't go wrong with market pizza/explorers pizza, coffee corner/shack/co, chicken co, Mexicana Cantina etc

Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:23 pm

Chessington have reached full capacity today and are turning away guests who have not pre-booked tickets - they must be doing something right!

Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:27 pm

3500 are in apparently. Extremely good for a zoo day (think, only a couple of years ago in height of summer, they'd get 8k).

Good weather at the end of the year, with actual advertising... works well. Loving it.

Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:13 pm

I really love Chessington. Though, I hate this whole "Resort" branding which is becoming very prominent this year. It really doesn't have much to it on the resort side of things. A hotel? Is that all? :/ Hardly resort standard!

The hotel is really lifeless and Holiday Inn NEED to boost it's offering in terms of entertainment and all. Chessington is such a beautiful park and I'm so excited to see more development of it's "world of adventures" image which started off with Wild Asia. Here's hoping Toytown is still next even though there were rumours that 2011 would see Toytown get it's much needed overhaul. But this turned out to not be the case. Please may you sort this awful area out in 2012 Chessington.

monsterdan5 · Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:51 pm

It was completly packed! Photos soon

In other news, Bubbleworks has had some epic improvements, we were emailed today:

[quote=""Yo Chessington""]Due to the contract of Imperial Leather finishing at the end of last year, the following work is currently being carried out in the Bubbleworks over the winter period:

All broken scenery repaired and re-painted.
All models cleaned.
Installation of a bubble effects tube in the Bubble Farm Scene.
Installation of new lighting in the Fountain Finale Scene.
Old Prof Burp’s music added in the station, and in most scenes.
Floor replaced in the Duck Hatchery Scene.
Installation of new themed aroma machines for each scene. Aromas include Mango & Orange, Hawaiian and Candy Floss.[/quote]

Full article and photos here: [url=http://yochessington.co.uk/archives/1485" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://yochessington.co.uk/archives/1485[/url]

Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:13 pm

Well, would rather a polished turd than a turd...

Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:19 pm

That's absolutely excellent news. I love Bubbleworks, and only wish I'd seen it at the height of its powers. Looks like it's taken a major step forwards (or is that backwards?).

Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:33 pm

My god this is amazing. They've done maintenance on a ride and we've got an article about it.

Well at least they've got rid of that shite which played in the station. But returning to prof burp music is just.. well, its incredibly lazy, stupidly cheap and extremely poor for a "resort".

Just bloody do something with it. Come on chessie.

On other words: Where's our articles about truckers trucks being sent off to be maintained, or buccaneer being painted.. or other general maintenance stuff which happens every now and then? Gerrr..

Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:36 pm

[quote=""Sam""]I love Bubbleworks,[/quote]

I sure hope you mean the original version, because that certainly certifies that you are mental dear...

And turning it back to the original music? Wait, isn't that the current soundtrack to the ride anyways? Oh yeah...

Sorry, but the only thing I'll be happy with on this ride is a complete gutting and restarting... Simple as...

Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:00 pm

[quote=""CoasterCrazyChris""]Chessington have reached full capacity today and are turning away guests who have not pre-booked tickets - they must be doing something right!

[/quote]

Really? Was going to take the littl'un down on Saturday, was hoping it wasn't going to be too mentally busy.

YouTube · Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:05 pm

I love that the old music will be coming back to the ride, just wish the old theme and all it's set pieces were also.

Rowe · Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:26 pm

Well this is certainly sounding good and I'm happy to hear that Bubbleworks has been improved for this season, although nothing can make up for the Imperial duck invasion for me, it's still something that Chessington have paid attention to at least.

monsterdan5 · Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:42 pm

[url=http://yochessington.co.uk/archives/1492" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://yochessington.co.uk/archives/1492[/url]

More news here! Vampire new attraction and general improvements.

Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:32 pm

Anyone else getting quite irritated by the constant plugs for 'Yo Chessington' ?

In important news, Chessington reached capacity today on a Zoo day.