Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[thefatone]

Is the magazine available online, anywhere?

[James6]

^ I just did a quick search and couldnt find it, sorry!

^^ Really?

The zoo only was prior to 1987, so I didn't really count the changeover from zoo to theme park in to the changes over the past 25 years.

Also, even looking at that map, the park still relies 100% on most of the rides there. Safari Skyway, Buccaneer, Runaway Train, Fifth Dimension/Tomb Blaster, Dragon River etc... and then with Vampire and Bubbleworks in 1990. Apart from that I struggle to see the radical changes and huge investment? I don't see what has changed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the park, I just don't see the huge changes. 

[jmgpannal]

^ But the point is it has massively changed. Zoo to theme park! Yes nothing on the scale of a Swarm sized investment but it has changed since 1987.

Vampire, Bubbleworks, Rattlesnake, Dragons Fury, Land of the Dragons, Wild Asia re theme, Kobra, Sealife Centre, Wanyama Village, Madagascar, Chessington Hotel, plus loads of changes in the Zoo.

I think that's quite a lot! And they've changed some of the existing stuff. And yes I know Bubbleworks got worse!

We have to remember that Chessington is a family park that most people don't travel the length of the country to visit. And as such doesn't get as much spent on it. However I don't think it looks half as run down as many people think.

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Vampire, Bubbleworks, Rattlesnake, Dragons Fury, Land of the Dragons, Wild Asia re theme, Kobra, Sealife Centre, Wanyama Village, Madagascar, Chessington Hotel, plus loads of changes in the Zoo.

For a 22 year period that is a pretty poor level of investment from a major UK park.

[jmgpannal]

Vampire, Bubbleworks, Rattlesnake, Dragons Fury, Land of the Dragons, Wild Asia re theme, Kobra, Sealife Centre, Wanyama Village, Madagascar, Chessington Hotel, plus loads of changes in the Zoo.

For a 22 year period that is a pretty poor level of investment from a major UK park.

But that's where I think you're wrong. It's not a major UK park and never has been. I lived in the north for 20 years and had never really heard of Chessington. I have friends outside the theme park fan world who've never heard of Chessington. For them the family park is Flamingo Land or Lightwater Valley.

They would travel to Thorpe Park and visit Alton Towers on a regular basis but not to visit Chessington. I know visitor numbers are good compared to the northern parks but that's down to the large population in the catchment area.

For the park that it is Chessington gets a reasonable amount of investment.

Don't get me wrong I like Chessington and it's my daughters favourite park but I think we should be realistic.

[James6]

Chessington "was" a major park though.

Maybe you think that it gets a reasonable amount of investment, but for me it doesn't. I think either you under-estimate Chessington, or you are over-estimating what has gone in to the park.

In the past 10 years we have had...
- The biggest thrill ride removed (Samurai)
- Another thrill ride removed (rodeo)
- The best dark ride ruined (Bubbleworks)
- One major-ish coaster, although at almost any other park is certainly wouldn't count as major. (Fury)
- Multiple area re-themes. Land of the Dragons I think is pretty poor with an awkward layout and is so small it can barely be classified as an area. Wild Asia is a good re-theme, but even then the new ride as part of the re-theme, Kobra, is not up to standard. (In terms of throughput, ride experience, reliability etc) Lorikeet Lagoon is good though
- Then, a second hand ferris wheel that can only run with 3 gondolas??

Don't think I have missed anything, how can that be classed as "huge investment" for a park that used to get 2million visitors a year?

On top of that there has been next to nothing invested in terms of upkeep of existing attractions. (Skyway, RMT, Vampire etc)

[AstroDan]

Chessington was far more impressive than Thorpe Park ever was up until 2002 - possibly 2003.

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[Pennywise]

Don't think I have missed anything, how can that be classed as "huge investment" for a park that used to get 2million visitors a year?

You've missed out Hocus Pocus Hall... don't worry though, everybody forgets about it, I must be the only person who actually likes said attraction. :P And your point remains valid regardless.

[jmgpannal]

But I don't think it was a major park. I'd love to see it improve and them spend money on it. And I agree with a number of your points. Chessington is essentially a south east family park. People do not and have not ever travelled massive distances to visit even with the hotel.

I know plenty of people from the north that don't even know it exists.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love a massive spend on the place and and a big tidy up. But then again they still get the visitors and the general public still love the place and visit in big numbers without the big spend.

[BigAl]

Could I just say, I love Hocus Pocus Hall as well! :P

Any way, I know plenty of people where I live that know about Chessington who aren't enthusiasts. I know a handful that have travelled down to the park as well, and that's from my year group alone.

I also wouldn't say it isn't a major park. The investment in it since it became a park is far more than other parks have had put into them throughout the UK. The rides aren't huge for a number of reasons; space, height restrictions and the type of visitors that Chessington wants to appeal to all being main factors.

Chessington requires a big spend every now and then, just like any attraction does. It could do with a lot of money being spent on refurbishing the rides and theming alone. But if Chessington is to remain fruitful for Merlin then a big, new attraction would be great. Next years new ride should really help visitor numbers. Okay, it's not a white knuckle roller coaster, but different rides appeal to different people.

I also wonder if some endangered animals would be good for the park? Besides helping the species, Chessington could get really get brought into the international spotlight if the species is well-known. Just look at what the Panda's are doing for Edinburgh Zoo. I've no idea whether such a plan would be viable for Chessington, but it certainly has good enough transport links to make it easier for people to travel from a further distance to see a new addition to their zoo.

[TB2]

Chessington "was" a major park though.

Maybe you think that it gets a reasonable amount of investment, but for me it doesn't. I think either you under-estimate Chessington, or you are over-estimating what has gone in to the park.

In the past 10 years we have had...
- The biggest thrill ride removed (Samurai)
- Another thrill ride removed (rodeo)
- The best dark ride ruined (Bubbleworks)
- One major-ish coaster, although at almost any other park is certainly wouldn't count as major. (Fury)
- Multiple area re-themes. Land of the Dragons I think is pretty poor with an awkward layout and is so small it can barely be classified as an area. Wild Asia is a good re-theme, but even then the new ride as part of the re-theme, Kobra, is not up to standard. (In terms of throughput, ride experience, reliability etc) Lorikeet Lagoon is good though
- Then, a second hand ferris wheel that can only run with 3 gondolas??

Don't think I have missed anything, how can that be classed as "huge investment" for a park that used to get 2million visitors a year?

On top of that there has been next to nothing invested in terms of upkeep of existing attractions. (Skyway, RMT, Vampire etc)

Thing is right, don't you think we know that and more importantly don't you think the park knows that. I bet the managers at the park would LOVE to bring their park up to scratch. From removing Peeking (which can run more then 3 pods by the way) to redoing all of Runaway Trains rockwork, right down to buying new Skyway trains, retracking it and putting it more towards Wanyama Village.

When I worked there in 2005-2009, you have no idea how much the park wanted these things, particularly when down the road, rollercoaster after rollercoaster, flat ride after flat ride and investments to infrastructure were a regular thing. Whilst Chessington had to make do with a cast off and a chance to ruin its best dark ride.

Yet again, it comes down to money. To bring Runaway, Skyway, Vampire, Bubbleworks and everything else up to scratch would cost a lot of money, something Merlin don't want to spend at the moment. The sad fact of it all is the longer its left, the worse it gets, the more it costs to refurbish, the more unlikely it will be done. And thats the most frustrating thing of all.

Final point though, Chessington was always advertised as the South's premier family theme park. It never really went up North because it just didn't have enough compared to the larger Alton Towers.

[Benzin]

Chessie was a major park for the Southern region, indeed, for several years it was the biggest park in the South, with a well themed and good zoo with some brilliant rides to back it up... Saying that Northerners don't know it exists could easily be applied to Southerners not knowing of Lightwater Valley...

It is in some desperate need of care and attention, not only for new attractions, but refurbing the current rides that have been there since the park opened... It's a balance they haven't been able to work well at, and they really need to visit a couple of European parks to really bring back that vibe that made the park so popular and exciting in the 90s...

Pandas would be interesting, but I doubt they could afford the costs of them... Might be able to make the buggers breed though, everything else at Chessie seems to give birth every two months...

[BigAl]

Even if Chessington couldn't afford Panda's, there are other species that could potentially bring more visitors in. What about some koala bears? The only other place in the UK to see them is Edinburgh Zoo, but that's far from Chessington. Plus, there are some zoos across the world that have special sessions where you can get up-close with them and even stroke them. Meet and greet koala bear sessions would be easy to market as well, as it'd be a unique experience in the UK.



:P

[CoasterCrazyChris]

investments to infrastructure were a regular thing.

This is definetly not the case for Thorpe Park.

[thefatone]

Thorpes toilets were completely redone twice in a period that chessingtons were left to rot...

That's just one example of infrastructure. Thorpes had way more than chessie anyway.

[ben1990]

Chessington's toilets are all brand new!

[Benzin]

Once in about... God knows how many years... And even then I think the Market Square and Lodge Entrance weren't the last time I went...

Let alone the fact that none of the toilets are of the modern quality befitting any theme park... Too small and the lack of water pressure affects them greatly...

But the point made was that other parks got investment while Chessie got cast-offs and more removals... Land of the Dragons was the only major addition that made sense for near enough a decade, which is a pitiful for any park really, let alone one owned by a major company...

[Fiyero]

I went in Hocus Pocus Hall for the first time a couple me weeks ago (never taken a small child before) and really liked it. It is quite unique and easily missed. I think bubbleworks needs redoing, the first half anyway. I never went on the original but think they should do something new rather than going backwards to the old (superior as far as I have heard) version.

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[TB2]

investments to infrastructure were a regular thing.

This is definetly not the case for Thorpe Park.

Well I did say were. Glad you agree with all my other points though  :P

[Colossus]

On the gate price has now increased to £42 for adults !!!!!