Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Justin]

It is great to see there is demand for February Half Teem events, although if it is the case that only one car park is open then this is poor planning. Surely they could open one to save guests being disappointed or parking on the road?

[Bert]

Chessington are asking on Facebook for unwanted perfumes.

[lewis97]

Earlier on, Chessington uploaded the first instalment in a series of videos that will provide an insight into the preparation for Land of the Tiger and Tiger Rock. As well as giving a look at the latest construction progress, this video also features short interviews with some of the staff involved in the project.

It is actually quite a nice update video, and I look forward to seeing more, especially once the main rock-work feature starts to take shape.

[lewis97]

Chessington have shared this sneak peek of their "Chinese inspired theming" in Land of the Tiger on social media.

[Justin]

It makes me wonder if this is the theming for Tiger Rock's station building? It looks like the station layout.

[Chris]

Yes, you can see where the stairs come down on the left at the bottom, and the fence for the batching area.

Here's what it looked like before:



Credit: http://themeuk.net

..and before that was a huge hand painted mural of Asia - was beautiful but quickly looked dated. Can't find a photo unfortunately.

[Bert]

The new station looks great, This was my only concern when I heard Dragon Falls was getting rethemed. 

It's a worthy replacement, I hope Chessington keep up this level of theming seen on The Gruffalo and Tiger Rock! 

[Sundazz]

Here is a Chessington Theme Park & Zoo film taken in the early 1990's  on an old fashion camcorder: 

[youtube]wr_LEn_nZFw[/youtube]

[Justin]

Thanks for sharing. I think the early 1990s is when I first visited. Chessington holds many happy memories for me

[Dan]

Chessington have posted a new video on their Facebook page confirming that their 4 new tigers have safely completed the journey to their new home.

Adventurers, here is Oli's final update. Our tigers arrived safely at Chessington this morning! Tsar, Olga, Kyra and Kalinka are bedding into their new home and exploring their new environment. You’ll all get to see them come May 5, but we will be sure to keep you updated on all things tiger until then... #TigersRock

[Qzzb_UK]

Chessington was my first theme park... it’s a shame to see Mystic East going, thats the land I always remembered. That and being told off for standing up on the Bubbleworks in Transylvania. My childhood is being wiped away one land at a time...

[Zach]

Posted on the Merlin Annual Pass Facebook page this morning - Single dates specific for each attraction, except CWOWA

Passholder Wizards!

 Lookout for an EXCLUSIVE 20% DISCOUNT on your Annual DigiPass! 

The Annual DigiPass unlocks ride and walkabout* photos digitally for the whole year across all our Resort Theme Parks (excl. Warwick Castle), now from only £30pp**!
 
This offer is limited to the following locations when purchased on these dates***:
-        Official LEGOLAND Windsor on the 9th March 2018
-        THORPE PARK Official on the 18th March 2018
-        Chessington World of Adventures Resort on the 10th and 11th March 2018
-        Alton Towers on the 17th March 2018
 
For these days and locations only, a Family DigiPass is priced at £30pp, and an individual DigiPass is priced at £40pp.

[lewis97]

Some photos of the latest construction progress on Tiger have been posted on SouthParks Facebook, with a lot of the main steel framework for the tiger head rockwork now installed.







It's also worth noting that Chessington updated the Land of the Tiger section of their website in the week. While there's nothing particularly new, there is the following description of Tiger Rock which seems provide a bit more insight into the ride experience:

Board a boat from the tiger temple, for an adventurous ride and get to see one of the world’s most majestic animals from the waterway, before your journey takes an exciting turn.

Swirling lights light your path as you travel through a long undiscovered sacred shrine to encounter the tiger’s elusive spirit and hear the animal’s infamous roar.

The riverboat journey’s finale sees you climb to the summit of Tiger Rock, before plunging the 15 metre tall misty waterfall drop, right through the centre of the giant tiger’s head carved rock. Said to have magical properties, Tiger Rock passes the spirit of the tiger on to those who descend the fall.

[Morgan]

I visited the park for preview day yesterday, and I can hardly say I was impressed.
First ride we did was Rattlesnake, which was running pretty slowly, and the general ride is very dirty and gross.
Next up was Tomb Blaster, which suffered many audio errors. No audio at all on the lift, audio kept cutting out in the axe corridor, and that's not even mentioning how poor the lighting is. Quite frankly, it's a bit embarrassing to have it operating like this.
For some reason, Dragon's Fury wasn't accepting single riders, despite the sign advertising still being there. So I went in, queued up, only to be told "we're not doing that today". Not sure if that's only for this weekend, but it was still annoying. We entered the queue to realise it wasn't exactly moving quickly. I understand that staff are still finding their groove, but stopping for a little chat whilst waiting for the ride to dispatch was incredibly irritating.
We chose to eat at Captains, and the experience there wasn't the best. After ordering, it took almost 20mins for our food to arrive, and one of my friend's lunch was lukewarm, so he had to get a second lunch elsewhere. Once again, i'm fine with slightly slower operations on preview days, but waiting ages for cold food just shouldn't happen.
Hocus Pocus is more laughable now, seeing as the preshow has been redubbed so there's no mention of the 3D glasses (glasses now being called "powers"), and it's completely out of sync. 
When guests are paying upwards of £50 on the gate, this is not the quality you should be receiving. If it wasn't for the TTSP event next month, I couldn't see myself returning. Hopefully these issues are ironed out by the time the park opens!

[Ladyofthelake]

SouthParks News now have a full round-up from this weekend's passholder preview days, including updates on Land of the Tiger, changes to F&B across the Resort, and other general updates.

[Spikebmth]

On a plus note, the touch screens in the burger restaurant work well, just need to remember to find the discounts button for the MAP

[ChessingtonSam]

For some reason, Dragon's Fury wasn't accepting single riders, despite the sign advertising still being there. So I went in, queued up, only to be told "we're not doing that today". Not sure if that's only for this weekend, but it was still annoying. We entered the queue to realise it wasn't exactly moving quickly. I understand that staff are still finding their groove, but stopping for a little chat whilst waiting for the ride to dispatch was incredibly irritating.

Hocus Pocus is more laughable now, seeing as the preshow has been redubbed so there's no mention of the 3D glasses (glasses now being called "powers"), and it's completely out of sync. 

Interesting, they were accepting Single Riders on Sunday, and the queue was only half an hour long. The HPH preshow is hilarious. My favourite line is "If you don't possess magic glasses of your own, you'll need to watch out for those pesky goblins, so keep your eyes open or you'll miss out"  :lol

[Luce]

I also went on Saturday and had a good day and only have a few little issues but can also appreciate that staff were new and have to have time to settle in.

I had the same problem as Morgan in that I had to wait about 20 minutes for my food in the fish and chips place, which was annoying as some people who'd ordered after me got theirs before I did - but I still enjoyed my lunch once I'd got it.  Hopefully things will improve once the season begins properly.

[lewis97]

Chessington have posted a concept image of their new tiger rooms on social media.

[jackf1tz]

Is it just me that always wants to pick up the things printed on the carpet because it looks a mess :lol