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Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:09 pm
by Chris
I'll be very surprised if they put in any sort of effort in to creating what it once was. Already it looks silly with an orange colour scheme.

It's disappointing as Chessington has the opportunity to really diversify itself from the other parks with some immersive themeing, and all they seem to get is half baked rides and a general lack of maintenance.

If they would invest more in preventative maintenance then issues like this and Dragon Falls would not have happened in the first place.

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:08 pm
by onair
2013 was looking like it could have a real come back year with Chessington with its first major new attraction for years.

Instead it must be one the worst they have ever had !

All this theming has been let to rot over the years as mentioned. I really can see Alton going this way in some areas especially the Nemmy monster.

I used to love visiting Chessie but really have given up on the place for now. The animal enclosures look old and cruel compared to other zoos. Rides are falling to bits and what good theming they had has been destroyed.

And to top it all Zufari a total wasted opportunity.

I really can see them leaving the runaway train like this and just sticking up some bamboo.  :(

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:45 pm
by TheDarkStar
Chessington is still the best themed. Maybe they are just revamping it.

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:24 am
by bensaund
All I read about is people having a go at Chessington, there are some positives many people are over looking:
-They are spending the money rather than doing nothing
-The areas which they have done do look good
-New area audio going in
-Zufari is a hit for the park, but many people seem to be disappointed when they go in cold weather and the animals are inside or they compare it to the US parks who have so much more space
-We really need to wait for all the work to finish before we judge, yes the scaffolding looks a mess and it should have been done out of season, but the work is being done and lots of theming is getting put back
-Plus one of the most positive things is they are listening and adjusting, for example, removall of seatbelts from Zufari, painting animals on the fences by Zufari

My personal opinion is they really need a 10 million upgrade and they need to sort out the car parking as well

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:48 am
by Pennywise
bensaund wrote: -They are spending the money rather than doing nothing
They are spending the money because they have to, really. The old rockwork was condemned and Runaway Train and Dragon Falls both rely very heavily upon their theming, so to leave them completely bare would be to lower themselves to Gullivers standards. They're not quite there yet. But I don't think Chessington is much better than Flamingo Land anymore, in honesty.

-The areas which they have done do look good
Depends how recently we're talking. Since Merlin came in they've introduced Wild Asia which, yes, is magnificent. But meanwhile they've let the rest of the park slip into a seemingly endless spiral of decline and then, this year, introduced Zufari which is a fine example of half-arsedness. This is also the park that recently brought us (admittedly pre-Merlin) the abomination that is Land of the Dragons. Easily the tackiest area of the park, and with the most utterly bizarre layout I think I've ever seen for a theme park area. Nobody even knows about Griffin's Galleon!

-New area audio going in
This is good. It's a cheap way of improving guest experience and I approve of it. However, they counteract good decisions such as this one by running rides such as Vampire (low throughput at the best of times) on one train and overselling fastrack tickets. Queues at Chessington needn't be nearly as long as they are, and it spoils guest experience.

-Zufari is a hit for the park, but many people seem to be disappointed when they go in cold weather and the animals are inside or they compare it to the US parks who have so much more space
Depends on your definition of a "hit" really. It gets long queues partially down to low throughput and partially because it's new. We'll see just how popular it is in a few years. It's failure is not down to space - Chessington had much more land to play with if they had wanted to - it all comes down to budget, and Merlin have decided to build this ride on the cheap. It shows. Besides, with the closure of Runaway Train and now Rameses Revenge, Chessington has still seen a decline in the number of attractions on offer between 2012 and 2013. That shouldn't happen, ever.

-We really need to wait for all the work to finish before we judge, yes the scaffolding looks a mess and it should have been done out of season, but the work is being done and lots of theming is getting put back
But will it ever be as good as it used to be? If Runaway Train isn't rethemed to the same standard, they should have just thrown it on the scrapheap and used the space for something new. It's a poor ride, but the previous 'experience' was more than the sum of its parts.

-Plus one of the most positive things is they are listening and adjusting, for example, removall of seatbelts from Zufari, painting animals on the fences by Zufari
Things like this go on all the time at all theme parks - minor touches to improve guest experience. They're just better noticed at Chessington becuase they're the only improvements.

My personal opinion is they really need a 10 million upgrade and they need to sort out the car parking as well
Agreed. Car parking is a joke at Chessington. And, yes, £10million would be nice, especially when it seems that we're getting this instead of any new attractions over the next few years - not even a much-needed Bubbleworks retheme.  :(

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:24 pm
by Themeparksandy1981
I read on Chessington Buzz that the 5m included Zufari and the other work around the park ie resturant upgrades aswell as theses 2 rides.

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:36 pm
by Pennywise
Themeparksandy1981 wrote: I read on Chessington Buzz that the 5m included Zufari and the other work around the park ie resturant upgrades aswell as theses 2 rides.
This is definitely not the case. Zufari alone cost upwards of this figure.

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:33 pm
by Themeparksandy1981
D4n wrote:
Themeparksandy1981 wrote: I read on Chessington Buzz that the 5m included Zufari and the other work around the park ie resturant upgrades aswell as theses 2 rides.
This is definitely not the case. Zufari alone cost upwards of this figure.
I was just saying what I read I don't know how much it cost as on here it hasn't been talked about much and I haven't been to the park since 2008.

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:40 pm
by DeanGaryCox
well dragon falls is getting a retheme ready for the 2014 season and they're asking for ideas/designs on what to do with it, even though it still has to fit in with an oriental theme... and i know this is merlin we're talking about but i can't see them leaving the runaway train how it is now pretty much, they will at least add some rockwork, and give it a slightly different theme, but in no way will it be as good as before.

Re: Chessington 2013 Closed Season Updates

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:43 pm
by TheOutpatient
Why did they get rid of the Turrets on the Transylvania restaurant? That's really bad news.

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 1:13 am
by bensaund
D4n wrote:
bensaund wrote: -They are spending the money rather than doing nothing
They are spending the money because they have to, really. The old rockwork was condemned and Runaway Train and Dragon Falls both rely very heavily upon their theming, so to leave them completely bare would be to lower themselves to Gullivers standards. They're not quite there yet. But I don't think Chessington is much better than Flamingo Land anymore, in honesty.

-The areas which they have done do look good
Depends how recently we're talking. Since Merlin came in they've introduced Wild Asia which, yes, is magnificent. But meanwhile they've let the rest of the park slip into a seemingly endless spiral of decline and then, this year, introduced Zufari which is a fine example of half-arsedness. This is also the park that recently brought us (admittedly pre-Merlin) the abomination that is Land of the Dragons. Easily the tackiest area of the park, and with the most utterly bizarre layout I think I've ever seen for a theme park area. Nobody even knows about Griffin's Galleon!

-New area audio going in
This is good. It's a cheap way of improving guest experience and I approve of it. However, they counteract good decisions such as this one by running rides such as Vampire (low throughput at the best of times) on one train and overselling fastrack tickets. Queues at Chessington needn't be nearly as long as they are, and it spoils guest experience.

-Zufari is a hit for the park, but many people seem to be disappointed when they go in cold weather and the animals are inside or they compare it to the US parks who have so much more space
Depends on your definition of a "hit" really. It gets long queues partially down to low throughput and partially because it's new. We'll see just how popular it is in a few years. It's failure is not down to space - Chessington had much more land to play with if they had wanted to - it all comes down to budget, and Merlin have decided to build this ride on the cheap. It shows. Besides, with the closure of Runaway Train and now Rameses Revenge, Chessington has still seen a decline in the number of attractions on offer between 2012 and 2013. That shouldn't happen, ever.

-We really need to wait for all the work to finish before we judge, yes the scaffolding looks a mess and it should have been done out of season, but the work is being done and lots of theming is getting put back
But will it ever be as good as it used to be? If Runaway Train isn't rethemed to the same standard, they should have just thrown it on the scrapheap and used the space for something new. It's a poor ride, but the previous 'experience' was more than the sum of its parts.

-Plus one of the most positive things is they are listening and adjusting, for example, removall of seatbelts from Zufari, painting animals on the fences by Zufari
Things like this go on all the time at all theme parks - minor touches to improve guest experience. They're just better noticed at Chessington becuase they're the only improvements.

My personal opinion is they really need a 10 million upgrade and they need to sort out the car parking as well
Agreed. Car parking is a joke at Chessington. And, yes, £10million would be nice, especially when it seems that we're getting this instead of any new attractions over the next few years - not even a much-needed Bubbleworks retheme.  :(
I am going to be optimistic here, I feel they are moving in the right direction, I do see improvements when I go and I always enjoy my visits there. I would rate Chessington over Thorpe for atmosphere and friendly staff.

Re: Will chessington ever invest in a new coaster?

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:03 pm
by browr020
A Vekoma Motorbike Coaster would fit in really well.

Re: Will chessington ever invest in a new coaster?

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:56 pm
by Danny
I think if th13teen was made for chessington that would be amazing! But I love th13teen at AT as well

Re: Chessington's £5million upgrade

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:57 pm
by Burniel
You can't criticise Chessington before anything's done, at least let them do it first.

Re: Will chessington ever invest in a new coaster?

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:51 pm
by Burniel
It won't happen. Not soon, anyway

Re: Will chessington ever invest in a new coaster?

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:59 pm
by bensaund
If anything we would see something like Th13teen which younger guests can enjoy. They have already annoyed so many people this year by sticking a 1.1m heigh restriction on Zufari, and now have had to make adjustments and lower the height to 1m.

Chessington really have used all of their space, with the hotel expansion, there are a few enclosures they will need to move, but there will be space where Rameses is soon! hehehe something like a Huss Topple towers would be good for Chessington

Re: Will chessington ever invest in a new coaster?

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:45 am
by Burniel
ZUFARI is down to 1 metre?

Chessington - what should go?

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 7:00 am
by Burniel
Discussion welcome  :)

Re: Chessington 2013 Closed Season Updates

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 7:29 am
by Burniel
I've been on ZUFARI a few times now. It's ok, but after your first time, it gets a bit expected, it's mostly the same ride every time.

Re: Will chessington ever invest in a new coaster?

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:46 pm
by bensaund
Yep, I would like to see it really 0.9m