Chessington Annual Pass day is usually our first theme park trip of the year and so its always exciting to get there to see whats changed and whats new or gone. This year was no exception, but Chessington seems to have surprised everyone with a couple of things that it kept secret. In this blog post we will look at some of the changes the park has undergone during closed season.
Tomb Blaster has been at the park for years and lets be brutally honest, it was showing its age. Effects weren’t working and it was generally looking a bit shabby and tired. Chessington obviously had the same thought and have pretty much given the whole thing some TLC. The first thing you will notice is in the queue. Some small new bits of theming have been added and a whole new queue audio has been introudced. Normally queuing for this ride felt boring but this new audio really brought something. It genuinely felt like you were about to ride something brand new. It also sets up the new storyline of the ride. Throughout the ride itself, the effects have all been repaired and the new storyline and audio really do bring a whole new lease of life to it. It was actually a real pleasure to ride this and just look at everything working. I didn’t actually use my blaster. Well done to the team behind the revamp of this and I believe I also have to say Thank you to Nick Hutson who did the audio. Its superb!
Vampire has also undergone a bit of a revamp with regards to its queue line and station. The changes aren’t as big as Tomb Blaster’s but what they have done really adds to the experience of Vampire. In the queue line some new theming has been introduced in the form of tomb stones, graves and what I’m going to call an easter egg to Thirteen at Alton Towers. The most noticable changes are when you go inside. As you go in, you will see the new red curtain thingy but then as you approach the station you then notice the magnificant organist has been restored to full working order and its stunning.
The rethemed Flying Jumbo’s ride is now in place and open. Elmer’s Flying Jumbo’s brings colour to the area and its just so cute. Elsewhere work on the new Rainforest area seems to have progressed really well and from the visible areas it looks fresh and clean and quite cute. There is also a new pathway through Land of the Dragons to connect it to Elmer due to the main back path being closed. Ramesis Revenge has also been removed from the park following the announcement it was leaving. Boards have been put up around the attraction. The Blue Barnacle, aka Black Buccaneer is also undergoing some TLC and hopefully it will return to the park soon. Other sites have really kept us updated on all the work so I didn’t get pictures.
You can tell a lot of work over closed season has gone into restoring old or tired rides and just generally updating the park. I didn’t look round the whole park, so have an excuse to go back again but the changes that I did see were brilliant and actually work really well. We are sure the new Rainforest area will be hugely popular for them and we genuinely can’t wait to see whats next for the park.
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