I did work experience on the welcome team at Chessington a few weeks back, which was great fun, and I promised them I would come back for a visit in the near future.
So, when the opportunity arose, I went straight to the park with my best friend Robin, who had never been to the park before. It was generally convenient in that respect to go to Chessington instead of Thorpe Park.
We had fast tracks for Vamprie and Dragon's Fury, so we started on some other rides in the morning before the queues got too large.
Rameses Revenge was first. The ride sequence for this one is a lot better than Ripsaw's in my view. The fountains were on, which was a bonus too.
We had a go on Tomb Blaster, just because there was no queue. The effects are quite good, but it wasn't my personal favourite ride.
Next was Dragon's Fury. The queue was already quite long, so we used our fast tracks.
I love this one! It's better than Sonic Spinball in my opinion.
Next was Vampire, the famous 21 year old Arrow suspended coaster. It's age doesn't make it any less awesome.
It interacts well with the area.
The entrance to Transylvania. The theme music for the area is really good actually.
I caught some snaps on our way to our next ride. This is Seastorm, a surprisingly thrilling family ride. We didn't go on it though. It wasn't a priority for us.
The park's Carousel. Just another ride that we walked straight past...
Our next stop was the Runaway Train, the park's powered coaster. It's very well themed.
The ride's compact design and theming allows the queue line to run very close to the track.
Rattlesnake was experiencing a technical difficulty in the morning, but we saw it testing from the Runaway Train queue line.
Next was Dragon Falls. You don't get too wet on this ride, but it's good fun.
...and SPLASH!
The queue system is filled with random Chinese proverbs, which were mildly amusing, if a little obvious...
Oh yeah. The park has a ferris wheel too.
Rattlesnake finally opened for the afternoon, so after a meal at Burger King in Transylvania, we headed straight to it.
I like this photo. It makes the ride look really tall.
This ride was way more painful than I remember it to be. It was still fun, but not worth the 40 minute queue.
After another ride on Rameses Revenge, we headed to Wild Asia, a product of the park's re-brand.
This is Kobra, the park's new ride. This horrible beast turned a happy Beanoland into a bland brown area of boredom. It has lost almost all of its atmosphere now.
Don't get me wrong. The ride is good, but I preferred the area as it was...
The Monkey Swinger, formerly Billy's Whizzer, is just one of the other rides that were cruelly re-themed to look boring.
Anyway, tantrum aside, we headed back to the Land of the Dragons for one last go on Dragon's Fury. The queue time suggested that this would be our last ride of the day. It was supposed to be 75 minutes long...
The queue time turned out to be more like 50 minutes. They need to work on their queue time guesses...
This will always be a little favourite of mine.
We ran to the Vampire and got in the queue just before it closed. It was a 60 minute wait for this one.
The ride is very close to the surrounding trees and queue line.
We got on the last ride of the day, which felt strangely faster than the first time. The cars swung a lot higher than usual.
I can confirm the rumours. British people like queuing...
We had a great time, considering how busy the park was. It was a friday in August, so we knew the park would be packed. I think we got lucky.
My next TR probably won't be until next year when I go to Thorpe for The Swarm. I'm so excited about that ride!
What else do I have to do to get a Reporter tag?...
