I woke up fairly early after a ridiculously long and tiring day at the Towers. I still don't understand how I got myself out of bed. Anyways I headed to the station, got on a train to Waterloo East, did the usual walk over the bridge to Waterloo so I could get breakfast (a bagel) and get my train to Kingston.
Once at Kingston I walked down the road to the bus stop for the bus to Chessington. It looked like I wasn't the only one doing this journey too. There seemed to be quite a few groups of teenagers and small families. The bus finally arrived and we all got on the bus. The bus was busy and felt like it took ages to get to Chessington.
Anyway I finally made it to Chessington: World of Adventures.
The entrance has been re-themed to fit in with the new 'wild' approach the park is going for, I like it.
After a bit of faff getting in I finally made my way in the direction of Vampire. However, as always, I got sidetracked by the awesome meerkats...
I finally got over to Vampire to find a stupidly long queue. However this just gave me more time to admire the new theming in the queue.
I finally got on after a stupidly long wait. Turns out the staff weren't expecting people :roll: The operator not only ran the coaster slowly (through-put was abysmal) but he kept talking over the awesome music, I wanted to slap him. Luckily for him I held back. The ride as always was cool though.
I then walked past Dragons Fury straight to the brand new Wild Asia area.
There was so much to look at but I decided to go into the shop first.
I have to admit that at first it wasn't what I was expecting and so was a tiny bit disappointed. However the longer I spent in there the more I appreciated it. I love the fact they sell Asian-orientated merchandise (elephant models, snake toys etc) and the Kobra stuff is awesome. They also sell bugs that you can eat, lolz.
I then went back outside to admire the rest of the new area. I liked the way they re-themed the fountain..
I then went over to the new centre piece of the land, the enchanted tree.
It was really well done and the elephant is hilarious, I was amused when he sounded depressed as it reminded me of Alan Rickman's voice of the robot in Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. It was also really popular with guests, yay.
This crazy lady then walked past, she was an entertainer. She turned up in a tuk tuk and then got a group of kids to follow her and shout a random chant and do a random dance, it was highly amusing.
I then watched Kobra for a bit. Blimey it looked like it goes fast over the hill, however with an 80 minute wait and building I wasn't prepared to queue (yeah, that's right, it had a longer queue than 13 at Alton
)
I opted for the Lorikeet Lagoon which was definitely something I was really looking forward to. Will it live up to my expectations?
Oh yeah, and meerkat joined me...
However he didn't go in as he was scared the lorikeets would poo on him
So, just before I entered the lady explained the rules and that they tend to poo a lot so you may have to clean it off at the exit lol. She also told us (everyone enters in small groups) that for the AP day only the honey nectar stuff would be free so we could all experience how amazing it is to feed the lorikeets. This was full of win and just got me even more excited.
I entered with this family and we all picked up our free pots. It feels quite small but spacious at the same time (does that even make sense?). It's really nice though and as soon as I entered I spotted loads of lorikeets, they were everywhere. However most of them were hiding and they didn't seem hungry.
Or they were more interested in watching us lol...
After ages of the keepers trying to bring the lorikeets over to the feeding area they started to come over. One of the keepers was telling us about them and the different varieties they have, was really cool.
Then me and the lady standing next to me got to feed some, was such an awesome experience and I can't wait to do it again next weekend.
After exiting the lagoon I stood and watched Kobra for a bit. I still couldn't believe the speed it hits as it goes over the hill. Was actually looking forward to riding it.
However the queue was still silly times so I continued on and ended up at Tomb Blaster.
The queue was very long. Rumours then trickled down the queue that the ride had broken down and loads of people left. Which was good as it shortened the queue quite a bit. The queue then started moving again so the ride was only broken down for a little bit. As I was alone I spent most of the queue listening to the people behind me talking, it was interesting to listen to. As I got to the bottom of the stairs I noticed Matt was working, hurrah *waves hello*. Didn't really get to say much as the queue seemed to be moving quite a bit now. I soon found myself on the ride.
It was good, I like laser shooters, the new effects were a bit lame apart from the last room, so much cooler than the lasers :wink: and overall I ended up with this score...
Which isn't as good as I got last year but it was still the highest of my train and the train before mine
After Tomb Blaster I arranged to meet up with Badger/Alan. However he was now stuck in a long queue for Rattlesnake so I waited at the exit for him.
I waited around 20 mins and then he was finally off the ride. He had his daughter and niece with him too. The first thing we did was look at the queue for Fury. However it was long and we decided to head into Wild Asia after I told them the shop had a snake in it.
It's hard to take photos but I think it's really cool, the idea, I think, is that a delivery truck has reversed into the shop (hence the random jewellery). We then purchased some ice creams and sat outside (in the lovely sunshine). We then saw Jadey and friends and we said hellos etc. She then went off again and we opted to look at the lorikeets. It had a long queue.
Anyway we opted for Kobra times with a shorter queue than earlier in the day I thought it would be a good time to go for it. Alan opted out as he isn't keen on spinny rides as it is. Fair dos.
I thought it was a great ride, a brilliant addition to Chessington. I found it to be much faster than Edge at Paultons. Whether this is actually true I'm not sure but it was definitely cool, the hill gave me plenty of air time and I think this is down to the lack of seat belt! However the staff really didn't know what they were doing and loading time was more of a mess than a mass CF faff session. Hopefully this is something that improves over the season.
After our awesome ride we opted for Dragon Falls times. However the queue was nearly out of the entrance and we opted out. We did look inside the newly re-opened store with brand new Asian merchandise.
We then opted for a small drink break at the Greedy Goblin where Alan's daughter and niece and myself had pancakes Good times.
As we were next door we then opted for Hocus Pocus Hall times where Alan was recognised by the staff member, was amusing. Inside has had a major re-paint and the 3D effects look fantastic again, awesome times.
When we came out one of the animal shows was on and we caught the end bit with the Macaw which is always cool.
I then wanted to take Meerkat to look at the meerkats
We then went for one last ride on Dragons Fury. Good times, although the long wait was slightly annoying.
Well that was the rides now closed. I wanted to go into the Wild Asia shop quickly to purchase merchandise. I ended up with a Kobra mug and t-shirt, they are awesome and the annual pass discount meant I got both for like £12.50, bargain in my opinion.
I then said bye to Alan, his daughter and niece and I continued out of the park to the bus. Soon enough I was back at Kingston but I had ages till my train back into London. Sad times. Once on the train I fell asleep and wok up just in time for Waterloo times. Just before getting on my train at Waterloo East back home a friend I haven't seen/spoken to in ages came over. We then spent the train journey catching up and trading our opinions on Thorpe and the Merlin parks. We then parted at our train station.
I had such a great day despite the busy queues. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I bumped into some management I met back in January for the site visit and they told me they had a gate figure of around 14000 which is extremely high for a normal day, let alone an Annual Pass holders only day. Crazy times. I was really happy with the weather too after such a wet day at Alton the day before. I think Wild Asia is an absolutely amazing area and just makes me more excited for Chessie's future. I also think the lorikeets are one of the best additions in a UK park for a long time. Hurrah for Chessie.
Once at Kingston I walked down the road to the bus stop for the bus to Chessington. It looked like I wasn't the only one doing this journey too. There seemed to be quite a few groups of teenagers and small families. The bus finally arrived and we all got on the bus. The bus was busy and felt like it took ages to get to Chessington.
Anyway I finally made it to Chessington: World of Adventures.
The entrance has been re-themed to fit in with the new 'wild' approach the park is going for, I like it.
After a bit of faff getting in I finally made my way in the direction of Vampire. However, as always, I got sidetracked by the awesome meerkats...
I finally got over to Vampire to find a stupidly long queue. However this just gave me more time to admire the new theming in the queue.
I finally got on after a stupidly long wait. Turns out the staff weren't expecting people :roll: The operator not only ran the coaster slowly (through-put was abysmal) but he kept talking over the awesome music, I wanted to slap him. Luckily for him I held back. The ride as always was cool though.
I then walked past Dragons Fury straight to the brand new Wild Asia area.
There was so much to look at but I decided to go into the shop first.
I have to admit that at first it wasn't what I was expecting and so was a tiny bit disappointed. However the longer I spent in there the more I appreciated it. I love the fact they sell Asian-orientated merchandise (elephant models, snake toys etc) and the Kobra stuff is awesome. They also sell bugs that you can eat, lolz.
I then went back outside to admire the rest of the new area. I liked the way they re-themed the fountain..
I then went over to the new centre piece of the land, the enchanted tree.
It was really well done and the elephant is hilarious, I was amused when he sounded depressed as it reminded me of Alan Rickman's voice of the robot in Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. It was also really popular with guests, yay.
This crazy lady then walked past, she was an entertainer. She turned up in a tuk tuk and then got a group of kids to follow her and shout a random chant and do a random dance, it was highly amusing.
I then watched Kobra for a bit. Blimey it looked like it goes fast over the hill, however with an 80 minute wait and building I wasn't prepared to queue (yeah, that's right, it had a longer queue than 13 at Alton
)
I opted for the Lorikeet Lagoon which was definitely something I was really looking forward to. Will it live up to my expectations?
Oh yeah, and meerkat joined me...
However he didn't go in as he was scared the lorikeets would poo on him
So, just before I entered the lady explained the rules and that they tend to poo a lot so you may have to clean it off at the exit lol. She also told us (everyone enters in small groups) that for the AP day only the honey nectar stuff would be free so we could all experience how amazing it is to feed the lorikeets. This was full of win and just got me even more excited.
I entered with this family and we all picked up our free pots. It feels quite small but spacious at the same time (does that even make sense?). It's really nice though and as soon as I entered I spotted loads of lorikeets, they were everywhere. However most of them were hiding and they didn't seem hungry.
Or they were more interested in watching us lol...
After ages of the keepers trying to bring the lorikeets over to the feeding area they started to come over. One of the keepers was telling us about them and the different varieties they have, was really cool.
Then me and the lady standing next to me got to feed some, was such an awesome experience and I can't wait to do it again next weekend.
After exiting the lagoon I stood and watched Kobra for a bit. I still couldn't believe the speed it hits as it goes over the hill. Was actually looking forward to riding it.
However the queue was still silly times so I continued on and ended up at Tomb Blaster.
The queue was very long. Rumours then trickled down the queue that the ride had broken down and loads of people left. Which was good as it shortened the queue quite a bit. The queue then started moving again so the ride was only broken down for a little bit. As I was alone I spent most of the queue listening to the people behind me talking, it was interesting to listen to. As I got to the bottom of the stairs I noticed Matt was working, hurrah *waves hello*. Didn't really get to say much as the queue seemed to be moving quite a bit now. I soon found myself on the ride.
It was good, I like laser shooters, the new effects were a bit lame apart from the last room, so much cooler than the lasers :wink: and overall I ended up with this score...
Which isn't as good as I got last year but it was still the highest of my train and the train before mine
After Tomb Blaster I arranged to meet up with Badger/Alan. However he was now stuck in a long queue for Rattlesnake so I waited at the exit for him.
I waited around 20 mins and then he was finally off the ride. He had his daughter and niece with him too. The first thing we did was look at the queue for Fury. However it was long and we decided to head into Wild Asia after I told them the shop had a snake in it.
It's hard to take photos but I think it's really cool, the idea, I think, is that a delivery truck has reversed into the shop (hence the random jewellery). We then purchased some ice creams and sat outside (in the lovely sunshine). We then saw Jadey and friends and we said hellos etc. She then went off again and we opted to look at the lorikeets. It had a long queue.
Anyway we opted for Kobra times with a shorter queue than earlier in the day I thought it would be a good time to go for it. Alan opted out as he isn't keen on spinny rides as it is. Fair dos.
I thought it was a great ride, a brilliant addition to Chessington. I found it to be much faster than Edge at Paultons. Whether this is actually true I'm not sure but it was definitely cool, the hill gave me plenty of air time and I think this is down to the lack of seat belt! However the staff really didn't know what they were doing and loading time was more of a mess than a mass CF faff session. Hopefully this is something that improves over the season.
After our awesome ride we opted for Dragon Falls times. However the queue was nearly out of the entrance and we opted out. We did look inside the newly re-opened store with brand new Asian merchandise.
We then opted for a small drink break at the Greedy Goblin where Alan's daughter and niece and myself had pancakes
Good times.As we were next door we then opted for Hocus Pocus Hall times where Alan was recognised by the staff member, was amusing. Inside has had a major re-paint and the 3D effects look fantastic again, awesome times.
When we came out one of the animal shows was on and we caught the end bit with the Macaw which is always cool.
I then wanted to take Meerkat to look at the meerkats
We then went for one last ride on Dragons Fury. Good times, although the long wait was slightly annoying.
Well that was the rides now closed. I wanted to go into the Wild Asia shop quickly to purchase merchandise. I ended up with a Kobra mug and t-shirt, they are awesome and the annual pass discount meant I got both for like £12.50, bargain in my opinion.
I then said bye to Alan, his daughter and niece and I continued out of the park to the bus. Soon enough I was back at Kingston but I had ages till my train back into London. Sad times. Once on the train I fell asleep and wok up just in time for Waterloo times. Just before getting on my train at Waterloo East back home a friend I haven't seen/spoken to in ages came over. We then spent the train journey catching up and trading our opinions on Thorpe and the Merlin parks. We then parted at our train station.
I had such a great day despite the busy queues. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I bumped into some management I met back in January for the site visit and they told me they had a gate figure of around 14000 which is extremely high for a normal day, let alone an Annual Pass holders only day. Crazy times. I was really happy with the weather too after such a wet day at Alton the day before. I think Wild Asia is an absolutely amazing area and just makes me more excited for Chessie's future. I also think the lorikeets are one of the best additions in a UK park for a long time. Hurrah for Chessie.
