Chessington:WoA | Zufari | Track Ride
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caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
Awww - where does it say it's not opening 
caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
the website still lists it as the 20th - seems a bit odd that they aren't going to have it open for the preview day, but it will be open a few days afterwards...
Robbie
Hyper Poster
There's an app for this! It's not exactly The Smiler (though just as repetitive): it shows a series of animals through binoculars and when they vanish you have to remember what they were, press the icons in time and win points.
If you do well you can unlock a chance to win a trip to Chessington! Woo! All you have to do to win is, er, visit Chessington (and take a photo).
If you do well you can unlock a chance to win a trip to Chessington! Woo! All you have to do to win is, er, visit Chessington (and take a photo).
vaugc002
Mega Poster
I came across this today and thought it might be of interest - A POV posted by ChessingtonBuzz
It looks pretty fun although obviously isn't quite finished
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J-D83lr ... U9WFTtM9hw
It looks pretty fun although obviously isn't quite finished
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J-D83lr ... U9WFTtM9hw
Nic
Strata Poster
I didn't really get any useful photos. Sorry. I'll try and break this into elements of the ride to make it a bit easier to take in.
Opening times
At present, Zufari is only running at select times of the day. I asked why, and it's apparently just whilst the new animals are getting used to it all. They hope to have it running all day later in the season.
Area entrances
The entrance in Wanyama is... well, a bit grim really. It involves a surprisingly long walk up a footpath with tall bamboo fences each side. The fences are occasionally broken up with a quick glimpse of an ugly backstage area. All in all, it's a pretty depressing trudge along there.
The entrance from over by Rameses (next to Jumbos new home) is quite nice actually. They've given it a lovely themed arch way, and the path isn't too long.
Ride entrance
The footpaths open up into a small square at the ride entrance. There's some nice theming, and some African drums for kids (and big kids) to play on.
The photo sale point is a bit odd looking, although basically in keeping with the theme. Its basically just a small tent with a couple of monitors in it. It looks really temporary, but I'm not sure that it is.
The ride entrance itself is really nicely themed with some large "found" objects.
The queue
The queue is split into sections. After you get through the first section, you get to a Picsolve green screen hut. You have to go through it to continue on into the queue. You can potentially end up queuing for the photo.
Once you get through that, you’re put into another section of cattlepen. There’s a few nice theming features about the place to break it up a bit though. Themed bins <3
Pre-Show
You enter the pre-show room and are seated on long benches. The pre-show room can hold several vehicles worth of guests, so is a fair size.
SPOILER ALERT!!! If you don’t want to know about the pre-show, scroll past this bit!
The show begins with a video. A man with a dreadful fake South African accent, called Chase Van-Driver, tells you a bit about the mission. He explains that there’s been some recent sightings of weird cave paintings and that they’re a warning from an ancient tribe. Or something.
Then this really badly animated animal appears. I can’t remember what type of animal it was supposed to be, or what it was called.
Anyway, she starts talking, and it becomes clear that this portion of the show is actually a Stitch Live/Turtle talk/etc type attraction. For those not familiar with the concept, the voiceover is done live by someone who has a view of the room. This allows the “character” to interact with members of the audience. Depending on who’s doing it, it can be a bit cringe, but the kids – and Jordan - seemed to love it. I actually wasn't expecting it to be anything that involved, so that was a nice surprise.
END SPOILER (for now)
Once you leave the pre-show, another short cattlepen awaits whilst you wait to be batched
Batching/Loading
This is the one element that is currently really letting the ride down, and something that they need to improve asap. For starters, people were coming through the pre-show quicker than they were getting on the ride. That meant that the cattlepen filled up, and people physically couldn’t leave the pre-show building as there was nowhere for them to go. Burden.
They only seemed to be running 2 cars yesterday. It was taking so long to load that the first one was pretty much back to the station by the time the next one left.
They’re rows of 5 (I think). Individual seats with car style lap belts. In a vain attempt to speed up the process, they’ve gone for a Disney style “can you pull on the red tag for me” approach to restraint checking. This would be fine, apart from the fact that the seatbelts are mounted in such a way that makes it easier to sit on them than it does to do them up. Loads of people didn’t realise there were belts at all. Others were taking ages to do them up. Then there was all the “I’ve got no plug hole”/”the person next door has nicked my belt!” type issues. Then you’ve got adults having to do up their kids’ belts as well as their own and making a right meal of it. It’s horrendous and takes FOREVER. Also, the ride ops were almost too polite. They need to be a bit more assertive, or come up with ways of explaining the process to people as they’re getting on, and making their instructions clearer.
The safari
We were quite lucky in that the only animals we didn’t see were the flamingos. I’m amazed by how many of the animals have the freedom to come right up to the car (if they so wish). I imagine that could be pretty good once they’re all settled in.
The ride itself is a bit bumpy and that, but nothing too extreme/exciting. I imagine it’s a bit difficult as there could potentially be animals on the track, so they have to take it a bit easy. There’s bits where it drives through big puddles of water, but unless you’re sat on the edge, you actually can’t tell. Throughout the ride, there’s a pre-recorded commentary from a man with a crap South African accent again.
The cave
SPOILER ALERT!!!
As you enter the cave, there’s warning signs to keep out etc. The voiceover says something about it looks dodgy, but we’re going in anyway. Basically, this is what the “rock carvings” have been warning you about throughout the ride… although they’re seemingly completely forgotten about by the time you actually get there! :roll:
You drive into the cave and the door closes behind you. As the car starts to move forward, you realise that the only exit to the cave is completely covered by a waterfall. There’s a few light and sound effects (I think), but not many. Once you get halfway through the cave, the small water features either side of the car become large torrents which pelt the side of the vehicle. You then leave the cave, driving right through the waterfall, which does not switch off. If you’re sat in the edge seats, you may get mildly moist.
END SPOILER
And, well, that’s it really.
The verdict
It’s alright. The theming around the area is lovely, although they need to do something about the path to Wanyama. The pre-show was much more than I was expecting. Although its maybe not executed particularly well, it’s a nice touch and I enjoyed it. Loading is dire and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The animals are good, and will hopefully get even better. The finale is possibly slightly better than I imagined it’d be, but still so far short of what it could’ve been.
Overall I liked it, and would definitely ride again, but I wouldn’t even want to queue more than about 20 mins for it. I can imagine the queues over the upcoming holiday period being HORRENDOUS so bear that in mind if you’re paying a visit in the next couple of weeks.
Overall, I think its represents a good investment for the park, that fits well with its direction and target audience. Shame the rest of the place is such a complete and utter shambles this year!
Opening times
At present, Zufari is only running at select times of the day. I asked why, and it's apparently just whilst the new animals are getting used to it all. They hope to have it running all day later in the season.
Area entrances
The entrance in Wanyama is... well, a bit grim really. It involves a surprisingly long walk up a footpath with tall bamboo fences each side. The fences are occasionally broken up with a quick glimpse of an ugly backstage area. All in all, it's a pretty depressing trudge along there.
The entrance from over by Rameses (next to Jumbos new home) is quite nice actually. They've given it a lovely themed arch way, and the path isn't too long.
Ride entrance
The footpaths open up into a small square at the ride entrance. There's some nice theming, and some African drums for kids (and big kids) to play on.
The photo sale point is a bit odd looking, although basically in keeping with the theme. Its basically just a small tent with a couple of monitors in it. It looks really temporary, but I'm not sure that it is.
The ride entrance itself is really nicely themed with some large "found" objects.
The queue
The queue is split into sections. After you get through the first section, you get to a Picsolve green screen hut. You have to go through it to continue on into the queue. You can potentially end up queuing for the photo.
Once you get through that, you’re put into another section of cattlepen. There’s a few nice theming features about the place to break it up a bit though. Themed bins <3
Pre-Show
You enter the pre-show room and are seated on long benches. The pre-show room can hold several vehicles worth of guests, so is a fair size.
SPOILER ALERT!!! If you don’t want to know about the pre-show, scroll past this bit!
The show begins with a video. A man with a dreadful fake South African accent, called Chase Van-Driver, tells you a bit about the mission. He explains that there’s been some recent sightings of weird cave paintings and that they’re a warning from an ancient tribe. Or something.
Then this really badly animated animal appears. I can’t remember what type of animal it was supposed to be, or what it was called.
Anyway, she starts talking, and it becomes clear that this portion of the show is actually a Stitch Live/Turtle talk/etc type attraction. For those not familiar with the concept, the voiceover is done live by someone who has a view of the room. This allows the “character” to interact with members of the audience. Depending on who’s doing it, it can be a bit cringe, but the kids – and Jordan - seemed to love it. I actually wasn't expecting it to be anything that involved, so that was a nice surprise.
END SPOILER (for now)
Once you leave the pre-show, another short cattlepen awaits whilst you wait to be batched
Batching/Loading
This is the one element that is currently really letting the ride down, and something that they need to improve asap. For starters, people were coming through the pre-show quicker than they were getting on the ride. That meant that the cattlepen filled up, and people physically couldn’t leave the pre-show building as there was nowhere for them to go. Burden.
They only seemed to be running 2 cars yesterday. It was taking so long to load that the first one was pretty much back to the station by the time the next one left.
They’re rows of 5 (I think). Individual seats with car style lap belts. In a vain attempt to speed up the process, they’ve gone for a Disney style “can you pull on the red tag for me” approach to restraint checking. This would be fine, apart from the fact that the seatbelts are mounted in such a way that makes it easier to sit on them than it does to do them up. Loads of people didn’t realise there were belts at all. Others were taking ages to do them up. Then there was all the “I’ve got no plug hole”/”the person next door has nicked my belt!” type issues. Then you’ve got adults having to do up their kids’ belts as well as their own and making a right meal of it. It’s horrendous and takes FOREVER. Also, the ride ops were almost too polite. They need to be a bit more assertive, or come up with ways of explaining the process to people as they’re getting on, and making their instructions clearer.
The safari
We were quite lucky in that the only animals we didn’t see were the flamingos. I’m amazed by how many of the animals have the freedom to come right up to the car (if they so wish). I imagine that could be pretty good once they’re all settled in.
The ride itself is a bit bumpy and that, but nothing too extreme/exciting. I imagine it’s a bit difficult as there could potentially be animals on the track, so they have to take it a bit easy. There’s bits where it drives through big puddles of water, but unless you’re sat on the edge, you actually can’t tell. Throughout the ride, there’s a pre-recorded commentary from a man with a crap South African accent again.
The cave
SPOILER ALERT!!!
As you enter the cave, there’s warning signs to keep out etc. The voiceover says something about it looks dodgy, but we’re going in anyway. Basically, this is what the “rock carvings” have been warning you about throughout the ride… although they’re seemingly completely forgotten about by the time you actually get there! :roll:
You drive into the cave and the door closes behind you. As the car starts to move forward, you realise that the only exit to the cave is completely covered by a waterfall. There’s a few light and sound effects (I think), but not many. Once you get halfway through the cave, the small water features either side of the car become large torrents which pelt the side of the vehicle. You then leave the cave, driving right through the waterfall, which does not switch off. If you’re sat in the edge seats, you may get mildly moist.
END SPOILER
And, well, that’s it really.
The verdict
It’s alright. The theming around the area is lovely, although they need to do something about the path to Wanyama. The pre-show was much more than I was expecting. Although its maybe not executed particularly well, it’s a nice touch and I enjoyed it. Loading is dire and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The animals are good, and will hopefully get even better. The finale is possibly slightly better than I imagined it’d be, but still so far short of what it could’ve been.
Overall I liked it, and would definitely ride again, but I wouldn’t even want to queue more than about 20 mins for it. I can imagine the queues over the upcoming holiday period being HORRENDOUS so bear that in mind if you’re paying a visit in the next couple of weeks.
Overall, I think its represents a good investment for the park, that fits well with its direction and target audience. Shame the rest of the place is such a complete and utter shambles this year!
The despatch sounds like the dreadful issue they had at Blackpool Tower - only here it may end up worse- at Blackpool it will have only been bad on busy days.
There was a huge queue out of the initial queue line due to the obligatory photo shot too close to the start. Then you had a short walk to the next queue, which was the queue for the 4D cinema (or pre-show in this case). Only the batching area for the cinema was horrendous and you couldn't get into the cinema as the last visitors were held up by too many people waiting to get into the lifts, so they essentially ended up queueing back into the cinema. Same here then?
So basically it's a cookie cutter system Merlin have put in place which has failed under heavy load previously - well done.
The attractions sounds okay I guess and I'd like to see what MMF thinks of it as he's the target audience. I can imagine that it'll end up like that boat thing at Flamingoland where people go on it once and then just don't again because it's a chore.
There was a huge queue out of the initial queue line due to the obligatory photo shot too close to the start. Then you had a short walk to the next queue, which was the queue for the 4D cinema (or pre-show in this case). Only the batching area for the cinema was horrendous and you couldn't get into the cinema as the last visitors were held up by too many people waiting to get into the lifts, so they essentially ended up queueing back into the cinema. Same here then?
So basically it's a cookie cutter system Merlin have put in place which has failed under heavy load previously - well done.
The attractions sounds okay I guess and I'd like to see what MMF thinks of it as he's the target audience. I can imagine that it'll end up like that boat thing at Flamingoland where people go on it once and then just don't again because it's a chore.
Nemesis Inferno
Strata Poster
WHY are they obsessed with green screen photos?
Queue for a photo then queue for the ride? Ew... That doesn't sound fun in the slightest way possible... It works SOMETIMES (emphasis on sometimes, as furie said, Blackpool's can be an issue, similarly the London Eye one, but Ice Age can indeed handle it as well as the Sea-Lifes), but to have it on something which will have a conveyor belt of people coming in being limited by both a photo and pre-show...
Well...
Queue for a photo then queue for the ride? Ew... That doesn't sound fun in the slightest way possible... It works SOMETIMES (emphasis on sometimes, as furie said, Blackpool's can be an issue, similarly the London Eye one, but Ice Age can indeed handle it as well as the Sea-Lifes), but to have it on something which will have a conveyor belt of people coming in being limited by both a photo and pre-show...
Well...
Lottie.
Mega Poster
The batching was an issue yesterday which I think was due to the fact that Zufari is meant to have a minimum of three trucks on the track, but for some reason one of them was out of action therefore two were only running. But I think the area after the pre-show is too short imo.
As for the ride itself, the safari part of the ride is exactly as it is. The whole area will take time to look more pleasing, than a big pile of mud. I think they have a decent job on the whole area atm considering they had a budget cut. The finale is good too however I think the problem is the story. It seems like the story is lost throughout the whole ride.
Overall, I like it and I think it really suits Chessington. The pre-show is good and the audience interaction is great! Batching needs to be sorted out, especially when the busy periods of school holidays begin. I just wish the story was more thought out during the ride. Otherwise I would definitely ride it - maybe not for more than 30 mins.
As for the ride itself, the safari part of the ride is exactly as it is. The whole area will take time to look more pleasing, than a big pile of mud. I think they have a decent job on the whole area atm considering they had a budget cut. The finale is good too however I think the problem is the story. It seems like the story is lost throughout the whole ride.
Overall, I like it and I think it really suits Chessington. The pre-show is good and the audience interaction is great! Batching needs to be sorted out, especially when the busy periods of school holidays begin. I just wish the story was more thought out during the ride. Otherwise I would definitely ride it - maybe not for more than 30 mins.
I better make some sort of review too I suppose. Will try to stay positive, doubt it'll happen.
As Nic says, the walk to Wanyama Village is so awful and just needs to be re-started from scratch. Such an awful design, nothing to look at and goes on FOREVER, pointlessly meandering for the sake of it. Might have to rename that path "Sue".
The queueline is fine, just the same as all the other recent queuelines built in the park, lots of wooden fences which if you lean on you will gain several bits of wood in your skin, joy. The greenscreen half way through the queue is pointless and annoying and needs to be taken down immediately.
The pre show building is fine if you haven't done a Disney one or don't mind forced participation. Yeah, I doubt I'll be re-riding this often unless this changes.
Apparently it's impossible to build working air gates now. I know this is a silly thing to moan about but you get several staff members going "you can open the gates now" and guests just looking confused like "they open automatically on everything else".
Then you have seat faff where it's such a tight space for 5 people that you just get lots of un-organised shuffling to try and get the seatbelts sorted. Then staff attempt to check the seat belts are done up in a Disney style which takes forever.
The journey amongst the animals is fine and just as I expected tbh, good to know they couldn't mess up the entire reason for the attraction. It was nice to see most of the animals out and about already.
Then we reach the cave again where the 'story' is tried to be thrown at us, sorry guys, it doesn't stick. Half the riders are like 'wtf' because they can't see/notice the reason why we're diverting into the cave we promised the badly animated Lemur we wouldn't venture into (like it's up to us anyway, we're not the ones driving the truck).
The cave
Any positives? The Coasterforce time board at the entrance and the animals.
How could they improve it? Make the pre show about how to load into the trucks and then just go round and have a look at the animals.
As Nic says, the walk to Wanyama Village is so awful and just needs to be re-started from scratch. Such an awful design, nothing to look at and goes on FOREVER, pointlessly meandering for the sake of it. Might have to rename that path "Sue".
The queueline is fine, just the same as all the other recent queuelines built in the park, lots of wooden fences which if you lean on you will gain several bits of wood in your skin, joy. The greenscreen half way through the queue is pointless and annoying and needs to be taken down immediately.
The pre show building is fine if you haven't done a Disney one or don't mind forced participation. Yeah, I doubt I'll be re-riding this often unless this changes.
Apparently it's impossible to build working air gates now. I know this is a silly thing to moan about but you get several staff members going "you can open the gates now" and guests just looking confused like "they open automatically on everything else".
Then you have seat faff where it's such a tight space for 5 people that you just get lots of un-organised shuffling to try and get the seatbelts sorted. Then staff attempt to check the seat belts are done up in a Disney style which takes forever.
The journey amongst the animals is fine and just as I expected tbh, good to know they couldn't mess up the entire reason for the attraction. It was nice to see most of the animals out and about already.
Then we reach the cave again where the 'story' is tried to be thrown at us, sorry guys, it doesn't stick. Half the riders are like 'wtf' because they can't see/notice the reason why we're diverting into the cave we promised the badly animated Lemur we wouldn't venture into (like it's up to us anyway, we're not the ones driving the truck).
The cave
would be fine if it wasn't blatantly obvious we weren't just driving into a car garage complete with loud and obvious shutter door. Maybe the mist would have been more mysterious and engaging if you couldn't see the long pipes randomly trying to escape the rockwork. Maybe the cascading waterfalls would have been more terrifying if they came anywhere near the truck or you couldn't see the bucket mechanism through the hole in the rockwork. Maybe I'd have believed we were in danger/peril of an invisible force if there was a story or some music/sound effects or an effect that was more noteworthy? Yeah.
We then 'survive' that great danger of someone getting into a full bath and get out at that station.
We then 'survive' that great danger of someone getting into a full bath and get out at that station.
Any positives? The Coasterforce time board at the entrance and the animals.
How could they improve it? Make the pre show about how to load into the trucks and then just go round and have a look at the animals.
