Go Ape for Chessington WoA, summer 2016

[Ian]

A press release for you, lovingly copy and pasted.

Go Ape swings into Chessington World of Adventures Resort

As the 30th Go Ape Adventure to launch in the UK and the first ever to launch within a UK theme park, there will be no better way for you and your family to unleash your inner Tarzan than with a visit to Go Ape at Chessington World of Adventures Resort.
Tim Harrison Jones, Divisional Director at Chessington World of Adventures Resort, comments, “We are delighted to announce that Go Ape – the UK’s No.1 Forest Adventure – will be swinging into Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Summer 2016. As Britain’s Wildest Adventure, the partnership with Go Ape brings two adventurous brands together and ensures families can enjoy going wild in new ways when visiting us.”

An Adventure for the Whole Family

With two fantastic courses available in one location – Tree Top Adventure and Tree Top Junior – anyone over 1m can enjoy taking part, meaning the whole family can Go Ape together.

Within the Tree Top Adventure course, adventurous tribes can enjoy two to three hours in the trees, taking on zip wires, Tarzan swings, rope ladders and a variety of obstacles and crossings. For mini Tarzans, the Tree Top Junior course is ideal - offering a fun filled hour of tree-to-tree crossings, finishing with a zip line finale.
Additionally, Go Ape at Chessington will play host to the one-of-a-kind Go Ape four man zip wire! The whole family will feel the wind on their faces as they soar through the woodland side by side.

- Ends –

• Go Ape at Chessington will be launching in summer 2016

• Go Ape Pricing
-​£33 for Gorillas (16 years +)
-​£25 for Baboons (10–15 years over 1.4m)
-​£18 mini Tarzans (children over 1 metre tall)

• School Rates
-​Tree Top Junior (Primary Schools) £13 per pupil. Supervision ratio: one adult to eight over 6’s.
-​Tree Top Adventure (School or College – meeting the below Tree Top Adventure restrictions) will save 20%. This is for a group of 10 or more students Monday – Friday in term time only.

• Tree Top Adventure restrictions:
-​Minimum Age – 10yrs
-​Minimum Height – 1.4m (4ft7″)
-​Maximum weight – 20.5 stones (130kg)

• Tree Top Junior restrictions:
-​Minimum Height – 1m (3ft3″)
-​Maximum weight – 20.5 stones (130kg)

 

[gavin]

£33?

£33?????!!!!!!

 

[peep]

Wow, this sounds like an awful decision for the park.

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[Screaming Coasters]

£33?

£33?????!!!!!!

Thats reasonable for a Go Ape course.

I spoke to a Go Ape manager from the Battersea site yesterday and apparently they're just constructing and providing training, it will not be run by Go Ape. Right there, it lowers the value of the product and I also question £33...

 

[JoshC.]

So this is going to be more expensive than booking online for a full day at the theme park and Zoo. Just let that sink in.

 

[nealbie]

Brilliant decision, ruined entirely by the upcharge.

I don't understand at all how Merlin couldn't get a deal to have an on-site course to enrich the experience of their own guests and introduce Go Ape as a brand to a much larger audience.

Go Ape is fab and I'm kinda secretly pleased that they've shafted Merlin in such an amazing way. Go them! <3

 

[Ben]

THIRTY THREE POUNDS?!?!

Looking at their site it's the same price at any of their courses, so that's GoApe, not Merlin.

But yeah, that's ridiculous. The one at Woburn apparently gets you cheaper entry to the Safari if you do it so maybe this will have a similar thing.

But £33 to do GoApe?! That's **** daylight robbery from them. Families will literally just pay anything for ****.

 

[Jared]

I was told a while back that there are plans to do deals on theme park / go ape packages along with hotel packages. There were also plans to give discounts to AP holders, but I'm not sure if that's still the case.

 

[Martyn B]

It's not a bad idea really, gives people something different to do if they stay in the hotels.

BUT, £33 each will work out more expensive than park entry with a BOGOF.

 

[Rachel]

I love Go Ape! So much fun and I actually think its a great choice for Chessington, but yea unfortunately the price is a bit steep.

Hopefully the park can work out some sort of deal.

 

[Dave]

For a year which will be critical for Merlin after the Smiler incident this is a bit of a kick in the teeth! Especially for a family friendly park! Families call the entry to my work which is £1 cheaper than that! Rip off for what it is.

 

[Robbie]

Haven't Merlin just installed Go Ape style tree courses at Alton and Warwick? Couldn't they have also done that at Chessington? Their strategy baffles me.

 

[gavin]

^ Go Ape is a highly-established brand though. Chessington would have had to pay nothing to install it, they've got a major brand which will require little to no marketing, will likely be staffed by Go Ape, meaning no extra salaries, and they'll be taking a hefty cut I'd imagine.

Shoving their own ropes course in, which plenty of parks have done, would cost money on installation (not much admittedly) and staff, and wouldn't really get people through the gates.

I can't believe I'm defending that dump.

Where it all goes tits up is when customers get pissed off at the upcharge; that'll all be aimed squarely at Chessington.

 

[Ian]

^ In Erol's post above, the manager of the Battersea Go Ape said Merlin will staff it.

 

[Thekingin64]

This does look to be a good idea and will fit in nicely with the park but £33 is just way too much for a park up-charge attraction! Any up-charge should be £10 at absolute. max (but since I'm a bit of a cheapskate, I still wouldn't pay it!).

The only way I can see them getting away with that price is if the course is actually outside the park gates and officially a completely separate attraction.

 

[PeteA]

Its going to be well outside the park. Its in the woods in the South (grass) car park. So well away from the existing hotels. No idea how hotel guests are going to get to it. Probably have to drive to the new 45 space car park next to the Go Ape. Its also quite a walk from the South entrance as well, so it really is out on a limb.

 

[Thekingin64]

^So it's as I was thinking it might be. A completely separate attraction that happens to be on Chessington's land so it can be claimed as part of Chessington.

 

[Robbie]

^ Go Ape is a highly-established brand though. Chessington would have had to pay nothing to install it, they've got a major brand which will require little to no marketing, will likely be staffed by Go Ape, meaning no extra salaries, and they'll be taking a hefty cut I'd imagine.

Shoving their own ropes course in, which plenty of parks have done, would cost money on installation (not much admittedly) and staff, and wouldn't really get people through the gates.

Yes, that was my point.

Merlin love branded stuff, even if it's just putting Sea-Life and Lego into everything. So the fact they do their own rope courses at 2 sites but have a branded one at the third site is why I'm puzzled by the strategy.

Presumably it's simply because they can't get away with the standard £33 Go Ape entrance charge at Alton or Warwick. For now.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Is the logic perhaps that with Chessington being so easy to get to compared to the likes of Alton, people will visit JUST for Go Ape? If it was their own brand, maybe they wouldn't.

Think about it - people want to visit a Go Ape because they've heard good things, so they go to the website to find their most local, and it's Chessington's.

Where is the new camp site at Chess? Isn't that over that side? So it makes sense from that pov.

I think the price is... Well, ridiculous. But if Go Ape is close to that anyway then I'm not surprised. I just cannot fathom who'd pay it.

People rave about Go Ape though so... Just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

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[GuyWithAStick]

I think these rope courses are good for REALLY small places in the woods, like camp grounds and mountain hotels/resorts. An amusement park IMO is too big for one of these. And for... um... *googling exchange rate* $46 DOLLARS??!?! Jesus, this is a total rip-off! Either lower the price or don't even bother!