Another weekend, another trip to Chessington: World of Adventures!
As usual I got trains to the park, greeting Benin on the way. We then strolled into the hotel (never been in the hotel before), wow it is so nice in there. We were also greeted by Chessington character Pip...
Really couldn't have started the day any better than that. Pip tried to dance with me and then tried to take me into the lift lol, was highly amusing. We then gazed at the little lizard in the reception area for a bit...
He was so cool. We then went down the corridor to the bar area where we met Peter and Marc (off TPM). We gazed out from the new walkway over the new savannah area. It looks so big, couldn't wait to explore the area even more.
However we were here to tag along with the hotel guest's ERT (thanks to TPM). We were taken the longest way round the park to Wild Asia...
Hurrah for fairly empty Wild Asia times. We walked straight on to Kobra for an epic ride full of air time.
We then pretty much seemed to follow all the other guests. First we did Tuk Tuk Turmoil which was good fun as always and then we rode Monkey Swinger just as it decided to spit a little, damn the inclement weather
The park was now open and Wild Asia was flooded with guests entering the park so we left Wild Asia. Dragons Fury didn't have much of a queue so we headed straight into the queueline. It felt like no time at all before we were on, some great batching going on.
It was a great ride with a semi-decent spin. We wanted Vampire times next so we headed over to Transylvania. We couldn't hear the usual sound of Vampire and as we walked down the path towards the entrance of the ride we noticed staff blocking the entrance. We spoke to the staff for a bit while Vampire began and finished testing and then we were second in the queueline We all decided to do front row so we had a little wait. The station has loads of new lights which really boost the awesome atmosphere in the station. The organist looks awesome with the new lights and the whole station has been given a whole new breath of fresh air. The operator was awesome too with his creepy/evil announcements and great dispatching of the ride. Vampire loves it!
Seeing as there was no queue and the rain was starting to fall again we headed into Bubbleworks. We literally walked straight on, all four of us squeezing into a boat. Peter decided to play 'let's mess the ORP up' game...
Peter was pleased he had won the game Next up was a little drinks break at the cafe at the entrance of Transylvania. I filled my AP bottle with some spite and purchased a cookie. Both Benin and Peter followed the cookie plan. They were nice cookies and the staff were quite friendly. We spent ages drinking our drinks and talking about future trips and how much we were looking forward to heading over to the new area.
Marc then went off to go collect a friend so we headed off in a general direction and ended up bumping into Daffodil the cow in Town Square
We then headed into the zoo. First we walked past the penguins just as they were being fed and we spotted the keeper who we always see in Lorikeet lagoon (she even clocked me and Benin and smiled - lol).
Continuing onwards we made it over to the Wanyama village and reserve. It looks so different to what it did when it was Creature Features. Most of the animals have been moved into the children's zoo and a new hut is being constructed. Random bits of theming have also appeared all over the area and the reserve, well, I'll get on to that in a min.
We then watched the Meerkats for ages as they had been given food...
It was then time to go over to the reserve...
I spot ZEBRA!!!
Wow, never thought I'd get excited about seeing a Zebra lol, then again Chessington expanding their animal species is just amazing. We also spotted a group of Oryx when we reached the tower.
I also spotted a wild Scottish man..
We could also see a big group of people watching the reserve from the top floor of the hotel...
We spoke to a keeper in the area for ages about the animals and about new arrivals for the area over the next few months. She told us that they currently only have 2 Zebras and 5 Oryx due to them getting used to the area and to settle the ground for the animals. Over the next two months she confirmed that another 2 Zebras, 4 Gazelles and some Ostriches will be joining the party. Yay
She was very helpful and we could tell she loved her job. She even told us that hotel guests can go back into the area after the park has closed to view the reserve until sundown, I think that's such a cool quirk for the hotel guests.
The animals were then called back into their stables as they can't be out too long or otherwise they will basically overdose on grass.
Well we were satisfied with our visit to the new area and glad we got to talk to the very nice (and informative) staff member.
We weren't sure what to do next so we went into the Sea Life centre where we bumped into the other keeper who recognises us We then managed to bump into her again in the hand pool area (can't think of what it's called) where she told us all sort of fascinating facts about the creatures in the little pools.
I took some pics but most of them came out blurry
We then ended up in the children's zoo area. RABBIT
Rabbits are cool but then we spotted something even more awesome...
BABY MEERKAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was so cute and it kept trying to escape, lolz. All 3 of us are massive fans of meerkats and this really made our day. We also found out that he is only 3 months old. I want one <3
We decided that food times should occur but Benin wasn't feeling too peckish yet so we headed into Tomb Blaster. This week I had a gun that worked well yet I still didn't get near my top scores. Oh well, better than Benin, his gun failed to shoot.
Oh well after much faffing about we headed over to the Greedy Goblin for foodage. Woodstock thinks he is a condiment...
I had a bacon cheeseburger that was very nice and very filling. The food actually came out quite quickly too which made a change as the service is usually not very good.
We were then joined again by Marc and his friend. So, what attraction do we do next? Well Hocus Pocus Hall of course!
It's still cool to see it in such a great state but it is a little boring now. We were up for Lorikeet times so we headed over to Wild Asia for Lorikeet Lagoon. We were in there for some time taking loads of photos. We also spotted another new species in there but I wasn't too sure what it was. It looked like a pheasant so I asked the keeper... "what is that pheasant looking bird called?" To which he replied..."They're Golden Pheasants" to which we all burst into laughter The lorikeets were being really active and loud as well which was fun, they were flying all over the place.
We then left the lagoon with big smiles on our faces. We skipped Kobra as it had picked up quite a queue. However we got heavily distracted by this fantastic tree...
BANYAN MAXIMUS! He asked Benin his name and then asked for mine. He then went on to say that Benin and John sounded like the name of a sitcom. He continued to ask us where we think it should be set and out of nowhere after a little pause we both shouted "here" at the same time much to everyone's amusement. Absolutely amazing moment that we're never going to be able to recapture. He then went on to suggest that we live in the treehouse and that a third character should be introduced. We pointed at Peter and he said that Peter should be the crazy wacky character that appears every now and then in the sitcom lol. We then left Banyan to be hassled by children.
After that hilarity we visited the snake in the Wild Asia shop. He was actually awake and drinking from the little water feature.
Marc and his friend then decided to leave. We continued to enjoy our day by going on Dragons Fury as it had a fairly short queue.
It was an enjoyable ride and afterwards we headed into Land of the Dragons for Griffins Galleon. It's a nice gentle ride that doesn't go on long enough, although it really did come to an abrupt end, new brakes apparently.
Heading over to Mexicana we got sidetracked by Safari Skyway. Not been on it this year and it really is rough but it offers some great views.
New extension for the Gorillas
After our little ride on the skyway we went on Rattlesnake, pretty much walk-on.
It's a great ride and it's fun to brace yourself for each tight turn and sudden brake. After being rattled around we rode Runaway mine train with a very enthusiastic and embarrassing ride operator. Benin tried to tree grab but was not as successful as last week, still, a fun little ride.
Peter opted for another coffee break, this time at the Mexicana diner. Benin wandered off to chat to an old colleague working on Rattlesnake. Time to move onwards so we headed over to Mystic east for Dragon Falls. It was quite moist today and trying to avoid the elephant at the end was fun (even if I failed and got soaked in the ear).
We then went back to Wild Asia for another ride on Kobra. The queue was very short and once again we got some great air time. Great addition to the park.
As we were strolling out of Wild Asia Peter spotted a costumed character...Cinders!
We actually ran to get a photo with her and had to wait a while due to a mass of kids wanting to hug her. Hehe, we be a little bit sad
We said goodbye to Cinders and headed up the exit of Dragons Fury as we had exit passes due to Tomb's earlier gun of fail. We managed to get two rides and both times we got absolutely amazing spins, probably the most it's ever spun when I've ridden. I reckon it was helped by me shouting "spin like you've never spun before!" at the top of the lift hill Or it could just be down to the way we were seated.
The park was now closed so we had a little gander in the shop and then left the park. We had such an amazing day full of great moments. The future of just the zoo is also very exciting and can't wait for the other animals to arrive at the reserve.
Thanks for reading.
The two Facebook photo albums can be viewed by clicking the below links:
Album 1
Album 2
As usual I got trains to the park, greeting Benin on the way. We then strolled into the hotel (never been in the hotel before), wow it is so nice in there. We were also greeted by Chessington character Pip...
Really couldn't have started the day any better than that. Pip tried to dance with me and then tried to take me into the lift lol, was highly amusing. We then gazed at the little lizard in the reception area for a bit...
He was so cool. We then went down the corridor to the bar area where we met Peter and Marc (off TPM). We gazed out from the new walkway over the new savannah area. It looks so big, couldn't wait to explore the area even more.
However we were here to tag along with the hotel guest's ERT (thanks to TPM). We were taken the longest way round the park to Wild Asia...
Hurrah for fairly empty Wild Asia times. We walked straight on to Kobra for an epic ride full of air time.
We then pretty much seemed to follow all the other guests. First we did Tuk Tuk Turmoil which was good fun as always and then we rode Monkey Swinger just as it decided to spit a little, damn the inclement weather
The park was now open and Wild Asia was flooded with guests entering the park so we left Wild Asia. Dragons Fury didn't have much of a queue so we headed straight into the queueline. It felt like no time at all before we were on, some great batching going on.
It was a great ride with a semi-decent spin. We wanted Vampire times next so we headed over to Transylvania. We couldn't hear the usual sound of Vampire and as we walked down the path towards the entrance of the ride we noticed staff blocking the entrance. We spoke to the staff for a bit while Vampire began and finished testing and then we were second in the queueline
We all decided to do front row so we had a little wait. The station has loads of new lights which really boost the awesome atmosphere in the station. The organist looks awesome with the new lights and the whole station has been given a whole new breath of fresh air. The operator was awesome too with his creepy/evil announcements and great dispatching of the ride. Vampire loves it!Seeing as there was no queue and the rain was starting to fall again we headed into Bubbleworks. We literally walked straight on, all four of us squeezing into a boat. Peter decided to play 'let's mess the ORP up' game...
Peter was pleased he had won the game
Next up was a little drinks break at the cafe at the entrance of Transylvania. I filled my AP bottle with some spite and purchased a cookie. Both Benin and Peter followed the cookie plan. They were nice cookies and the staff were quite friendly. We spent ages drinking our drinks and talking about future trips and how much we were looking forward to heading over to the new area.Marc then went off to go collect a friend so we headed off in a general direction and ended up bumping into Daffodil the cow in Town Square
We then headed into the zoo. First we walked past the penguins just as they were being fed and we spotted the keeper who we always see in Lorikeet lagoon (she even clocked me and Benin and smiled - lol).
Continuing onwards we made it over to the Wanyama village and reserve. It looks so different to what it did when it was Creature Features. Most of the animals have been moved into the children's zoo and a new hut is being constructed. Random bits of theming have also appeared all over the area and the reserve, well, I'll get on to that in a min.
We then watched the Meerkats for ages as they had been given food...
It was then time to go over to the reserve...
I spot ZEBRA!!!
Wow, never thought I'd get excited about seeing a Zebra lol, then again Chessington expanding their animal species is just amazing. We also spotted a group of Oryx when we reached the tower.
I also spotted a wild Scottish man..
We could also see a big group of people watching the reserve from the top floor of the hotel...
We spoke to a keeper in the area for ages about the animals and about new arrivals for the area over the next few months. She told us that they currently only have 2 Zebras and 5 Oryx due to them getting used to the area and to settle the ground for the animals. Over the next two months she confirmed that another 2 Zebras, 4 Gazelles and some Ostriches will be joining the party. Yay
She was very helpful and we could tell she loved her job. She even told us that hotel guests can go back into the area after the park has closed to view the reserve until sundown, I think that's such a cool quirk for the hotel guests.
The animals were then called back into their stables as they can't be out too long or otherwise they will basically overdose on grass.
Well we were satisfied with our visit to the new area and glad we got to talk to the very nice (and informative) staff member.
We weren't sure what to do next so we went into the Sea Life centre where we bumped into the other keeper who recognises us
We then managed to bump into her again in the hand pool area (can't think of what it's called) where she told us all sort of fascinating facts about the creatures in the little pools. I took some pics but most of them came out blurry
We then ended up in the children's zoo area. RABBIT
Rabbits are cool but then we spotted something even more awesome...
BABY MEERKAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was so cute and it kept trying to escape, lolz. All 3 of us are massive fans of meerkats and this really made our day. We also found out that he is only 3 months old. I want one <3
We decided that food times should occur but Benin wasn't feeling too peckish yet so we headed into Tomb Blaster. This week I had a gun that worked well yet I still didn't get near my top scores. Oh well, better than Benin, his gun failed to shoot.
Oh well after much faffing about we headed over to the Greedy Goblin for foodage. Woodstock thinks he is a condiment...
I had a bacon cheeseburger that was very nice and very filling. The food actually came out quite quickly too which made a change as the service is usually not very good.
We were then joined again by Marc and his friend. So, what attraction do we do next? Well Hocus Pocus Hall of course!
It's still cool to see it in such a great state but it is a little boring now. We were up for Lorikeet times so we headed over to Wild Asia for Lorikeet Lagoon. We were in there for some time taking loads of photos. We also spotted another new species in there but I wasn't too sure what it was. It looked like a pheasant so I asked the keeper... "what is that pheasant looking bird called?" To which he replied..."They're Golden Pheasants" to which we all burst into laughter
The lorikeets were being really active and loud as well which was fun, they were flying all over the place.
We then left the lagoon with big smiles on our faces. We skipped Kobra as it had picked up quite a queue. However we got heavily distracted by this fantastic tree
...
BANYAN MAXIMUS! He asked Benin his name and then asked for mine. He then went on to say that Benin and John sounded like the name of a sitcom. He continued to ask us where we think it should be set and out of nowhere after a little pause we both shouted "here" at the same time much to everyone's amusement. Absolutely amazing moment that we're never going to be able to recapture. He then went on to suggest that we live in the treehouse and that a third character should be introduced. We pointed at Peter and he said that Peter should be the crazy wacky character that appears every now and then in the sitcom lol. We then left Banyan to be hassled by children.
After that hilarity we visited the snake in the Wild Asia shop. He was actually awake and drinking from the little water feature.
Marc and his friend then decided to leave. We continued to enjoy our day by going on Dragons Fury as it had a fairly short queue.
It was an enjoyable ride and afterwards we headed into Land of the Dragons for Griffins Galleon. It's a nice gentle ride that doesn't go on long enough, although it really did come to an abrupt end, new brakes apparently.
Heading over to Mexicana we got sidetracked by Safari Skyway. Not been on it this year and it really is rough but it offers some great views.
New extension for the Gorillas
After our little ride on the skyway we went on Rattlesnake, pretty much walk-on.
It's a great ride and it's fun to brace yourself for each tight turn and sudden brake. After being rattled around we rode Runaway mine train with a very enthusiastic and embarrassing ride operator. Benin tried to tree grab but was not as successful as last week, still, a fun little ride.
Peter opted for another coffee break, this time at the Mexicana diner. Benin wandered off to chat to an old colleague working on Rattlesnake. Time to move onwards so we headed over to Mystic east for Dragon Falls. It was quite moist today and trying to avoid the elephant at the end was fun (even if I failed and got soaked in the ear).
We then went back to Wild Asia for another ride on Kobra. The queue was very short and once again we got some great air time. Great addition to the park.
As we were strolling out of Wild Asia Peter spotted a costumed character...Cinders!
We actually ran to get a photo with her and had to wait a while due to a mass of kids wanting to hug her. Hehe, we be a little bit sad
We said goodbye to Cinders and headed up the exit of Dragons Fury as we had exit passes due to Tomb's earlier gun of fail. We managed to get two rides and both times we got absolutely amazing spins, probably the most it's ever spun when I've ridden. I reckon it was helped by me shouting "spin like you've never spun before!" at the top of the lift hill
Or it could just be down to the way we were seated.The park was now closed so we had a little gander in the shop and then left the park. We had such an amazing day full of great moments. The future of just the zoo is also very exciting and can't wait for the other animals to arrive at the reserve.
Thanks for reading.
The two Facebook photo albums can be viewed by clicking the below links:
Album 1
Album 2
