I was having a good old fashioned think in the car on the way back from Legoland today, after some discussion with my Dad on the matter of Chessington's future in comparison to Legoland, and I've thought up a small 4 year plan of my dream (yet logical in some way) ideas...
2009 - Obv not much can be done for next year with a very small space of time, so the best bet is to go with the flow of upgrades around the park, as can be seen through the re-painting of several areas (Chessie shop, Pirate's Cove games, and Skyway supports), a continuation of this would be a good idea to make Chessie look presentable and a nice place for people to re-visit...
However, one thing needs to be done ASAP... And that's replacing Rodeo... It's been gone for 4 years now and nothing has come up, hopefully Merlin (and new staff) will get sommat sooner rather than later, and for here best bets would be either a
Breakdance,
Topple Tower or a
Demolition Derby...
A Breakdance would obviously be a return to Rodeo in a way, but Rodeo was always a good ride, so I'd love to see it return one way or another...
Topple Towers are a big arguement, and it would be interesting to see guest reactions to such a ride... Would be hitting around 60ft (which would appear to be the limit on the park in the majority), so could be a rather intimidating ride for many tweens... Decent capacity though and easily would fit in the hole left...
Demolition Derby would entirely depend on how Chessie feel about dealing with Zamperla after Bash Street Bus being cack this year :lol:
2010 - A big year this, not only does Beano's contract run out, but I am led to believe it would also be time on Imperial Leather's as well (good news for Alton as well then, Pirate-themed Flume ftw
)...
Bubbleworks however will have to wait, as Beanoland is a much bigger project and since it is older needs the attention more...
Going back to Tim's ideas, a Roman Empire theme is definately a good idea... Since Chessie is the 'World of Adventures', may as well complete the olden times collection with some Roman rides...
Whizzer and Dodgems can be kept definately, maybe with a Colosseum theme placed around the Dodgems "Gladiator" style would make them look awesome... Whilst Whizzer just gets to look like a column... Elsewhere the Cafe would be extended to behind Splatapults in order to give another (but only the 4th) proper sit-down restaurant in the park... Splats could be replaced with a small kiddie ride...
In fact, with Bus on it's last legs, removing that and the ELC tent behind it would give a lot of room for a possible indoor ride, a
Madhouse perhaps? Of Hex-like awesomeness naturally...
The major thing here would be a new coaster... 6 years is too big a gap so the ride needs to be completely different from anything Chessie has, but I still think the company to turn to regardless would be
Gerstlauer... The two choices here being either a
Wooden or possibly a more likely idea
LSM Launched behind Madhouse (which could be removed)...
With a Wooden of Mammut proportions, a great fun family coaster would result in my view... With excellent re-ride capabilities, and doesn't need a lot of theming to make it excellent...
On the other hand, a Launched could have great theming possiblities... I've thought of two things, Chariot racing, or even bigger, Pompeii themed, which would involve getting launched into or towards an erupting volcano... How cool would that be?
Treehouse would get re-themed to a massive statue of Cesaer, and Madhouse could also be Gladiator themed, or get removed due to the coaster... But Roman is the way to go imo...
2011 - Right then Bubbles got off lightly last year, so it's time for a complete and total revamp... But not before we improve Toytown, through removing Toadies and Bouncing Berries...
These two would be replaced by 3 new attractions, Berries would get replaced by a
Moser Drop Tower similar to Cranky at Drayton, meaning that we can get 12 adults if possible on ONE go... An important factor in a family park in my view...
Toadies would therefore get replaced by 2 rides... One for Toytownn, and one for Forbidden Kingdom... I haven't decided what kind of rides overall these should be, but I'm thinking
Disco for Kingdom and something more kiddie (perhaps a small round ride) for Toytown.. The back path would then get more field or a pond to look at, as well as a new cool ride...
Bubbles now, this would be a COMPLETE GUTTING of the current factory theme, very little if anything would stay... The idea of this re-do would be to totally dis-connect the new version to the previous incarnations, by giving a totally new experience... It's always been the dark horse of Chessie, not really fitting into Translyvania's theme, so this would involve theming to a
Haunted Castle... Same ride, different interior (and exterior for that matter)... Not sure about anything on the inside, but it would be of similar humour to the original Bubbles, with silly things going on, perhaps taking the mick out of old horror film cliches...
And there you have it, my 3 year plan of things I want to happen to Chessie ride-wise... I didn't even mention my wanting of the Falls rocks to return (I'm sure the evac stairs could be kept and incorporated into them)...
If anyone has comments about any of my ideas, say sommat bout it... I've spent quite a bit of time on these and I want opinions of my ideas...
Bear in mind Bubbles re-theme money would come in from the income of the 2010 season, due to the greater interest caused by the coaster... So I have thought of these things logically to a degree
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