Hey all. So I decided to pop over to Chessington for a bit today as the weather wasn't meant to be awful. After some train woe I finally got to the park about 12:45. First thing I wanted to do is see how close I could get to the Scorpian Express/Runaway Mine Train construction. On my way I stopped to look from the Monkey and bird garden the new enclosures being built and I see the new contraption (which sounds like it'll be kids only - booooo).
The idea is that you'll be able to walk over monkey enclosures. Sounds exciting.
Oh I also watched the African drummers...
Sorry for the blurry image
In the Children's zoo area I saw some of the Marmosets and skunks.
I was able to look at the construction of Scorpion Express pretty easily from here. This new shed being built sounds like it'll house the new cattlepen queue so it won't be long before we dub it the shed of despair.
The old queueline says goodbye
I've not seen this test carriage before
Now I know what you're thinking. Peep, why take a picture of the floor? Well I'll tell you why, for several years Nic has pointed out to me that the bottom piece of wood panelling on this stall was broken/kicked in and it has finally been fixed. So I included it to show they care about the things that nobody else is going to notice.
I doubt they've even touched this
I went to ride Tomb Blaster which had a 20 minute wait. The two women behind me in the queueline were talking about other rides (WDW, Alton etc) which made the wait far more interesting. The queue had a whole host of new posters advertising the on ride photo merch. Apparently if you buy one now you get a free download to your phone or some lark.
I think this small poster was new
My score was ridiculously high as per usual. Go me.
What a sad state, anyone want to tell me why the site still looks like this after well over a year?
So it looks like there won't be any large rockwork coming back. On the floor are currently some small rocks and some very fake looking cacti. The steel going up at the moment is clearly going to be for a horrible backdrop to cover up the maintenance road. It's all very disappointing.
I made my way over to Wanyama Village past the very closed Zufari (though they were doing something near the flamingos). In the middle of the village there is a small pond, they've now turned it into a new enclosure which works really well.
There was also some new signage about, they've gone for a different style (again).
From the large viewing platform you could get a good look at the construction of the new hotel expansion. They're advertising an August opening.
KAWAII!
I then spent a fair amount of time catching various shows. I caught Madagascar where everyone decided to go, the place was rammed. I took a funny photo after the pyrotechnic(s) went off...
The whole of the Mexicana area is getting a lick of paint due to the Scorpion. It doesn't look like what's inside the buildings will be changing.
I had a few minutes to kill before the penguin presentation so went through the Sea Life centre.
I then watched the penguins being fed before moving over to Sealion bay for the Sealion show which is far more exciting and also rammed with people.
I liked these little posters for the half term event
So the new poster art suggests the cred will be getting a fire and water effect (both of which will last 2 seconds).
Question time: What's missing here?
After watching the sealions I popped into Creepy Caves which is still half empty with promises of new creatures coming soon. I managed to catch a lizard eating a cricket which was exciting.
This one was clearly jealous of the other one's meal
Mopping up the cricket blood
Hello, I'm your new nightmare for this evening
That's what the above is
Anyone remember the fire that broke out in December? Well the creaky cafe (which was new for last year) is now totally gone and the wall of Bubbles that backed on to it has been taken down and should be replaced soon. They're also doing a lot of work on the tower.
I then went down the Trail of the Kings. Hoping to see the Lynx the park got last year I was shocked to find an Ocelot in their place.
But don't worry, the Lynx have just moved into where the Leopards used to live.
The Tigers had only recently been given food so it was interesting watching them eat their meal.
After that I left the park. Not too long before I'll be back when the whole park re-opens.
Thanks for reading.
The idea is that you'll be able to walk over monkey enclosures. Sounds exciting.
Oh I also watched the African drummers...
Sorry for the blurry image
In the Children's zoo area I saw some of the Marmosets and skunks.
I was able to look at the construction of Scorpion Express pretty easily from here. This new shed being built sounds like it'll house the new cattlepen queue so it won't be long before we dub it the shed of despair.
The old queueline says goodbye
I've not seen this test carriage before
Now I know what you're thinking. Peep, why take a picture of the floor? Well I'll tell you why, for several years Nic has pointed out to me that the bottom piece of wood panelling on this stall was broken/kicked in and it has finally been fixed. So I included it to show they care about the things that nobody else is going to notice.
I doubt they've even touched this
I went to ride Tomb Blaster which had a 20 minute wait. The two women behind me in the queueline were talking about other rides (WDW, Alton etc) which made the wait far more interesting. The queue had a whole host of new posters advertising the on ride photo merch. Apparently if you buy one now you get a free download to your phone or some lark.
I think this small poster was new
My score was ridiculously high as per usual. Go me.
What a sad state, anyone want to tell me why the site still looks like this after well over a year?
So it looks like there won't be any large rockwork coming back. On the floor are currently some small rocks and some very fake looking cacti. The steel going up at the moment is clearly going to be for a horrible backdrop to cover up the maintenance road. It's all very disappointing.
I made my way over to Wanyama Village past the very closed Zufari (though they were doing something near the flamingos). In the middle of the village there is a small pond, they've now turned it into a new enclosure which works really well.
There was also some new signage about, they've gone for a different style (again).
From the large viewing platform you could get a good look at the construction of the new hotel expansion. They're advertising an August opening.
KAWAII!
I then spent a fair amount of time catching various shows. I caught Madagascar where everyone decided to go, the place was rammed. I took a funny photo after the pyrotechnic(s) went off...
The whole of the Mexicana area is getting a lick of paint due to the Scorpion. It doesn't look like what's inside the buildings will be changing.
I had a few minutes to kill before the penguin presentation so went through the Sea Life centre.
I then watched the penguins being fed before moving over to Sealion bay for the Sealion show which is far more exciting and also rammed with people.
I liked these little posters for the half term event
So the new poster art suggests the cred will be getting a fire and water effect (both of which will last 2 seconds).
Question time: What's missing here?
After watching the sealions I popped into Creepy Caves which is still half empty with promises of new creatures coming soon. I managed to catch a lizard eating a cricket which was exciting.
This one was clearly jealous of the other one's meal
Mopping up the cricket blood
Hello, I'm your new nightmare for this evening
That's what the above is
Anyone remember the fire that broke out in December? Well the creaky cafe (which was new for last year) is now totally gone and the wall of Bubbles that backed on to it has been taken down and should be replaced soon. They're also doing a lot of work on the tower.
I then went down the Trail of the Kings. Hoping to see the Lynx the park got last year I was shocked to find an Ocelot in their place.
But don't worry, the Lynx have just moved into where the Leopards used to live.
The Tigers had only recently been given food so it was interesting watching them eat their meal.
After that I left the park. Not too long before I'll be back when the whole park re-opens.
Thanks for reading.
subtle humour, I like it 
