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CWOA | Mandrill Mayhem (World of Jumanji) | B&M Wing Coaster | 2023

Niles

Giga Poster
I had a day at Chessington today and was Intrested to see construction progress but @Jared just posted new pics so all that has changed since is they have a big drill now😁
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Here is a look at the site for the new main entrance.
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Even though you cannot get into the park from this side eveyone was trying to get into the main car park, instead of saying before the turning they had a sign just far enough in saying you had to use the hotel car park instead, this led to long queues before getting to the park.

Mini report:

So the park could do with some TLC, they are adding quite a few rides this and next year but loads of effects were not working from lights and sensors in tomb blaster, no fountains in Gruffalo and no waterfall finale in the safari left me a bit sad, paint was needed in many areas and I think a bunch of tress have been removed over time making it feel less natural.

Also we could have gotten in for free, walked past the ticket purchase booths (booked online), had bag checked and walked through the unmanned turnstiles, no one was there to scan our code other than a security guard looking at the otters, really odd but he seemed happy.

Longest queue we were in was Dragons Fury at 20mins, but the longest was the tiny log flume at 45mins, some grumpy parents in that queue.

Also there looks to be a cover for the stacked cars for dragons fury going up, fits right into the theming so far😅
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Vampire was a walk on most of the day but what we think was a broken scent box was kicking out “coffin smell” non stop so we could only managed three goes before feeling sick.

Other than that it was nice to get back after quite a while, the biggest new things for me were Room on the broom and Croc drop which were both….egh, but we did get on everything we wanted and had plenty of time for re-rides. With not to many people around the animals all seemed to be more chill and out a lot more to which was nice to see☺️
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Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
Also we could have gotten in for free, walked past the ticket purchase booths (booked online), had bag checked and walked through the unmanned turnstiles, no one was there to scan our code other than a security guard looking at the otters, really odd but he seemed happy.

Now that’s a job I could get behind tbh.
 

Jared

Hyper Poster
Footers are starting to go in for Project Amazon!

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More photos of construction here.

Shouldn't this be in Construction? ;)
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
Visited the park today, nothing much new but the construction site looks very active indeed! I do quite like Chessington's vibe tbh, but there's a lot that needs a bit of refurb, hopefully they tart everything up in the future.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
but there's a lot that needs a bit of refurb, hopefully they tart everything up in the future.

Not to detract from your overall vibe, but it's kinda worrying to hear that a lot needs a bit of a refurb when the majority of the park has already been refurbed over the last 10 years or so. Admittedly the bits that haven't been (Land of the Dragons, Tomb Blaster, arguably Vampire) are major attractions that stick in the mind, it's still something that's a bit surprising to hear!
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
Not to detract from your overall vibe, but it's kinda worrying to hear that a lot needs a bit of a refurb when the majority of the park has already been refurbed over the last 10 years or so. Admittedly the bits that haven't been (Land of the Dragons, Tomb Blaster, arguably Vampire) are major attractions that stick in the mind, it's still something that's a bit surprising to hear!
Yeah I'd say those are the main areas, obviously the main entrance too but at least they're doing something with that now. Personally wasn't a fan of the area with the lovely tree carousel, just feels a bit mish-mash for me.
 

Tonkso

Hyper Poster
I loved that section when it was still Beanoland, though we do always end up on Tuk Tuk Turmoil however.

Beanoland is going back a bit though, and the play area in there used to be Time Commanders at the Millennium Dome!
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
Not a fan of Jumanji (think I saw it once and thought nothing of it tbh) but I do hope this ends up looking good. I get the feeling the landscaping will make or break this though. If they don't bring in fully grown trees and plants for opening, it's gonna look rather barren and not like the films. Fingers crossed though, I want this for Chessington <3
 

Tonkso

Hyper Poster
The thing with foliage though, is it gets better with time, especially on a jungle theme.

I actually enjoyed the reboot films, I think we watched them both one night after the other.
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
The thing with foliage though, is it gets better with time, especially on a jungle theme.
True, but arguably most of the images (especially press images) taken of this new expansion will be taken soon after opening. If the photos show a Jumanji themed land with loads of dirt and plants that are only at knee/waist height because they've been grown from scratch, it's not gonna look very impressive to potential visitors?
 
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