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Chessington 29th March

peep

CF Legend
Due to silly trains I had to take a longer route to Chessie but I managed to get to our group meet in time outside the hotel. I arrived just after 9 and soon after we headed into the ticket area so managers could sort out tickets for non annual pass holders. Why so early I hear you ask, I met up with website parkpreview.co.uk who managed to get 30 mins ERT on Fury.

Fury wasn't quite ready for us so we spent 5 minutes with the sealions which was nice as it was peaceful and gave us all a chance to get to know each other etc.

We finally got to Fury about 9:40. We then had 20 minutes Fury non-stop. We didn't even have to get off, just stayed on and went round and round. We tried several seating arrangements to see if there was much difference in spin, there was not. The ride however did get better over time as it warmed up more, I found it got more forceful each time I went round. I only did it 5 times but some peeps in the group went round about 10 times. The staff also allowed our group to take cameras and camcorders on which was nice of them.

After our awesome ERT we decided that Vampire should be our next ride. It was pretty much walk-on which was cool. Back row = win.

After some faffing outside the Vampire exit (and playing crane grabbing game things) we heading into the queue for bubbleworks. I think we ended up waiting about 10 mins which wasn't too bad. I look forward to the day when this attraction is no more.

After getting a little moist on the bubbleworks we headed round to Black Buccaneer. It was really odd as the operator (Tom) must have recognised Jason and I from Ghosterforce and did a Coasterforce shout out lol :p

After our really long ride on the Buccaneer we headed over to Rattlesnake. I thought it was awesome that all the theming had been touched up a little bit and the guys had new clothes :p The ride itself was harsh as always :p

After getting a bruising from the rattlesnake we headed over to Runaway train. I'm getting a bit too tired of this ride now, especially with a 3 circuit run.

I think it was time to shoot up some scarab beetles in Tomb Blaster. A few of us were in fighting talk mode and the war begun at trying to get the highest score. Unfortunately I came second but I didn't do too badly for first time this season (27600).

There was then a mass of unnecessary faff for ages, but it gave us time to chat etc. Some peeps then decided to do Rameses Revenge, the nutters, I opted out along with half the group. Needless to say the riders came off drenched :p

Next up was Beanoland where most of the group did dodgems and whizzer. We then all went round to Dragon Falls. I find falls really calm and relaxing and it was nice to see some stone work return and the dragon get a lick of paint over the closed season.

After some lol at the ORPs and some discussion we opted for lunch. The majority of the group opted for Burger King but Jason and I decided that BK is rancid and we wanted to try out one of the new eateries. We finally ended up eating at the KFC type place. Discount loved it, the food tasted ok (nothing special, fries were nice) and we spotted Steve Walsh.

We had some time left before the meet up at the Sea Life centre so we decided to go through the monkey and bird area. The new monkeys kept me entertained for a few minutes but were not as entertaining as gibbons :(. I also wanted to spot the squirrel monkeys but they were hiding which is rare for them. Off to see the meerkats! We only spotted two so we assumed the others were inside or something.

Our walk round that area was coming to a close and just in time for the meet back up at the Sea Life centre. It was busy inside, bern. I was surprised to see so many new species of fish were added but was not amused about the lack of clown fish, can't do the finding nemo Chinese whispers anymore :( The new section was also well themed (not keen on the flooring, eww) but will probably be better once they get more fish in the tanks (apparently next week).

Next was the sealion show which was poor in comparison to previous years. I reckon its due to the lack of Boris, poor Boris.

We then walked round trail of the kings where for the first time I actually saw a leopard outside! It was posing too at the top of the rockwork. That was a sight I've not seen before at Chessie. The Lions were laying about as usual and the Tigers were awesome because they are Tigers and they rock :D Jason and I were in shock in how much the Tiger cubs have grown, around this time last year they would've fit in the palm of your hands and now they are massive. Cool.

It was then time for Hocus Pocus Hall, yay, highlight of the day :roll: lol. It was nice to see some of the effects fixed, Merlin have been busy at Chessie this year afterall :D

It was then a free-for-all as to what we did next. Some did the carousel, as they did that Jason and I went over to Land of the Dragons to see if we could spot Benin. Lo and behold he was working on Griffin's galleon. So we went on, obviously. It was fun but lacked flag :(

We then met up with some of the group for Toadies :) It was fun for all, yay for kids rides.

The others wanted to do Griffins so we went back. As there was no one else in the area and it was 5pm Benin let us have a second go, woop!


Overall it was a great day and I'm glad the weather held out for us.

My ride count:
Dragons Fury X 5
Griffins Galleon X 3
Toadies Cars X 1
Vampire X 1
Dragon Falls X 1
Tomb Blaster X 1
Black Buccaneer X 1
Bubbleworks X 1
Rattlesnake X 1
Runaway train X 1
 

spicy

Giga Poster
Wow a Chessington trip report? Sure you didn't go to Thorpe!? :p


Sounds like you had a good day though Dragons Fury ERT= Jealous!
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Now Chessie's open John will be there much more than Thorpe... He only went there (Thorpe) cos it was open and Saw is fail :lol:

Griffins is awesome..
 

peep

CF Legend
Haha, yeah Thorpe usually fails but I'll be back there soon to try out Saw (hopefully).

Erol the chicken place was nice, the bun for the burger had way too many seeds on top and needed more lettuce inside. Apart from that it was delicious and Jason concurred this (KFC makes me feel like I'm going to die). With AP discount it cost £4.70 (I think) which isn't too bad. The chips tasted good too and they give you a large drink so good value for money and is a good replacement for what was there before.

Benin, Griffins is awesome and I'm sure I'll be riding it lots this season just to say hi :p
 
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