Chessington World of Adventures

Chessington World of Adventures & Zoo

Previously known as Chessington Zoo
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Location	Chessington, London, England
Opened	7 June 1987
Owner	Merlin Entertainments
General manager	Mike Vallis
Slogan	Serious about fun
Operating season	Theme Park: March - October Zoo: Year round
Attractions
Total	26
Roller coasters	4
Water rides	2
Website	www.chessington.com

Chessington World of Adventures is a theme park and zoo in south-west London, England. It lies 12miles from Central London, close to the A3 and M25 (junction 9 or 10). Historically a zoo, the theme park aspect of the attraction was added in 1987 with the installation of several rides and has expanded greatly since then.

The park has a selection of attractions, ranging from the Dragon's Fury roller coaster, to family-oriented rides such as the Bubbleworks. It also has animals, many of which can be seen from the Safari Skyway, an elevated monorail around the zoo. Since 1998 Chessington has been in the same ownership as nearby Thorpe Park. As a result of the close proximity of the two parks, it was decided to cater for two different markets, with Chessington being transformed into a family park.

Park guide

The park is split into ten lands, each with its own individual theming.

Chessington Zoo

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A view of the sealions from the Safari Skyway, August 2006.

The zoo is one of the oldest areas in the park and is split in two. The west of the park is home to Trails of the Kings, a walkthrough attraction close to enclosures home to gorillas, tigers, lions and leopards. The east side is home to various smaller enclosures home to capybaras and otters, there is also a monkey and bird garden with a squirrel monkey walkthrough, a creature features exhibit home to rhea, wallabies and meerkats. Just outside the bird and monkey garden is the new children's zoo, home to goats, pigs, sheep and chickens.

There is also a sealion enclosure, which features shows several times a day, and Creepy Caves, a reptile house. Zookeepers on site care for the animals, many of which are endangered, and there is an active breeding programme.

Recently the animal section underwent an inspection and an outcome was that the gorilla enclosure was too small. The zoo has been warned that if the housing is not expanded by 2009 it may lose its licence to house its gorillas. The zoo is building a 22-acre enclosure, next to an animal encounters area which opened in 2006. There are rumours that the gorilla house will be replaced by an African experience exhibit and a new education centre, ready for the 2009 deadline. [1]

In 2008, a Sea Life Centre opened on the site of the children's zoo. It is home to various tanks containing British and tropical fish. The centrepiece of the exhibit is the glass tropical tunnel home to sharks, rays and various tropical fish.

Beanoland

Beanoland (themed around The Beano comic) was introduced in 2000. The area opened with two rides: Roger the Dodger's Dodgems, and Billy's Whizzer; a wave-swinger with water fountains that squirt guests on the ride. In the following years, Dennis's Madhouse, an undercover play area relocated from the Millennium Dome, and the Bash Street Bus, a small magic carpet-type ride, were added. In 2008, Beanoland ends an 8 year contract with Chessington which may result in re-themeing of various rides unless the park renews the contract by the end of the year.

Forbidden Kingdom

Themed around Ancient Egypt, this area is home to two rides. Tomb Blaster is an interactive laser-shooting attraction. Riders fire laser guns at targets such as re-animated mummies,scarab beetles and giant snakes with 100 points earned per target. Rameses Revenge, a Huss Rides top-spin which opened in 1995, is the other ride located in this area and is one of the most thrilling rides in the park.

Land of the Dragons

Land of the Dragons opened in 2004 and is a dragon-themed zone containing a variety of rides.

The main ride in the area is a family spinning roller coaster called Dragon's Fury, manufactured by Maurer Söhne.

There are many children's activities and rides including indoor and outdoor play areas. Rides include a miniature sliding pirate ship ride named Griffin's Galleon and a small rotating boat ride.

Market Square

Market Square is the central area of the park and home to shops, video arcades and food stalls. Outlets include KFC, Pizza Hut, a doughnut stall and the park's main shop. The land also contains the entrance to Safari Skyway, a monorail that opened in 1987 and offers a guided tour of the zoo area. Hocus Pocus Hall was added to Market Square in 2003. It is an indoor walkthrough experience for children in which visitors wear 3D glasses, giving a more exciting feel to the attraction. The area also contains lockers, an events stage and the parks' guest services. As its name suggests the area was originally designed to resemble a traditional English market square, complete with a gateway themed as a castle, a water wheel and a courtyard restaurant (now KFC/Pizza Hut).

Mexicana

Themed on a Mexican and Far West environment, Mexicana is home to two rollercoasters. Rattlesnake (built in 1998), a steel wild-mouse, is the main roller coaster in the area. It features sharp un-banked turns, sudden drops and rigid brakes. With a height restriction of 1.4 metres this is one of the few rides that only older visitors can ride. It is dug into the ground due to planning restrictions. The other roller coaster in Mexicana is the Runaway Train. This is a powered roller coaster made by Mack, aimed at the whole family. The train completes a number of circuits each time, but varies according to visitor numbers.

Mystic East

Mystic East is an oriental-themed area. It is home to the expansive Dragon Falls log flume. The ride, opened in 1987, takes riders around the general Mystic East area and features two drops. The first drop takes visitors inside the mouth of a dragon. The bigger second drop gives riders a chance to buy an on-ride photograph. Much of the ride's themeing is based on real-world monuments, including Angkor Wat, the Great Buddha of Kōtoku-in, and the Merlion of Singapore's harbour, although the park's renditions have a slightly caricatured look, particularly the Buddha.

In 2005, a Ferris wheel called Peeking Heights was moved from Thorpe Park in exchange for Samurai. Peeking Heights features 18 pods that slowly rotate round, giving riders a panoramic view of Chessington and the surrounding area. London is visible on clear days.

Mystic East is also home to 'Panning for Gold', a game where visitors sift through sand to find 'gold' pieces. A certain amount of gold pieces will let you purchase a medal.

Pirates Cove

Pirates Cove is a small land adjacent to Transylvania. This area is home to the Black Buccaneer, a swinging pirate ship installed in 1988 and manufactured by Huss Rides. This swinging ship is larger than most pirate ship rides found in other theme parks. The ride offers a considerable amount of airtime in full swing.

The Seastorm is a small circular ride where riders sit in small boats that bob up and down as they are rotated round. Installed in 1995, the boats turn backwards at some point during the course of the ride.

Pirates Cove is also home to a food outlet named 'Chips Ahoy', and several games units combined together to be called 'Treasure Chest'.

Toytown

Toytown, situated in the centre of the park, adjacent to Market Square. It is home to a number of gentle rides for young children. These rides all have low height restrictions and can attract some long queues in the summer.

The rides include the Carousel, Flying Jumbos and the Berry Bouncers. There are also two on-rails car rides within Toytown. The first car ride is named Tiny Truckers and includes child-sized trucks going at a slow speed around a circuit several times. The other is called Toadie's Crazy Cars. This ride features replica veteran cars and is themed around The Wind in the Willows.

The area also contains a small Smarties Castle shop, a rectangular pond and a weather house.

Transylvania

Transylvania is home to two rides. The main ride in this area is the Vampire. Featuring two lift hills and tight corners, this roller coaster uses suspended swinging cars as it glides round the track. With a relatively low height restriction, and a maximum speed of 45mph, it is considered the best ride in the park by many, and generates queues up to 2 hours long on busy days, despite being quite a quick loading/unloading roller coaster.it is also the reason chessington became a family park as the locals complained about it so as a result no coaster can be built on its scale again

The second ride in this land is the Bubbleworks. Sponsored by Imperial Leather, the Bubbleworks takes you upon a tour of a soap factory. Similar to the old version, you can see the several stages of the production, from the initial idea to the development and experiments. The before the ride's retheme, it was based around an over-the-top drinks factory run by the zany Professor Burp. It is now themed as a tour through a wonderful factory run by millions of ducks under the management of Imperial Leather. In the factory are machines such as the rub-a-dub reactor and the laughing gas cylinders. Although the new ride has received lots of critism for being a 'walking advert' for the Imperial Leather toiletries company, it is still very popular with younger visitors the theme park.

Past Rides

• 'The Fifth Dimension', a ride based around the story of a TV repair robot called Zappomatic defeating an enemy called The Gorg was closed at the end of the 1993 season. A total revamp of this ride saw the birth of the non-interactive 'Terror Tomb' which told the story of a tomb raider called Abdab on the search for a cursed emerald. The story elements of this ride were removed during the 2001/02 closed season when the interactive laser elements were installed and the ride was relaunched as 'Tomb Blaster'. It uses the original track layout and the unusual smell of the original heavily-used smoke effects from 'The Fifth Dimension' still lingers inside the attraction.

• 'Chessington Railroad' left at the end of 1996. Although still a popular attraction, it was deemed in the way of future developments. Another issue instrumental in the ride's closure was the fact that long stretches of the route were on open pathways, considered a safety risk.

• 'Magic Carpet' was closed and left the park at the end of the 1998 season. In its place the following season was the 'Samurai'.

• The 'Fun City Show' (a circus/stunt show) was demolished in 1999 to make way for Beanoland to open the next season.

• The 'Toytown Roundabout' was also removed at the end of 1999. The more traditional Carousel took its place.

• The 'Clown Coaster' (a very small children's coaster) left the park at the end of the 2000 season to make way for the new 'Berry Bouncers' ride which took its place in 2001.

• 'Action Man Critical Mission', a kids' adventure playground type attraction, was demolished during summer 2003 to make way for the Land of the Dragons area, new in 2004.

• 'Samurai' moved to Thorpe Park at the end of the 2003 season, this was a key factor in attracting the right target audience into the park.

• The 'Rodeo' spinning ride closed at the end of the 2004 season, was standing but not operating until 2007 when it was removed. The manequin cowboy holding a lasso and the ride foundations can still be seen from the top of the Runaway Train. Originally located in 'Circus Land', under the name of 'The Juggler', it was a HUSS Breakdance.

Park Opening Hours

The Park is open between March and October, opening at 10am, and closing at varying times during the season (5pm offpeak, 6pm peak, and 8pm Halloween). [2]
During the October school half term week, the park hosts a Halloween event, which means the park stays open until 8pm. On certain days during school term time, the park opens the zoo only with no rides available. This is because on these days there is so little demand for the park it would not justify opening all the rides.

See also

• List of theme parks in the United Kingdom

External links

• Chessington World of Adventures - Official homepage
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6550235.stm - News report on inspection of the gorilla enclosure.