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Photo TR: Wicksteed Park! - KoolKid's Travels


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Page 1 Thorpe and Chessington 08/05/10

Page 4 Alton Towers 02/06/10

Page 5 Chessington 05/06/10 and 06/06/10

Page 6 Edited Pics and Wicksteed Park. 12/06/10

 

 

 

Yesterday I did a double day at both Thorpe and Chessington. So far this year I've been to Chessington and Alton both 4 times and Thorpe not once, so I think that shows my current opinion of it.

 

I decided to give it another chance and arrived at 10, by 11 we were on the way to Chessington. I can't really explain what or why the park feels so uncomfortable, it really is hard to describe but the park just doesn't put that smile on my face the way others do.

 

We still managed good rides on Stealth at the front, Nemesis Inferno and Rush.

 

So we headed to Chessington and "omg" we were stuck behind a Porsche doing 20 in a 40... But we got over that

 

We left Thorpe with 60 minute queue's for most things and arrived at Chessington with a 30 minute wait for Dragons Fury, we had a fantastic ride as always and a rather large "adventurer" helped give us a rather awesome spin. We headed round the park and, it was dead... Everything else had 5 minute waits/ walk on! Even Vampire!

 

So I'm sure you can guess what happened the rest of the day, we even found ourselves looking round the zoo today.

 

Chessington is just fantastic and a very underrated park.

 

Pictures Edit: Re-sizing went a little crazy so if any pictures are missing, let me know and they'll be added.

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Our road trip begins, heading to Thorpe at this moment :)

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So we arrived at Thorpe, little did we know that less than an hour later we'd be on the way to Chessington!

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First time of the season for me on Stealth, which has apparently been plagued with downtime, so we went there first :D

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Whilst being a great coaster, it's so short... Awesome airtime at the front though.

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We rode at the front, the best place to ride...

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My mane seriously needs to be tamed...

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Half Volcano Half warehouse: The Ride!

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But yeah, this really is the sucky version of Nemesis. It's a good ride don't get me wrong, just average, so very very average.

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Rush :D Really do love this ride, even if it is seriously neglected and if there's a strange difference in each swing's height. Check out the reactions!

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But then we left for Chessington...

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Dragon's Fury was of course first. We left Thorpe with 70 mins for Saw and 60 for Colossus, Dragon's Fury had 30 mins, WIN! Also, note the leg that seamlessly erupts from the car :D

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Such a kick ass ride, those going on the UK tour, prepare for a surprise.

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This year Chessington managed to squeeze the whole of asia into a little corner of the park.

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Here is KOBRA, which is automatically made awesome because it's spelt with a K and capitals :)

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Woah :D , Big snake... Anyway, the new ride was a completely new ride type for me and I loved it! I had ridden it before but you seem to get 1 of 2 experiences, one with airtime over the hill and a low spin at either end, or no airtime over the hill or high spin over either end, either way it's a great ride and a perfect addition to the park. Despite a seriously sucky throughput.

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A view of another corner of "Wild" Asia

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Next our adventure took us into the depths of the oriental! Such an awesomely themed area. You may see me referring to Adventurer a lot, the re-brand that has happened this year is completely based on exactly that, an adventure, so much so "guest" services in now "adventurer" services. It is an awesome re-brand.

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Some bubbles in, you guessed it! Bubbleworks! An okay ride which used to be absolutely amazing, until the ride became sponsored and well... Professor Burp's pop factory got infested by evil rubber ducks!

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No queue's :D

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I drank a lot... In fact must've gone to every toilet in the park, and in total must've made 20+ visits, probably used the same urinal 5+ times, which reminds me Dragon's Fury when your busting to pee is NOT a good experience, or if you have cramp...

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Best ride of the day! Intense doesn't come close!

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This magic green button... Holds the magic power to the whole universe.

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More Fury of that same ol' Dragon

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Chessington also has an awesome zoo, which can be viewed on foot, or my proffered method of adventure, Skyway.

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Definitely statues/broken animatronics, in all my trips to the park, never seen the Tigers or Lions move until...

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It moved! I swear! Must be my mind playing tricks on me again...

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New theming added to Vampire's queue, pretty scary for a ride with a height restriction of 1.1M

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The awesome-ness that is Rattlesnake, seriously, this ride also kicks ass :D

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Back to asia for perhaps the highlight of the day, Lorikeet Lagoon!

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An absolute must for anyone visiting the park

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Back to Dragons Fury for an awesome end to the day :) Check out the hairtime :)

Edited by Koolkid
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^Patience. Just because you don't get comments instantly doesn't mean that people aren't reading your reports. Give it time and people will recognize your work. Asking for people to comment just isn't the way to go about it.

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^ Thanks

 

 

^^ Yes I completely understand that, it's only because whenever I add a TR, I don't get comments, and I think almost 2 days is pretty patient for a response. Thanks, I will keep all that in mind but it really is a common thing, for me at least.

 

I wasn't asking for comments as much as I was asking why I don't get the number of comments/speed of replies that near enough every other TR poster seems to get.

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^ Ah right thanks very much.

 

I more than likely was a bit impatient, but I'm sure you can understand when you do a TR and it's like it's not there.

 

Hopefully you enjoy getting a look at these parks I'm sure a lot of you rarely see.

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I've never been outside of the US, so I'm curious - where does Stealth rank for you? The general ride experience, etc. I'll be honest, I'm failing to see the fun factor of getting launched up a very small top hap and coming back down. I think in this case, bigger is better.

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Ah interesting.

 

 

I can see how for those used to rides in the US it seems minuscule but it's huge for anything else in this country. Remember Stealth is an exception for Thorpe at 205ft and the usual height boundary is 115ft. Which is still miles taller than can be built at other major parks such as Chessington and Alton, where it is tree height, and even then it's touchy.

 

The ride itself, what is there is fantastic, it's just so unbelievably short which is why it'll never be a favourite ride of mine. The launch in particular is brilliant, as well as a surprising amount of airtime too. The ride also has a pretty awesome radio station in the queue which always creates a few chuckles.

 

Hope that answers your question,

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It does indeed. Ever since the ride was built I was always wondering what the big deal was. I was much younger then though

 

I grew up right next to Cedar Point, so my perspective is a bit odd. I've always thought the European coasters were cool and used terrain to great effect. I'm just very much used to the U.S.'s thought process, "Hmm...I want to build this. Lets do it!" versus what seems to be the European thought process, "Hmm...I want to build this. How can we do it within the limits?"

 

In my opinion you guys are far more creative when it comes to ride placement and experience. Not knocking all the U.S. parks, just giving credit where credit is due

 

Nice TR

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I must say, it only seems that way because of the restrictions we have, go to Chessington or Alton and you'll still feel that way (apart from RITA) however at Thorpe, I'm sure its done a similar way to how your used to.

 

Recent rides don't seem to be having quite the same integration. E.g. Thirteen hasn't exactly had it's own quarry made for it (E.g. Nemesis) but it does race through the forest. Another good example that is less well known is Rattlesnake at Chessington, a common Wild Mouse that had to be dug in to the ground because even this 50ft tall coaster would have been too tall at ground level. What results though is an extremely well themed coaster.

 

It seems Merlin are going to carry on with integrating rides into the landscape, Tussauds seemed to give up in there latter days.

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I'm failing to see the fun factor of getting launched up a very small top hap and coming back down. I think in this case, bigger is better

I'm sorry but bigger doesn't always mean better and a 205ft top hat is not by any means small , it just so happens to be the second tallest rollercoaster here in the UK. I have been on Stealth many times before and I think it's a great ride with a good amount of airtime (although I find the launch to be not as intense as Rita's at Alton Towers, but that's my opinion). And as mentioned by KoolKid, it is small compared to the Intamin launch coasters in the US, but it is big for what can be built up here in the UK, and it is taller than a lot of rollercoasters in the US .

 

Anyway that was a great TR you posted. Wild Asia looks fantastic, need to go up to Chessie again (it's been 7 years since my last visit ).

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^ Without doubt, there's such an incredible atmosphere, and the new ride and bird area are incredible additions.

 

The talking tree is also a highlight, but so much detail is throughout the entire area, with quirky things like the huge backpack which I am now wishing I photographed.

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Found some more pictures I've taken this season at Chessington which show a few different angles

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Firstly, a look at one of the signs around the newly branded entrance to the park. Remember there are 2 entrances to Chessington.

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The entrance to Wild Asia

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Maharajah's Market an awesome shop with real animals in the middle.

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Tuk Tuk Turmoil, the dodgems, obviously themed to Tuk Tuk's

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One of the dodgems, showing the new look of the ride. Previously Rodger the dodgers Dodgems.

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Monkey Swinger, complete with water jets. :)

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Kobra, by the way, those flags pictured are placed at various areas around the area. They have the animals that the different rides/features are themed to, so there's an Elephant, Cobra, Lorikeet's and Monkeys.

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Bit of an area shot.

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And a few other ride shots. First of all Vampire, a great ride in serious need of some touch ups.

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Swinging through the trees :)

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Now Rattlesnake, I don't know why but I seriously find this ride amazing. Don't see why Wild Mice get such bad reputations, especially if there run like this one. Absolutely amazing theming as well.

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And finally a personal favourite of mine :)

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Yes, you can get very close to the animals :)

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I lent my sword to the Dragon for 5 minutes and look what happened! ...

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And to finish, Dragons Fury's final turn, complete with funny rider expressions!

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Definitely agree about Rattlesnake, it's my tied-favourite mouse (along with Treetop Racers at Adventure City, California, the most comfortable mouse ever - seriously, it's like going on a rollercoaster in bed!), with all the rest far, far behind. Rattlesnake's particularly amazing at night, fantastic drops in the dark.

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^ Couldn't agree more, and it looks like I'm going to have to try Treetop Racer

 

Rattlesnake is definitely amazing at night, although most rides do improve in the dark.

 

It's a poor picture, but shows a little of why Rattlesnake in the dark is so awesome

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Did the Thorpe/Chessington double day yesterday, and it is much better on a weekday!

 

Thorpe - Had to wait for 15 people so Samurai could run, Rush was a walk on and so was Slammer, Vortex had a 1 ride wait, Saw was about 5 minutes, Collosus was about 15 minutes.

 

Stealth - single rider queue got 8 rides in a row, even had 2 front row rides with that!

 

At 3pm, decided it was time for Chessington

 

It was EMPTY!! - managed 4 straight goes on Dragons Fury without getting out of the seat. Headed over for a ride on KOBRA ( love it:)) then headed back onto Dragons Fury for another 2 goes without getting up (although I seriously couldn't have handled any more rides, two adults on one side created some pretty serious spinning!)

 

Did rattlesnake last twice without getting off, good fun

 

We did get on Vampire without a single wait, however I do not rate this very highly now as it has just got rough!!! It has some serious bumps on the circuit which get your back quite seriously!

 

Overall great day, going to do it all over again in 2 weeks time, I do love our Southern Parks!

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Ha

 

I am going to have to try it during a week day as those queue's sound amazing! Plus I struggle to enjoy Thorpe with queue's so would be a good day.

 

4 times on Dragons Fury without leaving the seat :o , I'd be in heaven!

 

And also, where did you sit on Vampire? Some seats are more jolty than others but personally while I think it's a little "shaky" I wouldn't call it rough.

 

Glad to hear you had an awesome day.

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Ah right, (for those who haven't ridden) the ride seems to have a strange kind of roughness, not where you bash your head on the restraint, more where the train seems to shuffle a bit and your body is moved within the seat, it does seem to be only in a few spots throughout the ride. I never had a ride where it's been so rough I couldn't ride again. I think I read somewhere that the correct term for it is "Shunting."

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