I visited Chesington 3 times in the 2020 season, once in July at the start of the season, and twice in August (I was meant to visit again in November, but due to restrictions, I had to cancel this). Chessington is my closest major park, so I visit quite a lot. Vampire is my favourite coaster on park as it was probably my first thrill ride I ever rode. It is an Arrow Suspended coaster currently operating with Vekoma trains. It is the only operating Arrow Suspended coaster outside of North America. I love it's gothic theming, especially now they have done it up for it's 30th anniversary. It isn't exactly the most scary, with no inversions, launches and only having a height restriction of 1.1m, but it has great theming, and interesting, long layout and is a nice ride for those not tall enough for Dragon's Fury or Rattlesnake.
My favourite thing about Chessington is how well they create such beautifully themed land that are so differently themed yet fit together so well. It's also home to a good range of rides including coasters, flat rides, water rides, dark rides and walk-throughs.
There are 2 dark rides Tomb Blaster and The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure and 2 water rides- Tiger Rock and River Rafts. I really enjoy these, however they are generally unreliable, with breakdowns and low throughputs causing long queues on Tiger Rock, River Rafts and Tomb Blaster. Gruffalo has a very good throughput leading to me never having queued more than around 30 mins for it. The 2 water rides at the park are both log flumes, which neither of get you especially wet, which is something needed in a theme park in the summer.
There are mutiple flat rides at the park including KOBRA, Monkey Swinger, The Blue Barnacle and Tuk Tuk Turmoil. All of which are very well themed and are great for the whole family. Since the removal of Rameses Revenge, there are now no thrilling flat rides at the park or any rides that go upside down. The only big thrill ride currently at the park is Rattlesnake, a Wild Mouse. To improve the park's lineup, I would build a new thrilling flat ride as well as an inverting roller coaster.
There are 4 coasters at the park - Vampire, Dragon's Fury, Scorpion Express and Rattlesnake. Dragon's Fury is a spinning coaster located at the entrance to the park. It has a smooth, thrilling ride experience with a great layout and brief storyline. Scorpion Express is a figure 8 Mine Train coaster with nice theming and an elaborate backdrop.
Overall, Chessington has great theming, although some of the rides don't have storylines and a good lineup just missing some thrilling coasters/flats. I would give the park a score of 4/5.
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