Chessington History 2005

It would be unfair to say that 2005 was a bad year for Chessington, it was just disappointing. Chessington have nearly succeeded in turning themselves into a family park and two more big steps were taken in 2005. The biggest being the removal of Rodeo.

Been in the park since 1990 one way or another, Rodeo was rumored all over the close season not to re-open, with different people saying different things. I think it would be fair to say it was a late decision by the park. Although not fitting in to the parks family image Rodeo was one of the few, fun thrill rides left in the park and was still 90% intact when the 2005 season opened. It was still being very visible at the end of 2005 as it wasn’t removed.

New for 2005 was Peeking Heights, coming from Thorpe Park (previously called Eclipse) this 75 foot or so Ferris Wheel was placed next to the old Samurai site and given an 85% paint job to fit in. Yes it does look better at Chessington, it provided good views of the park and you can even see Wembley on a clear day! But you can’t help but think with its late opening and stating coming soon all year on the map, it was a rush decision.

Also new for 2005 was the re-introduction of the children’s zoo, using new lightly the children’s zoo had been missing from the park since its closure after the 1998 season, hooves and horns in particular the Zebras had to make way though. Then came the shocking news that another one of the parks best rides was leaving at the end of the year.

The shocking news came early that Professor Burps Bubble Works was going to be closed, the news was broken first here on the original UK Theme Parks site in April of 2005. Below are some pictures of the ride and the advert for the new one.