Chessington History 2016

2016 is the year of the shows at Chessington, with the all new Pandamonium Panda show opening at the park. Using all new technology the show is located on the old Reindeer site by the South entrance to the park. In addition next door the Trail of the Kings has received an update with new scenery and a new male Lion after the death last year of the parks Lion.

The Reindeers have a new home next to the wooded hut area used for Halloween and Christmas (down by the Sea Lions) in an all new much larger enclosure.

Tomb Blaster will re-open after closing early in 2015 with new electrics and targets bringing the ride back up to date and most importantly in working condition. Sadly the Safari Skyway didn’t get the same treatment, with one of the parks oldest rides removed for 2016. On the shop front the Coke Pagada in Mystic East is now Mystic Ices and Noodle Noodle in Wild Asia has closed down.

The BBQ shack has been replaced with the Smokehouse BBQ which has also been extended in Market Square towards Pizza and Pasta.

The park have spent more time fixing some of the theme around the park, in Transylvania the Vampires older entrance has been completely refreshed with the queue line getting new fencing and new lights, this along with other buildings in the area. Outside the water fountain has some new theme and red running water. Most of the Vampire track was also jet washed during the close season.

In Market Square Sea Storm has received a new fencing along with upgraded exit and disabled entrance, whilst in Mystic East the famous Budda has been stripped back and repainted gold. In addition nearly everyride has had new fencing or changes in fencing, including Dragons Fury, Jungle Bus, Lorikeet Lagoon, Kobra, Tomb Blaster, Black Buccaneer with more easy to notice changes on Dragon Falls, which includes outside and a new single queuing area inside. In addition Bubble Works has updated merge fencing at the entrance for fastrack and the main queue line. A lot of landscaping has happened around the park, trees and hedges cut like never before, with sand added in tidied areas of Forbidden Kingdom.

Rattlesnake has had a lot of health and safety features added, with new emergency escape stairs added around the ride. In addition all the ride entrances have now got an accurate measure meaning in most cases, the does it go over your head stick has been removed. With animals changing often in the park the Winter saw the end of the popular Fennec Fox which lived in Wanyama Village, this has been replaced by the relocated Porcupine. Mexicana has had the Western Portraits removed and replaced with a new Merlin VIP building.

A much loved ride was about to depart as it announced at the beginning of the Summer that Bubbleworks would close for good on the 6th of September as the factory was brought out. No replacement was announced in 2016.