Chessington World of Adventures

History

The mansion at Chessington World of Adventures Resort known today as the Burnt Stub was originally built in 1348, in Chessington, Surrey. In the English Civil War it became a royalist stronghold, and Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary forces razed it to the ground. The Burnt Stub site was rebuilt as an inn, until the 18th century, when the Vere Barker family rebuilt it in neo-gothic Victorian style.

Founding of zoo

The resort has its roots in the Chessington Zoo, which opened in 1931; it was started by Reginald Goddard, who had bought the estate to showcase his private collection of animals. In 1946 when Goddard died, the Pearson Publishing Company took over the zoo and managed it until 1978, when The Tussauds Group took control of the park (Tussauds was a subsidiary of the Pearson Group).

Founding of theme park

In 1984, due to the zoo's declining attendance, Tussauds's Director of Development, Ray Barratt commissioned John Wardley to come up with plans to revitalize the park. John Wardley was one of the main designers at Tussaud's for a number of years, and had a huge influence on the rides being created at both Chessington and its sister parks Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. The decision was made to open a theme park to complement the zoo, and so Chessington World of Adventures was born. On 7 June 1987 Chessington World of Adventures opened to the public. The park was built on a relatively small budget of around £12 million, in case the project failed.

In its first year, the park opened with the roller coaster Runaway Mine Train, the log flume Dragon River, the monorail Safari Skyway, the dark ride The 5th Dimension, and the Chessington Railroad as the main attractions (all supplied by the German ride manufacturer Heinrich Mack GmbH & Co). The new rides were to operate on a pay-one-price admission basis, and replace the existing pay-as-you-go fairground rides. Other support rides were also opened, and the park opened just five themed areas: Calamity Canyon, Mystic East, Market Square, Toy Town and Circus World. The attractions were all heavily themed with emphasis on atmosphere and effects, making Chessington one of the first true theme parks in Britain.

The 1990 season bought two of Chessington's more popular rides with the opening of Transylvania: Vampire and Professor Burp's Bubbleworks. Both of these rides had significant impact on the park, and are still exceedingly popular today. Opening Transylvania cost around £10 million. By this time Smugglers' Galleon and the Smugglers' Cove area had been created, both opening in 1988.

The 1995 season arrived with the intense Rameses Revenge, the park's first inverting ride. Rameses Revenge was new in the Forbidden Kingdom area; an area which had opened the previous year, bringing the Terror Tomb dark ride in replacement of the 5th Dimension. Also new for 1995 was SeaStorm in Pirates' Cove, and the Carousel, located next to the explorer gate. In 1999, Chessington opened the hardcore thrill ride Samurai in the Mystic East. 1999 also saw the rename of Calamity Canyon into Mexicana, following the opening of Rattlesnake the year before. 2000 saw Beanoland open on the former site of Circus World, bringing two new rides to the park: Billy's Whizzer and Rodger the Dodger's Dodgems.

Expansion to resort

On 22 May 2007, The Tussauds Group was taken over by Merlin Entertainments Ltd, which owns other brands such as Sea Life Centres. Besides Chessington, Merlin also purchased Alton Towers, the nearby Thorpe Park, and Madame Tussauds, which made Merlin the second largest entertainment operator in the world, second only to Disney. As Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park are located within 20 miles of each other, Merlin Entertainments has made efforts to market the two parks to different age groups: Thorpe Park caters to teenagers, while Chessington World of Adventures Resort is for families and people of all ages.

In June 2007, the park opened the Safari Hotel next to the Chessington Zoo, themed to a safari lodge. 2008 saw the opening of the Chessington Sea Life Centre, at the time comprising three areas: Our Shoreline, The Reef and Ocean Tunnel. The Amazonia area was added in 2010.

In 2010 the new Wild Asia area replaced Beanoland, and in June 2010 the Wanyama Reserve opened behind the Safari Hotel, giving a backdrop for its African theme. In 2011 the Ocean Tunnel and surrounding rooms in the Sea Life Centre were re-themed to Azteca. In 2012 a new land themed to Africa replaced ToyTown. In 2013, Chessington introduced Zufari: Ride Into Africa. In the same year, the annual Halloween Hocus Pocus event included a new attraction, The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall, based on the explorations of the park's mascot.

2014 saw a major investment of over £30 million. Additions for the year included the refurbishment of the Runaway Train, into the Scorpion Express, a mine train themed rollercoaster. The refurbished ride launched in March. The Amazu Treetop Adventure then opened in the zoo, with raised walkways passing through enclosures of spider monkeys, capybara, military macaw and other animals. A separate monkey walkthrough was also added. Later in 2014, the Azteca Hotel opened as the Resort's second hotel. The Safari Hotel received a second pool named the Savannah Splash. Market Square, Mexicana, Pirates' Cove and Transylvania were all majorly refurbished. For Halloween, the Halloween Hocus Pocus event became Howl'O'Ween, with two additional stage shows: The Pumpkin High School of Rock and The Hairy and Scary Show. Over the festive period Chessington launched the new Winter's Tail event, featuring a new stage show A Christmas Gift as well as market stalls and a 60 ft Christmas tree. Following these investments, attendance rose to 2.05 million guests in 2014, the second highest figure in the park's history.

2015 was the Year of the Penguins at Chessington, where several changes and additions were made across the park and zoo. Three of the four additions were themed to the Penguins of Madagascar franchise, such as the new Penguins of Madagascar Live: Operation Cheezy Dibbles stage show which debuted in Africa. The show features Europe's first animatronic costumes, supplied from The Jim Henson Company at a cost of over £300,000 each. Also new for the Year of the Penguins was the Penguins of Madagascar Mission: Treetop Hoppers a pair of Zamperla junior drop towers themed to a tree climbing machine. Another addition was Penguin Bay, a new enclosure for the Zoo's Humboldt penguins. The new area now features a Portuguese theme and tiered seating on a shipwreck as well as an enclosure walkthrough section. Finally, new Penguins of Madagascar themed suites opened in the Safari Hotel, following the same decorating techniques as those used for the Azteca Hotel. 2015 also saw the Chessington Conservation Fund Evening be relaunched in to Roar & Explore. The new event now features night rides on Zufari: Ride into Africa! as well as more child friendly activities. Following the negative theme park stigma that ensued in 2015 after The Smiler accident at sister Alton Towers, Chessington's attendance fell rapidly to only 1.65 million guests in 2015. The historic Safari Skyway monorail closed midway through the year, and was later removed after twenty nine years of service.

Little was done in 2016, a new small-time show named Pandamonium opened in Chessington Zoo, a Go Ape high ropes course opened, and Trail of the Kings received some new decoration. Explorer Glamping was also introduced over the summer months, launching on 27 May. Large portions of the park were refurbished however, with many facades being restored in the Transylvania and some in Forbidden Kingdom area of the theme park. Tomb Blaster was modified extensively, the changes however were met with mostly negative reviews.

Events

As of 2015, Chessington operates four annual continuing events; African Adventures, Roar & Explore, Howl'o'ween, and Winter's Tail. The first is African Adventures, a February Half-term event. For the week Chessington Zoo opens with African artwork and culture workshops. Selected theme park rides open too, with Scorpion Express and Bubbleworks usually operating alongside smaller attractions such as Seastorm. For the event, African tribal dancers and street explorers can be found roaming and interacting with guests.

On an evening in June, Chessington Zoo opens late for the Chessington Roar & Explore conservation event. The evening involves speeches and information about the charity work the Chessington Conservation Fund is involved in, as well as presentations of some of the Zoo's endangered species. Zufari: Ride into Africa! opens late for the event, and all revenue goes towards the fund.

During the last two weeks of the theme park season, Chessington hosts its biggest event - Howl'o'ween, previously known as Halloween Hocus Pocus. During the event the park is decorated for halloween with spiders, grave stones, voodoo dolls, skeletons and cobwebs as well as large, coloured eyes. Some actors also roam the theme park and zoo dressed as witches, vampires and zombies. During the event, halloween themed attractions open, rides also operate in the dark.

Winter's Tail is a Christmas event during December weekends and school holidays. Throughout the event Chessington Zoo opens with Christmas decoration and a Christmas grotto 'village' during daylight hours. Parts of the theme park are open, with Bubbleworks, Carousel and Hocus Pocus Hall operating. A festive show named A Christmas Gift is performed several times throughout the day as well.

Past Attractions

Many of the rides and areas at the park have been either re-themed over the years, while others have moved to other theme parks and been replaced.

Theme Park

Chessington World of Adventures opened on 6 July 1987. Its main ethos centers around the idea of bringing together a collection of the different cultures and experiences from around the world; a considerable amount of the park is built on the stereotypical setting of each area it is focused on. Major attractions include: Vampire, Bubbleworks, Rameses Revenge, Dragon's Fury, KOBRA, Zufari: Ride into Africa and Scorpion Express. Shows include Penguins of Madagascar Live: Operation Cheezy Dibbles, Wild Factor and the new Pandamonium.

The theme park at Chessington World of Adventures Resort is divided into ten themed lands, each with a different theme and setting, specifically with each land designed to resemble a place in the world. The central area of the park, Market Square, resembles an old English market town, whereas Mystic East is themed around the orient, with the water ride Dragon Falls opening there in 1987. Mexicana is inspired by a small town in America's old far-west. Pirates' Cove is a mock up of a Cornish cove. Wild Woods is modeled on a central European high street with Bavaria in Germany and the Transylvania region of Romania as its key influences. Forbidden Kingdom is based on Ancient Egypt with hieroglyphics carved onto its surroundings. Land of the Dragons is the only "fantasy" themed area of the theme park and is a self-contained dragon-themed land with rides mostly for young children.

Among the newer lands is Wild Asia which opened in 2010 as a replacement for Beanoland with an Indian jungle theme. Africa opened in 2012 and is based on a cartoon-style African village for children, while the more serious African reserve ZUFARI opened in 2013. In 2017, the existing Transylvania area was re-branded into Wild Woods in order to tie The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure into the area.

The park's maximum daily capacity is set to 16,000 guests, and in 2014, the park attracted two million people, following the opening of the Scorpion Express rollercoaster and the Azteca Hotel.

Market Square

Market Square is the central area of the park, it features a selection of shops, restaurants, smaller outlets and guest services. The area, which is set in England, has mostly Tudor and early Georgian architecture, featuring details such as hanging baskets and boxed plants. The Carousel merry-go-round is located in Market Square, as is the convoy ride Tiny Truckers, where children can drive their own vehicles. Hocus Pocus Hall is a house of mirrors located just out the area in the Burnt Stub Mansion. In the centre of Market Square is a large compass. The compass points guests in the direction of all the resort locations, it includes: theme park lands, some zoo areas, the Sea Life centre and the hotels.

Mexicana

Themed as a Mexican- inspired square and a Far West town in the American's Old West, the Mexicana area was named Calamity Canyon until 1999. Rattlesnake, a steel sit-down Wild Mouse roller coaster, opened in 1998. Scorpion Express is a mine train themed roller coaster that takes riders across the abandoned town of Scorpion Valley, it opened on 19 March 2014.

Pirates' Cove

Pirates' Cove is an area adjacent to Transylvania, themed to a Cornish fishing village. Rides include the Black Buccaneer, a swinging pirate ship that is painted black (hence the name) that opened in 1988 with the name Smugglers Galleon. Seastorm is a circular family boat ride that simulates a sea storm.

Mystic East

Mystic East is an oriental-themed area with a replica of the Kōtoku-in Buddha statue taking center court. The two main rides are the Dragon Falls log flume and Peeking Heights, a Ferris wheel. Dragon Falls is a 510 foot long log flume ride themed around the legend of Dragons. The station artwork and exterior design follows that of an old Thai palace, with a pagoda style exterior. Peeking Heights opened in 2005, and from the top of the wheel the entire park is visible. Mystic East also has the Extreme Games Zone.

Wild Woods

The original Transylvania area was created in 1990, and is was the park's most renowned area. It opened with two major rides designed by John Wardley: the Vampire and Bubbleworks. Vampire is a steel suspended floorless coaster. The original Arrow Dynamics trains were replaced with Vekoma trains during a closed season in 2001, reopening in 2002. Bubbleworks was a dark water ride that took guests through a fizzy pop factory. For 2006, it was rethemed to an Imperial Leather toiletries factory. Bubbleworks closed on 6 September 2016 and will be replaced by The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure in March 2017.

The area was split into two sections- the Village and the Vampire Forest. The village follows a happy and light hearted theme with oompah music and street lamps. Various themed stalls can be found around the area where Bubbleworks used to be. The area's features mostly follow an Eastern European setting, with hanging signs and fleur de la filles featuring on the shop fronts. The Vampire forest however has a much more sinister theme. This features Transylvania's second entrance, a graveyard where several tombstones in the forest make references to past characters from the park's history, Zappomatic and Professor Burp feature among other characters. This is where the Halloween attraction Vampire: The Haunting in the Hallows used to reside. Eventually you exit into a plaza of sorts featuring the Vampire entrance, a blood-coloured fountain, and an archway connecting both parts of the area.

In 2017, the area was re-branded as "Wild Woods" to fit in with The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure attraction.

Forbidden Kingdom

Themed around Ancient Egypt with an obelisk in the centre, Forbidden Kingdom was created in 1994, originally with the Terror Tomb dark ride. It currently has two popular rides; Tomb Blaster and Rameses Revenge. Opening in 2002 Tomb Blaster is a dark ride shoot out game where riders shoot laser guns at targets. Rameses Revenge is a Top Spin ride with a water element that opened in 1995. Part's of Forbidden Kingdom are themed on an Arabic market town, whilst the courtyard area around Tomb Blaster is set as a camp made from sandstone.

Land of the Dragons

Land of the Dragons is the park's main children's area. Opening in 2004, it is a self-contained, dragon-themed land containing rides and attractions designed to appeal to young children. Being a children's area, it is the only part of the park not themed to a time or place from the world. There are two play areas in the land: Dragon's Playhouse, a large soft play area, and adjacent to this is Canopy Capers, an outdoor treehouse rope bridge attraction. Griffin's Galleon is a Kontiki rock'n'tug ride and Sea Dragons in a spinning boat ride from Mack Rides.

The Dragon's Tale Theater has daily performances of the Wild Factor show and Sir Walter Squirtalot is a fountain that squirts water. Aside from the children's attractions, Dragon's Fury is an intense spinning roller coaster encompassing the area with its layout.

Wild Asia

Wild Asia, opened in early 2010 as a wild jungle, featuring theming such as ancient ruins and tribal statues. The attraction Lorikeet Lagoon opened with the area in 2010 as part of Chessington's plan to add zoo enclosures within the theme park, visitors may feed the lorikeets nectar. The area has a number of thrill rides, including KOBRA, a Zamperla flat ride that opened in 2010, Monkey Swinger a wave swinger with a water element that opened in 2000, Jungle Bus a small Zamperla magic carpet ride themed around tours of the jungle. The area is also home to the Tuk Tuk Turmoil bumper cars, which are themed as Asian rickshaw tuk tuks. The last attraction in the area is Temple of Mayhem, an indoor play area where children can fire foam balls, with a minimum age limit of 4 years.

Africa

Africa is an area aimed at families. Its architecture follows a wacky African village, with wonky roofs and misshapen windows. It has been home of the Madagascar franchise since opening in 2012, and it currently houses two rides, and a major live show. Penguins of Madagascar Live: Operation Cheezy Dibbles, is a stage show based on the Penguins of Madagascar film. The show debuted in 2015 as part of the 'Year of the Penguins' and features animatronic costumes unseen anywhere else in Europe. Also in Africa the Penguins of Madagascar Mission: Treetop Hoppers, a pair of junior drop towers from Zamperla that were also part of the Year of the Penguins. On the edge of the area is Toadie's Crazy Cars, a children's car tour through Mr Toad's garden.

ZUFARI

Zufari is Chessington's main African area in the form of a large animal reserve. It has Zufari: Ride into Africa! as the key attraction, a safari truck adventure through an undiscovered area of Africa. Flying Jumbos is the other attraction in the area. Making up part of the Zufari landscape is the Wanayama Village & Reserve, an African themed area of the zoo. The Zufari planes and Wanyama Reserve are used as a backdrop to the Safari Hotel. ZUFARI's total size is 22 acres and has flamingos, giraffe, ostrich, Nile lechwe, white rhino, Grevy’s zebra, scimitar horned oryx and sitatungas.

Along the pathways of Zufari are various replicas of African art work, specifically when walking to the Wanyama Village. In the centre of the Wanyama section of Zufari is a large stone carving of a lion. A winding waterfall runs along its side.

Chessington Zoo

In 1931, Reginald Goddard opened the Chessington Zoo. In 1946 when Goddard died, the Pearson Publishing Company took over the zoo and managed it until 1978, when The Tussauds Group took control of the park. A number of animals were moved to other zoos during the construction of the theme park. In 1990 the polar bears left the park, as did the hippos and elephants in 1993. In 1994 the snow leopards were relocated to the lion and tiger area. For a time the attracton was called Animal Land, before returning to Chessington Zoo in 2007. The zoo has only one non-animal related attraction, the Burnt Stub Mansion, an old manor house home to the Hocus Pocus Hall.

The zoo is generally open simultaneously with the theme park, but also remains open over the winter when the theme park is closed. Zoo entrance is included with a standard Chessington ticket.

As of 2015 the zoo has over 1,000 animals, many of which are endangered and some being no longer found in the wild. Chessington Zoo is split up into different areas and walkthroughs. The rhea, mara, wallabies, meerkats and agouti were previously the Monkey Walk area. Monkey Walk was replaced by Creatures Features which in turn was later replaced by the Wanyama Village in 2010. There is also a Children's Zoo, where children may feed domestic farm animals.

The Safari Skyway, an elevated monorail with an entrance in the Market Square theme park area, takes riders around various animal enclosures at the zoo. In front of Hocus Pocus Hall, there is Wild Wood, an animal presentation area which hosts the Animal Antics show at different times throughout the day. Near the entrance to the Zoo, there are enclosures for otters and reindeer. Chessington Zoo also has an area called Sealion Bay, which features sea lion presentations several times a day and Creepy Caves, a reptile house.

The Trails of the Kings; a walkthrough attraction home to enclosures for nine western lowland gorillas, two Sumatran tigers, two Asiatic lion, fossa, Carpathian lynx, and binturong. In 2007 the Trail of the Kings section of the zoo underwent an inspection with the outcome that the gorilla enclosure was too small. A bigger building for the gorillas was completed in 2010. As of 2013, there are 10 gorillas at chessington, as well as two infants born in 2012.

The Wanyama Village & Reserve opened in late May 2010, in an area behind the Safari Hotel and houses animals such as Grévy's zebra, sitatunga antelope, ostrich, dorcas gazelle, Nile lechwe, fennec fox, dwarf mongoose, southern ground hornbill, Kirk’s dik-dik, Aloatran gentle lemur, black-cheeked love bird, crested porcupine, meerkats, scimitar horned oryx, common eland and Ankole cattle. It is part of the ZUFARI animal reserve. The area is open to guests staying in the Safari Hotel during the evening.

The AMAZU Treetop Adventure opened in April 2014 on the former site of the Monkey & Bird Garden. The area features adventure trail walkways, play areas and Aztec theming. The area has spider monkeys, saki monkeys, red-handed tamarins, golden-headed lion tamarins, Bolivian squirrel monkeys, Geoffroy marmosets, capybara, military macaws, Ecuadorian red-lored amazons, giant wood rail, agouti and three-banded armadillo. The animals in the area can either be viewed on ground or through the Amazu raised walkways, some of which, go through the enclosures.

Penguin Bay is a new area that opened in March 2015 as part of the Year of the Penguins. It features the long time residents of Chessington Zoo Humboldt penguins in a beach themed area. Seating for the demonstrations is aboard a shipwreck with a canopy. The new enclosure features glass walls to allow for better public viewing. As part of Chessington's plan to make the resort unique and more adventurous, Penguin Bay features a walk through attraction which allows guests to be in the centre of the enclose, with the penguins walking across their feet.

In a world first, the Pandamonium live show opened in 2016 which features life-size and lifelike animatronic pandas, giving families a one of a kind experience and the chance to see what it would be like to get up close to these exotic endangered animals. You will not believe your eyes as these one of a kind mischievous pandas create chaos on stage and have the whole family roaring with laughter at the mayhem that follows.

Chessington Sea Life Centre

In 2008 Chessington Zoo open Chessington Sea Life Centre on the site of the old children's Zoo, as an attempt to both determine if the park had a positive future and also to attract more multi-day visits. The Sea Life Centre, which is part of a franchise operated by Merlin Entertainments, has a number of exhibits including a Ray Pool and a Touch Pool. The Sea Life Centre is split into four areas: Our Shoreline, The Reef, Amazonia and Azteca which features the signature Ocean Tunnel.

"Our Shoreline" is the oldest area and has sea creatures found on the coast of Britain, featuring rays, seahorses and starfish. The area also has smaller exhibits including clownfish and crabs. The Touch Pool is also found here, in the centre of the area. The following area is named "The Reef", which features clownfish, cleaner shrimp, regal tang, slipper lobster and upside-down jellyfish

Next to this area is Amazonia, which opened in 2009. It is a slightly smaller version of the same exhibit that has appeared at other Sea Life Centres. It includes red-bellied piranhas, common octopus, tetras and other, smaller exhibits.

Azteca opened in 2011, it features a 10-meter Ocean Tunnel, which has sea creatures including: bonnethead sharks, lion fish, starry pufferfish, surgeon fish, angle fish, catshark and epaulette shark. The tunnel existed before the 2011 addition, but was redeveloped for the arrival of new fish. Aside from the Ocean Tunnel, Azteca also has jellyfish, seahorse and northern wolffish. The placement of the area, has resulted in the division of the Our Shoreline area, which is now separated into two areas.

Resort Hotels & Accommodation

Currently, Chessington World of Adventures operate two on-site hotels and a Glamping experience.

Safari Hotel

The Safari Hotel is a four star hotel themed to appear like a Safari Lodge. It was originally named the Safari Lodge Hotel in 2007, before changing to the Chessington Resort Hotel in 2010. The hotel was then refurbished and relaunched for 2014 and has since been known simply as the Safari Hotel.

The hotel opened in June 2007 and was originally operated by Holiday Inn until it was fully taken over by Merlin Entertainments in May 2014. The hotel features various African elements with giraffe sculptures in the foyer and Zafari Bar & Grill. The hotel's check in area features a reptile enclose, which has a variety of animals housed in it depending on the time of year.

When the hotel was integrated as a resort in 2010, the Wanyama Village & Reserve opened with access from the hotel.

Azteca Hotel

The Azteca Hotel is the newer of the two and opened in 2014. The hotel is four star and themed around an ancient aztec temple. The hotel has three floors, with each floor themed to a different level of the temple. The top floor (named "Temple Summit") is decorated to give the impression that guests are on top of the structure looking out at the wildlife around.

The hotel's Temple Restaurant has a heavy emphasis on special effects, with a large tower sitting in the centre of the room. Every thirty minutes, it makes a display of water fountains, it also features rapid lighting sequences and ultraviolet markings. Around the perimeter of the restaurant is a trail of leaf cutter ants which pass the tables. At the entrance to the restaurant is a tank of red bellied piranha. Due to the hotel being built partly into the side of a hill, the Temple Restaurant has no windows, and instead has a series of screens built into the walls, showing various animated videos of the South American wildlife.

The hotel is linked to the Amazu area of Chessington Zoo, which is also aztec themed. Due to the location of the hotel in relation to the car parks, check in is located in the Safari Hotel.

Explorer Glamping

Launched on 27 May 2016, Chessington's Explorer Glamping site comprises a total of 31 standard, and four deluxe tents. The Glamping site is located in the south west of the park, behind Lorikeet Lagoon in the Theme Park. The 'Explorer's Outpost' restaurant is available to residents.

Future developments

A management conference held at Chessington by operator Merlin Entertainments in October 2014, outlined a plan to expand the current accommodation offering with a 'Safari Camp', and a development known as the 'Chessington Lodges'. Merlin aim to add a further 200 rooms to the resort, either through lodges or a third hotel.

In May 2016, drafts of a long term development plan were displayed in the Safari Hotel for neighbors' input. The plans highlighted the installation of a new roller coaster, possibly two. A new major attraction in 'Africa' as well as a large feature close by Hocus Pocus Hall. Safari Lodges are proposed behind 'Zufari'. Tiny Truckers, the Carousel, Peeking Heights and Toadie's Crazy Cars are expected to be removed to make way for these developments. Plans to remove the Carousel are already underway, with installation of a replacement Carousel in the centre of Market Square (as opposed to behind the Square Gift Shop) already submitted for approval.

Bubbleworks closed on 6 September 2016 to be replaced by an attraction utilising the same ride system. On 1st January 2017, Chessington announced on social media that the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure will replace the Bubbleworks.

2014 court case

In September 2014, park owner Merlin Entertainments initiated a court case to seek an injunction against Peter Cave, owner of survey consultancy Peer Egerton. The consultancy firm was hired by Merlin to prepare a report on the safety of the park, after a serious accident in 2012. They found 2000 defects and potential safety hazards. This led to a dispute between Cave and Merlin, culminating in court proceedings to prevent the park from reopening after its 2012 winter break. Merlin won this case and the park reopened. Cave then set up a campaign to warn the public and staff of the findings, including sending out 80,000 emails. Merlin claimed to have spent roughly £4.6 million on repairs and improvements and named the allegations "baseless criticisms", "highly alarming, distressing and disgraceful", and harassing. But High Court Judge Elisabeth Laing ruled that the campaign was a "matter of public interest" and refused the injunction to silence Cave.

Green belt restrictions

Due to the majority of the theme park being located on green belt lands the park is subject to several restrictions. Most significant are restrictions in height (no building higher than the tree line), noise (with time restrictions) and traffic management.

Various rides have had to have been built in pits due to these restrictions. It is most noticeable on Black Buccaneer, Rattlesnake and Rameses Revenge. The resort are not allowed to build anything higher than the Peeking Heights Ferris wheel and cannot operate The Vampire past 11pm.

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