The German version of The Gruffalo is also very well known here. Maybe not as much as in the UK, but you can get quite a lot of merchandise in toy stores.
Mandrill Mayhem seems to be supposed to be a "Baby's first inversion" rollercoaster. You are pretty young, muster the courage to get on it, and then tell your family and everyone else who is not running away that you went upside down for the next few weeks. So it fits the target audience of the park and the ride is very nicely done. Nice theming, great looking trains.
I can definitely see a kid scared of big roller coasters go on this as their first thrilling ride. There would certainly take a little bit of courage for a young kid seeing that inversion and that it goes backwards, but it doesn't have any big steep drop or large scale inversion like a loop or cobra roll that would make it too scary for them.
Mandrill Mayhem is a unique one! If you compare it to other wing coasters then it may disappoint, but compare it to a Vekoma family boomerang, that has a similar height restriction, then it's a much better ride, and a great one for kids to experience their first inversion on.
I agree with you. Im really not a fan of merlin parks in general and i think they could have done something much better with the theme, like a flying theatre thru jamuanji or a boat ride or something to compliment the coaster. That said i do think mandrill mayhem is a great fit for the park and like you say much more interesting and thrilling than whacking in a boomerang.
Tomb Blaster was called Terror Tomb before they added the shooting game, which is why it has such large and great theming, and was a great albeit quirky dark ride. Thankfully most of the sets remained in place when it reopened in 2002
When i was about 7 my parents tried to put me on vampire and that queue was the stuff of nightmares to me. I did end up going on it though and it’s one of the reasons why I love coasters today:)
It's been a long time since I last visited this place. My favourite ride was Dragon's Fury, but I also loved Vampire, Tiger Rock, Kobra, and Rameses Revenge. (It's a shame they had to close that down due to water damage. That was probably my 3rd or second favourite. It was my first inverting ride. It really soaked me.) And Dragon's Fury's queue was always long and painful, whereas the other rides didn't have as long waits. (Vampire was almost as long, but had much more theming, so I didn't mind as much.)
Sarah definitly was as exited as I was seeing Rachel again, even though for her its just because someone is finally smaller than her (just kidding, loved the hugs and all). Man its good to have this series back again, Europe always feels so special bein shown trough your eyes and with all these Coasters.
The trains on Vampire are indeed similar to the Vekoma ones, because the trains were built by Vekoma I believe, it did used to have the old closed trains in the past, but not anymore.
The original trains were much better as they were themed to bats and looked fantastic. They also used to swing much more than the Vekoma trains that replaced them.
Can't wait for all the Episodes ! You should really try to include Hansa Park on your next Trip by the way . I think Sarah would really freak out on Kärnan
Completely agree, what a weird coaster to put into a very busy park. You’d think they’d want a ride with a high through put, but alas no, they go for the exact opposite and then don’t allow you to wait at the air gates 🫣
Great first vlog guys from the new series and great to see you in my home country ! Tbh you guys didn’t miss all that much at Chessington other than the main part of the Zoo, Safari ride, Room on a Broom walkthrough and SeaLife Centre !! Scorpion Express (Mack Powered Coaster) has been closed all season as they have struggled to get a part to fix it lol and the Wild Mouse is brutal
This Series is Cool and really interesting for a series and some of my favourites at Chessington are Croc drop Blue Barnacle Vampire Dragon Fury Scorpion Express Mandril Mayhem Ostrich Stampede Mamba Strike Kobra Tomb Blaster Room On the Broom Monkey Swings Sea Storm Tuk Tuk Turmoil
Chessington is a good family park and one of the nicer ones in the UK. Dragon’s fury is one of the best spinners. It is a lot of fun especially when it goes crazy. Looking forward to this series. I would love to do a month travelling around Europe.
Finally, my favourite RU-vid series returns! Can't wait to see all your adventures. Oh and great job on the filming and editing of this vlog, your vlogs are of a great quality, suitable to be on TV if you ask me.
Can’t believe I saw you here! I shouted to Sarah that I love your videos in the queue to dragons fury! It was the first time I went back in about 10 years and I was impressed with the theming too even though the rides aren’t the best but we had a great day. Glad you guys did too!
I didn't visit any theme parks on my trip to London last summer. Mulled over spending a day at Thorpe Park but our schedule was pretty packed as it was. We did visit the London Eye and the aquarium, which I guess are Merlin attractions.
I can't say enough how long I waites for you to visit my home park. A park that Ive worked at for 10 years and have been visiting all my life. Im glad you had such a great day out! 😀
I think one thing you guys diddnt know about chessngton is it's a family park. It's been my home park for all 18 years of my life, so i absolutely love it. It is pretty much fully developed, the whole jumanji land is over a old picnic area, but thats why a lot of the rides arent all that thrilling, but more family style
They invested in this coaster because it goes well with the theme and because its a family park and they don’t have any full backwards sections, inversions or a wing coaster.
YAAAAAS!! THEY ARE BACK!! 8:40 that aint the rock. that is the pebble 12:38 Zookeeper: Hey Kyra you're going to a different zoo Kyra: Finally some peace and no noice of a RMC. Where to? Zookeeper: Chessington Kyra: FFS
I don't know about the UK, but the general public in germany thinks inversion = intense. This can be compared to the new B&M wing coaster in Legoland germany called Maximus. Also a wing coaster with low forces and slow inversions. Very short with only 17m (56ft) high lifthill, too. Since Chessington seems more ike a family park like legoland a ride like this makes perfect sense. This introduces inversions for familys or just without being overwhelming. If someone is scared of inverting rollercoasters and then tries something like Arieforce 1 the chances are pretty low of this being a positive experience for them. So in my european opinion I think Mandrill Mayhem makes perfect sense in this park.
My local park, been going since I was a small kid in the late 80s. Loads of history here. They have a problem with planning permissions and restrictions on sizes and heights. The B&M is the first coaster since dragons fury opened in 2004. The vampire opened in 1990 with bat cars, vakoma refurbished the ride, with some new track and trains in 2002. I have a photo of me on this from 1991. The gruffalo is a very popular children's book here in England, and the ride used to be professor burps bubbleworks. The scorpion express used to be runaway minetrain and have a big rockwork / mountain theming. Samurai at thorpe park used to be here. Tomb blaster has a long history. It was better and better maintained as terror tomb. The park used to have a monorail and a mini steam train. Dragon falls used to be mystic river and it was all Chinese themed. I have a photo of me on this from 1988. There used to be an area in the middle of the park called toytown. There used to be a Huss breakdance called Rodeo. There used to be an awesome Huss topspin where crockdrop now stands. Also the dragon outside dragons fury has been in the park since the late 80s early 90s. He's very old lol We had our wedding party in the hotel and our wedding photos around the park. 😂
Scorpion express is recovering from a fire last season. You. Missed nothing with rattlesnake. Dragon's fury is the best Maurer spinner we have done. Even better by a smidgen than Winjas at Phantasialand. This was my home park as a kid. I rode vampire in the opening season and many time after and the OG trains were better
Hahahha brill vlog, I’m a Merlin Annual Passholder and even I don’t go to Chessington anymore, and it’s free for me to get in 😂😂 Says it all really. They sell too many entries and it’s not good for customer experiences. P.S There’s always rides closed at Merlin Parks sorry, we just accept it here in the UK and move on 😢
Interesting to hear your views / experience of UK Amusement & Theme Parks compared to the US. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series, especially Blackpool PB 🙂
Chessington probably has thee most stringent planning laws of any UK park. So they split the two park demographics when they took over - Thorpe is for teens and adults and Chessington is for kids and families. So anything they build is going to be on the tame side on the whole.
Chessington looks underrated! The theming is really good and ever area is just detailed to perfection. But the ride line up is not as good. There is only four coasters, but MM looks very off the top random. It's honestly on my bucket list of weird coasters. Dragon's Fury looks great. It has a unique layout with some top notch theming to mix into the ride experience. The other two coasters are pretty forgettable. The powered coaster is actually SBNO since august! But the theming is the best part. Then Rattlesnake it just like the powered coaster, the theming is the best part. It looks incredible. I would definitly visit this park when I visit England.
Seeing you call stick man “Groot at home” made me so sad inside. If anyone didn’t know, The Gruffalo and Stick Man are actually fairly well known childrens books in the uk both (I believe) written by Julia Donaldson
Glad you enjoyed Chessington been there a lot myself and always have a great time Mandrill Mayhem is a good ride. Vampire also great as with which is one of my favourites Dragons Fury. Surprised you guys didn't do Rattlesnake their Maurer Wild Mouse or even mention Scorpion Express their Mine Train
Really happy y'all had a good time at Chessington! Was my childhood home park, although sadly it's been quite a few years since I last visited. Really glad you enjoyed all the theming and got on a lot of the non-coaster rides. Their wild mouse is very well themed as well, so hopefully you get back there one day. Mandrill Mayhem continues to confuse everyone.
