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Croc Drop Officially Opens At Chessington
Monday 12th April 2021
Croc Drop has officially opened at Chessington World of Adventures, after a snowy start to the morning Sobek managed to melt the snow to drop guests 25.6 meters into the mouth of the crocodile.  

From the ground the ride doesn't look that high but once your onboard you quickly realise your towering above everything in the area and the park. The theming of the crocodile and the ride station is incredible and beyond anything, we've ever seen at a Merlin park before. The music and atmosphere of opening day were amazing and everyone coming off of the ride had a huge smile on their face. 

The length of the ride is also way longer than we expected, with the park being so busy we believe that the ride has two cycles one short and one long. The ride length and throughput didn't seem to affect the queue time during the day with it being between 30 and 60 mins for most of the day. 

Brave the drop, release the curse!

Chessington Announces Croc Drop Open Day
Monday 15th March 2021
Coming in April 12 2021, Chessington World of Adventures have today announced a jaw-dropping NEW ride called Croc Drop! This brand-new drop tower ride at our family Theme Park and Zoo in Surrey is the first new ride since 2013 and represents a multi-million-pound investment.

Set to ‘drop’ this Spring, brave explorers will plunge 25m into the giant jaws of a crocodile, Sobek, the ancient Egyptian Crocodile God and protector of the Nile, who has been possessed by evil spirits, transforming him into a cruel deity. With the once fertile Nile laying stagnant, riders must take part in a ceremony to banish the evil spirits from Sobek, plunging into the crocodile’s soul and releasing the waters back into the Nile. Will you brave the drop and release the curse? 

Passholders a minimum height of 1.2m* must brave the drop to release the curse!

Tim Harrison-Jones, Divisional Director at Chessington World of Adventures Resort, said: “We’re thrilled to announce our NEW ride, Croc Drop – it’s going to be a great addition to our Theme Park, which along with our Zoo and Resort Hotels are temporarily closed until it’s appropriate to reopen, as we adhere to Government guidance in response to COVID-19.  

“The one-of-a-kind drop tower has been over two years in the making and is nearing final construction in our Land, Forbidden Kingdom - just at the sight of it, let alone the thrilling ride itself, guests’ jaws will drop!”

Passholders can sign up at Chessington.com/2021 to be one of the first to hear when Chessington World of Adventures Resort reopens, and when you can ‘drop’ on the NEW ride.

 

Chessington Croc Drop Merchandise Goes On Sale
Tuesday 2nd March 2021
Selected items of merchandise for the new ride Croc Drop have been pre-released early on the Chessington Online Shop.

Chessingtons exciting ride for 2021 will see those daring adventurers plunge 25m into the giant jaws of a crocodile, Sobek, the ancient Egyptian Crocodile God and protector of the Nile, who has been possessed by evil spirits, transforming him into a cruel deity. With the once fertile Nile laying stagnant, riders must take part in a ceremony to banish the evil spirits from Sobek, plunging into the crocodile’s soul and freeing the water’s back into the Nile.  

The new clothing range will be an ideal souvenir of your adventure.

Sizes Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large

New For 2021 Chessington Officially Announces Croc Drop
Tuesday 16th February 2021
Chessington World of Adventures has officially announced Croc Drop a 25m drop tower plunging guests into the jaws of a crocodile. 

Brave the drop, release the curse!

Set to ‘drop’ in spring, those daring will plunge 25m into the giant jaws of a crocodile, Sobek, the ancient Egyptian Crocodile God and protector of the Nile, who has been possessed by evil spirits, transforming him into a cruel deity. With the once fertile Nile laying stagnant, riders must take part in a ceremony to banish the evil spirits from Sobek, plunging into the crocodile’s soul and freeing the waters back into the Nile.

Those between 1.2m and 1.3m must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 16, while those a minimum height of 1.3m can ‘drop’ alone.

Tim Harrison-Jones, Divisional Director at Chessington World of Adventures Resort, said: 

"We’re thrilled to announce our NEW ride, Croc Drop – it’s going to be a great addition to our Theme Park, which along with our Zoo and Resort Hotels are temporarily closed until it’s appropriate to reopen, as we adhere to Government guidance in response to COVID-19.

"The one-of-a-kind drop tower has been over two years in the making and is nearing final construction in our Land, Forbidden Kingdom - just at the sight of it, let alone the thrilling ride itself, guests’ jaws will drop!"

ITV Behind Closed Doors Features Chessington World of Adventures
Wednesday 10th February 2021
Chessington World of Adventures has featured on ITV News Behind Closed Doors, showing off some of the work going on behind the scenes to prepare for the 2021 theme park season when its safe to reopen. 

Our last view of the new drop tower was it sat in the staff car park and waiting to be installed. However, in last nights TV episode, we saw the ride fully installed and testing. Unlike the version of the ride at Paultons Park, Croc Drop appears to have plastic inserts between each row. This will help get the ride up and running during social distancing and reduce the queues as much as possible. 

It appears all of the queue line has been installed at the front and side of the building. No name was mentioned for the attraction but we still believe it's going to be called Croc Drop. With an interview from "Daniel Smith" a project manager we even got a sneak peek into the main building with the doors into the station opening and closing. Revealing what we can expect when you enter the ride's station. 

Around the rest of the park, we got a glimpse of some rocks being painted in the Zufari cave and work on making a new platform for the new pirate ship The Blue Barnicle is underway. The main structure for the pirate ship is yet to be installed but hopefully, this is done before the park reopens for the 2021 season. 

No reopening date has been set yet however we expect with the UK Lockdowns, this won't be revealed until there is a definite date set. 

Chessington 2021 Drop Tower Ride Arrives
Saturday 19th December 2020
New for 2021, rumoured to be named Croc Drop, Chessington's new tower will drop guests 25.6 meters from the sky, into the jaws of a crocodile. 

Today we heard some exciting news, that the drop tower had been delivered to Chessington and was sat in the express car parking, awaiting to be craned into the ride area and bolted together. The manufacture of the ride can now also be confirmed as SBF Visa the same manufacturer of Magma at Paultons Park. 

Posted on Twitter yesterday, we saw photos of the main carriage that will take guests up. However, it would appear that this section has already be craned in or has been moved to another section of the park. Sections left out in the car park are; the two middle and top of the drop towers ride, the seats that guests will sit in and some of the hydraulic pumps that will help power the ride system. 

With all of the construction walls down at the ride area, we can also now see the entrance to the ride.  Seeing clearly the Egyptian eye painted on the door. More work has been done around the area, installing tv screens into the soon to be queue line and installing themed queue line fences, with hyroglifics carved into some. 

Construction Walls Come Down At Chessington For 2021 Attraction
Sunday 13th December 2020
Construction walls have come down at Chessington World of Adventures around the new drop tower ride for 2021, located in the Forbidden Kingdom. Since our last visit to the park, just over a week ago, installation of the large theming has been completed, with more painting of the structure continuing. In the first few photos, we can see what part of a section has had half of its lines painted green to make the markings stand out. 

On the door into the ride, a large Egyptian eye has been painted on the doors, with the large green eye added to the entrance archway. The crocodiles on the sides look amazing! 

Work on installing plants and relandscaping the area looks to have also begun, with new plants and rocks installed. The area around the attraction is going to be huge, compared to how the area was before when Rameses was around. It won't be long until work on building the queue line begins!  Both of the old Rameses Revenge signs have now been removed. 

Still no sign of the drop tower ride, but we cant wait to see this ride completed. 

Chessington Drop Tower Crocodile Installed
Sunday 6th December 2020
Its been a while since UK theme parks were allowed to open, due to the second lockdown. However, with construction sites being allowed to continue to work through the lockdown, huge progress has been made to the new attraction at Chessington, rumoured to be named Croc Drop. 

The huge theming structure that goes around the ride has been completed; including bright green teeth, added to the jaw of the crocodile. Work has also begun on landscaping the area, some of the construction walls have been removed, exposing elements of the building previously not seen before. The ride's theming element is almost unrecognisable, with green paint added to some sections and others made to look weathered and older than they are. The old Pharaoh's shop is still being converted into an interactive queue line element. No sign of any theming inside but we can see new walls installed. Hopefully, we could see some new animals inside this building! 

Signage for Rameses Revenge remains, but we feel like this might be the last time we see this! No sign of the drop tower yet, however with it being such an easy install it would be lifted into place in no time! Other essential items, such as CCTV has been installed on the ride building, to monitor the queue line and area. 

No opening date has been set for the attraction yet, but if the park makes good progress it could be ready in time for March 2020! 

Chessington 2021 Croc Drop Logo Revealed
Saturday 7th November 2020
In a recent application to the UK Trademarks website, Chessington has revealed the logo and name for the new 2020 attraction, Croc Drop! 

https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003540962

Replacing Rameses Revenge, not a lot of information is currently known about the ride. Other than the Egyptian theme and it's going to be a 25.6m drop tower ride. Similar to Magma at Paultons Park.  

Final 2020 Season Look At Croc Drop
Sunday 1st November 2020
With the UK going into the second lockdown due to Covid-19 in a few days, we wanted to take one last look at Croc Drop before the park closes.  

More theming has been installed on the metal structure since our last proper update and the large orange pumpkin has been removed. The size of the theming is huge compared to what we expected! Remembering the drop tower will be double the height of the theming. We think this ride is going to be the underdog of 2021. 

More items of theming can be seen on the ground ready to be installed, made out of foam, we expect the cracks will then be painted over to make it look like one large piece. With some of the scaffolding now coming down, we can see some more details. Such as the hyroglifics and some new painting that's happened around the building. A green and blue bar has been painted around the building with some green flowers added coming up from the bottom of the building. 

No news yet on the official name and if the attraction will feature any animals. However, the old shop Rameses Revenegane and The Flying Jumbos used to exit through has had new walls installed. It would be cool if when you're inside the indoor queue line, there was some projection mapping or something new we've not seen at a Merlin attraction before.