The future is bright at Chessington World of Adventures Resort and tonight the park have shown off there Long Term Plan for the park. They have addressed many issues ranging from the car park issues, traffic and lack of investments.
During the Long Term Plan exhibition the park said:
“Our vision for CWoAR is to continue investing in the Resort, to ensure it remains the destination of choice within the region both in terms of the day visitor and guests wanting a short break.”
The display boards in the Safari Hotel conference room were cut up into many sections starting at a brief background of the park and then breaking down into economic and community benefits, planning considerations etc.
Over the next few years the park would like to redevelop a few areas and hopefully add a rollercoaster or two! However when talking to some of the staff at the event they explained they cant build a new rollercoaster until they address some of the other issues the park has.
On the coasters and car parks board, the park said:
“The southern car park is often in a poor condition and suitable durable surfacing solutions need to be considered to improve this aspect of the Resort.”
They aim to try resolve this issue by resurfacing the whole of the car park in their Geogrid, Gravel or Tarmac. “These measures form part of a wider review by CWoAR of its car parks usage and the management of these areas.” Hopefully this will address the issue of guests getting there cars stuck in the car park during wet days.
“CWoAR needs to maintain visitor numbers to ensure it remains a viable
visitor attraction. A new ‘headline’ ride will help to enhance the Resort’s offer and ensure it remains competitive within the leisure industry.
The Masterplan (Site 7) has provisionally identified a suitable site for a medium sized family coaster ride. This could be an animal- themed ‘wild jungle ride’ or ‘water coaster’ targeted at families, in particular the 5 to 12 years core age group.”
With the park not having received anything big new and thrilling over the past few years the park is long due a new rollercoaster. Management can see this issue and the park needs a new “headline ride” Hopefully with these two concepts the park can work with the council and get something approved soon. The park haven't set anything in stone but the rollercoasters could be an animal themed ‘wild jungle ride’ or ‘water coaster’ targeted at families.
However the masterplan for the park doesn't just include car park improvements and building big and thrill rollercoasters. Management have many ideas for the parks future! From new lodges accommodation similar to the lodges at Alton Towers.
Redevelopment of existing buildings/area to provide resort attraction or back-of-house operations facilities. A new attraction linked to the Safari hotel e.g. soft play area/ indoor trampolines/3D cinema) involving the re-use of the existing buildings. Staff building improvements and infrastructure improvements for CWoAR operations, including staff facilities.
The park would also like to look into the future and location of the zoo in the next few years! Possibly looking at building new animal enclosures for the Lions, Tigers, Gorillas and the rest of the trail of the kings which has recently just been refurbished. When we spoke to a member of management he said as time moves on animal enclosures change and have got a lot bigger. He said nothing is set in stone but the animals could be moved to the other side of the park where there is more space. Meaning the enclosures for the animals would be a lot bigger.
All display board and comments form available on the Chessington website:
https://www.chessington.com/plan/local-residents.aspx
