Mandrill Mayhem

A Mayhem or a Whimper?

Ever since Merlin took over Tussauds in 2007, there has been a problem with Chessington World of Adventures. On the extreme ride level you have nearby Thorpe Park, for the family/younger family you have Legoland. Chessington had that ideology of the gap inbetween but as the years progressed, it seemed to be more about having a Zoo with rides. Almost like a UK Busch Gardens, just on a much smaller scale. The years went on and although there was always a new coaster rumoured, it never happened, until 2023 when Mandrill Mayhem officially opened a full 19 years since the last coaster (Dragon's Fury!)

 

The World of Jumanji is Chessington's biggest investment in years and the star attraction; a new B&M Wing Coaster but unlike its nearby neighbour The Swarm at Thorpe Park, this one is a launched shuttle coaster, the first one from the manufacturer.

 

 

  

 

Much like with Wicker Man at Alton Towers and Chessington's own Tiger Rock there is a centrepiece to the ride and that is the Jaguar Shrine, where one of the ends of the coaster circles, it certainly helps to make an impression, even if it does look slightly too similar to the aforementioned Tiger Rock centrepiece. For the more eagle eyed people you'll see the first spike of the coaster and another one for the debate is it an inversion?

 

The queueing situation on opening day was via a free virtual queue only, where you would scan a QR code (or alternatively a link from the Chessington app) on your phone, to get a timeslot to be back at the entrance to join the physical queue. Once you've been granted access to join the physical queue, you have 45 minutes to use it, else you've lost your place and have to start the process again. 

 

I'll be honest, I wasn't too keen on the idea, if the idea was to implement it similar to the free fastrack days of 20+ years ago, I get the use but several times on opening day it felt it was not really needed, with most the day only having a 20 min queue despite using the virtual queuing method, there were several times it looked like the queue would be emptied and despite my countdown clock saying I still had 20 mins before I could join the physical queue. Hopefully these are just teething issues that can get sorted out, the queue certainly looks like it could hold more than on Dragon's Fury, a ride that should have the same hourly capacity.

Boarding feels a bit of a faff compared to The Swarm and other wing coasters, as you cannot wait outside your assigned rows gates whilst the coaster is moving, instead, only after has the previous train fully emptied, can you go into the station building and go straight to the assigned row. With the airgates there, fingers crossed this is just another teething issue to work out, as despite the staff getting those trains out as quickly & efficiently as they can, it does slow the process down just a tad, especially, if you are on the right side of the train and have to wait on the left side of the train until the previous passengers have left the station.

 

Once we've been checked, we're good to go on our journey through Jumanji, first place the backwards spike!

The first launch backwards, has a surprising amount of kick to it for a "family" coaster. Certainly more forceful than Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but not as forceful as the Intamin launches. And with a small drop straight after that initial launch, it can still take you a little bit by surprise, no matter how many times you ride it. The reverse spike, is a fun element, but it does very much depend on where you sit. The first 3, possibly 4 rows, you don't really notice it and it follows more of what you'd expect from a family coaster. Rows 5 and 6, you get a nice pop of airtime and feels like it's more geared to a family thrill audience, it's not quite Saw the Ride's beyond vertical drop, but it feels like its the family version. I imagine Row 7, this is even more exaggerated but unfortunately, I never got chance to go on this row on opening day, so I cannot pass judgement on it.

Once we're back on the launch track, we get a noticeable kick of speed, before we turn left out of the station and behind the Mamba Strike ride

This is rather tight left turn and pulls a surprising amount of G force for a "family" coaster, perhaps not as noticeable on the left side of the train but certainly on the right and this leads into the selling point of the ride; Chessington's first inverting roller coaster. The inversion is full of hangtime, something which you don't get on nearby The Swarm at Thorpe and is certainly much different than anything Chessington has had and has got currently and this is the park that once had Samurai and Ramesis Revenge. The only issue I have with the inversion, some of the Wing Coaster "bouncing" seems to be very prevalent on it and considering it's a new coaster means it'll be interesting how this changes as the ride gets older. It's not rough, but it is noticeable.

As you leave the inversion, you take another left turn, this time past the other ride in the area, Ostrich Stampede before making a gradual drop over some wooden spikes into the next speed boost

   

Just like the launches before it, it has a noticeable kick, before you start to circle the centrepiece of the area/coaster, the Jaguar Shrine.  There's a good few lateral forces as your start the ascent, again more noticeable on the right side of the train, but only for the first bend, as very quickly the momentum runs out and depending on how heavy your train is, will ultimately depend on high your go. On the left side of the train, the angle of ascent and height is not that noticeable, on the right side though it feels surprisingly higher and at a strange angle. If you know where to look, much like on Vampire and Dragon's Fury, you'll see the London landmarks such as Canary Wharf, The Shard etc on a clear day.

Once we have lost all of our momentum, it's time to repeat it the journey, this time in reverse (or frontwards if you were lucky enough to get Row 7)
 

Unfortunately, the incline really took out the momentum of the train and it seems to descend it a lot slower than it ascended it, it's only when we hit the speed boost just after the Jaguar Shrine, that the speed increases significantly. However, as we now have to go up the gentle slope that we descended earlier, this takes away the momentum we've just gained and the "bouncing" seems to have returned. When we reach the inversion, due to the slower speed, it has a lot more hangtime than the first time before descending back into the station.

Unlike most shuttle coasters, it does not incline the reverse spike again, instead, it stops with some relative kick on the launch track before stopping back in the station.

 

Question is though, was it worth the 19 year wait? Most definitely! Mandrill Mayhem has such a fun first half, with surprising G Forces, especially for Chessington. Is it the best coaster in the park? For me no, whilst it is a fun ride, it does not quite feel the whole package of what Dragon's Fury is and to a lesser extent, Vampire. Mandrill Mayhem's reverse trip, feels a slight let down than what the forwards trip did beforehand, not to say it is bad, but the pacing isn't quite there. That said though, it is what Chessington needed, a modern new coaster, with some intense elements, something that the park was desperately missing. 

The Good:

• Good operations considering
  
• Surprising G Forces
  
• The reverse spike on Rows 5 & 6
  
• Longer ride than it looks
• The hangtime on the inversion
  

The Bad: 

• Some noticeable Wing Coaster "bouncing"
  
• The reverse trip not as powerful as the forwards trip
• Feels like it is just missing something compared to the other two major coasters on park
  

The Ugly: 

• Odd loading procedure from the queueline
  

The Verdict:
  
3.5/5

More of my Mandrill Mayhem photos can be seen here:

 

Wood Express

Size Doesn't Matter

When thinking of theme parks close to Paris, France most people will think of Disneyland Paris or Parc Asterix. Parc Saint-Paul is not one that you would normally think of, despite it being roughly 80km away. The two major parks near to Paris have long since complimented each other, with Parc Asterix focusing more on the thrills and themeing, whereas Disneyland is well, Disney.

Parc Saint-Paul is not trying to compete with the major parks, it reminds me a bit like Gullivers and Oakwood combined, aiming for the more family market in a wooded setting and just like Oakwood, the star attraction is a wooden coaster: Wood Express

One of only a handful of Gravity Group wooden coasters in Europe, it is nestled in to the back of the park and the first thing that you notice, this is a small wooden coaster, especially when compared to Tonnere 2 Zeus at Parc Asterix.

 

The area around Wood Express does open up quite dramatically from the woodland, so although it does look small, it does have that imposing look when compared to the other rides nearby but there is no denying at little over 50ft high and the amount of hills and the brake run and station roughly being a 1/3 of the total height, it is a little disconcerting with how it would play out with pacing and airtime. Having ridden Twister at Grona Lund in Sweden (another small sized wooden coaster by the company), it gave me hope this would turn out quite decent

The queue is a lengthy affair of cattlegrid but thankfully despite me visiting on what seemed to be a French school outing to the park, the cattlegrid queue was not needed and at most I only ever waited 10 minutes on a one train service.

 

Using the Gravity Group Timberliner trains, the restraints are a strange waist style restraint but are quite comfortable even if they feel a little restrictive when compared to the GCI and PTC restraints. The trains are small, only holding 12 riders, but thankfully the bonus of this is, operations are good and as soon as the restraints are checked, you are off on your way.

As you leave the station, you bend to the right, passing the maintenance shed on your left, before a small predrop into the lift hill. The lift hill, seemed to me to be a little steeper than your usual coaster and no sooner have you joined the lift hill, are you at the top of it, ready for the first major drop.

   

The drop at the front of the train gives a slight pop of airtime but at the back, you are carried out of your seat in a nice bit of airtime (this is where you realise the restraints are not as restrictive as they first appeared). As soon as you reach the bottom of the first drop, you rise up into the first hill, where it's nearly a mirror image to the first drop, with the front of the train getting the majority, whereas the back is nice and floaty. As you reach the bottom of this drop, you make a slight right hand turn into another airtime hill, before now turning around so you are facing back to the station. For such a small height, you are taking these elements at what seems fairly quickly, despite the top speed being less than 40mph. The bends, create some nice lateral G forces and all taken fairly smoothly for a wooden coaster

   

As you leave this elongated bend, you are treated to a double up, with both hills providing another healthy dose of airtime, before the track descends again right to ground level, to help maintain its speed. Two mini airtime hills follows, where it does not matter where you sit, you are getting some ejector style airtime. Personally, I preferred the front of the train for these elements, but there was not much in it. The track now bends to the left, under the brake run, with a slight incline to provide a double down. The train slowly starts to lose some of its amazing pacing just before you hit top of the hill before the double down, but at only 50ft and what you've done before it, its hardly surprising. Back at ground level, you hit another airtime hill, before bending to the right to go under the hill you've just climbed.

 

The train now bends to the left, as you hit another airtime hill, still taken at a fairly good speed, but you can tell that the edge has been taken off just a little bit, before you ascend into another hill, which is where you hit the magnetic brakes and a small drop back into the station.

It may only be just over a minute from leaving the station to the brake run, but, the pacing is something else for just a "small" out and back layout coaster. Even after riding it many times throughout the day in 2022, it is still amazing to think what Gravity Group managed to do with a limited height. Yes, Twister at Grona Lund is similar, but twister style layouts are easier to do compact which helps keep the illusion of speed. Wood Express, not only goes out and back, but it does it twice. 

There are only some slight niggles to it, like one or two of the airtime hills, perhaps slowing down the coaster a bit too much, and some of the corners are not the smoothest, which depending on your rough tolerances, could prove a bit too much for people to do multiple re-rides.

Would I recommend a trip just to ride Wood Express? Yes and no. It is certainly the best ride in the park and one of my favourites in France, but, partly that was because apart from its quirky nature, Parc Saint-Paul is not one a lot of the enthusiasts talk about. If you are in the area, then definitely you need to visit to ride it, same if you want to explore the rest of the park has to offer. But, if you are expecting big thrills this (and Parc Saint-Paul) will not be for you, as it is not trying to be anything more than an exceptional family thrill coaster.  

 

The Good:

• Good operations
  
• Excellent pacing
  
• 13 Airtime moments
  
• Decent track length considering the height
  
• A fun coaster
  

The Bad: 

• Slightly rough on the bends
  
• Some hills take the edge of the pacing just a touch
  

The Ugly: 

• The queue is one giant cattlegrid
  

The Verdict:
  
5/5

More of my Wood Express photos can be seen here:

De Vliegende Hollander

A Ride Worthy of the Legends?

In the UK, we have some unique coasters and attractions on our small island but very few worthy dark rides, for a nation that has thousands of years of history where folklore, myth and legends prevail, it is surprising, barring a couple of examples, the industry has not tapped more into them. Efteling in the Netherlands, is a park that predominately featured the unique indoor attractions themed around a fantasy style but not really the big outdoor coaster (Python excluded). In a lot of ways, De Vliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) changed that and was a way of combining a big coaster, with a dark ride all themed to a Dutch legend.

 

Not knowing much about the Dutch legend (bar the couple of references in the Pirates of the Carribbean franchise) the trouble I initially thought is would I have an idea what was going on. As a non-Dutch speaker, as much as I can appreciate Efteling's own Villa Volta, it is very story driven and only can work out vague parts of the story (much like a non English speaker would not be able to work out what was going on in Hex at Alton Towers). Rides like Pirates of the Carribbean, you do not need to know the native language, you can enjoy it for what it is, so what is De Vliegende Hollander?

 

After a small outdoor style cattlepen, you find yourself indoors, which is where most of the queue takes place. If both stations are being used, I use the term loosely as it almost because a slow moving walkthrough attraction, through a naval office, a pub before ending up at the docks (i.e. the station), the attention to detail here is phenomenal, if the quick moving queue was not enough to hold your attention, then the themeing and decoration certainly will. As you get closer to the station platform, TV screens tell you a bit of background about the Flying Dutchman, thankfully there is a Dutch version and an English version. Like with Pirates of the Carribbean, it does not matter if you do not speak either (or if the queue moves too quick for you to appreciate it) but it gives you a bit of context before you make your descent down the stairs to one of the two ride stations.

 

The "boats" are comfy but a little strange, they feel open enough yet very deep and a strange 3 x 4 x 3 x 4 row configuration (still if you are on your own, you are likely to get on the next boat fairly quickly) I also use the term "boats" as unlike Poseidon at Europa Park, De Vliegende Hollander water sections is literally submerged roller coaster track rather than the floating boats of Poseidon. Whilst you get a good view on all rows, the best immersion is definitely on the front row, where you notice a lion is holding a lamp between its teeth.

Once you are on your way, you can tell you are not floating but rolling, as the noise from the wheels underneath you is noticeable. Before you know it, you are in the first scene.

As anyone knows, to get out onto the open sea, you need to first leave the harbour. The track takes you past a huge ship complete with crane loading on its supplies for its next voyage, thankfully we navigate safely past and we are now in the second room.

This is where being at the front gets you the best experience, the music changes from the jolly sailor music into something a bit more sinister and eerie, leaving the port behind, we are now on the open sea with a thick layer of sea mist. Seagulls sound away and all you can see is fog, you hear the sound of another ship but you cannot see it as you delve deeper into that never ending fog. It's a simple effect but much like your car headlights on a foggy day, the light on the boat has the same effect.

Going on as we must, the fog disappears slightly as it turns to rain and we have sight of the ghost ship itself, the Flying Dutchman heading straight towards us. The effect here is a simple water projection but it works surprising well. As it disappears, we're now in the middle of a thunderstorm, with the flashes of lightning showing up the detail of the Dutchman itself. This is now no longer a projection but a fully themed bow of a ship. As we get nearer the lion figurehead appears haunted and starts glowing its red piercing eyes, as the ship seemingly swallows up our little boat.

This is the first drop of the ride taken in virtual near darkness at a steepish gradient. As our momentum runs out, we are now facing upwards at 45 degrees as the storm continues on highlighting a face that soon becomes a skull with a menacing laugh. It is at this point we now start ascending to the tallest part of the ride, with some Dutch being spoken before we leave the indoor section.

 

A downwards bend to the right follows taking us virtually to lake level, it's quite elongated but not with many forces, as we ascend into a hill that ever so slightly gives us a slight pop of airtime, before we end up in a immelmann style turn. After the speed we took the previous hill, this turn does take a lot of momentum out of our vehicle at the tallest point of this specific turn. We rise up again, this time into a small building, as we enter the midcourse brake run. I get why its there, but much like The Big One in Blackpool, it does take further momentum away. As we descend again, we get our photo taken just before a left hand turn over the lake rises before dropping into the water creating a splash.

 

The splash itself is more impressive offride than onride. Strangely enough for a water ride, you do not actually get particularly wet on it and the splash itself is more for spectacle. I could imagine if the wind was in the wrong direction I guess it could blow back onto the "boat" but on the four separate occasions I've visited Efteling (including the middle of August), I got wetter in the fog scene rather than the splash and the fog was just more a mist.

As the splash dissipates the boat takes one final mini drop deeper into the lake before an elongated bend to view other people making the same splash you did barely 30 seconds ago and before you know it you are back in the station building where you started the journey roughly five minutes ago.

De Vliegende Hollander is most certainly a ride of two halves, you've got the very atmospheric dark ride section and you've got a fun, yet small coaster section. If it was just the coaster, this would be a very disappointing attraction, however, like with Baron 1898 at the same park, De Vliegende Hollander is an experience. From the elaborately themed queueline, to the dark ride section and the coaster section just being a finale. When added in that you do not really get wet on the ride, not only is this a must in all weathers and seasons at Efteling (take note UK parks!) but one to experience in Europe. 

As mentioned though, it depends what you are looking for, for the coaster cred people who are looking for an excellent coaster, De Vligende Hollander is not for you. Equally if you are looking for a relaxing dark ride, it is not for you. 

It may be 17 years old in 2023 but Efteling are looking after it and despite a few moments of slower moments on the coaster section, this is one of the finest rides in Europe as the complete package. 

The Good:

• Quick moving queue (usually)
  
• Well themed, indoor queue
  
• Unique attraction
  
• Indoor section well themed
• The music
• Not a wet water ride
• Relatively smooth coaster section
  

The Bad: 

• The coaster section doesn't do that much
  
• Some noticeable transitions when traversing through bends
  
• If the fog room is not working, you are missing out
  

The Ugly: 

• Rubbish in the queue can detract from the theming
• Sometimes a strange smell in the station area
  

The Verdict:
  
5/5

More of my De Vliegende Hollander photos can be seen here: