Coaster Kingdom  Chessington WOA  Toadie's Crazy Cars Your Thoughts

You now have the chance to respond diplomatically to our thoughts, or to the opinions of others below. By filling in the form, you get no confirmation, nor are you taken to another page.

If you only have a web-based Email account, it may be best for you to Email us in preference to using this form.

They brought us Rameses Revenge and Samurai and received cult status from the herds of London secondary school ‘people’ that frequent the park every year.

In 2000 directions changed and Beanoland was added, aimed at families - which I have nothing against (after all parks have to cater for all age groups), but what resulted was a rather poor new area lacking that ‘something’ - much akin to a three course dinner without the main course.

Then in 2001 the ‘new adventure’ started with the installation of the Bash Street Bus, the revamped Gorilla Walk now to be known as Trail of the Kings and finishing off with the conversion of Old Crocks Rally into Toadies Crazy Cars.

If there was an award for ‘misplaced ride of all time’ then I think the Bash Street Bus would probably win it - see if you can spot it when you enter Beanoland... Trail of the Kings was an improvement over its previous state, but not enough to warrant advertising it as a new attraction.  The Old Crocks rally was crying out for a revamp and it was pleasing to hear it would receive a makeover in time for the new season under its new title of Toadies Crazy Cars.

Perhaps people expected wonders, or at least something better than the final product and I am sure that Tussauds could have done a lot better, that is if the creative teams budget wasn’t £10 and a just and an hour at Homebase.  The layout of the ride and the attire of the cars have remained the same, and the surrounding area has gained some astro-turf and locks of water and some 2D theming elements just painted on the one side.

Existing buildings have been painted purple, and a few fibreglass moles have moved in along route, as well as a few lengths of bamboo fence to cover up the places where I can only presume the creative team suffered from designers block.

A far from impressive musical score (which I guess may well have been played on a keyboard and recorded on a Dictaphone) plays throughout with occasional bits of commentary from your friend and mine, Toadie.

Adam Slevin

I am a long standing Chessington Visitor. Old Crocks Rally always held a special place in my heart, and I was very excited by the fact that it was getting a ‘major’ revamp.

When you think Tussauds, you think amazing theming - wonderful animatronic, excellent experiences and I naturally expected Old Crocks Rally to be something really special. But I was oh-so horribly disappointed.

What we have been given is a shambles. The characters and setting are tackier then the rusting models that previously ruled the journey. The music is a good improvement, and the occasional puns from the speaker can be quite humorous, but the rest of the ride is such a shambles that the humour is easy to miss. Another factor is that when riding around, you can see most of the track and ride from the starting stretch, thus you know exactly what is going to happen on your journey. Before hand, trees and bushes hid the paths making everything slightly more interesting. It gave the impression of your car meandering around narrow country lanes. When I asked my youngest sister what she thought the reply was simply ‘The old ride made more sense’, and you can’t argue with that.

Lewis Cox