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Rattlesnake If
the Vampire was anything, it was the straw that broke the camel’s
back. In this scenario, the aforesaid camels are the locals that
surround Chessington World of Adventures, and when the Transylvanian
noise machine opened, as far as residents were concerned, no other ride
on the scale of the Vampire will open again at the park. And
to this day their mission continues meaning many rides and attractions
have had planning permission turned down, including small (and quiet)
family coasters. The Rattlesnake is the first new coaster since the
Vampire, and to have planning permission granted, had to be buried in a
hole, right in the middle of the park. Calamity
Canyon soon became Mexicana, a mixed up and eclectic stew of Wild West
and Mexico, and as the Reptile House and staff restaurant were moved
elsewhere to make way for what is one of Maurer Sohnes’ many sales
around the middle of the 1990s, an era where the steel mouse made a huge
comeback. As
you enter Mexicana, to the right, the row of shops, restaurants and the
shooting gallery which lead ultimately to the Runaway Mine Train. The
path splits and veers off to the left for those wanting Rameses Revenge,
Samurai and a good portion of the rest of the park. Buried
to your left, the newest hive of activity: Rattlesnake. The small, tight
pit that this mouse is buried in is surrounded in reasonably foreign
looking foliage, with the brown dirt coloured track diving in and out of
a ramshackle shed style structure that is built into the ride. At
the top of the ride, the four passenger cars are ripped around the
hairpin bends, deeper down cars jump up and over bunny-hops and small
drops, with the station hidden out of view. The
queue is entered through a crumbing archway, before after two long
zig-zags along half the length of the ride, past some lifeless
animatronic figures, all of which are looking worse for wear, before a
steep staircase takes you down to the bottom of the excavation under the
lift-hill. As
you turn to the left, you are now parallel to a stretch of track that
undulates sharply to your right before diving into the barn style
building. You also enter this same building, and the track now climbs up
above you before pulling sharply to the right out of view. The
queue pops briefly outside again giving you an opportunity to look up at
the cars darting to and fro way above you on the hairpin stretch before
you go into a dark cave. There
was a day where this was pitch black and you ran the risk of breaking an
ankle in the deep gutter that is on each side of the weaving path.
Thoughtfully more lighting has been added, however, since one lowly
visitor put their chewing gum on the ceiling, several thousand others
have followed suit. A couple of rattlesnakes hidden in small crannies
may distract you from this mess, but I doubt it. From
here, you go through another shed, zig-zag a few times, more steps, and
then you are in the station. The station consists of two one metre wide
platforms, and as people stumble out the other side, cars are moved
forward so that you may board. The
cars are far from comfortable, but it is a Wild Mouse and to be
expected. The seat is probably about two inches high meaning you are
virtually sitting on the floor. The lap bars are pushed down, and you
discover you have more than enough to brace yourself from the ensuing
onslaught of forces. You
are tyre driven to the right, engage on the lift and are then
practically launched up to the top. At the top, you dip off to the
right, before a long stretch builds you up to a reasonable speed. You
are yanked off to the right around a 180-degree bend, another straight
stretch, 180 to the left, and then you continue as you started a few
more times. Each
curve is not too rough if you hold on, and after a more swooping
clockwise turn around a water tower, you dive down a drop, bounce over a
steep bunny-hop, climb up, disappear into a shed over the queue and turn
to the right. Another
drop follows, and after the climb, a sharp jab from the brakes which is
a lesson to those not holding on. You turn around a sharp turn to the
right, another dip, another turn before another final drop hurling you
into the equally violent final brakes that jerk you to a stop. You turn
to the right and then as the bars pop up out of your way, you can leave
the ride, passing the photo booth, screens of people welcome you back,
all grimacing as they round the photo turn. The
ride is abysmal with regards to capacity. It can run a maximum of eight
cars, and normally with two in various states of disrepair, six more
often than not run, meaning queues of in excess of three-quarters of an
hour. For a good ride, fine. This is a Wild Mouse though, and
whilst after a fifteen minute queue you would come off satisfied (still
not bubbling with enthusiasm), after an hour of queuing and a minute of
predictable, off the shelf manoeuvres that you can experience at a good
fair, you would be quite right to be dismayed. Rattlesnake is a much-needed investment that Chessington
have needed to make for a while. It is a disappointment though that it
is such an un-original ride, and one of such a low capacity offering a
mediocre-to-poor ride at the expense of nearly an hour of queuing. It hardly fills a gap either. Chessington already has a
fun family coaster, the Vampire, and for something a little less
overwhelming, the Runaway Mine Train more than fills the gap. It is too
much to expect a white knuckle coaster, Chessington will never get one,
but it lacks creativity in a situation they could have really used some
imagination. The result is a diffident and meek ride that would suffice
with a short queue, yet does anything but with such a long wait. Briefly... Here is our bullet point review of this attraction, highlighting everything that is great about it, and everything that is sadly bad. Good points:
Bad points:
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