Chessington Zoo was transformed by The Tussauds Group in the
late 80’s from a failing wildlife park into the UK’s first true theme park.
When Alton Towers was still little more than a collection of amusement rides
plonked in a picturesque, yet unthemed, landscape, Chessington World of Adventures were building
Disney-like dark rides and highly themed immersive worlds.
It’s thee park I get nostalgic about and the
park I know best. I first visited in ‘94, and with a few exceptions in the
early 2000s, I’ve visited every season since. Not a whole lot has changed from
the Chessington of my childhood. Today the theming may be a little dirty, and the
trees have grown… But the core elements are pretty much the same. And yet, it’s
a very different place in terms of quality of experience from the 90’s park. The
park went through years of stagnation with little to no investment.
The few rides Chessington has introduced
since the 90s are a world away from the quality of the originals, and every
addition feels like it has fallen victim to a lack of learning from past
successes… And mistakes. Dragon’s Fury, the park’s Maurer spinning coaster
added in 2004, is good as a ride, but the unthemed, ugly, sprawling metal
structure is plonked awkwardly surrounding a land ripped directly from Busch
Gardens. Land of the Dragons stuck
out like a sore thumb aesthetically and it is a cul-de-sac pathway that few
venture down. At the end is a rock-n-tug called Griffon’s Galleon. Had it been placed
anywhere else in the park it would draw crowds, but not here. The concept of
this land was to have an enclosed playground of attractions for children to
freely roam, but it doesn’t work in practise. It was another 6 years before the
park opened a new ride; a Zamperla Disk-o called Kobra as the showpiece in the
new Wild Asia land to replace Beanoland. For my non-British readers, The Beano
is a classic comic that was irrelevant in my childhood, let alone today’s generation.
Whilst it was always out of place at Chessington, it was bright and exciting
and I have fond memories of it. Wild Asia is grey and, whilst aesthetically
pleasing, somewhat dead. It’s too open, it’s music soft and slow, and the
theming already crumbling round the edges. But the biggest problem is Kobra. Like
Fury before it, this land was the first investment after the park decided to
take the direction to a children-focused “family” park really seriously, and
they decided to put in another 1.2m (47”) ride? Disk-o coasters are really tame
for that height restriction.
The nice, but drab, theming in the 2010 addition Wild Asia with it's signature attraction Kobra.
Photos by author.
The park has
predominantly focused on improving the zoo in recent years. Nothing
groundbreaking, but stuff like Lorikeet Lagoon, a free-flying bird walkthrough
and the SeaLife aquarium, however shoddily built (it is a tent with no effort
to hide that fact), are actually fantastic additions
to the theme park experience, offering an escape from crowds and an unexpected
enhancement to a guest’s day when it’s quiet, too.
A Rainbow Lorikeet in the free-flying bird walkthrough Lorikeet Lagoon.
Photo by author.
Additions being the
key word there... No one visits a theme park for zoo exhibits. They are not the core product and Chessington
even removed “and Zoo” from the end
of their title a few years ago, probably because it was damaging. Even Disney’s Animal Kingdom suffered because potential guests perceive it as
a glorified zoo. Perhaps “suffering” is a little extreme… “Not reaching the
attendance levels Disney would like it to” is probably better wording there,
but it was definitely because it was
a zoo, or at least that’s what Disney concluded. Check out this early marketing
campaign for the park if you don’t believe me, it speaks for itself…
If you’re having to convince guests that
there’s not only more to your product than a zoo, but actually having to tell
them it’s NOT a zoo at all, what does that tell you about zoos? That people
won’t pay theme park prices for them and that, if they wanted a zoo, they’d
have gone to a zoo, perhaps?
In 2011, Animal
Kingdom actually overtook Hollywood Studios in attendance, and that trend carried on into 2012. I wonder what
changed? The strange thing
about Animal Kingdom is that it still receives the “only a half day park”
criticism from the masses. There’s actually plenty to do there and I’d argue
that it actually takes the most time to do properly, especially considering the park closes significently earlier than the others. People simply do not care about doing the animal
attractions.
So, when Chessington
finally decided to spend some real money again, it was quite a shock that they
decided to spend it on an attraction type usually found at a wildlife park.
Because, at the time the rumour of this 2013 major attraction surfaced, I expected
a simple safari tour with some thematic elements to lift it into theme park
quality. My instinct was that this was a poor decision for the park in desperate
need of some real rides. I can quite happily look at animals all day, but I
know the majority of guests perceive anything other than a ride to be a waste
of their valuable time on park, especially in a country where 10-5 opening
hours are the norm. Though thinking about it further, I wonder what else
Chessington could have realistically received planning permission for? It’s a
little known fact that this park suffers stricter planning restrictions than
the park made famous for it, Alton Towers.
Chessington had a
rough start to the 2013 season… Zufari was delayed; Annual Pass weekend shelved
at short notice and two major attractions; Runnaway Mine Train and Dragon Falls
(a log flume) were both closed. Cold, snowy weather clinging on long into
spring was also surely unwelcomed. The immediate response to Zufari when it did
finally open to the public was so vocal and repetitive it cannot be ignored.
Chessington’s Facebook page was alive with rage, as annoyed mothers discovered
their kids were too short for the new ride…
You had to be 1.1m (43”) tall to ride
Zufari. There’s several reasons why this is a problem, but I think the most
prominent issue is that the Vampire roller coaster also has a 1.1m restriction.
Many guests perceive height restrictions on rides to be indicators of how
extreme the attraction is, not as unavoidable safety requirements, so with
Vampire as baseline, eyebrows raise at Zufari. Another issue is that none of
the similar attractions found at theme parks around the world have a
restriction as high as 1.1m, despite being more intense rides aimed at older
audiences. Disney’s Kilimanjaro Safaris does
not have a height restriction at all! But the most annoying part for me
personally is that the ride has elements clearly aimed at kids younger than 6.
It feels as if the height restriction was an afterthought, just like it seemed
to be with Kobra. Taller height restrictions aren’t inherently a problem, but
the experience has to reflect the audience allowed to ride it. I worry that
after this backlash it will be perceived that any tall height restriction for
Chessington is bad. What’s interesting is that most rides manufacturers do not
list height restrictions in their brochures or on their websites. Surely any
park goes looking for an attraction type with an audience in mind? So what
restriction should Zufari have? I think 0.9m would be appropriate. But in an
interesting plot twist, Zufari’s restriction randomly changed overnight to 1m,
just in time for a bank holiday weekend. Huh?
Photo by author.
There are two
entrances to Zufari on the park, connecting Forbidden Kingdom (Egyptian themed area)
with Wanyama Village (African themed zoo area). I’m delighted they connected
these two areas to unite them as Africa. The main entrance is a little tucked away, highlighted by a
large sign and pathway with tall wooden fencing weaving off out of sight. And I
can imagine that, unless you were looking for Zufari or were the type of person
to make sure you ventured into every crevice of the park, you’d easily miss it…
The theming is nice and does the job of conveying the experience ahead nicely,
but it fails to be quite eye-catching enough. A new sign to catch people from
the main pathway is also positioned too low, so on a busy day is obscured by
the many people using this path. The sound of African drumbeats echo out from
the entrance across to the main path, clashing with the Egyptian setting, but
drawing much needed attention to Zufari.
Photo by author.
Zufari is not just the
name of the new ride, but according to the map at least, it’s the name of the
entire area. Which is an interesting distinction to make. As you later
discover, “Zufari” is the name of a
fictional nature reserve in South Africa. It’s a nice idea and a hint of
realism, but it’s lost a bit because the ride itself does not have “tours” or
similar stuck on the end and it doesn't sound like a place name. I find the name rather awkward, it does what it says
on the tin a bit too well, and like
other aspects of the ride I’ll discuss later, clashes with the “realistic”
aesthetic. Whilst the area aesthetic tries to convince us that we are in
Africa, the name so blatantly doesn’t bother and sells itself short as a “zoo
safari”. And what did I say earlier about zoos? I wonder how many guests will
be disinterested in Zufari because they make a prejudgement about the name? The
name also makes no sense… If the reserve is called Zufari, then why is the tour
called Zufari?
Photo by author.
The path takes you
along a bridge into the Zufari plaza. It’s a bland, enclosed path lined with
equal height untreated wooden fences, broken up by an occasional carved pole.
The carvings are so nice and I wish there were more of them with more colour incorporated
to break up the monotony of sandy brown. Later in the season, amateur paintings
were added along the fence as if painted by locals, and they help solve the
problem and play a huge part in conveying the theme, too. A tree pokes through
the bridge floor, a welcomed object of interest, and wrapped around it’s upper
branches and strung tight to other nearby trees is rope lined with brightly painted
tin cans. I wish there was more of this stuff, serving the same purpose as the
bunting in Wild Asia to lift the place from lifelessness, into a more immersive
world of moving details. At the end of the long bridge, that from examining
Google Maps must go over the access road explaining the unfortunate tall
fencing, the path opens up into the plaza.
Photos by author.
The soundtrack of
African drumbeats is interrupted by the messy unchoreographed noise of real
drums, because to the left is a collection of interactive ngoma drums for
guests to play with. They are extremely popular with kids, but more importantly
from my perspective is that they add life to the area. The plaza is just an
open space with the ride entrance to the left, a few drums, some bins and a
signpost. You cannot see the ride or animals from here besides some Flamingos...
Given the company history of creating fantastic spectator elements like no
other theme park does, it’s a terrible shame that the Zufari plaza offers no
spectator value what so ever. Absolutely zero.
Rows of non-riders watch flamingos...
Photos by author.
Zufari has a beautiful
entrance that, despite the lifeless signage atop it, signifies itself as an
entrance unmistakably. That sounds stupid, but it’s well positioned and large,
dominating the plaza and drawing attention away from the lifelessness of it. Artistically
it has some lovely details and mix of texture.
Photos by author.
The queue line is
horrible. I’m so sick of horrible
queue lines. Guests spend the majority of their day standing in line, so is it
really too much to ask that parks put a little effort into their design? I’m
not asking for extra entertainment here, or even theming… Presumably this is an
issue spawned from the fact that designers do not spend enough time visiting
parks through guests eyes. I recall an interview with John Wardley on the The
Season Pass podcast where he comments on Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal
Kingdom“If ever I’m in the company of
Disney executives who want to whizz me in a VIP entrance...” and goes on to
say that he wants to stand in the real line.
Like most attractions the world over, Zufari’s queue line isn’t covered. I
do not expect, nor do I want, the entire line to be covered, but some portion
of any space where people wait for long periods of time should shield them from
the elements. And I’m in awe, time and time again, at just how few parks bother
to do this. The best queue lines are not necessarily those with the most
theming, but quite simply those that are the most pleasant. Zufari’s queue
fencing is monotonous untreated wooden poles creating a barren sandy brown sea
filled with far too many boddies, as it zig-zaggs back and forth and around
itself, in a confined area. Would you like some examples of great queue lines? They
can be found in the same park! Over at Vampire, ugly, purple, train station, metal
pole fencing can be forgiven as the line sprawls through the woodland with the
ride entertaining you overhead. The line is shaded by the trees and at no point
feels claustrophobically crammed full of people, despite it’s potential to
reach 2 hours in length. And Rattlesnake, the park’s off-the-shelf wild mouse
coaster, is one of the best queue lines in the world as it descends down
beneath the ride, through themed wooden barns, tunnels and rarely switchbacks
on itself. The land where Zufari sits was a near completely flat, large field.
They could have chosen to do anything they wanted with the layout design of the
entire space, with the queue interacting with the ride and following a more
sprawling pattern with areas of foliage amongst it. Instead, tall bamboo
fencing encloses the queue area, preventing you from looking out at the jeeps
and animals. Why?!
Photos by author.
Half way through the
line, there’s a strange little hut. Perhaps a food stall, selling sweets,
crisps and drinks? No!, There is no shop in this line, despite Swarm at Thorpe
and Smiler at Alton queues coming equipped with one, and Chessington recently
adding one to Dragon’s Fury. (Maybe the absence is in the name of realism? Lol.)The
hut is actually a green screen photo opportunity, like those found at the start
of Merlin’s SeaLife aquariums.
Eventually, you’ll
approach the preshow building, where you’ll be batched in to take your seat on
a bench. It’s a really nicely themed interior, feels much larger than it looks
from the outside and whilst the screen feels a little small, it does the job.
This preshow was my biggest fear prior to riding Zufari. I’d heard it was an
interactive animation show like Stitch Encounter and Turtle Talk at the Disney
parks. I’m being selfish here, but I hate interactive shows. Past that, Disney’s
Turtle Talk is an impressively clever piece of technology that I knew (assumed…)
Merlin could never pull off. I was dreading it.
Photos by author.
A South African man named Chase
VanDriver (HAHAHAHA… Ha.), head of the A.C.R.E (African Conservation, Research
& Exploration) team, tells us all about the discovery of Zufari and the
wildlife that lives there. Because Zufari is “such a big place” they need you
to join the research team. You’re warned that you better stay on the track
because it’s uncharted territory and who knows what could be lurking out there!
He also briefly mentions something about some rock carvings. Some weird
animated wriggly thing appears on screen, which later turns out to be the tail
of a cartoon lemur. He’s introduced as Chase’s “buddy” and toys around with the
camera, tapping on the screen and ruining it’s connection “uh oh!” This adds
comical interest and immersion to what was otherwise a dull and pointless
preshow, but it does feel very much like the show only exists as a platform to bung
in one of these interactive experiences “because they are cool” rather than
because it’s appropriate to the rest of the attraction. There are some inherent
problems with the interactive talking lemur. Lemurs are not found on the
African mainland, they do not talk and this one is obviously very cartoony, and
all of those things clash with the mood delivered up until now of a realistic
environment. It’s also clearly aimed at young children, many of which cannot
ride. I think much of Zufari’s problem is that it tried be a
jack-of-all-trades. The interactive cartoon lemur actually works well on its
own and the audience seem to enjoy it way more than I predicted, but I think
this demonstrates the need for the park to step away from the realistic,
boring, drab themes they’ve been going for and try something a little more
whacky and fantastical, like Land of the Dragon’s could have been had they put
in any effort. (Speaking of which, the newly renovated theming in Translyvania
does just that, and it’s really rather lovely. There’s COLOUR!) Another glaring
issue with the lemur is of course just how much of a Disney rip-off it truly
is. “Helloooo Humans!” and the tap on the screen are uncannily similar to
Turtle Talk. Zufari just ends up looking like a mish-mash of Disney rides put
together for no real reason and with an extremely limited budget. You may be
shocked to hear me say the lemur “works well”, but I do genuinely think it’s
pretty good. It’s out of place and irrelevant, but the guests are enjoying it,
and that’s all that really matters.
Photos by author.
The lemur waves
goodbye as the exit doors open leading into a (physically) short section of
queue-line before being batched into rows. But as you exit, you may find
yourself now behind where you started, as there is no order to the way you
enter and exit the building. This will undoubtedly cause arguments between
guests. I’m not sure what could fix the problem, because even if guests were
directed, it would still be perceived by guests as there being a possibility
for others to overtake and create an anxious atmosphere.
Hey, he was behind me!
Photo by author.
It’s here that you get
your first proper look at the trucks, which are impressive to look at. The
onloading and offloading of guests is, however, utterly ridiculous. Simple
things such as the trucks not aligning with the gates, causing people to go to
the wrong row, every single time, are
annoying… But the offload and onload platforms being positioned so that exiting
guests must cross in front of the onloading ones is just plain stupid. From
what I understand, Zufari opened with only one platform where guests would
board and exit from, and the only space to add the second platform was further
along. But I just don’t understand why it was planned with only one? Oh, and
this short section of queue ends up taking forever.
Left: Guests crossing the onload platform in order to exit from the ride.
Right: Loading bays not aligning with the truck.
Photos by author.
Originally the ride
was equipped with Disney style seatbelts. The majority of theme park guests are
in a perpetual state of rushing. Things have to be obvious. The lapbars would
get jammed and need to be slowly released all the way before pulling them out
in one swift motion. That is too much for the average guest to handle. It was
taking forever. Recently, single lapbars have been fitted that significantly
speed up loading. The lap-bar makes you wonder what on earth the 1.1m
restriction coupled with individual seatbelts was all about, though. Surely, if
anything, the height restriction should have raised, not lowered, with the
introduction of a single lapbar? Thorpe Park changed the lapbars of their
indoor coaster this season from a single to individual, and dropped the
restriction from 1.4m to 1m as a result.
I’ve been sitting in
the truck for a while now, and I turn around to look at the control box to try
and work out what’s going on. There’s a man still standing on the platform,
trying to retrieve something he left on the truck behind us. The operators are
staring at him with distain. He’s finally ushered off the platform by
attendants, and we’re off…
Photos by author.
What am I supposed to be looking at?
Photo by author.
The truck continues
along the path and… It’s weird. There’s really nothing to look at except stuff
that really should be behind the scenes, and I do not understand why the truck
drives amongst it. I heard one woman during this section exclaim, “they aren’t
free roaming!” because announcements state over and over that the animals are
free roaming; yet here you can clearly see pens that sometimes have animals in
them. Now, because you come to this section first, you’re excitedly looking out
for any animal, and to have that rewarded by a few antelope behind a fence is
really frustrating. The trucks pass through a narrow path with a partially
themed animal house to the left and some rocks to the right. The narrator tries
to draw your attention away from some unsightly doors to the animal house just
a few feet away by pointing out the weird rock carvings… A common criticism of
Zufari from the enthusiast community has been how these rock carvings are never
mentioned again. They were presented as being a relevant part of the narrative,
then forgotten. I think perhaps they were added as a mere distraction, and
accidently given more narrative weight than intended. At least they tried to
actively choose where guests are looking, it may not have worked brilliantly,
but it’s a huge step up from not bothering at all.
Oooo, mysterious rock carvings!
Photo by author.
It is genuinely ages
before you see any interesting animals… The truck finally leaves the backstage
tour of the animal houses into an open area with giraffes and Zebra feeding.
Off to the right is Wanyama Village and the hotel, and the animals are free to
roam all the way down there. Which means they often are all the way down there.
I’ve yet to have a ride when the ostriches have been within reasonable distance
of the trucks. This section ends all too quickly as you turn to pass down the
other side of what turned out to be the giraffe house, with a large vertical
verge on the other side of the truck. There’s some open areas where I assume
animals have free roam next, but I’ve yet to see anything making use of the
space. Eventually, the rhinos can be seen to the right. They are always in that
same spot, at least in my experience.
I know I'm awful at taking photos, but is it just me or are these the least interesting I've shown you thus far? And this is what we came to see...
Photos by author.
The rhinos are awesome
to watch, and are close to the trucks, so the narrator waffling on in an
attempt to deliver a story is completely ignored by everyone on board
desperately trying to photograph the animals. If you do pay attention to it,
you’ll hear something about the road being blocked ahead, but it’s not until
the truck reverses, then turns off to the left, that you see the tree blocking
the path you were supposed to take, because you cannot see out the front of the
truck. It is completely lost on the majority of guests.
Photo by author.
A cute little signpost
warns us to not enter the cave ahead, that you thankfully approach at an angle
and so can see out the right side of the truck. The truck enters a flooded
section of path, and then passes into the cave, with the realistic garage door
shutting down behind you. Mist blasts the truck and guests squeal in fear and
delight. The theming is good, however bland, as long as your eyes do not stray
far up the walls into the black drapes attempting to conceal the roof. It is
far from dark enough in here to employ a technique like that. The finale
consists of water gushing down towards the truck, before you exit the cave
passing through a waterfall where those on the outside and back row seats may
get wet. It’s fairly dramatic. Whilst
there are low atmospheric rumbling sounds in the cave, more dynamic audio could
really transform the show. Perhaps chanting of some kind could have referenced
the spiritual narrative suggested by the carvings or thunder could have been a
dramatic accompaniment to the gushing waterfall. It’s fun and refreshing on a
hot day, but just not quite there.
None of my cave shots came out well...
Photo by author.
Exiting the cave and
approaching the station, most guests comment “is that it?” Zufari isn’t long
enough and does not feel like it covers enough ground. The irony is, it’s huge
by normal attraction standards, but the problem is the type of attraction and
what is expected from it.
It is entirely
possible that you may ride Zufari and not see a single animal. Depending on the
weather, time of day and who knows what else, your ride will vary drastically.
And it’s no surprise that when the attraction first opened it was met with
criticism about a severe lack of animals, when it was barely hitting 5c. As the
weather has warmed, reactions to the ride have improved, both from the general
public and enthusiasts, as the animals have been more willing to spend time
outside enjoying the sun.
Comparisons to the
likes of Disney’s Kilimanjaro Safaris really cannot be avoided. Copy-cat
examples of Disney’s experiences are found the world over and even the Tussauds
classics are no exceptions to the pitfalls of over-inspiration. I have no
inherent problem with copying, or being heavily inspired, except when it is so
obviously damaging. With the many ripoffs around the world of Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad, the western themed runaway train coaster concept is now so generic
it’s easy to forget that it is a Disney copy. But with Zufari being one of only
a handful of these kind of attractions, it just looks like a cheap copy and
from a practical perspective I bet it’s harder to make creative and operational
decisions with so few examples of what not to do.
I don’t personally
think Zufari is a bad attraction in it’s own right… The problem is they picked
a difficult type of attraction to work with. The standard of the others are
rather high. Even if Zufari were a lot better, it would probably still be at
the bottom of the pile. I believe that had it been what I expected it to be – a
high quality safari style ride with theming and no pointless story, it would
have been infinitely better. If all the money had poured into funding animals,
landscaping and physical theming elements, it would have felt whole. And that’s
ironic, because what I thought Chessington needed was a ride. I still do, but
they need a real ride, not a transport attraction masquerading as a ride.
Whether or not a more solid safari experience would have been better from a
marketing perspective is however debatable. My instinct says no, but most
guests do not realise Zufari is more than a safari, so what difference would it
have made?
See, if you think
about roller coasters, even poor roller coasters (by anyone’s definition) are
”good“ rides. A roller coaster doesn’t have to try very hard to be good because
it is a large, visceral experience that is universally comprehended. It seems
like a worthwhile waste of time and money. Physical movements are something
that all animal life instinctively respond to, think about when babies giggle
as they are swung. Everyone’s familiar with the simple pleasure of dropping
your neighbours office chair. It’s so easy to provoke a response physically,
but not so much with the other senses that are more open to subjectivity. Dark
rides and other narrative driven experiences have to be exceptional to be
considered as good as an average roller coaster, and they are also really
difficult to market.
I’m not suggesting the
park should add nothing but roller coasters and never try for a narrative based
ride, but I do think they need to focus on attractions with predominantly
physical elements to them. For all the criticisms of Sub Terra, what it
demonstrates is an understanding that a ride like Magic Kingdom’s Alien
Encounter probably worked because it was of such high quality, and that because
Merlin could never match that standard of story telling, a physical element was
absolutely necessary.
Zufari isn’t physical
enough, nor does it provide enough dark ride style elements to a high enough
standard, nor does it have a story that works... NOR does it have enough
animals or scenery to look at. It tries to do a bit of everything, and the
result is expectedly average.
When I first rode
Kilimanjaro Safari’s, it came with a narrative about poachers and an
animatronics elephant to help tell the story. That aspect of the attraction was
awfully tacky alongside the real animals and facts about them you’d been delivered
until that point. I didn’t want Jungle Cruise. Disney later removed this
section of the ride and focused on a realistic, high quality safari experience.
If DISNEY removed a narrative from a ride type because it DOES NOT WORK
alongside the nature of that ride type, WHY would anyone else think they could
pull it off? It is madness.
What makes Kilimanjaro
Safari’s so good? It is a dense, lush environment so beautiful that the fauna
almost become second to the flora. If all the animals are hiding, you can enjoy
searching for them amongst the jungle. There are so many different kinds of
animals too see, with several popular animals including lions, hippo, cheetah,
elephants, rhinos and crocodiles and more, so missing a couple of species is no
big deal. In fact, over 30 species feature in Kilimanjaro Safari’s 800 square
miles of terrain. And not once will you see a pen, fence or wire appearing to
cage the animals in. You get to see the other trucks, which provides
interaction and scale, plus just like Zufari’s, they are awesome looking vehicles
– you want to see them! And you’ll also get a real guide who can respond
intuitively to what’s going on around you, where Zufari’s narration may inform
you about an animal you cannot actually see, causing negative feelings.
Left: On Kilimanjaro Safari's, even the less popular species are interesting to look at. You cannot take a bad photo on this attraction because the environment is so well designed.
Right: Compare the environment this giraffe calls home to those on Zufari.
Photos by author.
But, this is
Chessington, not Disney. I’m not sure if that matters or not? I feel like every
park should be going out of its way to make exceptional quality that suits
them, within their budgets, not making low budget versions of other people's ideas....
Foliage really is a
big deal, and that’s why I think Zufari may improve drastically over time. There
are other reasons Zufari might become a great attraction, though - changes are
already being made and have been taking place since it opened. In all fairness,
Zufari and Sub-Terra are very experimental and completely different to anything
else in the company portfolio, so an openness to listen to criticisms from
guests and make amendments as necessary should receive the highest of praise
and they have definitely been listening. Whilst I do believe that the majority
of parks do not pay enough attention to the mistakes and successes of others
(or even themselves), it cannot be easy to predict how the public will behave
or respond. Not only that, this is an attraction with live animals. Working out
the best way to get the most from them must be a huge, ongoing battle for the
zoo team.
Some things are
inexcusable though and have little to do with this unusual ride type, but
everything to do with simple themed entertainment design principles. The
repetition of texture and colour around the Zufari area is a huge pet peeve of
mine, but even this has received treatment in the form of new amateur paintings
and signage, as if created by locals, and it does help. My biggest criticism of
Zufari that it cannot be enjoyed as a non-rider. It’s the one thing that
Tussauds/Merlin have always done so exceptionally well that they are
undoubtedly the world leaders. On the Zufari plaza, to the right opposite from
the ride entrance on the left, is a pathway leading towards Wanyama Village.
There’s a bridge where the trucks pass underneath… The walls of this path are
solid, thick, untreated wooden posts over 5ft tall. WHY? I want to watch the
ride! This would be a perfect spectator platform! Why are the posts not more
like 4ft, with windows for smaller children down low, and caged or netted
higher up for safety. The following path is bamboo, both sides, over 6ft tall.
Whilst I understand there are back-of-house areas to the right, the left should
be a view of the Zufari plains, which would aid as a distraction from the wall
hiding the service road and the back-side of attractions like the Runnaway Mine
Train. This weaving path continues for what feels like an eternity, too. Any
attempt to theme it would be unsuccessful with guests becoming disinerested
because of the sheer length of the path. I feel like the attraction should have
been designed so that the left side of this path was at least partially open,
requiring a decent view. My suspicion is that there is not, and that is why
it’s covered. An afterthought.
The view over the fence of the jeep rolling through the flooded path is awesome. I just wish guests didn't have to tip toe to see it...
Photos by author.
I’m in two minds about
Zufari. Usually, this means a clash between my experience as a regular visiting
enthusiast and the experience I presume normal guests have. But with Zufari,
there are awkward pros and cons, none of which seem all that significant on
their own but contribute to a mediocre experience for all. The time it takes to do
the attraction (not because it’s long, but because of all the faff) seems an
unreasonable trade for the experience, especially considering the park usually
closes at 5pm. Ignoring all the “petty” design details that contribute together
to a negative experience, but that the majority of guests won’t notice
individually, it’s the shortage of wildlife, the unimaginative landscape and
drab environments that just aren’t good enough. I imagine the finale is pretty
awesome if all you expected is a safari, but is it a big enough trade off for
the shortage of actual safari and lack of animals? I’m not sure. It is a good
addition, and I do genuinely believe that with time it may find its place as a
signature must-do attraction, but it’s going to be massively dependant on the
difference the plants make as they grow. Introducing more wildlife would also
make a huge difference. Personally, that pre-show puts me off wanting to ride
on a casual visit, but I try to remind myself that I am not the target audience,
even if I’m not entirely sure who is.
Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts below and like on Facebook for updates and discussions!
Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts below and like on Facebook for updates and discussions!
Hey, at least there are 'fun facts' about animals to read while you're waiting...that are sometimes embarrassingly wrong. Backwards knees, indeed...
ReplyDeleteZufari would be the best part here.
ReplyDelete