It’s no secret that changes are coming to Chessington World of Adventures (I’ll be posting more about this soon but you can visit their consultation site here) but today, Merlin have shared a video on their Facebook and released a press release stating that a UK park will be getting a Mindcraft-themed ride and area in 2026 and 2027.
From the consultation site we know that Chessington is planning to redevelop their Wild Asia (formerly Beanoland) area and the glamping area adjacent to Wild Asia as part of ‘Project Refresh and Renew’ which they are planning to have completed by 2027.
Within those plans Chessington state that they will create a new-themed land and as part of that move and re-theme Kobra, add a new indoor ride and play area. This means the wave swinger, tree-entertainment area and Temple of Mayhem are set to leave the park.
This new indoor ride, as shown on Chessington’s documents looks set to be an indoor family roller coaster with an outdoor element and looks similar to the style of Movie Park, Germany’s Studio Tours ride, a fantastic family coaster made by Intamin.
This video released by Merlin today shows what looks to be a Minecraft-themed roller coaster
If you take the roller coaster shown in this video and the plans listed by Chessington it’s almost certainly confirmed that if planning permission is granted to redevelop that area then Chessington will be getting a Minecraft themed roller coaster and it looks fantastic!
Even as someone who is not a fan of Minecraft the coaster looks like it will be a lot of fun and if Merlin can put the money into theming then this could be the best family coaster in the UK when it opens.
Whilst planning permission doesn’t seem to have been formally put in by the park they put in a screening opinion for the project which was submitted in early October and is currently under consideration.
If planning permission is then submitted and granted it’s likely this project will have the go-ahead in early 2025 and we can expect Wild Asia to closed midway during the 2025 season and work to be carried out throughout 2025/6 ready for the 2027 opening.
A new coaster at Chessington and further investment into the park is fantastic news although losing a flat ride (the wave swinger) will be a shame especially when the park added additional flat rides as part of the Jumangi area.
In summary, the future is looking exciting for Chessington and I’ll be posting more about their future development plans on the blog soon.
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