A 7 year old was braver than me on Chessington’s new roller coaster

I was invited to the exclusive first look and launch of World of Jumanji

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Lucy ThornePublisher

15:37, 18 MAY 2023

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“I want to get off, I don’t want to do this” the words were on the tip of my tongue but were not coming out of my mouth, instead it was my seven-year-old daughter who after taking her seat on Chessington’s newest roller coaster was having doubts. I reassured her that she’d be fine but I was also bricking it.

I’ve never been a huge fan of spinning rides after a traumatic experience on a Waltzer as a child but I’ll always give a rollercoaster a go, unless it’s rickety looking. As a teenager I happily spent hours queuing for the Vampire ride, a Chessington classic, and Colossus, Thorpe Park’s 10-loop roller coaster, to enjoy five minutes of hurtling through the air with carriages full of screaming thrill seekers.

I’ve also braved Saw more than once despite having my eyes shut for the ascent. But as I’ve got older the fear seems to grow and sometimes it’s easier not to face it, but stand and hold the coats, possibly the result of a lack of peer pressure or no longer caring about saving face. As the exclusive launch day for World of Jumanji approached I started to do my research and look at what I’d let myself and my daughter in for.

Chessington’s creative designer John Burton, who designed the new world, told me: “We’ve never had anything quite like Mandrill Mayhem before, it’s one of the first of its kind in the world. It’s a winged coaster, you sit either side of the track, there’s no track above you or below you it goes forwards, it goes backwards. It has the most launches on any rollercoaster in the UK and it goes upside down, which could be some kids' first upside down roller coaster."

I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to be one of the first people to ride Mandrill Mayhem and my seven-year-old daughter was equally keen.

Having children tends to make you put on a front and act brave so your fears don’t rub off on them. I have pretended to like spiders and seen another mum not even flinch when she was stung by a bee, which was hanging out of her arm because her girls were beside her.

After the fireworks and flames of the grand opening of World of Jumanji, we joined the queue for Mandrill Mayhem. I was too busy worrying about whether my daughter would hit the height limit or if she’d be terrified, to think about how I’d fare.

World of Jumanji in numbers

Mandrill Mayhem consists of 144 tonnes of steel track - the equivalent weight of 96 hippos

Riders are flipped upside down at 42 mph

They spiral to the summit of the 55ft tall Jaguar Shrine

It takes 1.20 seconds but with different seating configurations you'll want to ride again

The ride's designer John Burton rode it 8 times on launch day

In the time it took to build World of Jumanji you could have watched Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 1,368 times

Riders only need to be 1.2m tall

She was bang on the 1.2m height limit, so we took our seats. I was delighted she wanted to hold my hand, because I felt like I needed some moral support, my other hand was going white as I gripped the edge of the seat.

The first surprise was we shot backwards and up into the air, then launched forwards and headed towards the edge of the world and past another new ride, Mamba Strike. There was no time to take in the view as we were flipped upside at 42 mph. My grip tightened on my daughter’s hand, it was her first time upside down. She seemed to recover quicker than I did as we spiralled 55ft up past the Jaguar’s head and she yelled “Jumanji” as we stopped briefly at the top before spiralling down backwards.

As I caught my breath, I spotted the Ostrich Stampede ride before being flipped upside down again then it was over. In 1 minute and 20 seconds we have conquered Mandrill Mayhem and made it safely back to earth. My daughter was a big fan of the new ride, even if she didn’t like going upside down, while I felt a little unsteady on my feet but a huge sense of accomplishment.

I was one of the first to ride Chessington's new Jumanji roller coaster Mandrill Mayhem, here's me putting on a brave face for the camera (Image: SurreyLive)

World of Jumanji is a truly immersive experience, where you feel you’ve stepped into the set and the Rock could pop up round the next corner. Mandrill Mayhem is a thrill seeker's dream and a great introduction to roller coasters for the first timers. And the ride's designer John told me after he'd ridden it eight times that day, "At 1 minute 20 seconds it's, not too much, not too little. You do want to go again as the ride has different seating configurations and you can try out different seats to get a different experience.

For those who want to live the full Jumanji experience at Chessington there are also hotel bedrooms inspired by the World of Jumanji so you can stay and play in Jumanji.