The highly anticipated opening of the World of Paw Patrol at Chessington World of Adventures, following a £15 million investment by the popular theme park, descended into chaos on its first day. A major altercation broke out over alleged queue jumping in the line for Zuma's Hovercraft Adventure, Britain's first 'drifter' ride.
One man accused another of attempting to bypass him in the queue before standing firm and blocking his path. Meanwhile, a woman was seen arguing with a ride attendant at the front, claiming her family had left the line to use the toilet and were trying to re-enter. The man who stopped the alleged queue jumper then claimed he had been accused of racism, which he vehemently denied, and still refused to let him pass.
Others in the line applauded the man's actions and laughed after the alleged queue jumper was told, 'You're going to be on YouTube tonight.' The man replied, 'I don't care.' The incident was filmed by content creator brothers Ben and Jacob from Eastbourne, who review theme park attractions and post on their 'Ride Comparisons' channel.
Social Media Fallout
In the Facebook comments of the video, the man blocking the alleged queue jumper identified himself as Luke Tickner from Whiteley, Hampshire, and posted a photo with a drink in a bar, saying, 'Well earned after today. Might hire myself out to Merlin.'
The clip begins with one of the brothers telling the camera, 'Oh my God guys, there's loads of queue jumpers here. I think we're going to have a scrap in Zuma's Hovercraft ride here.' The woman at the front then tells the ride attendant, 'So they came back. Now the person standing there is not letting our kids to enter, to come to us. Can you please have a look because it's not...'
One of the brothers tells the attendant, 'They're trying to queue jump. And they got stopped by somebody.' The attendant responds, 'Because if you do leave, you need to let one of us know.' The woman replies, 'OK, we didn't know.'
The attendant then says, 'I can get security to check. We can get security to check. And they'll check if he's left here and come back. If so, we'll do it now.' But the woman says, 'No, they went to the toilet and came back.'
Accusations of Racism
The footage then switches to the two men arguing in the line, with Mr Tickner, who is blocking the alleged queue jumper, telling him, 'You're calling me a racist, you're wrong, you're absolutely wrong.' One of the brothers says, 'Oh he's pulled the race card. Oh no! Oh dear! Haha. Queue jumper fights for Zuma's Hovercraft was not on my 2026 bingo card!'
The alleged queue jumper says to Mr Tickner, 'You're wrong.' But the man replies, 'You're wrong too. You're going to be on YouTube tonight.' The alleged queue jumper then says, 'I don't care.' Everyone laughs. Mr Tickner continues, 'I haven't done anything wrong. You're the one who's now pulling the race card. We're not letting you past, to queue jump. Everyone here is queueing.' And the alleged queue jumper says, 'You have a problem.'
One of the brothers concludes, 'Fair play to this guy, he's stopped the queue jumper. What a legend. Good on you there.' Everyone else applauds and gets their cameras out, as one of the brothers adds, 'Good on him there. There we go guys, don't queue jump, don't do it!'
Theme Park Policy
On the Chessington website, queue jumping is 'defined as trying to gain access to a ride, attraction or any other element that requires a queue or queue system through non-authorised means'. These means are listed as 'cutting in front of other guests already in the queue, leaving the queue and then attempting to re-enter at the same place, or saving a place for someone not in the queue'.
The World of Paw Patrol is a new immersive experience for children set across 1.4 acres, which includes four new rides, three themed play areas, and themed catering inspired by 'Adventure Bay' in the show, which follows a boy and his crew of rescue dogs. Zuma's Hovercraft Adventure is a 'drifter' ride, the first of its kind in the UK, which simulates the sliding and spinning sensation of drifting a high-performance vehicle.
Five Paw Patrol-themed hotel rooms have also been launched at the park. Chessington hosted an exclusive preview day on Saturday attended by VIP guests including Celebrity Traitors stars Joe Marler and Nick Mohammed, BBC presenter Alex Jones, Made in Chelsea's Hugo Taylor, and Olympian Greg Rutherford. The theme park is owned by Merlin Entertainments, which also operates attractions such as Legoland, Thorpe Park, the London Eye, Sea Life, and Alton Towers.
The Daily Mail has contacted Chessington for comment.
