Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Lottie.]

I loved the old vampire trains! Brilliant to see the vampire bat trains fly over the Transylvania area and as Diogo said, they swung much more than the current trains.

 

[joelpagett]

Awww see I started visiting in 2001, which meant I just missed the old trains :-( Arrow suspended coasters are so few and far between I doubt I will ever get round to experiencing the old style trains.

 

[LiamC]

This is the finest example of theming on a roller coaster I have ever seen anywhere before, absolutely stunning. So sad I missed out on vampire during it's glory days

 

[electricBlll]

I find this photograph very interesting because it clearly shows that when BubbleWorks opened in 1990 it was missing its outdoor queueline extension. So where did riders queue on busy days?

Another interesting thing...
Transylvania makes brief appearances in Themes Dreams and Scream Machines, which was filmed between 1991 and 1992. Comparing the documentary to the above photograph, you can see that within a year there were already some changes. A food outlet was built at the back of the area, in front of the little themed building in the background. Said building is still there to this day, now covered in ivy and only visible from above while riding Vampire.

Also the Black Forest Chateau has a different facade in the photo. In Themes Dreams and Scream Machines it has windows and a striped canopy over the entrance. Strange that they would change it within a year. Compare:

Does anybody who visited the park during the early 90s know anymore?

There's also a clip on Youtube of quite a lot of the original ride audio as well:

By the way, that video hesitates between clips and misses out a whole section (the pressure room music - complete with electrically-sparking machinery, sirens and a Jaws-like piano riff for the evil bubble). The full suite was available on the internet somewhere... Anyway they are still not the loops they used on the ride itself, which have never been available in unabridged form as far as I know.

This is the finest example of theming on a roller coaster I have ever seen anywhere before, absolutely stunning. So sad I missed out on vampire during it's glory days

I think that image makes it more stunning than it really was because of the shutter speed used - bear in mind this was a planned promotional image, designed to make the park look good. In reality the station was probably shrouded in darkness like it is today, not glowing hazy green; although the hanging cobwebs and tomb row dividers are sorely missed...

 

[Anonymous]

I find this photograph very interesting because it clearly shows that when BubbleWorks opened in 1990 it was missing its outdoor queueline extension. So where did riders queue on busy days?

You have to remember that all those years ago, the park was only just hitting an annual attendance figure of less than a million. Even on days as busy as that in the picture, the ride was eating up queues, and there was still the internal queue section.

Does anybody who visited the park during the early 90s know anymore?

It was changed for the 1992 season due to the excessive crowds in the Black Forest Chateau. The restaurant just could not cope during the peak season and they therefore took the decision to add a smaller eatery to help disperse the crowds more. As for the facade, I couldn't tell you, but I will do some research.

I think that image makes it more stunning than it really was because of the shutter speed used - bear in mind this was a planned promotional image, designed to make the park look good. In reality the station was probably shrouded in darkness like it is today

That's actually slightly wrong. I distinctly remember a lot of green light in the station. Sure the shutter speed would be slow to maximize the exposure, but the ride still made use of a lot of green light in the station.

 

[BigAl]

Having a look at the Bubbelwoks ride building front today and I was wondering to myself why the top of that middle tower... thing... was just a cube shape rather than something more interesting:

Then I spotted another image of the ride building with a piece of theming on the top of it:

Where did that go? Has it been put back/replaced? I've never noticed when I've been at the park.

 

[djtruefitt]

Can I just say how horrible bubble works looks from that last photo. I know its not a current photo as it has McDonalds on it, but still!

Bright colours, no detailing, them horrible windows. It just doesnt fit in what so ever.

 

[thefatone]

I believe it was rottened/unsecured so they took it off instead of fixing it.

Here's a photo of it in 2010 from wiki, sporting a lovely flood light there instead:

 

[BigAl]

When they go back to Bubbleworks to either make it presentable or retheme it completely, I hope they redesign the front of the building besides the interior. It just looks so bland and doesn't have as much character as some of the other buildings in the area. I'd also like to see the old entrance reused and the outside queue line could be modified to accommodate it.

Would completely redoing the whole front of the building be out of the question?

 

[TheMan]

This is the finest example of theming on a roller coaster I have ever seen anywhere before, absolutely stunning. So sad I missed out on vampire during it's glory days

Catching up with this thread but had to comment on this.

Wow, wow, wow.

It is like a totally different station!! That is absolutely stunningly beautiful and magical.

Please, Chessington, bring this machine back up to this standard! Vampire deserves it.

 

[Thomas]

I couldn't see it happening unless a big brand IP came and took over. Personally I see that as the next logical step for the Bubbleworks, that or demolition but I'd imagine an IP retheme is more likely.

 

[DiogoJ42]

It would be very hard to demolish Bubbleworks, as it shares it's wearhouse with Vampire. Infact, the first half of BW is directly on top of Vamp's station and storage track. You can hear the music throught a fire escape you walk past as you exit Vampire.
The building would have to stay, even if the ride itself is replaced.

 

[BigAl]

I don't think it's necessary to replace everything in the Bubbleworks building. I'd leave the ride system in but retheme it properly.

There's nothing wrong with the boat ride, it just needs a good theme. I think one of the members of management on a TPR video mentioned that Bubbleworks is one of their most reliable attractions.

Saving the money that would be spent on a new ride system for much more immersive theming and animatronics, as well as some new audio is a more sensible option.

In fact, at some point they could just totally refurbish all of Transylvania and advertise it as new and improved. It'd give them an excuse to sort Vampire out properly, as well as allow them to do the Bubbleworks ride system some justice.

 

[DiogoJ42]

This would require M£rlin to actually give them some money, you realise

 

[BigAl]

But they could then advertise the vastly improved Transylvania and they wouldn't have actually had to pay for new rides or use any more space for new rides.

It'd still cost a lot to do both rides, but they've sorted Oblivion and X-Sector out for SW7, so why don't they sort Chessington's Bubbleworks out with a new theme whilst overhauling vampire and Transylvania too?

They're two of Chessington's biggest and best attractions, but in their current state they aren't performing as well as they could and should be doing.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Chessington will never see any decent investment while M£rlin own it. They are far more interested in Thorpe. Chessie is no more than a source of a few extra quid to them.

 

[Benzin]

Chessie hasn't seen decent investment in that last 10 years...

At least Merlin gave it Wild Asia (and Zufari, but as that's not open yet the jury is still out)...

Vampire is a right mess nowadays because of the H&S that's been put on it, it's just so over the top with only allowing one exit, halve of which is blocked off by the exit rider queueline, it just needs a complete rejig... And removing the purple fences that make no sense would be an idea (and the original entrance arch returning would be nice)...

Bubbles, needs to die basically, gut the building and start theming it again, maybe with a light spooky theme so it can fit into Translyvania (as the original humour of the 90s no longer exists)...

But that's just two rides on the excessively long list of attractions that need love at Chessie... That park needs a complete refurb and organising in a lot of areas (removing the low capacity pointless rides, gaining new half decent rides, new coaster, fixing up areas, putting a third train back on Vampire, fixing up Runaway Train, pushing throughputs, etc)

 

[BigAl]

Chessie hasn't seen decent investment in that last 10 years...

At least Merlin gave it Wild Asia (and Zufari, but as that's not open yet the jury is still out)...

Vampire is a right mess nowadays because of the H&S that's been put on it, it's just so over the top with only allowing one exit, halve of which is blocked off by the exit rider queueline, it just needs a complete rejig... And removing the purple fences that make no sense would be an idea (and the original entrance arch returning would be nice)...

Bubbles, needs to die basically, gut the building and start theming it again, maybe with a light spooky theme so it can fit into Translyvania (as the original humour of the 90s no longer exists)...

But that's just two rides on the excessively long list of attractions that need love at Chessie... That park needs a complete refurb and organising in a lot of areas (removing the low capacity pointless rides, gaining new half decent rides, new coaster, fixing up areas, putting a third train back on Vampire, fixing up Runaway Train, pushing throughputs, etc)

Completely agree with this. The park has so much potential and yet year on year, rides just look worse and worse. It's such a beautiful park at night with the lights on. It's such a shame that it cn't be just as beautiful in the day. :/

Also, am I the only one that would love to see something like Dæmonen built on the empty plot of land behind Wild Asia and Mystic East to act as a step between Chessington and Thorpe? Kids used to go on rides like Corkscrew for their first looper, but obviously they're no longer around. It'd have to be dug into the ground and have lots of tunnels and trenches to keep it below tree height, but we all know how those kinds or rides can turn out!

 

[joelpagett]

I think that everyone can agree that chessington needs so love... BUT I think they do a good job with what they have got. Their budget i can imagine is already streched with Zufari, so i doubt they would re-theme bubbleworks. Although I can remember a survey I took for chessington which was all about redevelopment of Bubbleworks, but this may have been a while ago. I think that they do need a new coaster, only another 3 years to wait

 

[Thomas]

http://www.chessington.com/zufari/

Really like the marketing!