Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Doublethink]

We would probably never see it but would love to see vampire eventually replaced by a Verkoma Family following the same or similar layout. Was very impressed with Dragon at Energylandia which was a new Family Swing. Felt very vampire like. Also potentially 3 train oppperations could be restored

 

[Matt N]

We would probably never see it but would love to see vampire eventually replaced by a Verkoma Family following the same or similar layout. Was very impressed with Dragon at Energylandia which was a new Family Swing. Felt very vampire like. Also potentially 3 train oppperations could be restored

Didn't the council say that they would never allow a ride of Vampire's size to be built on that site ever again or something along those lines? I could potentially see a Vekoma SFC elsewhere in Chessington, but not on that site.

However, I think the new SFC-style trains from Vekoma could work wonders on Vampire; they would certainly make it less rough!

 

[MattyH]

Unfortunately I can see vampire being removed within the next couple of years. Certainly I'd be surprised if it makes it past 2021

 

[Doublethink]

Unfortunately I can see vampire being removed within the next couple of years. Certainly I'd be surprised if it makes it past 2021

This is why I'm floating the idea of a Verkoma Family Suspended retrack/ replacement. Vampire is certainly showing its age

 

[Hairobics]

It’s so strange to see the old pieces of the park disappear.

I used to think Bubbleworks was untouchable, and yet here we are post bubbleworks.

Nevertheless, I feel just as in denial about the vampires safety, even though I know it’s inevitable. Blimey, is vampire the last of the pre2000 park that’ll still be running in 2020?

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Rattlesnake?

 

[Rick]

Out of interest, why is it that they actually needed to refurbish Vampire, as many other older Arrow suspended coasters still operate with the old trains (or at least they operated for much longer amounts of time with the old trains before being removed)?

I don't know the specifics of the issues, but they were really struggling to keep it running around 1999/2000. It was closed as much as it was open.

The whole 'redo' was executed incredibly lazily - I think people forget how rogue and slap dash they were back then. Criticism of how the ride and surrounding area was changed was just as scathing then as some of the comments in this thread about how things are now, which is why I take some of this stuff with a pinch of salt.

I would have liked to have experienced the ride with them on (despite having not even been born when they were removed!)

Have just run what feels like miles on the beach with the dog, feeling almost youthful and energetic and with less than 10 words you have made me feel like a pensioner!

 

[KolonelKlink]

It’s so strange to see the old pieces of the park disappear.

I used to think Bubbleworks was untouchable, and yet here we are post bubbleworks.

Nevertheless, I feel just as in denial about the vampires safety, even though I know it’s inevitable. Blimey, is vampire the last of the pre2000 park that’ll still be running in 2020?

Other than Rattlesnake mentioned above, Seastorm, Tiny Truckers and the Flying Jumbos will still be in action.

 

[Rick]

Other than Rattlesnake mentioned above, Seastorm, Tiny Truckers and the Flying Jumbos will still be in action.

That's the case if you take a very purist view, but there's a lot of the park still there, in a different guise. In a lot of cases, the changes have been through necessity. The park was pioneering in its early seasons and for that reason, a lot of what was done was experimental and ultimately a lot of the themed elements had a limited service life.

 

[Matt N]

I don't know the specifics of the issues, but they were really struggling to keep it running around 1999/2000. It was closed as much as it was open.

The whole 'redo' was executed incredibly lazily - I think people forget how rogue and slap dash they were back then. Criticism of how the ride and surrounding area was changed was just as scathing then as some of the comments in this thread about how things are now, which is why I take some of this stuff with a pinch of salt.


Have just run what feels like miles on the beach with the dog, feeling almost youthful and energetic and with less than 10 words you have made me feel like a pensioner!

One does have to wonder why Vampire in particular suffered from such issues; much taller and faster rides like Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg operated for 28 years with the old trains, and the tallest and fastest suspended coaster, Vortex at Canada's Wonderland, has been operating for the same amount of time, so I can't imagine Vampire's issues were down to the track not coping with forces or anything similar. Maybe they wanted to renew interest in the ride or something?

 

[MaxPower]

One does have to wonder why Vampire in particular suffered from such issues; much taller and faster rides like Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg operated for 28 years with the old trains

I would suspect BGW invested much more in preventative maintenance, those old Arrow swinging coasters require a lot more TLC than most.

 

[venny]

I’m pretty sure Verona went bust with Vampire mid-refurbishment which explains at least some of the reason the project was disastrous.

 

[grrrr]

I heard that Vekoma went into bankruptcy around that time because they'd been doing such a shoddy job elsewhere (Six Flags had withheld payment for two rides which were plagued by technical issues), and not the other way round.

 

[pluk]

Out of interest, why is it that they actually needed to refurbish Vampire, as many other older Arrow suspended coasters still operate with the old trains (or at least they operated for much longer amounts of time with the old trains before being removed)?

I must admit, I do think the old trains looked particularly good, and I would have liked to have experienced the ride with them on (despite having not even been born when they were removed!). The reason I say this is because I must admit that when I rode Vampire for the first time in 2014, I was quite underwhelmed by it after hearing that it was one of the most highly regarded UK coasters. Admittedly, it did have some exciting moments for a family coaster, but there were also quite a few dead spots, and I also remember it being pretty rough. Admittedly, I haven't ridden in over 5 years, so I may well like it more if I reride it.

I believe that the track and supports suffered excessive fatigue. The nature of the swinging put stresses in places that weren't properly anticipated in the design, which was obviously before today's modern CAD. Specifically, the heavy swinging of the trains put an unusual twisting type of force onto the track; most rides either push or pull on both rails together but swinging suspended trains push up on one rail and down on the other.
I'm sure others have had similar issues and have required significant work to keep them going, but many of the other track profiles go with the swinging where Vampires seems to have a shallower cornering angle causing more pronounced swinging against the track.

The old trains were heavy and swung high and forcefully as a result. The thinking in changing the trains to a far lighter and less swinging design would mean a lot less maintenance requirements in the future as a lot less of the destructive forces would be applied to the track. From that point of view I think it has been successful. Unfortunately it made the ride a lot tamer, destroyed the flow, poor implementation in the station ruined the theming and a terribly bodged control system killed the throughput.

A good idea with sound intentions very poorly done.

 

[Ted]

I'm guessing a lot of the stress Vampire endures is because it's the headline attraction and never really had another coaster as good to complement it. Compare it to some of the others which operated for a similar time, but had other notable coasters in the park and thus put less pressure to be ran. It's hard to explain but basically a lot of the other Suspended coasters probably wouldn't need the amount of capacity that Vampire would ideally need no later than the late 1990s.

 

[ChristmasPud]

In a lot of cases, the changes have been through necessity. The park was pioneering in its early seasons and for that reason, a lot of what was done was experimental and ultimately a lot of the themed elements had a limited service life.

The big park theming was certainly done with no money and had limited life, but once Tussauds’ parks took off and they did have money, it was very neglectful that they kept up those structures for so long. The big gripe for me isnt that it was removed, more that they were never replaced with permanent scenery as was presumably the intention. Literally left to rot for years and then it took ages longer to do a token replacement here and there

The park never had long term prospects unfortunately, but would that be different if Tussauds had the same kind of vision as somewhere similarly small and restricted like Phantasialand?

 

[IanSR]

The problem with many things like this is the people who designed, invented and maintained the system either retired off or died taking that knowledge with them to their grave and the fast tracked know it all twenty somethings drafted in to replace them couldn't wipe their own arse without detailed instruction let along maintain or rebuild complicated mechanical hardware designed and built before they were even a twinkle in their dads eye.

 

[Matt N]

I believe that the track and supports suffered excessive fatigue. The nature of the swinging put stresses in places that weren't properly anticipated in the design, which was obviously before today's modern CAD. Specifically, the heavy swinging of the trains put an unusual twisting type of force onto the track; most rides either push or pull on both rails together but swinging suspended trains push up on one rail and down on the other.
I'm sure others have had similar issues and have required significant work to keep them going, but many of the other track profiles go with the swinging where Vampires seems to have a shallower cornering angle causing more pronounced swinging against the track.

The old trains were heavy and swung high and forcefully as a result. The thinking in changing the trains to a far lighter and less swinging design would mean a lot less maintenance requirements in the future as a lot less of the destructive forces would be applied to the track. From that point of view I think it has been successful. Unfortunately it made the ride a lot tamer, destroyed the flow, poor implementation in the station ruined the theming and a terribly bodged control system killed the throughput.

A good idea with sound intentions very poorly done.

Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @pluk; so Vampire basically suffered from a similar issue to the original Bat at Kings Island, albeit on a much more minor scale!

 

[ChristmasPud]

Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @pluk; so Vampire basically suffered from a similar issue to the original Bat at Kings Island, albeit on a much more minor scale!

No The Bat’s problem was its prototype engineering I thought, which was mostly sorted for the later models? Like the brake fins bizzarely being on the underside of the trains

I’ve not seen Vampire to have any significant track engineering works since the Vekoma refurbishment but perhaps there was a longer term issue with the old Arrow trains.

I heard the main issue with old Vampire was after Arrow went bust nobody could supply it anymore? But then others lasted longer so who knows, perhaps it needed a big maintenance refurbishment all round including the track.

 

[Matt N]

No The Bat’s problem was its prototype engineering I thought, which was mostly sorted for the later models? Like the brake fins bizzarely being on the underside of the trains

I’ve not seen Vampire to have any significant track engineering works since the Vekoma refurbishment but perhaps there was a longer term issue with the old Arrow trains.

I heard the main issue with old Vampire was after Arrow went bust nobody could supply it anymore? But then others lasted longer so who knows, perhaps it needed a big maintenance refurbishment all round including the track.

Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @TakeYourMedicine!