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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

pluk said:
What seems to be being overlooked is that Dr Chessingron looked crap all like JS. He had white hair? That's about it.
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Yeah this is a crazy comparison. My 95 year old gran has hair just like it and I never think of a prolific child sex offender when I see her.

He's a guy with white hair, a white coat and plain clear glasses. Basically like every other fictional "Dr" character stereotype. He shouldn't come back for the far more simple reason that he's boring. I can't understand how anyone can make the comparison unless they've got Saville on the brain.

If Dr Chessington was wearing a pink shell suit, had a cigar hanging out of his mouth and blurting out "Now then, now then folks, Showaddywaddy have a new LP coming out" then I'd understand.

Another closed season discussion bingo square ticked off. Whatever next, comparing Henry Hound to Michael Jackson? Now that I mention it, MJ has worn a dog style collar before......
 
I'll admit it wasn't my first thought (my initial comparison was Doc Brown), but I do think they look at least mildly similar to one another now that it's been pointed out...

In terms of a mascot; if the park does pursue this route, then I personally think that they should concoct something new instead of bringing back something from the past.
 
Yeah, Merlin parks are just too expensive now, maximum times I can rake myself are only twice a year. I can't believe back in the early 2000s it used to be only £18 to go to alton towers!
 
Trooper Looper said:
Yeah, Merlin parks are just too expensive now, maximum times I can rake myself are only twice a year. I can't believe back in the early 2000s it used to be only £18 to go to alton towers!
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Using the Bank of England's inflation calculator, £18 in the early 2000s is about £30 now so the price hasn't gone up that much in real terms.
Edit: just noticed how off topic this is
 
Trooper Looper said:
Oh yeah, I forgot that Vekoma also produced their own Suspended Swingers for a while. But doesn't Sansei own the rights to Arrow Dynamics models?
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Well Sansei technologies own both Vekoma and S&S so I imagine they could use the rights. However I would suspect if they were to retrack it (which I doubt) they would probably use the new vekoma track.
 
JAperson said:
Well Sansei technologies own both Vekoma and S&S so I imagine they could use the rights. However I would suspect if they were to retrack it (which I doubt) they would probably use the new vekoma track.
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Well, Vekomas new track and Arrows Suspended coasters track look almost identical, at least itll still look the same after the retrack, if they did it that is.
 
Trooper Looper said:
Oh yeah, I forgot that Vekoma also produced their own Suspended Swingers for a while. But doesn't Sansei own the rights to Arrow Dynamics models?
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I have to say I can’t see the ride going anywhere for a long while yet. They need to build up before removing. The new b&m is a start, but for me they need a other ride like vampire in terms of length / thrill before they remove it. Can’t see a re track though….. which is a shame
 
I'm afraid I can't see a retrack and I was really hoping the new ride would bring the added capacity needed that if vampire did get unmanageable maintenance wise the park had something to fall back on. This appears not to be the case.

Vampire literally needs to stay as its literally the parks highest throughput ride and also very popular. I think they should be able to maintain it for a while longer and perhaps they will eventually build something with better capacity but until then Vampire needs to stay.

Like I've already said there is no way they are going to be re-tracking it either as much as that would be nice and prolong the ride Merlin probably don't see it as that iconic or worth saving if it's too far gone. I also think that it can probably run in its current state for a little while longer. I just don't think the park will rush into anything when it comes to major changes to vampire.
 
I wouldn't rule out a Vampire retrack; both Colossos at Heide Park and Shaman at Gardaland had like-for-like retracks funded by Merlin, and given that Nemesis is rumoured to be receiving the same treatment within the next few years, I certainly wouldn't put it past Merlin to greenlight this for Vampire, especially given that they can't replace it with anything of equivalent size.

Admittedly, Vampire may be a little more challenging given that Arrow no longer exist, but given that Shaman was retracked by CSM (a Dutch steel fabrication company) as opposed to Vekoma, as well as the fact that Vekoma and S&S (both common servicers of Arrow coasters, particularly S&S) build very similar models, I think Merlin would be up for the challenge!
 
Matt N said:
I wouldn't rule out a Vampire retrack; both Colossos at Heide Park and Shaman at Gardaland had like-for-like retracks funded by Merlin, and given that Nemesis is rumoured to be receiving the same treatment within the next few years, I certainly wouldn't put it past Merlin to greenlight this for Vampire, especially given that they can't replace it with anything of equivalent size.
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This is a good point and something I didn't think of although I still think it's unlikely in the short term due to the new coaster coming and then probably some follow up additions to the area (probably nothing major as the space is tight as is by looks of the plans). I do think Vampire is in a different boat though because it seems that Merlin really don't have a lot of love for it. It took them until it's big anniversary for them to give just a small amount for a station refurbishment so I'm not sure they'd pull the trigger on a full retrack, and especially not any time soon.
 
JAperson said:
This is a good point and something I didn't think of although I still think it's unlikely in the short term due to the new coaster coming and then probably some follow up additions to the area (probably nothing major as the space is tight as is by looks of the plans). I do think Vampire is in a different boat though because it seems that Merlin really don't have a lot of love for it. It took them until it's big anniversary for them to give just a small amount for a station refurbishment so I'm not sure they'd pull the trigger on a full retrack, and especially not any time soon.
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You never know... Merlin have stumped up the cash for this sort of thing at the most unexpected of times in the past, so I reckon they might end up doing it at some point, personally!
 
Matt N said:
You never know... Merlin have stumped up the cash for this sort of thing at the most unexpected of times in the past, so I reckon they might end up doing it at some point, personally!
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Like I said I agree to an extent just not in the short term as I think it might conflict with the other investments currently going into the park however in the mid term future I do see it as a possibility if vampire gets to the stage where it needs to be done.

I haven't ridden vampire so have no idea if it's anywhere near the stage where it might need a retrack any time soon? It doesn't appear to be that bad and looks like it could last a good while longer without any major work but I can't say for sure because I haven't ridden it.
 
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