Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[jon81uk]

I’m less convinced they would block anything now, World of Jumanji got approved. Also I assume they know how important the coasters to the parks success.

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

Merlin could alsow

Here’s an interesting thought; given that the council have said that they would block a Vampire replacement of equivalent size, would they even permit a Vampire retrack?

I know that it would be a hefty refurbishment of the existing ride rather than a new one (so not a replacement per se), but through a certain lens, you could argue that it’s a replacement, and the council may view it as maintaining the obstruction provided by the existing Vampire when they could be removing it…

I’m not trying to scare anyone here, but it’s just a thought I had.

Merlin could just replace sections at a time then!

 

[RyanUK]

Long overdue, but good to see.


From: https://twitter.com/attractionsc/status/1619395679566303233?s=46&t=o-P2mFH6wIL3HtocAZYNAg

Whaaaaat! I welcome a repaint in possibly the same or different colours but silver supports?!

 

[RicketyCricket]

Vampire runs alongside a busy, noisy road and a Premier Inn. Seems weird they would block construction there whilst allowing Jumanji to be built just a short distance away.

 

[Skyscraper]

Whaaaaat! I welcome a repaint in possibly the same or different colours but silver supports?!

As the post says, it'll be a primer. The final coat will be applied later.

 

[Zeock]

As the post says, it'll be a primer. The final coat will be applied later.

I personally hope that the track and support colours stay the same colour as before.

 

[RyanUK]

As the post says, it'll be a primer. The final coat will be applied later.

Doh! Of course.

 

[Dave]

Here’s an interesting thought; given that the council have said that they would block a Vampire replacement of equivalent size, would they even permit a Vampire retrack?

I know that it would be a hefty refurbishment of the existing ride rather than a new one (so not a replacement per se), but through a certain lens, you could argue that it’s a replacement, and the council may view it as maintaining the obstruction provided by the existing Vampire when they could be removing it…

I’m not trying to scare anyone here, but it’s just a thought I had.

If you are replacing like for like you don’t need permission. Nemesis didn’t require permission, Merlin just asked for a certificate of lawfulness.

 

[RyanUK]

I have a feeling Vampire will close end of this season for a retrack

I don’t know what makes you think it will, especially as we went through an entire season last year knowing that the Nemesis retrack was coming up.

Would be great to see them give Vampire a new lease of life.

It's easy to take for granted sometimes but I think it's one of the very best family coasters in Europe.

Also if it does happen we would likely see a tidy up of the queue and general appearance.

It would be great to see it receive some TLC and smartened up. The queueline has gone through phases where theming has been good and then lacked, and good again. Personally, if they were to close it as normal at the end of October and smarten the area up and not reopen until the following July, then it would be worth it. Chessington wouldn’t want it out of action for a year if the ride is technically functioning.

If they retrack Vampire, I would like to see them give the track a new colour as let's be honest, brown is pretty nasty for a track colour IMO when you look at Knightmare we had at Camelot. Maybe have the track painted purple with the supports still in black which together would actually look nice I must say but that's just me. Just not more Merlin black/grey please.

The dark brown supports have never been the most attractive, given their massive size too. On some of them near the bottom, it’s a different shade of brown where numbering was put on them during the work when it was closed in 2001. I’m not sure what colours I’d rather see but it couldn’t be too bright to fit in with the area, given that some of the track is almost as high as some of the trees.

.I'd like to see some new trains, though not from vekoma because, to be frank, when I rode Vampire for the first time last year, the speed was great, but it felt like the swinging wasn't that snappy or as extreme as it could've been, and I don't really like the restraints.

The current trains are the ones Vekoma supplied in 2001 for the refurb. I believe the original ones from the 90’s were made by Arrow. I know what you mean about the swing though, as it’s got older it’s as if the swing has started to lack. The best one you get is off the second lift hill and you go round the corner to the left.

Has a re-track or re-train been rumored or announced? I thought this speculation was purley based on seeing a car with Vekoma's branding at the Park.
This could be for many reasons. For example Just a general inspection of Vampir's condition to determine if work needs to be done. Or tendering for a new ride that's very early in development.
Did I miss something else that suggests a Vampire rebuild or is this just based on the ride being old?

I think it’s just speculation, nothing has certainly been mentioned officially about any work. Vekoma are on site probably to assist with the trains.

Age isn't the only factor in if a ride needs a retrack. Actually it's not even the most important.

Hulk is the first B&M I know of that needed a retrack and it was over 10 years younger than Nemesis (Hulk ran for 16 years, Nemesis 28).
In that case it was the number of ride cycles that was more important as Hulk ran almost day and night with no closed seasons.
Plus I'm sure Universal saw the benefit of retracking one of their headline ride rather than letting it age with every increasing maintenance costs.

Then there's the stress on the track caused by the train. Eagles Fortress (a great companion as it was the same ride type as Vampire but shares many similarities to Nemesis) didn't even last 10 years. The forces on the track were just too much to handle. This is part of the stated reason why Nemesis needs a retrack. After near 30 years of running along the side of a pit some of the supports needed to come out to strengthen the foundations. For this reason I'd be shocked if Oblivion/Galactica don't outlive Nemesis.
Likewise Vampire is a far tamer ride and on more stable terrain than Eagles Fortress.

Not that I'm saying it doesn't need a retrack. It is 30+ years old and it's not a B&M. But there are old Arrow rides still running today (many examples actually) that are still going strong.

Vampire certainly doesn’t take nowhere near as much stress as Nemesis does. For a start it’s a slower ride and then its throughput is most likely lower than Nemesis. Vampire is older but it also has massive supports for a suspended coaster that you don’t see on todays modern builds.

Here’s an interesting thought; given that the council have said that they would block a Vampire replacement of equivalent size, would they even permit a Vampire retrack?

If the council once said they’d block a development of that size ever happening again, I’d doubt they’d allow a retrack to take place or a coaster of that size on that site.

 

[Joeythorpe]

A re-track of vampire would be a good option for the park as to this day it is there most popular coaster. They could do it in the same way as Colossus and do it over a few seasons.
Talking of the supports I’m sure originally the ones outside burger kitchen toilets used to be themed as tree trunks at the bottom.

 

[Blackhole_Sun]

I don’t think they need permission for a re-track from the council if they did bits at a time. If it was even needed. As above, it’s under far less stress than Nemesis.

Built to last this was. Chessington without Vampire would be a frightening thought. If that thing closes for a day they struggle with throughput and queues.

The Vekoma track would differ from the arrow designs. Whether that would allow them to re-track without some sort of planning permission, even if a new ride followed the same route there are so many trees in there, a suspended coaster is the only viable option.

 

[Trooper Looper]

I don’t think they need permission for a re-track from the council if they did bits at a time. If it was even needed. As above, it’s under far less stress than Nemesis.

Built to last this was. Chessington without Vampire would be a frightening thought. If that thing closes for a day they struggle with throughput and queues.

The Vekoma track would differ from the arrow designs. Whether that would allow them to re-track without some sort of planning permission, even if a new ride followed the same route there are so many trees in there, a suspended coaster is the only viable option.

I don't think the track would visibly change since Vekoma made their own Suspended coasters back on the day with the exact same design as arrows.

 

[Funcone]

Do we have a source for the council comment? Without knowing who said it, when they said it, and why they said it, it’s hard to know what to make of it. Councillors, planning officers and governments do change, so I doubt these things are set in stone.

As others have said, they allowed Jumanji, and before they allowed that, they approved Zufari, which went on greenbelt land between the park and the housing. At the time people were surprised that the council allowed them to expand onto the green belt, even if a safari has relatively low noise and visual impact.

 

[Benzin]

That it was a safari ride probably was how it got through planning processes.

Vampire has a lot of problems being right on the edge of the park with the hotel now. So much so that back in the day you weren't allowed to do external announcements after a certain time (usually post park close). Might have changed since mind.

Doing a retrack and removing the loud as he'll chain lifts would be a start. Then incorporate the newer SFC designs with track and train and it's a no brained really. Might lose the swinging aspect but can compensate that with some wilder banking throughout.

 

[RyanUK]

Talking of the supports I’m sure originally the ones outside burger kitchen toilets used to be themed as tree trunks at the bottom.

I honestly don’t remember that but look at this picture during its McDonald’s days - the bushes are growing right around that support, engulfing it. Other pictures of the area at different times show the support completely exposed. I remember to how they always trim those trees back majorly at the start of each season. Not sure if this is still done.

From when I first visited Transylvania 21 years ago, it is so different now. Bubbleworks is now the cruddy Gruffalo ride, and the McDonald’s which was once brilliant now serves rip-off burgers at small portions which are such bad quality, whilst boasting an awful toned-down theme on the exterior of what was once the excellent theme of the Counts Cauldron. Even when it moved over to Burger King, it was still good. Can’t comment on the Black Forest Gateaux days. Now, Transylvania has been renamed to Wild Woods, probably not to scare the little ones as much, and to accodomate the Gruffalo better. Bit by bit over the years, the area has become ruined from what it originally started out as, whilst being kept looking OK.

I think the fascinating thing about the whole area for me, whatever era it may be, is the fact that that Vampire flies right past the front of the eatery and round the corner.

 

[Joeythorpe]

I went on street view and as it hasn’t been updated in years I found the answer to my own question, they must have got rid of the trunks when the did the re theme of the facade of Burger King.

 

[RyanUK]

I remember that now!

 

[Benjsh]

Chessington tik tok page has got some footage of the station. Not finished yet but you can already make out quite a bit.

 

[Alsty]

Embedded below for anybody who's interested


From: https://www.tiktok.com/@cwoar/video/7194846060278304006


Funny choice of music. "I wish I was a little bit taller"

 

[RicketyCricket]

Vest restraints confirmed then.