Mark9

A Halloween special for everyone, vote here on what you think of Chessington's classic Transylvanian rollercoaster.Open for it's 20th season, the Vampire has been thrilling riders since 1990 in either bat themed cars or leg danging carriages. It's seen an extensive refurb and was Tussauds real start into stunning rollercoaster designs. Through Vampire John Wardley learnt many lessons that he would incorporate into Nemesis, Oblivion, Megafobia, Air, Dragons Fury and Th13teen.Vampire's legacy is well known in enthusiast circles.. but just how good is the ride?

Not anyone with a hint of intelligence anyway...

People still go to Chessington?

I really hope so electricbill, I really do. Chessington has always had a special place in my heart and its for reasons like the original Bubbleworks which made it so. I hope that once this contract ends, they take a serious look at the Bubbleworks, forget about the amount of money the ride could make and just make a damn good, fantastic dark ride. The original Bubbleworks had class, style, a good sense of humour and was a lot of fun. The current incarnation is just a giant marketing board where everything is sterile, nothing moves, in essence a travesty of a ride.The Bubbleworks idea to be honest has had its day and I think the ride needs a new idea to reinvigorate the ride.

Then how come Rita doesn't have these problems every year during Halloween...

Do you ever do nice make up? Or is it all about the gore.

Bi is a code word. Well actually more like a series of words and it differs depending on your gender.If you are male it's "I'm actually gay"If you are female it actually means "I prefer men"

Agreed 100%.Thorpe Park may be able to build higher, faster, more, but it will never have the kind of rides and experiences that Alton has.

They are very good reasons. Whenever I visit Legoland I always feel like I'm constantly in an advertisment, it never feels like I'm experiencing something beyond a franchise. Paultons may have Peppa Pig coming but the entire park will still feel nice, fun, untouched,

Paultons has so much more character then Legoland, such an under-rated park. The very thought of visiting Legoland sends shivers down my spine.

It would be nice for Chessington to just add anything to be honest. Years and years of next to nothing ride investment. I'm surprised Chessington is doing as well as it is sometimes.

Went with a few from here on Thursday. Another great trip to the park. I arrived around 2:30 and the park was very dead. Walk on rides at night is the way Mark likes it. All rides were on close to max capacity (Tidal Wave was not but it was unnecessary).More importantly.. the mazes.Hellgate was a bit dull this time round. Not enough actors and to dark really. The Curse was impressive with the actors making good use of the layout to scare us. Seven was okay but I always feel so dead to it because of the white tent look. Not even the fake camouflage was on it this year.Assylum is definitly the best as a maze. It's awful in there with the strobes, the mirrors and the endless corridors. The Terror Zone would be better if it wasn't for the fact it's essentially Miss Hippos Fungle Safari and Thorpe Farm signage plastered everywhere. They aren't scary or eerie and just not run down enough to be effective. The old Zodiac pod looked excellent.. particularly with graffiti clearly etched onto it from the days when classic Zodiac ran in 2005. The Flying Fish figure was also very effective. The actors did well with the environment. I think in a few years Terror Zone will be very very good. For now it's a bit to 'cute'

Nice discussion skills.

Well it doesn't...

You bought up the record in your very first post in this topic...

Hmm... Well firstly Vampire and Nemesis don't hold any records so the comparison doesn't hold water I'm afraid. So instead we're sayign No Way Out IS as important to Thorpe as rides like Colossus or Th13teen/Air to Alton Towers. I'd say No.Secondly, if we're going to use positions at parks then we can. Vampire is Chessington's joint most important ride with Fury. It has seen numerous improvements and rehabs over the last twenty years. It's a main ride at Chessington still.Nemesis is consistently seen by many people as the best rollercoaster in the country. It's a huge structure and whilst Air is the main attraction in Forbidden Valley, the first ride you see (or hear) as you walk into the area is Nemesis.No Way Out in comparison has had it's main appeal over-taken by Colossus, Saw the Ride, Stealth, Nemesis Inferno, Vortex, Rush, Slammer, Tidal Wave, Detonator, Samurai and soon the new 2011 ride. I'd argue it has no purpose because all of Thorpe's other coasters are 1.4 metre height restrictions whilst No Way Out is a family rollercoaster with an adult height restriction. It has had no real refurbishments over the last 14 years, has been left to rot ever since Thorpe become a real main park in the country. The icing on the cake is No Way Outs backwards in the dark thing being made completely redundant by having the lights on this year.So yeah, I'd say it doesn't matter.

I didn't say that, what I'm implying is that No Way Out doesn't actually matter at Thorpe anymore to be honest. It's record doesn't mean anything to anyone really.

Why not. They're basically blocking it from view completely with the new ride...

Thats not exactly true when in my experience, with fastrack running, they will get one train and the main queue gets the other. So to conclude, no matter when you visit Thorpe, there will be a point where you you may have to queue for something.

Exactly. Besides, someones number one park is very subjective. For instance, mine is Chessington for very personal reasons. Doesn't mean Thorpe and Alton are any worse because of it.

1. Peeking. There's a difference between seeing empty pods going round and only seeing one train.2. Silverstar. I'm not saying it isn't different, I'm saying Thorpe aren't the only park that run on lower capacities.Sweet Jesus...

Just because a ride is a travelling funfair ride, how is it not a professional and sophisticated ride?

I didn't say that at all. What I actually said is that other parks do run their rides on a lower capacity, Europa Park being an example. If you want to be good at making adequate discussions don't change peoples meanings, no way did I say that Europa Park running Silverstar on lower capacity, gives Thorpe the excuse to do that as well. I queuds half an hour, I enjoyed the ride even though I know it can run with another train, I didn't whine and moan about it, I just enjoyed it. Who said it's a good thing? People have given reasons as to why they think Thorpe are doing this, but no one has said they enjoy the rides on one train operation.I think it's a shame that instead of people just discussing amount of trains on things, people have turned to needlessly insulting each other. I also feel that this discussion is just another chance to stick the boot into Thorpe.Hundreds of parks, the world over, do exactly the same thing as Thorpe do in the quiet period and for some reason that isn't good enough for members. Whether I like it or not is besides the point.

Very interesting debate. I'll put it to you a few things. People seem very hung up on people not able to waltz onto rides willy nilly whilst the staff struggle to fill seats. To be honest, I don't actually think 20 minutes is to much when you are talking about a parks main rides. With the gate figures as low as they are, the park wouldn't see it as financially viable to run all three of its major coasters on two trains. People have been using Alton Towers as an example, but that really is the exception when it comes to empty parks. I mean, even Europa Park only had two trains on Silverstar during my visit, and it had a half an hour queue.I can completely understand why they'd use the quiet period to have trains off, as Rich said they are probably doing some maintenance on them. Cause afterall, the parks about to go into its busiest period of the year and it wouldn't want to have problems with trains when there are so many more people ready and waiting to moan...