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Vampire


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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I'm suprised they've managed to get it working with three trains this Halloween... Considering how much the chain doesn't like the cold and changing speed so regularly...

Maybe that explains the downtime it had on Monday and it's late opening yesterday. Once it opened it ran well. Staff there need to know their queue times a bit better though, it said the queue was 90 minutes but we queued 45 minutes including front row.It really is the best ride in the dark though, far better then all of Thorpe's rides which are lit up like christmas trees. Vamp is just pure swinging through the dark and the lights in the tunnel work well. Loved it. :)
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  • 4 weeks later...

Ahhhh one of the laughs in the music... Yes - its sad but I miss it.Thanks for the video post. & for the people saying about Abdab and that - maybe if you see people getting out of queue and destroying it - how about, for once, if someone tells a member of staff?!Then maybe - things like that won't be destroyed. Roll on 2011 for Vampire. :P

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi there,Stumbled across your forum whilst feeling nostalgic about the Vampire and thought I'd share a few thoughts...My earliest memory of the Vampire is when it was a building site when we visited in 1989. My grandparents lived quite near to Chessington and so a trip to the park was a treasured annual event. I remember being pretty intimidated by the ride when we returned the next year. At that time, the height checker was a wooden cutout of a vampire figure - you had to be as tall as the Vampire's finger to ride. As a (nearly) 7 year-old, I was only just tall enough to ride and my Grandad had to really egg me on to ride - I only caved later on in the day... and ended up riding 5 times, dragging my Grandma on as well! My abiding memories from those early years are mostly of the station in it's fantastic original form, with loud music, cobwebs everywhere etc...Use of the PA system was kept to a minimum, and when it was used it was usually the lead operator chivvying-up the crew ("Hurry up, signals...SIGNALS!" etc) or the guests ("Push it up, then pull it down!" when the harnesses would sometimes lock in the open position). They used to have signs up in the queue advising guests that 3 trains were in operation, and that they had to be QUICK to prevent delays to ride operation - IMHO something that should be brought back as I remember most folk usually took notice of the signs and tried to be as quick as possible when getting on/off the ride, as opposed to now where they meander around aimlessly.One of the biggest things I miss these days is the drama of the old trains entering the station - back in the day they really would burst into the station at quite impressive speed (accompanied by a very cool amount of thunk/click/hiss etc from the mechanicals) and would *only* stop in load/unload position, whereas nowadays the train meanders into the station and comes to a complete stop at least twice before it gets to the correct stop position. I imagine that this has had a significant effect on capacity as it reduces the interval of time they have to unload and re-load the ride. It used to be incredibly rare in the 1990s for the lift to stop *at all* due to stacking issues and if the crew were doing a good job they didn't usually have to even slow the lifts much - in fact, the only slowing was usually on lift 1 because they'd dispatched the train so quickly the previous one was only just on lift 2! I read on one of the other Vampire topics that one of the ride ops was pleased to have managed an hourly throughput of 1082 riders - I'm sure they used to manage 60sec intervals way back when which would equate to 1680 per hour with the old 28-person trains. I remember waiting in a queue that was backed up all the way down the hill towards the South entrance that only ended up taking about 40min!I wish the ride was still in it's original form but understand why they decided to update it. I do though have a "wish list" that, if granted, would move the ride up significantly in my estimation:(I) speed up the process of the train arriving and "parking" in the station - will increase capacity.(ii) Do the job of the air gates properly and install evenly-spaced gates (ideally with themed dividers between them to keep the themed atmosphere if the station).(iii) Get rid of the purple fences in the queue area.(iv) Re-do the rockwork on the tunnel - I know the original rockwork had to go because of clearance issues but that isn't an excuse for nothing being there.(v) Get the curtains/drapes back up around the final brake run so it's dark again - seeing all the mechanicals/bare walls ruins what used to be a great effect.I think that's it... Will have a look for some old photos next time I'm at my parents and post if I find any. I definitely have a 1992 on-ride photo somewhere!

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They do still have the 3 train signs... But people just don't know/don't pay attention/are stupid... (delete where applicable)...Times change unfortunately in regards to the rest of your post... But nice to hear the views from an older person... And I would say certainly 3 of the 5 suggestions are doable...

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