thorpeparkjack Posted August 28, 2010 Report Share Posted August 28, 2010 Excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
professorburp Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 According to the website Vampire is currently available again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 10, 2010 Report Share Posted September 10, 2010 Yep, will be a fair bit of time until it reopens too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelPagett Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 OMG do you think it will be closed on wednesday? Has anyone got an update on the situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenVig Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 OMG do you think it will be closed on wednesday? Has anyone got an update on the situation?It will most likely be closed on wednesday, yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_A Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 Is there another major problem with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 Reopened today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenVig Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 Reopened today.I Stand corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 Yep, will be a fair bit of time until it reopens too.Two days then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 11, 2010 Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 I stand corrected! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Looks amazing in the dark!!Loving the lighting around the ride and the queues are reasonable as on a 3 train operation. WICKED! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 We have only had a couple of cold days over the last week or two. It seems to be actually quite mild for this time of year. For example London's max temp today is 16 degrees (tomorrow is supposed to be top temp of 18), which is much warmer than it should be this time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coasterfreck Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 Looks amazing in the dark!!Loving the lighting around the ride and the queues are reasonable as on a 3 train operation. WICKED! Agreed Vampire is amazing in the dark but its still amazing every time I ride it is the best coaster at chessington breath taking, outstanding at nightI love this ride themeparkmad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topsyturvy15 Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 I love queuing at night, one of the best rides for late night atmosphere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.man Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Tbh, not trying to be harsh, but I dont see what is so amazing about the Vamp. I mean, I know it is a great ride, but it looks ugly, and the station is nothing to what it used to look like. I'm sorry that I feel like this but, sort it out chessie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noob230 Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzhby4vnUAoInteresting Watch... deleted 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricBlll Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 There is a Bubbleworks tour as well, but they don't show as much (and it is from Theme Park Review ). You can see that .Yep, very very interesting stuff on Vampire there. Saw it a while ago, still really interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.man Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Cool people hold their idiots ahhaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkmad Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr S Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 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! electricBlll 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Yeah would be nice if they had a decent batch system - proper airgates, proper close to seats, with a batcher filling the rows would be perfect. Alas, chessie just doesn't have the money (or effort?) to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Maybe they are changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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