September 25, 201311 yr comment_169198 Vampire can no longer run 3 trains due to h&s. They are not happy with how the staff check bars on 3 trains and it was major faff to keep it running smoothly on 3 trains without operational issues. Don't you even... There is nothing stopping them running three trains other than themselves. If the procedures needed to change for some reason they have two options to comply with them; put the resources in place to be compliant with them, or take ages doing what they need to to comply with them with the resources they have and blame a non existent 'health and safety'. They take the easy and cheap route.
October 26, 201311 yr comment_171257 Chessington Buzz have just posted this picture on their facebook page: Fast track no longer available on Vampire this season due to how busy the ride was with it over the summer. Hopefully this means a more sensible, faster-moving queue over the Halloween season - and the possibility of more than one night ride!
October 26, 201311 yr comment_171258 Vampire running without fastrack for the rest of Halloween? This can only be a good thing seeing how awful queues the ride got in summer. TBH, they should remove fastrack completely from the park with its low throughputs and operations.
October 26, 201311 yr comment_171259 Good gracious that's a pretty dramatic response to guest feedback, and at a loss to them in up-sales. I'm quite taken aback.
October 26, 201311 yr comment_171260 Amazing. Could this be a turning point in how parks view the fastrack 'service'? The feedback from summer must have been quite strong for them to miss out on all that revenue it would have generated over Halloween. When it returns, which inevitably will, we can only hope it is with a much more tightly managed system. Vastly reduced numbers, with allocated times, at a much higher price. That's what I'll be hoping for.
October 26, 201311 yr comment_171264 I have to say the queue was moving very well today due to this! The new batching system also works well in filling up empty seats as they instead of always blocking out the back two rows for the exit queue, they either fill up one row or two depending on the size of the group so on most rides the main queue was getting 11 out of the 12 rows. Also, groups of 3 were being grouped together to make 6 so very few if any empty seats were left.
October 27, 201311 yr comment_171285 Certainly a daring move, and one I applaud Chessie for doing as well. What we do have to remember is the park are now literally losing out on 'free money' because of this. It is definitely good to see something positive from the park which has had so many failures this past year. I doubt it will spread to other rides or other parks though, I bet it'll return next year, though probably after a bit more thought about the system to ensure guests are kept happy.
October 28, 201311 yr comment_171365 They were sending trains out approximately every 5mins the other day, leading to throughputs of around 300pph. On two trains. So they haven't sorted operations out that well, but at least they've removed fastrack for the time being.
October 28, 201311 yr comment_171368 They were sending trains out approximately every 5mins the other day, leading to throughputs of around 300pph. 300pph?! That's worse than I thought - how the hell can they get away with running it that badly? Stupid - not selling fastrack does NOT make up for this!
October 28, 201311 yr comment_171369 A throughput of just over 300 on 2 trains? That sounds dire. Though fastrack has made operations slightly better, if they're loading this slowly then they need to reassess the ride's operations. They should really sending out at least 2 trains every 5 minutes as 1 is just ridiculous.
October 28, 201311 yr comment_171371 Fastrack unfortunately has no bearing on the platforming capabilities of the ride... Indeed, this only solves a slow moving queue in one way, and not the way that should be the priority... Weird park...
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177876 Out of interest, does anyone remember that audio that would play in the entrance area to Vampire? It was the one that had stuff like clocks chiming, people screaming, evil laughter, wolves howling and even the sound of someone being slapped/whipped (!).
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177878 Ahem. I remember it absolutely terrifying me. It was played extremely loudly out of one or two small speakers behind the waterfall. Those horrific screams could be heard very clearly from the Vampire queue. As you can imagine, the ride had much less of an atmosphere once the track was removed, although I can certainly understand why it was stopped! If you manage to listen to the whole 23 minutes, congratulations on your achievement and I sympathise with your new mental health issues.
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177883 Ahem. I remember it absolutely terrifying me. It was played extremely loudly out of one or two small speakers behind the waterfall. Those horrific screams could be heard very clearly from the Vampire queue. As you can imagine, the ride had much less of an atmosphere once the track was removed, although I can certainly understand why it was stopped! I think they should still play it - maybe a toned down version? I have heard a rumour (can't remember where) that Vampire has been permanently reduced to one train operation - I sincerely hope it isn't true!!
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177885 If that rumour is true (Source?) then they may as well not bothering opening the ride... That version of music was only removed a few years back... Possibly with the changing of the brand? I cannot remember, possibly linked into them adding the new area music in Translyvania rather than Bubbles remix... Shame, was one of those things that was just nice in the background to complete the scene...
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177887 If that rumour is true (Source?) then they may as well not bothering opening the ride... I can't actually remember where I heard it, it's not very reliable at all but I thought it worth mentioning. Knowing Chessie I wouldn't put it past them!
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177889 Ahem. I remember it absolutely terrifying me. It was played extremely loudly out of one or two small speakers behind the waterfall. Those horrific screams could be heard very clearly from the Vampire queue. As you can imagine, the ride had much less of an atmosphere once the track was removed, although I can certainly understand why it was stopped! If you manage to listen to the whole 23 minutes, congratulations on your achievement and I sympathise with your new mental health issues. Having just downloaded it and heard it pretty clearly for the first time ever (it was never THAT clear on park, even when I was cleaning McDonald's external tables right next to a speaker), and it's obvious why they've since removed it... 90s truly were imaginative...
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177897 I can't actually remember where I heard it, it's not very reliable at all but I thought it worth mentioning. Knowing Chessie I wouldn't put it past them! You sure that it wasn't just someone mentioning the permanent change to a max of 2 trains? It's dire enough with 2 trains. It was a joke the two times I went last year with 2 trains queueing almost 2 hours when the park wasn't even that busy. Mind you with trains being dispatched with waits of almost 5 minutes it may as well been 1 train operation.
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177899 It's pretty shocking! Shows how Chessington weren't afraid to push the boat out in the 90s. it was never THAT clear on park, even when I was cleaning McDonald's external tables right next to a speakerI have this weird memory of it being extremely prominent throughout the area (not necessarily clear but certainly loud) around 2004/5. I remember hanging around the Vampire entrance a couple of times and it being unbearable after a few minutes. In a good way. I didn't notice it as much after that and forgot about it until recently, I guess they turned it right down after the audio was all changed around Transylvania in 2006 (blame the BubbleWorks refurbishment).
March 9, 201411 yr comment_177901 You sure that it wasn't just someone mentioning the permanent change to a max of 2 trains? It's dire enough with 2 trains. It was a joke the two times I went last year with 2 trains queueing almost 2 hours when the park wasn't even that busy. Mind you with trains being dispatched with waits of almost 5 minutes it may as well been 1 train operation.I definitely heard 1 train somewhere. Operations of the ride were absolutely dire last year, it wasn't acceptable in the slightest. For a park which only has two major coasters to cope with the crowds it's pants.
March 11, 201411 yr comment_177953 The exterior audio system broke in 2009, it was still working in 08 quite clearly. I believe they fixed it a year or so ago? If audio plays outside? Dunno if they've got anything but should be this anyway its so atmospheric and it's vampire anyway (Saying that, I'm only just downloading the track )
March 11, 201411 yr comment_177958 That atmospheric track is fantastic, it is cartoon horror and fits the area perfectly. There is no reason not to play it now, you are supposed to scare children in a theme park. I know I loved it when I was one!
March 11, 201411 yr comment_177960 I liked the part that effectively involves a victim being abused/spanked by something... That certainly wouldn't be deemed suitable these days...
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