April 21, 20169 yr comment_232929 If you say so...Vampire > Inferno Vampire > Shambhala Vampire > Everything Vampire [emoji173] [emoji173] [emoji173] [emoji173] [emoji173] [emoji173] [emoji173] Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
April 21, 20169 yr comment_232959 Personally I don't see what the fuss is about with Vampire. The tunnel near the end is good, but the rest of it just lumbers around corners, and the first half in particular doesn't really do... anything. Maybe it was better with the old trains? That's just my opinion though.
April 21, 20169 yr comment_232961 The ride itself deteriorates every year its in operation unfortunately, but not as bad as its operations do....
April 21, 20169 yr comment_232962 Personally I don't see what the fuss is about with Vampire. The tunnel near the end is good, but the rest of it just lumbers around corners, and the first half in particular doesn't really do... anything. Maybe it was better with the old trains? That's just my opinion though. The Vampire has always been a lame roller coaster, even with the old trains. Its amazing station and soundtrack is the only thing it ever had going for it. This is why some people are so mad about the severe butchering of the station. Its atmosphere was unmatched in the 90's.
April 21, 20169 yr comment_232964 I really enjoy Vampire, it's a unique sensation, especially as there aren't many swinging coasters left. In the right seats, I find it pretty thrilling- it's probably my favorite family coaster around.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_232968 The sense of theatre that Vampire has/had was always the best part... The second half especially with diving towards and over the main pathway is such a simple piece of ride theatre but is one of the most iconic Chessington images... Certainly in the grand scheme of things, it's been evolved past, but comparing to other Arrow suspendeds, it's probably the best that still exists after the closure of Big Bad Wolf (which was Vamps on a larger scale essentially, but that finale was insane), and Eagle Fortress... Vampire was also my first coaster, so it does hold some nostalgia there as well... Yeah it's been butchered a bit, and unlikely to go back to the original days, but it still has the same sense of theatre and adventure for the target audience... Kids love the thing, and that's the important part...
April 22, 20169 yr comment_232984 Vampire is great, but it's not that great, we often go up after school to ride it, just to avoid the weekend crowds, but compared to other Merlin coasters, it's mehh as you kids say, it'll be interesting to compare Vampire to the new one at Paultons, I suspect Vampire will take the nod.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_232991 I'd love to see Vampire fully restored to it's early days. The main gate, the fog under the pathway, the station lighting (strobes) and audio. Bring in some themed trains that resemble the original and re-do the tunnel, so it's fully covered and themed as the 'underground dive' it was always advertised with. It's unfortunate that some of the better station lighting updates a few years back were constantly tampered with, but that's the draw when you have such an enormous staff turnover. Benin already hit the nail on the head with it's theatrics and it seems MMM ironiclly, have absolutely no idea of theatrics (Saw, Tomb's 'update' and the easiest show missed opportunity in Zufari). Transylvania is the most popular land and I just wish Chessington would spend the cash, then I remember it's Chessington. 'Come stay in our new Resort hotels, with awesome views of our faded park and a 'plain' thats usually totally empty due to the hill side and animals slipping down it'. Great work guys.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_232992 I'm just hoping that they'll focus heavily on the Vampire station sometime as part of their TLC program.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_232993 Unfortunately, they'll probably be overly happy with the updates THIS year. Pats on the back all round. No really, it's true.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233000 The thing I love about the Vampire is the swooping drops you get around every corner. Also the second drop and tunnel ❤ Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233001 Front row is amazing... Like seriously! All other rows I find very jolty/rough and all round meh, except the final main turn in the tunnel and the nice bit of swinging as you hit the breaks.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233006 Front row is amazing... Like seriously! All other rows I find very jolty/rough and all round meh, except the final main turn in the tunnel and the nice bit of swinging as you hit the breaks. Back row tbh. You're literally FIRED off the second lift!!!
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233015 Back row tbh. You're literally FIRED off the second lift!!! As an RAP user I can confirm this! Maybe that's why I love it so much, since I've only ridden on the back row!Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233019 Front row is a different experience but I agree, back row is awesome.
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233020 Back left is amazing, the way you get yanked off the second lift <3
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233021 I've found Vampire to always be just an average ride. Great for families, early thrill hunters, etc. But I'm just not into it. It's pretty boring tbh. Do like the station though and the old entrance looks nice!
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233023 I've found Vampire to always be just an average ride. Great for families, early thrill hunters, etc. But I'm just not into it. It's pretty boring tbh. Do like the station though and the old entrance looks nice! It has always fascinated me how between 1990 and 1994, Vampire would pretty much be one of Britain's most intense rollercoasters...and then in 1994 it's completely dwarfed by Nemesis, Big One and Shockwave! Really is a brilliant representation of how the British taste for thrills has evolved in the last 25 years
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233028 Anyone seen chessington have announced they will be showing a master plan to local residents? Might mean we see information on some new rides or changes
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233029 Wouldn't say it's anything to do with taste for thrills, just technology has allowed companies to do such bigger things than the days of Vekoma Corkscrews and Arrow Suspendeds, which were also the pinnacle of design at their time...
April 22, 20169 yr comment_233031 To be fair, older wooden coasters in the UK are (or were in some cases) much more intense than Vampire and were around long before it. In terms of modern steel coasters I do get your point (although there were more intense rides than Vampire around at the time, but on a smaller scale than nowadays). Regarding the theatrical aspect of the ride, it does look good swinging across Transylvania, it's just a shame that the station and area has had some of its atmosphere removed over the years.
April 24, 20169 yr comment_233184 I'm just hoping that they'll focus heavily on the Vampire station sometime as part of their TLC program. Chessington have no TLC programme, they have no system or budget or will to make anything truly better and correctly, professionally restored. Merlin want the park for their style of branding and their idea of entertainment - trends, hotels and cuteness. The old flamboyant, dramatic Chessington classics do not fit with Merlin's values, and as such it would take a lot to even convince someone with power at Chessington why half the park is an utter shambles compared to its old self. They experimented with spending on an old ride inherited from the Tussauds days with this year's Tomb Blaster refurb (because it came to a point where they had to spend money on it anyway to get it back open) and it turned out to be a total joke. They won't want to do that again as they're a laughing stock for it. It was a perfect opportunity to restore a once magnificent attraction and they blew it. Don't expect any big refurbishment for the terrible state of Vampire or BubbleWorks because according to them "most guests don't notice those details". They just don't get the original message of Chessington or see any need to spend big on it. They were about to install a mini water tea cups this year instead as a way of improving the park for goodness sake, until the obvious was pointed out to them. There are a very few good people at Chessington trying to make improvements where they can (the long long awaited paint jobs around park that took forever to get paid, the nice touches in the audio upgrades) but it's always short term, cheapest options that can be gotten away with, I'm sorry to say.
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