Vampire

Like a Bat Out of Hell?

The Vampire at Night

Whilst Pleasure Beach Blackpool had been operating since the late 1800s and was a serious competitor with the world's amusement parks; the UK was severely lacking in the theme park side of things. For all its fame within the country, Alton Towers, was nothing more than a glorified pay to enter funfair, although admittedly, in some rather picturesque Staffordshire countryside.

Enter Chessington World of Adventures, on the outskirts of London. The decision was made to transform it from Chessington Zoo into a proper park, one that would be like no other in the UK and in 1987, Chessington World of Adventures opened with its themed areas and all. After finding success with the format, it was time for the signature coaster and this would be Vampire.

Transylvania (with Vampire) at Night

In 1990, the coaster opened and was highly regarded as a fantastic ride, unfortunately, the locals did not agree as much, and stricter planning regulations were put in place and so it was/is unlikely nothing on the same scale of Vampire will ever be built again. With the planning laws strict and Thorpe Park having recently being added to the Tussauds clan and with Vampire being closed for the 2001 season, a change happened for the following season

1994 will always be remembered as the UK Year of the Coaster, with major coasters: Nemesis at Alton Towers, Shockwave at Drayton Manor and the Pepsi Max Big One at Pleasure Beach Blackpool. 2002 was the next closest the UK got, with Colossus at Thorpe Park, Air at Alton Towers and the Vampire re-opened at Chessington, but this time with floorless seats from Vekoma.

My experience with Vampire is only since 2002, I cannot say how greater or lesser the original experience was. This is purely on its own merits.

One of the main aspects associated with the Tussauds era and their themeing with coaster design is the way how the pathways interact with the coasters. Think of Oblivion, you've got the giant hole, Nemesis and Nemesis Inferno you've got the path going in every possible direction.

Vampire is a different beast and is all the better for it. Transylvania is narrower than the later areas that Tussauds designed. With the frontages of the Burger Kitchen on one side and Bubbleworks on the other it creates the idea of a little town. Once you leave this Bavarian themed section, the section of trees creeps in, obscuring the majority of the ride except for a few of the twists and turns, whether by pure accident or not, it makes sells you the idea of this place being hunted by a beast.

The entrance to the queue, starts to lose some of the finer details of what has already been set up in regards to the theme. By delving a bit further on, the impressive archway with Vampire is shut off (pictured to the right) and instead you go through a pretty none descript simple entrance. Which wouldn't be too out of place in a game of Roller Coaster Tycoon. The queue then navigates under the ride and in some cases quite close to the left or right of it, and you enter a black fenced area, which is just overgrown at the parts you get to look through. Whether there was something else in there once upon a time (pre 2001) is another matter and it does rather spoil all the great themeing of Transylvania as a whole and that is the problem with the queueline, there is not much to hold your attention, well aside from a few comedy gravestones which are being weathered quite badly now. The main problem is also one of the rides greatest assets, the trees hide the majority of the ride and people in the queue only gets so many glimpses of it. The queue is not fast moving anyway, only allowing a certain amount through in one go (if its on one train only you will know it!) and unlike some rides, there is no music to keep you company

Things do improve though, but not before the slight problem that it is dark in there! During the Halloween night event it is fine, but even on a rather cloudy day, your eyes need to re-adjust into the light conditions. The organist plays his tune and suddenly the themeing has come back into fruition!

 The seats on the coaster train are slightly odd, different to the B&M inverters like Nemesis at Alton Towers as your bum goes further down into them and it lifts your legs up. It's not uncomfortable, but you will sink into the seats if you do not expect it. After the checks (and sometimes double/triple checks!) we're good to be on our journey on Vampire and immediately back into daylight and up the first lift hill

If you care to look to your left whilst at the peak of this lift hill you can see London. Crystal Palace transmitter, The Shard and Canary Wharf amongst others, but this is no time to enjoy the London Skyline as the ride starts making its descent. Similarly to Nemesis, the ride has no major first drop, it is rather much the same gradient for the first few metres as the lift hill.

As the rest of the train starts to catch up, the momentum starts to build and it is time to go into a sharpish turn to your right. This is where the main gimmick of Vampire is. The corners are not like on a Wild Mouse, but they are tighter than you'd expect, but instead of a high lateral G Force, the seats swing to the left or to the right dependent on the corner. This is not a wild "snapping" effect rather a more gentle one. As the train levels out after this first bend, you go tighter and faster in a corner to the left and before you can say bats, you are instantly pulled into a helix in the opposite direction and it really does bring out the swinging aspect of the coaster.

This is where the taller people might have their first problem with the trees. I have had it where on occasion a loose branch comes into contact with your foot, nothing painful but it can be slightly worrying on your first ride.

The ride then slows down a bit as it rises above the helix and over the queueline before diving down to your left in a terrain section of the ride, after a couple more bends you are in the brakes ready for the second lift hill. It was short, but a fun enough part of the ride.

Lift Hill number 2, is similar to the first, the view into London is now on your right and the train is now over Transylvania area, rather than the queue. The drop that follows is similar but faster and tighter, with a turn to your right as you fly over the Burger Kitchen the car starts swinging harsher, which unfortunately is where some headbanging has come in.. Keeping quite high the train heads towards the first lift hill before it starts to meander through the higher parts of the trees, with the train building up momentum a steep drop comes sharply to the right into a tunnel. As the train descends a rather strange sensation happens as it feels as if the coaster is catching up with itself. At the bottom of this drop there is another tight turn to the right and quite violently the car swings quite close to the sides. As the swinging starts to level out, the track goes up and other the start of the second lift hill before another slight bend in the track starts the swinging again. With a bend to the left, we get in a similar terrain hugging moment to the first, which begins the swinging again before it hits the brakes before the station. It is here you really notice how much the cars have the ability to swing as gradually you return to the normal position.

As with any gimmicky ride you get used to it, and start looking at the bigger picture. The swinging whilst certainly noticeable is not forceful as what it could be even for a family coaster and when it is, it is more to do with headbanger moments. Whilst it makes for a great second half, the first half is nothing really to write home about, apart from to get you used to the swinging and set up the much better second half, but there is a sense of disappointment by the time you reach the end thinking, is that it? It just seems to lack the overall wow factor.

The queueline, especially if your unfortunate to visit on a busy day, or a day in which only one train is in operation will certainly hamper the overall experience and will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Even on a two train operation, it can get to an hour queue within 20 minutes of the park opening.

The current incarnation of the Vampire is an enjoyable ride, but not necessarily a fantastic one. There are a few niggles which stop it from being top class. There are certainly far worse coasters out there though, but the overall enjoyment may just simply depend on how long you have to queue for!

The Good:
- Good station themeing
- Swings frequently
- Hidden by the Trees
- Decent length coaster
- Relatively small height restriction

The Bad: 
- The themeing outside the station
- Occasional headbanging on the swings
- Finding your tall and your feet knock against a small tree branch
- The darkness of the station
- Often long queues

The Verdict:
  
3/5