Take a look behind the scenes of Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures. This Arrow dynamics suspended coaster opened in 1990 however work was completed on the attraction by Vekoma for the 2002 season.
Station Theming
Here is a look within the Vampire station with the lights on. This is arguably one of the best themed ride stations in the UK, with many classic and nostalgic props. 2024 saw the return of the incredible chandeliers after 15 years, with the original torch lanterns restored and installed onto three new truss sections.
Station Ride System
Here is a close up look at the 2002 Vekoma Family Floorless Suspended Coaster trains which currently operate on Vampire. These replaced the original Bat trains which were manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. The new trains are more open, feature more swing and are longer than the original trains. Vampire has three trains in total, each with 12 rows of 2 riders which makes for 24 riders per train.
Lift Hill 1
As the train dispatches from the station, it engages with the first lift hill straight away. This takes riders up to just below the tree height and provides the momentum that the train needs to complete the first section of the attraction. The first lift hill features 31 anti-rollback devices, there are 76 total across the entire layout. There are also 80 chain links on the lift hill.
Lift Hill 2
After completing the first section of the coaster, the ride comes to the bottom of the second lift hill. This is an area of the attraction where the ride has a risk of coming to a stop, there are two additional anti-rollback devices coming into this. There is also a rope and pully motor installed in case the ride stalls at this moment, this typically happens when the ride is not fully loaded during test runs. The shed features ride hardware for the operation of the lift chain and brakes. The metal platform was installed a few years ago to assist with any potential evacuations from this area.
Underneath Lift Hill 2
Lift hill 2 features 41 anti-rollback devices. The chain on this lift hill features 114 links. The second lift hill for Vampire is located in between the buildings for Captain’s Fish and Chips and Vampire Burger Kitchen and there is an access road underneath the attraction.
The Tunnel
The tunnel on Vampire is arguably the most iconic moment of the attraction. As the first ever part of a UK coaster to go underground, this is where Vampire reaches its top speed of 46 miles per hour. This is also the same top speed as Mandrill Mayhem, the park’s B&M family launched shuttle wing coaster which opened in 2023. Vampire features the on ride photo moment at this point of the ride and it is the moment of the ride where the trains swing the most. There are another two anti-rollbacks featured coming out of the tunnel and there is a speaker system installed within the tunnel so that ride operators can communicate to riders in case of the attraction stalling at this moment.
Final Ride Section
Here are some photos from inside the ride area prior to Vampire reaching its final brake run. Did you know that the layout of Vampire features 110 support columns and 114 joins to the track, with 4 of the columns are known as dual supports and connect to two different sections of the ride layout?
Final Brake Run
Inside the main Vampire building is also the final brake run and 180 degree turn back into the station. This space is used for ride part deliveries and is where the second train is stopped when the other one is occupying the station block section. There are some other steps, covered scaffolding and machinery which is kept within this area.
Maintenance Area and Old Arrow Transfer Track
Here is a quick look at the maintenance area for Vampire, which is where all the servicing of the trains take place. There are also the existing remains of the original track switch transfer which was used in the original Arrow Dynamics era of the ride. When Vekoma took over in 2002, this transfer track was welded together and now sits unused as the track section would have not been long enough to transfer the new Vekoma trains.
Vekoma Transfer Track
This is the switch track which Vekoma installed for the attraction in 2002. This allows this small piece of track to rotate 180 degrees changing the direction of the track and allowing the train to be reversed into the maintenance area.
