Vampire Behind The Scenes 35th Birthday

A major highlight of the evening was Wardley's first-ever ride on the new-style Vampire trains, installed after Arrow Dynamics went bankrupt in 2000. He was pleased with how smooth the coaster remains and praised the faster loading and lighter design of the current Vekoma trains compared to the original enclosed Arrow ones. He also confirmed the enduring rumour that Marcel is not a waxwork of Phil Collins, but actually a model of famous cricketer Don Bradman—a mystery finally laid to rest.

Wardley also enjoyed other attractions during his return, including Mandrill Mayhem and the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure, the latter of which he called “a lovely ride.”

In terms of maintenance and ride longevity, the team couldn’t comment on a full retrack, but noted that new Vekoma brakes were installed this year, indicating that Vampire is still going strong. Martin added that as long as replacement parts can be fabricated, Vampire should have many years left.

John. Wardley even declared the vampire “smoother than Nemesis Reborn.”

The tour also took guests through some of the major adjustments made over the years. The station floor and surrounding ground were lowered to accommodate the taller new trains. The transfer track had to be welded in place and is now part of the main track since the longer trains no longer need it.

Behind-the-scenes access revealed how the trains are winched using ropes to enter and exit the maintenance bay due to these changes. While walking beneath the second lift hill, Martin explained the anti-rollback system: the ride can operate with one stuck anti-rollback, but two require a reset and closure.

Inside the tunnel, guests stood in place while staff activated the on-ride camera—a fun and unexpected photo op. Martin also talked about historical maintenance tasks such as weekly pebble sweeping to check concrete integrity in the tunnel—now reduced to once a season thanks to track clearance upgrades. He mentioned that even with original Arrow blueprints, the thickness of the tunnel concrete is still unknown.

Some fun historical nods still exist in the Vampire area, such as the horse from the Rodeo ride and old tombstones from before Mandrill Mayhem reshaped the landscape.

Key ride stats for the ride:

Opened: April 11, 1990
Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics
Model: Suspended Swinging Coaster
Track Height: 70 ft (21m)
Track Length: 2,200 ft (670m)
Speed: 45 mph
G-Force: 4.5G
Slogan: “Sit back, hold on tight, The Vampire is taking flight!”
Anti-Rollbacks: 76 total (31 on lift 1, 41 on lift 2, 2 at lift 2 approach, 2 at tunnel exit)