The legend of St.
George has it that a pagan town in Libya was terrorised by a
dragon, and as the mutton it fed on waned, citizens were
sacrificed in order to control the dragon and supplement its
irrepressible diet. Hearing of the impending fate of a local
princess, Saint George went to her aid, succeeding where armies
had failed in slaughtering the flame-throwing serpent and saving
the fair maiden.
Dragons have played
an important part in the cultural heritage of mythology the world
over, just as dragons have been prevalent in the heritage of
Chessington World of Adventures, too. But Chessington wasn’t
saved from a dragon; it was saved by a dragon – it
was just that this dragon came in the form of a Maurer Söhne spinning roller coaster.
Now, spinning coasters aren’t
particularly new. One of the most famous spinning roller coasters
of recent times is Star World (formerly Magic Mountain) that tours
the German fairs. This was a custom made ride featuring a long
train of egg-shaped cars free to spin throughout the enclosed
ride.
But even before Star World, the
Virginia Reel was a popular ride at parks like Pleasure Beach
Blackpool featuring a zig zag on the side of a fake mountain which
would spin the tub like cars before they’d drop through a series
of turns into tunnels.
A more modern
comparison to the Virginia Reel is the popular spinning coaster
from Reverchon. With a course based on the popular Wild Mouse with
unbanked sharp hairpin turns and abrupt drops, the ride features
Waltzer-like cars which upon reaching the second level of the ride
would be free to spin.
Whilst not the best
example of a spinning coaster, the Reverchon model did seem to be
the catalyst in the recent explosion of spinning coasters. Since
the ride debuted at Foire Du Trone, Reverchon has sold over thirty
of the units globally, including a pair to Disneyworld, Florida.
Since the success of
this ride, other manufacturers including Gerstauler and Maurer Söhne have since profited from the idea of rotary
roller coasters, refining the idea to include new elements. Whilst
Maurer started off with the pocket-sized X2000 coaster, it
included new elements such as a spectacular immelman turn, a
vertically banked horseshoe of steel galloping skywards.
Maurer successfully
dabbled in the idea of custom spinners in 2002 with Winjas, two
unique roller coasters featuring not only the celebrated immelman
turn, but vertical lifts, see-saws and falling track effects.
Tussauds decided to
purchase two of these custom spinners in 2002; one for Alton
Towers (Spinball Whizzer), and one for Chessington. Both resisted
the urge for supplemental extras such as see-saws, but both would
be custom, and both advertised heavily as being family coasters.
From head to tail,
Dragon’s Fury is a 1771ft meander of forest green track
supported by a forest of ruby-red supports surrounding the entire
new area for 2004; Land of the Dragons. Sprawling across many
acres of land, further compounded by the fact that the entrance is
actually outside Land of the Dragons, it is no surprise
that infrequent visitors often have a quest on their hands to find
the entrance.
Once found, however,
there is no avoiding the unmistakable signature of Tussauds, where
the coaster is presented in quite explicit detail as it performs
its spectacular aerial dogfight high above you.
Like a fireball
falling from the sky, a four seater car topples over the top of a
60ft tall lift hill, plunging towards the pathway below, scraping
past the ground before sharply pulling up into a vertical (by
Oblivion’s yardstick) immelman turn before disappearing out of
view. This is an opening sequence few family coasters can boast.
The entrance is a
small hamlet of buildings and archways serving various purposes
such as photo collection, Fastrack ticket collection as well as
the two entrances to the ride, all decorated with crumbling stone
pillars and dragon head gargoyles.
Adding flair to an
already enchanting entrance area, ‘Claudius’, an animatronic
dragon infrequently rears his head from a cave to the left of the
entrance, threatening children who dare touch the treasure he’s
guarding with a deep roar and an animatronically angsty
gesticulation of his outstretched noggin.
The queue meanders
through a forest of charred trees through a fairly mind-numbing
zig-zag in front of the station. The queue isn’t great, it has
to be said, but it is good to see Chessington’s humour, however
bad, making a simple no smoking request a bit more interesting;
“What did the big
dragon say to the little dragon? You’re too young to smoke”
[token pause for
laughter to fade]
|
|
Height |
|
59
feet |
Approx.
Speed |
|
45
mph |
Cars |
|
9
cars, 4 people each |
Length |
|
1771
feet |
Noteable
Elements |
|
Immelman
Turn
Bunnyhop
Two Helixes
Double Up
Two Lifthills |
|
|
Before you enter the
station, you’re counted up into groups of four, pairing up pairs
and adding single riders into the mix as necessary. This means
that once in the station, delays are kept to a minimum as every
car is filled to capacity.
So that Dragon’s
Fury can efficiently gobble up the queue (all part of a balanced
diet), the cars don’t stop in the station, instead slowing down
to a crawl. As well as keeping the cars moving through the
station, this also has the psychological benefit of adding a sense
of urgency to the loading procedure meaning people get into the
trains with far less hesitation than on other comparable rides.
Riders sit in pairs,
back to back with comfortable lap bars and an O-shaped grab handle
which you can hold almost like handlebars on a racing bike.
And so this reign of
fire begins by climbing a startlingly quick lift hill. Get ready
to savour every moment of what’s forthcoming, as it’ll be over
in half a jiffy. Forward-sitting riders only are privy to knowing
when your car will crest the top of the lift – a hint to back
seat riders; it’s sooner than you think. Without hesitation, the
car curls around to the side, falls from orbit down a steep drop
and buries itself down into the ground before sensationally
pulling up into a vertical climb, turning around a wonderful
180-degree turn on its side before plunging vertically back down
towards the ground.
A straight climb
straightens out into a mid-course brake run. Virtually unhindered,
the train drops straight down, climbing back up and abruptly
turning a 90-degree left-hand turn into another set of brakes.
Once again, the
brakes offer no break in pacing as the train threads itself
through a forest of treehouses and rope bridges through a downward
spiral, pulling up into a dreamy camelback hill arching high over
Griffin’s Galleon (Zierer Kontiki), swooping through a left-hand
curve, climbing into another set of brakes.
Untamed, this beast
spirals groundwards through a heavily banked downward helix,
swooping out into a shallow mid-course lift hill. As this dragon
makes a bid for the sky once again, your car still turns before
you slalom at roof height through an undulating S-turn, dropping
down between a hedge and the back of a building, bouncing abruptly
up through a fairly fruitless double up, passing through the last
set of mid-course brakes before slaloming down through a final
banked S-turn and into the final brakes.
With a final whip of
its tail, a comically rudimentary system of a 10ft long bar thumps
the side of the car whilst it passes through the brakes in order
to tame the spinning and lock the car so that it can snugly fit
back into the station.
So is Dragon’s Fury
hot stuff, or does it just blow hot air?
Fury is without a
doubt red-hot.
For years now
Chessington have been trying to tell us they’re a family park as
if this was justification for years of neglect and under
investment. Since then, Hocus Pocus Hall opened, which, as
enchanting as it is, hardly sent waves through the amusement
industry.
Dragon’s Fury
accompanies Land of the Dragons, an area for younger rapscallions
including Griffin’s Galleon (Zierer Kontiki), Sea Dragons (small
round ride) as well as numerous play areas.
However, Dragon’s
Fury is specifically marketed as a family coaster. Traditionally,
only Disney can design a good family coaster with any exceptions
being accidental as opposed to calculated. With parks being
offered a greater choice of family rides by manufacturers, they
are now in a better position than ever to offer a ride with true
universal appeal as opposed to palming off hand-me-down kids
coasters as a ‘family ride’.
In an age where in
terms of roller coasters bigger is better, it is easy to become
fazed and actually forget that theme parks are for. They’re not
supposed to be endurance tests, they’re just supposed to be fun.
Although the feeling of taking on a coaster and conquering it is
often gratifying, it is often refreshing to come off a coaster
grinning from ear to ear.
It is this sensation
that broadens the appeal of a roller coaster – even the best
white knuckle coaster in the world couldn’t satisfy as many
people as the best family coaster.
Dragon’s Fury bore
the heavy responsibility of becoming the park’s first new
signature ride since Vampire as the theme park headed into a new
era. It took on this challenge and won.
Even ignoring the
objective of this ride, you’re left with a ride that is a pure
placebo. Children have the feeling of having conquered a major
coaster, whilst parents enjoy a ride that is just great fun.
Highlights are in
abundance. The way the ride goes off almost exploring Land of the
Dragons is inspired, and the ride features one of the best opening
sequences that can be asked of it dropping down a steeply banked
drop into a sensational immalman turn. Even escaping the gaze of
voyeurs on the ground, the ride continues through a wonderful
bunnyhop and two excellent helices.
The midcourse lift is
actually not too much of an intrusion at all, and actually
encourages some of the most pronounced spinning in the ride, as
does the roof-top meander following.
The double up is,
quite frankly, ineffective, but the swooping s-turn into the final
brakes is a good way to finish, if not up to the standard the rest
of the ride has set.
Nevertheless, the
ride is explosive from start to finish without having too much
bite for younger explorers. Dragon’s Fury will undoubtedly have
an indelible effect on Chessington, and if Fury is indicative of
the direction Tussauds want to take the park, then I welcome this
change with open arms.
MS
26
April 2004
|
Whirlwind,
Camelot (2003) |
Formerly
owned by Kaizer and Bruch, this coaster used to tour
fairs in Germany before finding its home at Camelot |
|
Winjas
Force & Winjas Fear, Phantasialand (2002) |
Two
custom coasters featuring trick track sections and
vertical lift hills |
|
Spinball
Whizzer, Alton Towers (2004) |
Opening
the same year as Dragon's Fury, Spinball features a
swooping drop into a helix, one immelman turn as well
as numerous helixes. |
|
|
|