Vampire for the name was just my educated guess it has never been confirmed as the true name. Hunt/WOF trademarked the name right before they sold the park, and CF let the trademark expire. It makes sense though. It was supposed to be one of the world's largest wooden racing coasters, steel structure, wood track going over buildings (think Indiana Beach), supposedly there were models of the ride, etc but if they existed no one will ever know.
My understanding also is that Hunt was NOT looking for a buyer, why would they be designing a big coaster if they were planning on selling? An opportunity came along and they took it.
In 1999 WOF originally was looking at adding a wild mouse, then they decided to also add boomerang for the thrill factor, then dropped the mouse.
Boomerang was not added to replace Orient Express, I was there I lived through the turmoil (trust me it was a completely different PR experience, they HATED the enthusiasts back then). The decision to remove OE was not made until Sept 2002, By then Boomerang was already two years old and I am sure the park had spent a mint keeping the ride operational.
I used to wish that they had built the 2001 project instead of wild mouse and/or boomerang. That was the "raven-like" coaster. Or as GM at the time Dan Keller quoted "A coaster offering a different experience" Back when Gravity Group just formed, before they built a single coaster, Jeff and I sat down for an interview with Larry Bill and Michael Graham, and they basically told us point blank that they had designed the coaster under CCI. We heard later on from a member of the CCI construction crew, that they were SO close to building it that the construction crew was moving from Indiana Beach to Worlds of Fun, but that never happened obviously. I would never say that Prowler was better, or that the "un-built" coaster was better, we will never know. I certainly wouldn't play the odds though!
if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.
Jennifer
