Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[SuperMuscleMan]

Yeah so much character and charm to the place! Just finished my Rameses build and was looking at how the queue line was integrated into the area, such an excellent presentation!. Also had a fun time building Rattlesnake, they did so much in dressing up for what are essentially fairground attractions. Saw an old video of Terrortomb and Bubbleworks and it struck me the level of creativity in these attractions at that time. So much attention given to show elements, which seemed to be baked into the ideas from a ground level up. Even found the original Egyptian proposal for what became Mystic East which I didn't know existed. Currently working on Mystic East, and looking at the scale of it from pictures when it first opened is amazing.

Bubbleworks was legendary at the time. Even the McDonald's had incredible themeing. I remember the radio adverts for rattlesnake at the time along with creepy caves. You didn't really get a sense of what they were but you were not disappointed when you went. I remember some friends at school going on about the new ride at either Dreamland or it's sister park at Folkestone. And they had a wild mouse that year. It was essentially the same but looked really dull compared to what Chessington had done with rattlesnake.

Yes it's a simple ride but it was dressed above what Disney had done in Paris with temple of peril in terms of head choppers, animatronics and in que entertainment.

At the same time a new stunt show was also outside the rattlesnake and included bits of themeing that would fall/smoke as the cowboys shot each other.

This was truly when the park was at its peak.. I feel it.was the years after Beanoland and land of the dragons that the park stalled.

 

[MattBTP]

Bubbleworks was legendary at the time. Even the McDonald's had incredible themeing. I remember the radio adverts for rattlesnake at the time along with creepy caves. You didn't really get a sense of what they were but you were not disappointed when you went. I remember some friends at school going on about the new ride at either Dreamland or it's sister park at Folkestone. And they had a wild mouse that year. It was essentially the same but looked really dull compared to what Chessington had done with rattlesnake.

Yes it's a simple ride but it was dressed above what Disney had done in Paris with temple of peril in terms of head choppers, animatronics and in que entertainment.

At the same time a new stunt show was also outside the rattlesnake and included bits of themeing that would fall/smoke as the cowboys shot each other.

This was truly when the park was at its peak.. I feel it.was the years after Beanoland and land of the dragons that the park stalled.

I remember how disappointed I was when they put in the Imperial Leather theming. I remember making a joke at work about how you can "go to Universal to ride the movies, go to Chessington to ride the adverts", which wasn't received too well haha.

Its crazy to think that we had a theme park with attractions that could rival Disney, all done with a fraction of the budget.

Yeah, definitely at their peak around this time. I enjoyed Beanoland as I grew up reading the Beano, Land of the Dragons I found a bit meh at the time.

Watching back the old POV videos/looking at the pics has been really cool. My memories of the place are pretty good, however when you look back at these things through the videos and pics, you realise how much effort (and the big challenges overcome) were put in at the time.

 

[Islander]

Its crazy to think that we had a theme park with attractions that could rival Disney, all done with a fraction of the budget.

I do often think the past is looked at with rose tinted specs. I won’t for a moment deny comparisons between Tussauds era and now, but do we really think ‘classic’ Chessington rivalled Disney? In my own opinion, no…

 

[MattBTP]

I do often think the past is looked at with rose tinted specs. I won’t for a moment deny comparisons between Tussauds era and now, but do we really think ‘classic’ Chessington rivalled Disney? In my own opinion, no…

I think original Bubbleworks rivalled Small World at the time. I remember comparisons being made back then.

 

[Bowser]

I do often think the past is looked at with rose tinted specs. I won’t for a moment deny comparisons between Tussauds era and now, but do we really think ‘classic’ Chessington rivalled Disney? In my own opinion, no…

Perhaps not rivalled but I think Chessington and AT in general were a lot closer than you give credit. Pioneering rollercoasters. Dark rides of a similar quality. Substantial immersion.

The gap has increased exponentially in the passing decades.

 

[Hid]

What were the main Changes between Professor Burps Bubbleworks and Imperial Leather Bubbleworks because I first rode it in 2016 before it closed and it was still a memorable ride particularly the finale scene

 

[MattBTP]

Perhaps not rivalled but I think Chessington and AT in general were a lot closer than you give credit. Pioneering rollercoasters. Dark rides of a similar quality. Substantial immersion.

The gap has increased exponentially in the passing decades.

I do know John Wardley's designs were well received by the industry at the time. I seem to recall he was invited out to WDW for a backstage tour of ToT so it appears he turned heads at WDI.

 

[pluk]

What were the main Changes between Professor Burps Bubbleworks and Imperial Leather Bubbleworks because I first rode it in 2016 before it closed and it was still a memorable ride particularly the finale scene

All sense of joy and humour were removed. A thousand unjoyful and unamusing ducks replaced them.

 

[Bowser]

Looks like we have another red track coaster for 2026!


From: https://x.com/themeparkww/status/1982422701777256730?s=46&t=0gSA6DB3t11tFWJ4xv8eFA

 

[flyingguitar]

I would say it looks like the same manufacure of minifigure speedway (Zierer) from the track design

 

[Matt N]

I would say it looks like the same manufacure of minifigure speedway (Zierer) from the track design

It is. The ride will be a mirrored clone of Farmyard Flyer at Paultons, if I’m not wrong, which is also a Zierer.

 

[Hid]

All sense of joy and humour were removed. A thousand unjoyful and unamusing ducks replaced them.

Surely the sets were still great and the theme was still great

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

I would not say it was rose tinted glasses. Compare rattlesnake with Indie Jones when it was new. Could you ever see the amount of animatronics placed in a que line now? Like we said earlier the insulations of Ramses revenge que and area was built around the ride for spectators. Now everything is cattle pens.

Maybe the turning point for me was when the monorail was lost. Land of the dragons was a meh for me as it was already recycling the animatronics from mystic east.

 

[MattBTP]

What were the main Changes between Professor Burps Bubbleworks and Imperial Leather Bubbleworks because I first rode it in 2016 before it closed and it was still a memorable ride particularly the finale scene

Basically the heart and soul were ripped out of the attraction. Professor Burp removed, all the gags removed/replaced with "humorous" references to making soap/Imperial Leather. Such a shame

 

[KolonelKlink]

I do often think the past is looked at with rose tinted specs.

Virtually no-one who went on the original Bubbleworks would say that - it was a thing of joy and clever in-jokes and originality and Transylvania was so immersive at that time it was the highlight of the UK’s best themed park of the era. Up to Disney standards? Probably not - but it was very well done and lightyears ahead of what we have now.

 

[Islander]

Up to Disney standards? Probably not - but it was very well done and lightyears ahead of what we have now.

To be fair I agree with this, and was probably more what I meant. It wasn’t world-class, up to Disney standards. But by no means was it not good in its own right, or infinitely better than now...

 

[Hid]

Should they remake Professor Burps Bubbleworks in a new form. I know Merlin can make great animatronics and a great dark ride when they want to looking at Animal Treasure Island or they could make into that theme

 

[MattBTP]

Should they remake Professor Burps Bubbleworks in a new form. I know Merlin can make great animatronics and a great dark ride when they want to looking at Animal Treasure Island or they could make into that theme

TBH probably not. Think it was of its time, and should imagine we would have ended up with Gruffalo (or a Gruffalo-esque) ride anyway. Gruffalo is ok, theming is good, however a bit sparse compared to what was there before. Also don't think the spinning boats work to well whilst trying to tell a linear story. I don't know the Gruffalo story/stories, so had trouble keeping up with what was going on. Beauty of Bubbleworks was that there was no real story as such, just craziness going on around you, and always something to see no matter which way you were pointing,

Might be quite cool to see a reimagined Bubbleworks, but would always be compared to the original. Just think we could have done without the Imperial Leather version.