The Millennium Dome London

Hi guys. Sorry if this thread isn't warranted (it isn't about an operating theme park, after all), but as it was a popular, well-known visitor attraction, I thought it might be an interesting one to discuss. The place I'm talking about is The Millennium Dome in London, and I was spurred to start a thread and learn more about it after watching this great documentary by Expedition Theme Park:

I wasn't born when the Millennium Dome operated, being born in 2003 myself, but I'd be really interested to know; do any of you remember the Millennium Dome, or did any of you get to visit? And if so, what were your thoughts on the experience, or the concept in general?

From my outsider's perspective, it looks like one of the most unique tourist attractions ever created, and I'll admit I'd genuinely struggle to succinctly describe it... it looked like one of those places that didn't really fit into any binary category, even though it drew elements from a number of attraction types.

I also find it quite insane to think that a UK government ever greenlighted & funded something like this; I'm not saying there was anything wrong with it by any stretch, as I find the optimism & enthusiasm behind it from the likes of Tony Blair really quite inspiring, but rightly or wrongly, this certainly isn't the type of thing I could see the current UK government doing.

But what were your general thoughts on the Millennium Dome in London? Do you have any particular memories or experiences you'd like to share?

The only thing I know about the Millennium Dome is that the Temple of Mayhem indoor play area at Chessington (formerly known as Dennis' Madhouse) was from the Millennium Dome.
https://themeparkguide.co.uk/ride/Temple-Of-Mayhem

Thameslink Rail said:

The only thing I know about the Millennium Dome is that the Temple of Mayhem indoor play area at Chessington (formerly known as Dennis' Madhouse) was from the Millennium Dome.
https://themeparkguide.co.uk/ride/Temple-Of-Mayhem

Click to expand...

Interesting; I never knew that! Did this replace existing play equipment like-for-like, or was it a brand new addition to Chessington for 2001?

Matt N said:

Interesting; I never knew that! Did this replace existing play equipment like-for-like, or was it a brand new addition to Chessington for 2001?

Click to expand...

The original Beanoland was a bit smaller with nothing where Temple of Mayhem and Lorikeet Lagoon are now, there was also no path between the back of Beanoland and Mystic East.

It was a Conservative idea which the Labour Party continued with after they won the 1997 General Election.

From my recollection, and from being in the North of the country. It seemed like a massive white elephant, and the usual thing of something being funded for London that would never get off the ground in any other part of the country.

Plus for some reason they decided it would only open for a year in that form before it closed down.

Seems a better use now with the cinema and the o2 Arena.

My first visit was after it had turned in to a entertainment centre, rather than the initial exhibition. It was very impressive, and I imagine it to be a great venue to watch a concert at.

My visit led me to this feeling of, wishing I had gone before it was converted, it was certainly something different from what I remember, and being there in person got me wondering what it would of been like to have visited the exhibition.

6.5 Million people visiting for the year it was open is impressive though, but as John suggests, many in the North saw it at the time as a waste of money, and the media reviews were never very positive. I also seem to remember lots of issues with the dome itself and leaks in the roof?

I went as a child to the original exhibition - I seem to recall a circus-type show taking place in the very middle, along with a (what seemed quite large) "body" exhibition with animatronic hearts and blood vessels. It was all rather odd to be honest, especially as a kid - certainly can't imagine anything like that ever coming together again!

My memory of it is very similar to Alastair. I also remember a room with walls containing thousands of pound notes. And some sort of beach. All very bizarre stuff.

If you lived in the south and were born in the late 80s or early 90s chances are you visited the Dome as part of a school trip. Trying to get every school child to see it was something the government really pushed. It's partly why they got such high visitor numbers (and why the London Resort are being unrealistic when they use the Dome as an example of potential guest attendance).

Dreamt of it having a coaster, followed the project with interest...vanity project for politicians for the millennium...Britain at the centre of it all because we are on the Greenwich timeline cobblers.
Massive needless leisure spend when the basic national infrastructure needed the investment far more.
Could not get the kids I was looking after interested, they wanted Blackpool or the Towers...they could not see the point of the "Big White Tent that cost a Billion quids".
Overspent on construction, not self funding as promised, useless, unwanted massive white elephant at the end that nobody wanted as a whole, so further multi millions spent to break it up into units of a manageable size.
Waste of the nations precious resources that failed to catch the public imagination outside the precious south east.

I lived just over half hours train journey away from the dome, having left education by the time it opened. Despite my relative proximity I never went and I don't think I know anyone else who went either. Gives an idea of the true draw of the place outside of school trips.

Since it became 02 I've been countless times. For comedy it's soulless and for music the sound is pretty rotten. I avoid it now.

I visited twice; once with school and once with my family. I remember it being really cool as a kid, especially going up escalators in to what seemed like at the time the huge body exhibition. I also remember some sort of screen based ride/simulator which I enjoyed, and I think this got moved somewhere else after its stint at the Dome.

Most I remember as a kid is the Blackadder special they showed in the cinema.

Seen a few gigs there. Always been a good time. Also remember visiting for the first Winter Wonderland which they'd set up inside. That was a good use of space before it became the O2 officially.

I’ve heard school trips mentioned quite a bit. Would it be fair to guess that a high percentage of the 6.5 million guests who visited the Dome were school trip guests? Possibly even above 50%?

Come to think of it, the exhibits mentioned in the Dome do sound like they’d contribute to the sort of place you’d typically take students to on a school trip. It all sounded pretty educationally-orientated, or at very least like it had an underlying educational message. Would I be correct there, in the minds of those of you who visited or remember it?

Thanks for sharing your experiences & memories though, all; I still find it quite amazing to think that an entirely government-funded tourist attraction of this type was ever commissioned! The late 90s were clearly a very different time… rightly or wrongly, the Millennium Dome doesn’t seem like the type of thing that Boris Johnson would give the go ahead.

Matt N said:

Thanks for sharing your experiences & memories though, all; I still find it quite amazing to think that an entirely government-funded tourist attraction of this type was ever commissioned! The late 90s were clearly a very different time… rightly or wrongly, the Millennium Dome doesn’t seem like the type of thing that Boris Johnson would give the go ahead.

Click to expand...

It was mainly lottery funded I think. Also they genuinely thought it would get significantly more visitors than Alton Towers and expected entrance fees to make up a large part of income, this is why during the year 2000 further lottery funding was required when visitor numbers didn't live up tothe ridiculous expectations.

I could completely see Boris supporting something though, he loved throwing money at things when London mayor. Look at the new routemaster bus which is no longer used as not as practical as off-the-shelf models, or all the money he gave to the garden bridge which was a useless vanity project that (rightfully) never got built.

I remember it being on the news a lot whilst being built and then also a lot afterwards about it being a waste of money. Also, I've never visited it or had any use for it. Similar story to HS2. But you know me, I always try to look at the positives

Matt N said:

I’ve heard school trips mentioned quite a bit. Would it be fair to guess that a high percentage of the 6.5 million guests who visited the Dome were school trip guests? Possibly even above 50%?

Come to think of it, the exhibits mentioned in the Dome do sound like they’d contribute to the sort of place you’d typically take students to on a school trip. It all sounded pretty educationally-orientated, or at very least like it had an underlying educational message. Would I be correct there, in the minds of those of you who visited or remember it?

Thanks for sharing your experiences & memories though, all; I still find it quite amazing to think that an entirely government-funded tourist attraction of this type was ever commissioned! The late 90s were clearly a very different time… rightly or wrongly, the Millennium Dome doesn’t seem like the type of thing that Boris Johnson would give the go ahead.

Click to expand...

Every school got offered 100 free tickets, so that was a million entitled to a freebie.
Lots of voluntary groups and the like were offered tickets over time to boost attendance numbers, when it became obvious the thing was a bit of a flop.
I know every kid in care got offered a ticket...often two so they could take a mate, but take up was very low in my personal experience, they just did not want to go to an "edutainment tent."

It’s impossible to overstate how many times the planned contents of the Dome changed between the project being announced and the opening date - I remember when the plans were first laid out, TV news reports were filled with suggestions of rollercoasters and other big attractions, before the whole thing moved very much towards “education”, bringing with it a whole load of other problems - all the zones needed big corporate sponsors to help pay off some of the debt, but those sponsors wanted their products front and centre - causing all kinds of creative tensions.

Various documentaries were made about the construction - one of which (not available online it seems) shows Peter Mandelson’s excitement about an elaborate boat ride which ends up being cancelled, much to his disappointment. This Trouble at the Top sets out some of the struggles:



Of course, the Dome did end up with some rides in the end - as PY Gerbeau stuck a small travelling funfair outside when he was brought in.

The only thing I remember about the Dome was the failed Raid on the Diamond exhibition where armed police was waiting for them inside.

I went twice, once with school and once with my family. For all the stick it got, I don’t think it was that bad.

The bodyzone thing was quite cool, I also remember a weird chillout room where there were calming lights with relaxing music and a weird shaped floor that fit the curvature of your body. I also remember quite a good Black Adder short episode which was the first thing I did when I went there, there was loads of other stuff though and all together it made for quite a good, if bizarre, day out.

I’m not surprised it was only around for a year though, it was the kind of thing you’d only want to do once or twice, there was little to keep you going back more than that which would have meant it would need maintaining as other tourist attractions are and updating which the government probably weren’t ever going to do. As it is it’s quite a good option as a venue to be honest.

Alastair said:

I went as a child to the original exhibition - I seem to recall a circus-type show taking place in the very middle, along with a (what seemed quite large) "body" exhibition with animatronic hearts and blood vessels. It was all rather odd to be honest, especially as a kid - certainly can't imagine anything like that ever coming together again!

Click to expand...

exactly my memory - oh and some Blackadder special being shown