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London Dungeons

Hey, I just saw the reference to "Pandemonium" at the London Dungeons. I do remember that! In fact, it was searching for it on Google that brought me here. Would love to hear your memories of it. I went a couple of times, and remember it being by far the scariest bit of the Dungeons.

If memory serves, you walked through double doors (with demonic eyes above them) which automatically swung open when you approached them. Just inside that there was an ante-room with what looked like a huge mound of earth (revolving?), and there were little twigs which moved in and out of it, as if were alive. Then I seem to remember there was another door which took you into a much bigger room. There was a large demon-like figure at the back with a face-projection on it which allowed it to "talk". The tableaux around him were the usual assortment of naked / sacrificed / worshiping people.

Pretty unpleasant all round, and very spooky indeed. What do you remember?
 
thinktank said:
There was a large demon-like figure at the back with a face-projection on it which allowed it to "talk". The tableaux around him were the usual assortment of naked / sacrificed / worshiping people. Pretty unpleasant all round, and very spooky indeed.
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I think I have seen pictures of this from an old collection... But due to the nudity/devil workship not sure if I can post them publically! Ha ha

What year was this in the Dungeons do you remember?
 
... Because the internet has never seen nudity before.

Post them, man! I don't remember this at all.
 
So the new London Bridge station has opened, complete with hiddeous 1970's style wooden roof. I'd have to visit for myself and get my bearings, but I think this image shows the vaults that used to contain the Dungeon.


Further details on the station can be found here.
 
State of those narrow platforms; no wonder most Londoners who use it seem to hate it (I didn't have much joy using it when I had to for a week on my last First Aid training course)...
 
Reposting the photo from upthread a few years ago of the old Dungeons arches pre-redevelopment.

Jordan said:
Some interesting photos posted by the Telegraph of the old arches under London Bridge station being cleared as part of the redevelopment. You can still see some of the Dungeons' theming on the walls.

THAMESLINK-1_3115421k.jpg
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Below is a (not-to-scale) map of the new London Bridge station. I've shaded in red where the new vaulted corridor is.

T39r3lxr.png


This roughly lines up with some of the arches on the site plan of the old Dungeons.

tFT9KaI.png


So it's likely that either the new passageway, or at least the shops on the north side, are built in the old Dungeons space.
 
When I visited the Dungeons during the summer, I experienced the boat ride, but when visiting in December, the boat ride was omitted. Anyone know why this was?
 
I am so sorry if this has been posted earlier, or in another thread, but...
https://stringandmonsters.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/abandoned-waxworks

It is so interesting to see these - they look so unusual out of place and it is a little sad to see them just dumped and left to rot. Although a little dust does seem to add to their aesthetic.
As we are now over five years since the Dungeons moved locations, I can't help but wonder if they are still there - if that animatronic torturer would still work...
It is a shame that they can't use these somewhere. I know - they want it fully actor focused... but surely lining some of these in the hallways along with the other (sparsely populated) mannequins, it would be a huge improvement to the overall atmosphere?
 
I know it's an old site - just stumbled across it!
I still wonder if they are still there though!
With the redevelopment of LB pretty much done now, just feel like there is literally nothing but memories to suggest the old dungeon ever existed there at all.
 
I overheard a northern family on the tube a few days ago, the gran and mum were asking the dad and kids what they had been up to. The kids then spent the next ten minutes explaining in detail how "crap" the London Dungeon was.
"All you do is queue. You queue to get in, then you queue for a photo, then you queue to pay, then you queue for it to start, then it's just one long queue all the way through. It's sooooo boooooring!"
 
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Such a shame!
The Dungeons have always had big queues, but it was just different inside. I don't remember much queuing after the main queue, except for the rides.

I still don't think the CH dungeons has the same impact or lasting impression that the TS dungeon had. The boat ride literally feels like a ride through painted black walls and TRAITOR'S GATE doesn't open.
The last time I rode Drop Dead, they had torn all the scenery out. It was literally the voiceover in the dark... no video, nothing! Terrible! (Yet the entry price keeps creeping up every year)

I've noticed that their branding now includes skeletons and a little bit of gore again... Wasn't the big rebrand to shed any gore or horror references altogether? Haha.
 
I went last weekend for the first time and although we queued to get in at first, for the rides and for 2 scenes where we had caught up to the group in front it felt like we only queued for a small portion of experience. Mrs Lovett really helped by chatting until the next room was free. Bigger problem was how they packed people into the tiny rooms! They are shouting to get the door closed at the back, but people can't shuffle forward to clear the door. No doubt holding up the group behind us. I get it's supposed to feel close and intimate which is great, but maybe our group was just a few people people too big.

The most offensive was standing in the torturers chamber struggling to hear him over guy Fawkes and his capturer next door. Kind of ruined the imersion.

Was a bit worried about the audience participation but I think it was well handled and done at a reasonable level.

Overall really enjoyed it though, wasn't quite what I was expecting, but was well done. Seance and Jack the ripper ghost were the best for me.
 
Did a run through on Friday, although the boat ride is nice, the first scene after this then gets disrupted as you miss out if you are one of the last on the boat ride. Sweeney Todd and the Court are the best bit for me. A bit I don't remember was the spirit section with Ouija board, there were a couple of moments where the sound from one of the other rooms interrupted the room we were in. Drop Dead was a bit pants. The tavern having an ale on was good though!
 
Sorry to bump the thread, but I just had a couple of random questions to ask about the London Dungeons that were triggered by reading back through this topic:
  • Firstly, how on earth did they manage to cram so much into County Hall when they moved it? I've been to London and seen County Hall (In fact, I have stayed in the County Hall Premier Inn multiple times, but that's besides the point!), and while it is a big building, I wouldn't have guessed it was big enough to hold things like a huge boat ride and a Sub-Terra style drop tower within one attraction, alongside 2 other Merlin midways, a Marriott hotel, a Premier Inn, multiple restaurants and some form of key Merlin offices!
  • Also, how does the attraction work? Is it an attraction where you're put into a big group, and you are briefed around the different elements of the attraction in that big group? Or is it more like Madame Tussaud's, where it's mostly free flow and certain elements of the attraction (e.g. The Chamber of Horrors in Madame Tussaud's) are optional?
  • Furthermore, how does the boat ride work and when was it added to the original London Dungeons near London Bridge? Is it more like CATCF, where it's a traditional boat ride? Or is it like Frozen Ever After at Epcot, where it has more bells and whistles to it? Or does it work differently to both of those? I'm also asking about when the boat ride first premiered because my mum says that she visited the original London Dungeons as a child and doesn't remember any form of boat ride.
Sorry to bombard you all with so many questions; I was just curious! I've never visited the London Dungeons before and I don't have any plans to visit any time soon, as it's not really my sort of thing, to tell you the truth!
 
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