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The 5th Dimension

Trooper Looper

Trooper Looper

TS Member
Hi there people, since I've always been into Britians Classic Dark rides, The 5th Dimension seems to be forgotten about, so I'd like to hear if you ever experienced it, what it was like, and was Terror Tomb a worthy Replacement?
 
I didn't ride 5th dimension nor do I know that much about it but from what I've heard it was a little odd. I understand that it was Tussauds studio's first contribution to the theme park division and they were given the track layout and told to come up with something. John Wardley has said before that originally they thought it was beneath them to design theme park rides however they gradually got more involved. I suppose they wanted to show off there skills and perhaps it did that but maybe it wasn't quite perfect for the audience.
Edit: just corrected terror tomb to 5th dimension sorry if that confused anyone
 
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The Fifth Dimension truly was a unique ride. It was designed in house originally by some big wigs at tussauds who had never designed an attraction before.

John Wardley and a handful of other Tussauds designers were brought in after its first year of operation as the park openly admitted the story was a failure. The original set pieces were huge but the story was very confusing and many people did not know what was happening on the ride nor what they were queuing for.

Prior to the 2nd year of operation, John Wardley and co. brought totally rewrote the show and introduced a new character, Zappomatic, who guided you through the TV universe where you met all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures as he attempted to fix his blaster to destroy the big bad zorg - along with the riders help of course.

It was a very unique ride. The legend (Dan I think?) over at British Theme Park Archive did an amazing documentary covering the ride (This is where I got my info from, well the stuff I could remember anyway!) but unfortunately he removed the video from YouTube.

British Theme Park Archive are truly an inspiration to the theme park industry, the work he has done documenting long lost attractions and interviewing the creative minds behind them is truly incredible - I do hope he returns some day!

I never rode the ride but I am sure others will be able to offer more info on the finer details of the attraction.
 
I think British theme Park Archive is still around, but he only took down the documentaries to add new stuff to them, and I think he said they'll be ready around spring this year :)
 
Love that POV, even there's still a lot missing when in person. I'd love Chessington to bring back Zappomatic in some shape or form, The 5th Dimension has its run, so why not put him In a new attraction. Why not a sci fi themed madhouse?
 
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The 1 thing that surprises me from watching that POV and going on Terror Tomb that it’s the same ride layout and building. What also surprises me looking at google Earth is how small the building looks compared to Duel and the Pirate adventure building but feels there’s a lot more In there.
 
Yes
Incredible (to 10 year old me)
No

I loved it. Along with Bubbleworks it is undoubtedly where some of my themepark obsession comes from.

Themeparksandy1981 said:
The 1 thing that surprises me from watching that POV and going on Terror Tomb that it’s the same ride layout and building. What also surprises me looking at google Earth is how small the building looks compared to Duel and the Pirate adventure building but feels there’s a lot more In there.
Click to expand...

There is a lot more in there; its on two levels whereas the others are on one.
 
On the subject of classic dark rides, I am certain there used to be and I kid you not, a travelling Jim'll fix it fun house / dark ride sort of thing, late 1980's early 1990's.....that aged well. I am just glad they never built it into something such as dark ride log flume. Does anyone else remember seeing anything like this?

This was not classic in the sense it was good either, in hindsight, shocking. But classic in the sense it is old.
 
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