Benin

*High Fives*

Bubbleworks Retheme – The Phantom FactoryStoryIn the streets of Translyvania, there is always a need for strange monsters and creations in order to help do whatever it is those mad scientists do, so they have to come from somewhere right? You have been invited by the strange and mysterious Count to tour his brand new monster creation factory to show you how the scares are really made...CharactersThere are 5 main characters that are seen within the attraction:The CountFrankie SteinVlad the VampireBob the WerewolfIgors (The workers inside the factory)Exterior/ QueueThe building colour is changed to a stone wall facade with some wooden trim and the current wooden fences changed into thick iron railings.The entrance is moved to the current fast-track entrance, and is split into two, where the fast-track follows its current route, whilst the main queue turns into the current extension and uses the rest of the current queueline.The buggy park remains in the current position and is heavily notified at the entrance.Several windows and posters are added to the outside walls advertising the all new factory tour, showing the various creations and items that get manufactured within. The windows show some of the devices created for ‘window shopping’.Station – Great HallThe station’s interior is transformed into a grand welcoming hall with stone walls and floors continuing the exterior theme, with several staff related items scattered around (hats/jackets/etc).An arched roof completes the appearance of the room. From which a giant chandelier sits covered in spider webs and with monster designs around it.The original ramp queue-line gets modified by removing the first two ramps and replacing them with a set of stairs leading up directly from the batch gate instead.A massive ‘VELCOME’ banner sits where the current coloured screens sit now.Various more posters and notices are placed on the walls surrounding the queue similar to the previous incarnations.The Townscape is removed and that wall is repainted in order to make it look like there are several corridors and other rooms that could be reached. A ‘window’ above this shows a dark sky outside and arcs of lightning occasionally flash.Staff are given capes and top hats in order to keep the theme going.Room 1 – ReceptionMuch like the previous versions of the attraction, the first room is the reception/welcome area where the first Count animatronic sits beckoning the boats deeper into the factory whilst holding a small model monster in his other hand. His desk is covered in various components and pictures of the 3 secondary characters (Frankie, Vlad and Bob) hang on his wall next to his newest and favourite invention.An Igor sits next to him holding a tea tray with a mug and some ‘bat biscuits’.Room 2 – Parts RoomWe now enter the main storage and work-room within the factory, we see several Igors sorting parts into heads, body, arms, misc, and attempting to put some together. Restrooms can also be seen like now, only with a few more doors for Igors, Monsters, etc.We see a teaching room where some younger Igors are being shown the main ingredients for Monsters where the old squash room was.The taps are kept but weathered/tarnished to keep in the new ‘darker’ theme and spit out red water.The infamous cow is removed and replaced with a giant cauldron with an Igor mixing it as monster parts are thrown in through a conveyor belt.Room 3 – Frankie’s RoomThe laughing tubes are completely removed and replaced by several tables with cables running everywhere along the floor and wall. A massive machine stands at one wall (leading to the Staff Room). If we look up we see an open roof showing a stormy sky and every so often lightning strikes and causes the new monsters to rise from their beds, but the pressure becomes too high and they fall back down.We see Frankie attempting to fix the machine by hitting it with a hammer/wrench.The Count is standing on the opposite side (where Prof Burp was) looking over the process.Room 4 – Staff RoomLots of Igors in here relaxing and patching themselves up in the Medical Room, Igor of the Week is displayed proudly on one wall, as well as a ‘No Accidents for X Days sign (which periodically increases and after a loud crash and scream changes back to 0), whilst vending machines are scattered around and the big bubble is replaced by a food area dominated by a big female Igor standing behind the food serving it.Room 5 – Wolf RoomThe bath is kept but turned into a ‘Wolf Dip’, created in order to put the fur onto the monsters. We see naked monsters travelling along (covering themselves and blushing), getting dumped in and being pushed along covered in fur.The other side of the room has the ‘Howl School’, where Bob is teaching new monsters the correct way to howl (which as they do, is in time with the music), and we also have the ‘Flea Bath’ where we have a queue of wolves itching their bodies and looking anxious waiting to enter a small sauna building.Room 6 – GraveyardFrom the current photo point to the hygiene room.The walls are covered in vines to make it appear that we have gone outside, with a scenic setting on the current waterfall piece showing off the factory’s graveyard, with most of the gravestones stating Igor (as they do all the dirty work so they’re the only ones who get affected by ‘incidents’ that occur in the factory.The Egg Scale is turned into Vlad hitting a Skeleton and his head flying up and hitting a bell (with a scale of strength with monster related signs), whilst the Hatchery is turned into Frankie playing a drum solo in time with the theme music on several Skeletons which say ‘OW’ in different tones.Room 7 – Crypt (Vampire Room)First difference in this room is that the roof is lowered a lot more to make it more Crypt-like, moss and lichen cover many parts of the wall. We see Vlad standing on a small platform looking towards 4 open coffins with Vampires in them. We realise that Vlad is conducting them and they are singing a random song (again, in time with the theme music).Room 8 – FairgroundAs the fairground is the second most iconic scene from the Bubbleworks, it should really be kept in any new version of it.However, like the rest of the ride, it would be started from scratch.The fairground area will go all the way from the Crypt to the Lift Hill, with the walls repainted to resemble a spooky version of Chessington itself with rides like Peeking Heights, Dragon’s Fury, Rameses Revenge and Kobra can all be spotted somewhere on the walls, and the new flat rides are parodies of existing rides at the park, include the Carousel (with monsters instead of horses), Sea Dragons (the ‘Sea Monster’ ride), Safari Skyway (with a track hanging over the area and a train filled with monster tourists passing through) and the zoo. Some sideshows are also present with the 3 secondary characters standing by them.We also now have the ‘Ghoster Coaster’ which is a more advanced version of the old Cola-Coaster system and shows a larger layout in the distance as well as the animatronic coaster system. Naturally, it is being ridden by ghostly figures, many with their arms up which could be done through a mix of models and projections to give the ghostly appearance.Room 9 – LiftThe lift now has flickering red lights as you proceed up, and sitting at the top is an Igor figure, which in time with the sensors at the top of the drop, pushes a lever which ‘drops’ the boat down the drop into the finale sequence.In addition to this, a portcullis door slowly starts dropping as the boat begins to drop which it ‘narrowly’ avoids.Room 10 – Fountain FinaleThe fountain finale is brought back to its original state with the walls completely covered in mirrors and the lights changing from red, blue and green before the strobes are activated.The centrepiece is the Count, Frankie, Vlad and Bob on a platform that rises up and down due to the numerous Igors underneath struggling with the weight from the characters as they celebrate their great new factory.Room 11 – ‘Come Back Soon’/Photo An Igor stands to the side holding an old fashioned camera which is really the disguised on-ride photo, stating that he wants to give you a ‘monstrous memory’ of your tour (See “Oi, Oi, Oi, I’m about to take your photo”) and that you should remain seated until factory staff inform you to vacate you boat in typical Igor voice (with a lisp).MusicThe music would be very Danny Elfman-like in order to provide a creepy but yet kid friendly theme. The Exterior music would be used as a Translyvania area theme more than anything, and the interior theme would have some nods to the original sets of music.

2006 weren't it? Could have been Candi Holland...

^What you said is what I mean by fix...There's so few moving parts nowadays that saying all the effects are working is not the greatest good claim...

^Either that or they are just waiting for the opportune moment to fix it :angry:It's like, why try and fix something in the short term which could waste budget which would be better spent elsewhere when you could leave it then get it all done in one fell swoop?As long as it gets re-done in the next 3 years... It looked crap when it opened and it looks crap now, no change at all tbh...

^Interesting idea with the time travel thing...Liking the sound of the station, I'll join in the designing process with my idea and meet back here in 48 hours?

45 minutes was the max for Kobra early on which was 35 mins later...20-30 for Vamp and Fury...That was about it really... Not many extensions open around the park...

Today was a fun day, not too busy and Wild Asia has bedded in very nicely...Construction on the safari area has moved very quickly as the building next to Creature Features has already got a themed exterior... And it looks good... High hopes again for this...Staff on Vampire and Fury were not great... Very slow especially on Fury, which naturally annoyed me... And unfortunately kids are climbing on the new Vamp queue stuff... Should've mentioned that actually when talking to the TL Oh wells...Also there were no Kobra shirts... In both the main and WA shops... Bad times...Ride Count:Vamp - 2Fury - 2Kobra - 1Tuk Tuks - 1Falls - 1Tomb - 1Rattlesnake - 1Bubbles - 1Buccaneer - 1

Running very well today...Loud music and operators not over-using the microphone...Though the staff were slow, but that is a park-wide thing atm rather than just Vamp...

This is what they should do... The coat and hat is making decent effort with the current rubbish though...We can only hope that they will strip the ride down and start again with a silly yet spooky theme...

One of the main good things about the Bubbleworks ride system is that everyone can go on it, so to remove that in my view would be a bad idea as a lot of the current ridership would go...But what Bubbles does need is a complete stripping and started from nothing for the theming... Into something that fits into Translyvania's area...The original worked because it was a crazy Professor, but now it really doesn't work, but what I do like is the factory theme, so how about a monster making factory run by monsters for monsters?Of course the design of the monsters would be very kid-targeted, and some of the scenes could be kept (the fairground for example is probably one of the most well known scenes in Bubbleworks), whilst many would be re-worked from the start (so no more being quiet because of the eggs), and originality and imagination would flow back into the experience...One more thing I'd do is bring back the mirrored walls in the fountain finale... Because that used to be amazing before the retheme, when the atmosphere is lost a lot more than it used to have... Stupid Tussauds...Imagine going up the lift-hill to be greeted by an Igor-esque character who pulls a lever as you drop plunging the room into total darkness or turning on a strobe?One of these days I'll actually go through my ideas for Bubbles retheme into that...

^And that crappy red Intamin next door to it ;)Obviously John Wardley went on the Season Pass podcast and stated that there wasn't a need for a main central story, but the thing is the marketing lot basically put in an entire mix of different things in the advertising from the wolf in the original leaflets, the 'ride the demon' slogan, the wraiths, the girl in the adverts, and the worst one of course calling it the world's 'ultimate' coaster...Now on that last point calling it that was a big mistake... Because it made GP (and enthusiasts to an extent) believe it would be better than Nemesis and the other big coasters in the world and hence there have been a few people with disappointment on their faces and most of the enthusiasts at opening basically went "It was average", myself included...Now there's nothing wrong with a 'scary' theme for a family coaster, indeed, most ghost trains in the world are family rides technically... But the problem with this is that the coaster portion is really boring (trims the reason moreso than the barren area), there's so little pace and excitement to that section but yet you go inside and the ride suddenly turns into something really good...The idea of the drop is great... But I feel that the layout of the ride (and the advertising) didn't really lend itself to the entire package, and the scaffolding as Mark said will look pretty dodgy to those who don't understand that there's meant to be restoration going on, again, it's a whole mixture of themes and stories (sounds like the recent episodes of Doctor Who now ) and I just think it should have been more dark ride than coaster...The area of course is still marred by that mistake from 2005... They tried with Rita at least but it still looks so out of place and squeezed in... Bloody Tussauds...I one day hope that Disney or Universal decide to make a ride with the technology, because they'll make it a truly amazing experience...

^We don't, so that's a no

Counts you out then

^I mean the but about How to Train Your Dragon, it just went off on such a tangent in comparison to the rest of the conversation...

Disney and Universal are amazing places because of all the little details...Not everyone will notice them, but something as obvious and simple as lab coats and hard hats will help things all come together...

Well done for stereotyping an entire group of people based on one idiotic person's post... I listened to it earlier and thought it was very good, though the theatre part was a bit 'why?' to me as I thought it was meant to be a coaster show...Thankfully now we can not hold John responsible for any of the dodginess of the ride and place all the blame on Candi Holland...

It entirely depends how much the person uses the microphone as well...Sometimes they can do it too bloody much and make absolutely no sense to the ride in question... And that can get really annoying after a while...

I'm not overally fussed about it being Pizza Hut (bar the expensiveness of it) but they really need to re-arrange the serving areas... Especially when we're spoilt by the good layouts at Alton and Chessie...

Evidently someone just doesn't love Chessie enough to help make the experience even more complete

Hopefully Peeking Tom is the sort of thing Chessie will revamp extensively with their future plans...Just hope they have a list of the areas that need a complete redo that we approve of... Mexicana, Mystic East and Toytown being my main 3...Bubbles contract runs out this year as well doesn't it? God I hope they have epic plans for that as well...

I miss it... Really do... Seeing that image makes me slightly sad inside even though the coaster was nowhere near special to me...Maybe because it was ditched because they didn't want to spend the extra money on it and you still see the remains of it sitting there after several years...

^Well it IS the actual name of the ride... It's not as bad as wanting everyone to put "& Zoo" at the end or having the name of the park in all capitals...

^They really did sneak it through because apart from the hints given to Coasterforce we didn't know anything until they put the advertising up...Maybe it was easier for them to push through because it was animal based and didn't require much in the way of building a massive structure (although the building next to Creature Features looks big), so there was minimal opposition against it or less time was needed for the council to decide...Either way, this area will be a work in progress for the next several years... Let's hope the zoo will follow the high standards given by Wild Asia and expand greatly...

Cue a crappy Vekoma Motorbike coaster