The finale would be better if they timed the lighting to turn off when the strobes were on, like it used to be before it got ducked up...

The lack of Imperial Leather stuff in some cases is hilarious, like one of the pictures in the stations looking like they let a toddler paint over the logo with a big paintbrush...

It also seemed incredibly dusty in my opinion.

The dust is probably smoke and soot dust from the Creepy Café fire to be fair.

But I do agree with you. When the park closes this autumn, they should spend some time (and money) in giving the whole ride a good clean up and paint job. In the past, Bubbleworks has remained open throughout the "Festive Zoo Days" which means they haven't been able to spend the time required on giving it some much-needed TLC.

The dust is probably smoke and soot dust from the Creepy Café fire to be fair.

I hadn't really considered that; although I do consider the entire ride throughout very dusty in a majority of places. Hopefully they do spend some time cleaning it up; the animatronics seems to be working faultlessly at the moment though, so they've clearly done some form of TLC work.

Equally I've only ever known Bubbleworks as the ducks, but I do think it could be changed for something a bit more... magical, now. Although I would miss the smell in the station.

The finale would be better if they timed the lighting to turn off when the strobes were on, like it used to be before it got ducked up...

Hah! Good wordplay.

I hadn't really considered that; although I do consider the entire ride throughout very dusty in a majority of places. Hopefully they do spend some time cleaning it up; the animatronics seems to be working faultlessly at the moment though, so they've clearly done some form of TLC work.

Equally I've only ever known Bubbleworks as the ducks, but I do think it could be changed for something a bit more... magical, now. Although I would miss the smell in the station.

Yes, the animatronics always do seem to work for the first few weeks of the season, and then bit by bit things stop. The Hippo's mouth will stop opening and closing, or the spinning ducks will stop spinning etc...

This Autumn, they should take the opportunity to close the ride for the entire Winter (not open it during Festive Zoo days) and give the whole ride a proper clean up.

When I went last Monday to CWOA I was looking forward to the strobes.....got to the finale bit, no strobes OR fountains! And I went with someone who had never been before and was saying "ooh we are coming up to the best bit"

No fountains?! That's appalling! It's the freaking Fountain Finale.

Just a random idea. If Chessington had a choice of two past rides to bring back, between Professor Burp's Bubbleworks and Terror Tomb, surely they'd probably go for the EASIEST thing to bring back - Terror Tomb for instance (as all that was changed was the music, storyline (removing Abdab ), the finale and the addtion of scarab beetles and targets)

Just a random idea. If Chessington had a choice of two past rides to bring back, between Professor Burp's Bubbleworks and Terror Tomb, surely they'd probably go for the EASIEST thing to bring back - Terror Tomb for instance (as all that was changed was the music, storyline (removing Abdab ), the finale and the addtion of scarab beetles and targets)

Unfortunately they wouldn't do that as it would mean that they'd have to do maintenance...

Okay I'm all for constructive criticism of a park but you can't say they don't do maintenance else they couldn't open safely, it's whether they go the extra mile on stuff beyond the bare essentials is the case In that case I'd say it's a mixed bag especially after this year. I mean the market square floor compass is extra, and whether people choose to admit it or not the way in which RMT has been changed to Scorpion express is extra (especially compared to flying fish).

If Chessington were to bring a ride back (which I don't think they ever would) I'd think they'd go for Bubbleworks as that appears to from a GP's point of view has struck a cord more so than Terror Tomb.

From the second part of the amazing video ElectricBill found yesterday on 5th Dimension, this is best ever footage I've seen of the old finale lighting show. For those who never had the chance to ride it then, watch its awesomeness and see why the current one is so hated by me and others. How on earth do they make things so much worse during 'improvements'?

http://youtu.be/po5ZFHDvdUk?t=15m49s

Lack of care and attention! It's easy to install things onto demo mode!

I'm really surprised they haven't changed it yet, surely someone in engineering is enthusiastic about their product and wants to spend time making it as good as it could be.

Surely they'd need a lighting programmer rather than an engineer? I heard at the start of the year that the current lights were yet to be polished but not sure if that's happened yet.

The lighting remained fantastic right up to 2005, when the sequencing was deliberately removed and the lights just seemed to go off at random. The current LED lamps installed in 2011 are a great replacement, although I miss the fuzzy glow of the original gel lanterns.

At one point there was a mirrorball in there as well! Imagine that with the mirrored walls!

I was thinking along the lines of electrical engineer. The person who would've installed them, for example.

Just out of interest following on from the bring back an old ride idea mentioned earlier, would they be able to bring back the original bubbleworks? I mean do they have all the old ride parts/characters sitting in situ somewhere in the park? I would of thought so going by the Abdab dummies that were dumped on Vampire. If they did brink back Prof Burp though they would have to get rid of his tombstone in Transylvania though!

I think they sold/chucked a lot if not all the original bubbleworks theming.

I know the Terror Tomb organ pipes sat in the ride office for a while but the rest of the original theming is gone.

Most of the original props were either recycled for the current incarnation, chucked in a skip or salvaged by enthusiastic managers.

I for instance own this:-

so the likelihood of the Original Bubbleworks ever returning in some form is really, really unlikely

I wonder what Wardley would say knowing that all his hard work was just thrown away like that. Wish I had known when they were chucking it I would of been lurking with intent! Bubbleworks sucks now. I always wanted one of the posters that were on the walls as you climbed the stairs inside the main queue line, wonder if anyone had those.......

Maybe Wardley could be coaxed back and they could have Burps son take over the factory and make a younger version of him. I doubt it though.

Trying to recreate the original Bubbleworks vibe is the last thing they should think about doing, there's a lot of potential in the ride, and any attempt at resurrecting the original would just feel so off...

Get some originality in, rather than reboots...

The original posters as you climbed the stairs in the station are still behind the new posters. I believe they were actual paintings on the wall so couldn't be taken off for the refurb. They opted just to stick the new ones over the top. This was revealed when the superhero poster came off the wall and Prof Burps pop pills were visible for a month or so.

So all the old Terror Tomb props have disappeared?

My 10 year old self's dreams of coming across the secret vault of bubble-wrapped ghouls covered in dust have been shattered. Although I kind of knew they would gone by now anyway! Anybody know where they've gone?

And yes, all of BubbleWorks is now spread across the country in multiple people's attics.

I believe they disappeared the same time Abdab appeared outside. They must've emptied that cupboard unfortunately.

There's an exciting couple of areas in the tomb queueline for your enjoyment though. Fire exit, then go right for 5th dimension themed wall. To the right of the steps inside (by the tv) is a locked cupboard. Climb over the fake wall, and enjoy many trapped chairs.

Yay.

I believe they disappeared the same time Abdab appeared outside. They must've emptied that cupboard unfortunately.

There's an exciting couple of areas in the tomb queueline for your enjoyment though. Fire exit, then go right for 5th dimension themed wall. To the right of the steps inside (by the tv) is a locked cupboard. Climb over the fake wall, and enjoy many trapped chairs.

Yay.

If I'm thinking right, that little hidey hole by the stairs has been emptied as someone was trying to show me it, could be wrong and thinking of a different place though.

Equally, I was always led to believe that Professor Burp's theming designs, music etc. is no longer under contract; so it could theoretically be recreated by anybody now, whereas originally I believe Chessington had some kind of royalties over it?

There was no contract, especially since the studio that produced the ride closed a few years after the ride opened. But I'm unsure how Chessington would respond if somebody else used the characters. Hmmmn

I don't think contract was the right word; I think I was linking it with Imperial Leather by accident as I wrote that sorry.

I mean, the theme, it's not got its copyright over it anymore I believe. Obviously if it was recreated by another park; Chessington wouldn't like it, but I don't think they can do anything about it anymore.