Bubbleworks

[James6]

On Monday, workers on Bubbleworks were actually wearing a coat and hard hat like factory workers would, found it quite a nice little touch

[ProjectX]

On Monday, workers on Bubbleworks were actually wearing a coat and hard hat like factory workers would, found it quite a nice little touch

That is a nice touch. Love it. I think Chessington is the type of park which would benefit from ride/area specific uniform. Would add to and complement their "Britian's Wildest Adventure" marketing push so, so well.

[themeparkmad]

^ No!

[Mark9]

^ No!

Why not?For instance, at Europa Park each ride has its own themed uniform to compliment the ride. I think things like Dragon horns would work well on Fury or the Chinese hats on Falls would go down a treat

[Benin]

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

[MikeyT]

Themed uniforms are awesome. It's a no brainer really, everyone says how the staff at the parks make a big difference to a guest's day; the relevant uniforms help to make staff even more part of the experience. Guests love it, and I rekon they will be more reluctant to complain to staff and causing problems whilst they're trying to help guests on and off the ride.

[themeparkmad]

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

Ohhhhh you did just hit a sore spot there :(I don't really think to normal visitors to the park that it will increase the experience of the Ride / Attraction but that is just my opinion.

[Ricky]

Quality ride! Shame its always so busy!!

[Benin]

Ohhhhh you did just hit a sore spot there ;)I don't really think to normal visitors to the park that it will increase the experience of the Ride / Attraction but that is just my opinion.

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...

[Fred]

People notice and comment on charlie and hex's uniforms, as it just adds to the overall theme. Plus, from my own experience, staff love them. It adds something to the day, and as long as there is not a grumpy git in the team, it works well.

[Benin]

Plus, from my own experience, staff love them. It adds something to the day, and as long as there is not a grumpy git in the team, it works well.

Counts you out then

[rygr]

Posting in the Vampire topic really got me thinking about Bubbleworks too. Bubbleworks was and still is my favourite ride, and even though it makes me sad to see all the things that have changed in there (mostly the finale!) it's still a nice gentle ride to go on and look at the animatronics. But also an opportunity to remember what the ride was like 6 years ago. I have very vivid memories of Bubbleworks, which will stay with me for a long time. It was just the whole dark experience, the station having things EVERWHERE to look at, the music, the fact it didn't break down every 3 hours or so (like last year, this year realiability seems quite good). The strobes in the finale, everything was magical about this, and 3/4 of that experience have gone for good.This got me thinking. Do you think Professor Burp's Bubbleworks would still have a place at Chessington in 2010? It was still very popular back in 2005. But do you think times have changed at the park enough so that PBBW wouldnt have been able to keep up with that change. I know the ride was looking very poor in 2005, but imagine the park had spent more time and money into it's upkeep, do you think it would have lasted for many more years had Imperial Leather not stepped in?For me, I think no. I think it could have lasted another 2/3 years, but times change and the audience changes and I think the park would have done something to it by now anyway, since it was quite hard to maintain a ride which was so old and had so much which needed to be done and fixed.Also, we all know the Imperial Leather contract ends at the end of this season. If it were up to you what would you do with the ride? Would you get rid of it and put something else in its place? Would you get John Wardley in to redesign it into a proper magical attraction again? Would you keep it as it is?I'd keep the ride, knowing that it is still a very popular family attraction with the queue out of the gate on busy days, but I think re-designing it would be key, to keep up with the new wild image and the changing face of Chessington as a park.

[James6]

Regarding the staff in uniforms, members of staff on Rattlesnake, while not in costumes as such, were wearing those big Mexican fiesta hats ^ Regarding Bubbleworks, I feel the ride would still be as popular as it is today had it stayed as Professor Burps. The ride just had that quality and humour that I personally feel would have stayed with it, even in the relatively poor state it was in during it's last year. It's a tough one for me on what I'd like done with it. If by keeping the current system in meant we could have an unbelievably well themed Dark ride without any gimmicks I'd choose that, but, to be honest if we were going to get a new transit system for the dark ride I'd prefer a new ride altogether somewhere else and for Bubbleworks to be kept as well. Unless of course the new transit system was going to be the same as Spiderman's at Universal's Islands of Adventure I am most likely to be happy as long as "Something" is done.

[electricBlll]

The big mistake they made when retheming Bubbleworks was not to think through what it was going to change into. The result was a mixture of non-sensical bubble factory with old left over bits, badly edited music, rushed decoration and some unimaginative duck props to go with the sponsorship. They didn't think about concept, atmosphere or magic; they just saw an opportunity to make money in the short term. Professor Burp's Bubbleworks only needed a clean and some improvments. By retheming it into something worse, they cut its life span by at least five years, and now Bubbleworks will probably only last until 2012 until it will desperately need a big change. Professor Burp's Bubbleworks had loud music, memorable smells and a truly great atmosphere for a family audience. It genuinely captured riders' imagination. That is why it was regarded as such a good ride compared to what it is now. I certainly loved it and my memories of riding it are like magic to me. Perhaps the Father Christmas-like Professor Burp character would not appeal so much to today's audience, but the ride itself could have kept on going for a good long time afterwards until it would have needed a retheme.If it was rethemed now instead of then, we would have a better ride by far.

[Benin]

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...

[James6]

I really like the idea of that, honestly sounds great, but like you say, it'd be a good opportunity to make it fit into Transylvania, but do Monster's really fit in? Unless of course the whole area was re-themed which may be an option.I have always like the idea of an Alpine Village kind of re-theme with Vampire being a sort of Ski Lift gone wrong, Not sure how Bubble could be re-themed to fit in though, but yeah I do agree actually about Bubble's ride system being good in that everyone can ride.

[Mark9]

Rygr, the old Bubbleworks was timeless. I mean it lasted 15 years but every joke, every animatronic, every apart of the factory if you like was a part of the journey and it all came together into the wonderful fountain finale. The new one, well I hate it more then any other ride in the UK and that is really saying something because I always try and see the best in every ride before endlessly attacking. For me there is absolutely nothing complimentary about the ride and instead of simply tidying up the old Bubbleworks they just ripped out every animatronic, added duck sounds everywhere, destroyed the music in the entire ride and tried to make every joke a play on Ducks. It's not even funny the first time either.I'm glad some people see enjoyment in it but for me they may as well have pissed all over my childhood and blown up my car. And my bombed car would look more interesting then the disaster that is Imperial Leather Bubbleworks. I welcome any retheme, any kind of change, anything that gets rid of this travesty of a ride.

[James6]

Whilst I did ride the old Bubbleworks, I only experienced it a couple of times, and therefore obviously don't feel as strongly against the current Bubbleworks. I class it as an OK ride, but like you say, without doubt inferior to the original, which was hilarious from start to finish, and even if you compare the posters in the queueline or even the outside of the ride building you can see the cheap look and feel of the current incarnation.

[MikeyT]

I agree with Benin on this, the ride needs to be totally gutted and they need to start from scratch. That way no comparisons can be made to the previous incarnations. I would perhaps keep some of the props if they are relevant to the story, but it needs completely different set design, colour palette, a darker atmosphere.I do have an idea that I think would just do wonders for Bubbleworks, I'd love it to have an atmosphere that's somewhere inbetween a Rhoad Dahl novel and a Tim Burton film. Something a bit fairytale, and strange. Also I think it should have nods to Professor Burp, playing homage to the history of the park.

[electricBlll]

Both of those would be costly and mostly pointless. Professor Burp's Bubbleworks has been lost and there is no way it could simply be rebuilt. The company that did all the visual effects for the ride has gone bust anyway, and John Wardley does not have the same job anymore. Also, it would be a boring cop-out to just do another Bubbleworks! Something really quirky, magic and atmospheric with amazing theming and a Transylvanian appearance has lots of potential. The old Bubbleworks would not fit anymore.An indoor rapids ride would not work, either. The whole warehouse would have to be rebuilt in order to allow for the new track, since rapids have to be flowing down all the time with the lift at the end. That building backs on to Vampire by the way, so the station would also have to be rebuilt. The room Trail of the Kings and the rest of Transylvania is simply too small for anything on that scale. It would cost so much and the ride already has a perfectly good transit system already. The end ride would be pretty poor if you try and combine a dark ride with a fast-flowing rapids in that small a ride.I am looking forward to seeing what happens to Bubbleworks over the course of time. I hope it does get a major refurbishment and not some tacky improvments. I would be sad if the theme is changed completely, though, because it has always been great fun and anything else might not feel at home. As long as they plan it out, think of intruiguing concepts and spend a big budget on it, I am sure it will be good.

[rygr]

Can you see the park getting rid of Bubbleworks though? It is 20 years old now, and the look of the outdoor queue, and the exterior doesn't look GREAT. The station floor is also rotting quite a bit as you can see before you enter the ride, the floor has become quite wet and rotted. There could be a chance that after the sponsorship ends in November the ride is simply demolished. I for one would hate to see that happen, but I guess it is a possibility and would give the park a space to develop. I just hope that Bubbleworks is around for a bit longer (3 years at least) because as people on here have said the ride has SO MUCH potential, it's just up to the park and creative designers to actually explore that concept.

[James6]

Really in hope of a major refurbishment, we haven't really seen a Merlin Dark ride yet and going by the theming we've seen elsewhere, I'd expect it to be fantastic :angry:I have been looking through some POV's on Youtube of the old ride and it really does make me sad, the more you ride the newer version, you forget what it used to be like and just how much better it was. The amount of humorous and genuinely funny scenes such as the "Squash Courts", every detail was thought of and everything was better than the current version, even the music was far superior! Also a lot more "moved" rather than the more static scenes we have today.For anyone wanting to re-live the old ride I highly reccomend watching this slide show. Loads of brilliant pictures of the old ride. And I have also made my mind up that the current ride system should be used again

[rygr]

Oh me too. Watching video's of the old ride on the internet really does bring back those childhood memories. The whole queueing up, walking into the station mesmerised (sp). Queueing up for the boats and then setting sail on an actual DARK ride, and just for a little kid being amazed at the amount of things inside. My memory of the old ride is hazy somewhat now, but there are still things that stand out thinking about it. Professor Burp on his bike (clothed), the fountain finale, the 'Hiccups' and the 'fruit lady' still stand out to me this day.For a ride which reaches almost an hour queue on busy days, for me getting rid of it would be stupid. It is still very VERY popular with families, and children. FACT. Children nowadays won't have gone on the old version and so will have nothing to relate the new ride too, meaning they can come away saying, I loved that ride, it was magical, just like we did 7 years or so ago.The ride should have done what the park did to Vampire. Close it for a season (or half a season) and have a complete retheme. I don't have any idea's on what the new ride could be about, I like the tour idea, and visiting different areas of the tour. The team at Chessington need to have a good think about what would be best for such a good ride. It needs to be something that appeals to people of all ages again. There's nothing to stop the same anematronics (sp) being used now, being used in the future. But ducks don't appeal to people of ALL ages. The ride itself does, but the story has never done, and never will appeal to EVERYONE. The old ride did. It had something about it that made even teenagers who want thrills ride it over and over and over again.For me, I really would paint the exterior building purple, because it's more spooky than pink and might even draw people to it because it will stand out more against the other buildings in Transylvania. The finale needs to have the lights used in there again to bring out the fantastic magical atmosphere that it had previously. There isn't much I can say because I'm not a designer and won't have any say, but from a guest's point of view, it needs something new and fresh that will stand out and appeal to people of all ages. That's where Chessington come in. They used to be (some would argue they still are) so fantastic at designing rides that the WHOLE family would enjoy, Bubbleworks WAS one (and isn't so much anymore). Let's see Chessington bring out their creative side again, and provide guests with a brand new Bubbleworks for 2011/2012 that people can enjoy for years to come!

[themeparkmad]

This got me thinking. Do you think Professor Burp's Bubbleworks would still have a place at Chessington in 2010? It was still very popular back in 2005. But do you think times have changed at the park enough so that PBBW wouldnt have been able to keep up with that change. I know the ride was looking very poor in 2005, but imagine the park had spent more time and money into it's upkeep, do you think it would have lasted for many more years had Imperial Leather not stepped in?

Without a doubt, Professor Burp's Bubbleworks was better to the current Bubbleworks, imo.I don't think Professor Burp's Bubbleworks would return to Chessington WoA for 2010.I really like the idea Ryan ('rygr') have about Bubbleworks being closed for a season and completely starting again.I don't think a Rapids ride there would be the answer though. I would like it to be re-themed and fit into the Transylvanian theme instead of quacking everywhere.As the sponcership runs out this year, I would like MAJOR work to be done on Bubbleworks both on the ride, in the station and the queue line.From big things like the ride as a whole to little things like lighting, painting, music could contribute to a better Bubbleworks next season if work was to be done.Yes I agree with everyone saying Bubbleworks is not as good as it used to be but the 2 main rides I always hear people talk about when relating to Chessington WoA is Vampire and Bubbleworks! It is obviously still very popular to the average guests.As James said - Anyone can ride the Bubbleworks as long as with the right people meeting the height requirements, so that is a very good type of ride to have.The Bubbleworks Uniform.Had some talk about it above - I personally would like to see it more 'Bubbleworks type' if it was to stay in place. Bob the Builder hats and white coats dont fit it for me unfortunately...I think some badges over it saying 'Official Bubbleworks Maker", maybe some ducks, some Bubbles, the logo would fit the uniform much better imo.I have been asked by people why we are dressed like it and they have said that they have visited a load of times before and they didnt even relise it was related to Bubbleworks so I am okay with keeping the uniform but improvement is needed imo!

[Benin]

The ride should have done what the park did to Vampire. Close it for a season (or half a season) and have a complete retheme.

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...