The 5th Dimension was a

dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, su ...

at the Chessington World of Adventures Resort in southwest

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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, when the

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

opened and was the first major special effects attraction of its kind in the UK. The ride closed at the end of the 1993 season and was replaced by

Terror Tomb Terror Tomb (later renamed Forbidden Tomb) was a dark ride attraction at Chessington World of Adventures in southwest London, England, themed as an adventure inside a haunted tomb. The ride opened in 1994 along with the Forbidden Kingdom are ...

, which in turn has been replaced by

Tomb Blaster ''Tomb Blaster'' is a dark ride that opened in 2002 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in London. Riders travel in trains through a series of crypts, shooting laser guns at targets for high scores. History ''Tomb Blaster'' is a dark ...

. The ride was designed with cars that could stop and rotate to face what was happening in the scene; the same transit system is in use today.

History

The ride opened in the summer of 1987, designed and produced by Madame Tussauds Studios and originally sponsored by Hitachi. The ride followed the character of "computer trouble shooter" robot Zappomatic, through a series of eclectic scenes set inside a malfunctioning computer generated reality, with large scale animations and special effects. The layout and format of transit system was designed by

John Wardley John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950) is a British developer for theme parks in the UK and Europe: an innovator of special effects, dark rides and roller coasters in the themed attraction industry. Career Wardley started his career as a st ...

and manufactured by Mack Rides. Upon its initial opening, ''The 5th Dimension'' was considered a disappointment by the park management because it did not attract enough attendance. Once in the ride, guest reception was largely positive but with confusion about its narrative thread. The ride was extensively redesigned for its second season to make it more appealing to younger visitors, including rewriting Zappomatic as a TV repair robot on a mission to defeat a virus named "The Gorg". This allowed the ride to operate for another six seasons, until being replaced by Terror Tomb in 1994.

References

External links

*
Restored on-ride recording from 1988The 5th Dimension documentary with the ride's 1987 designers
{{DEFAULTSORT:5th Dimension Ride Dark rides 1987 establishments in England 1993 disestablishments in England Chessington World of Adventures past rides

History

See also

References

External links