Bubbleworks
| Bubbleworks | |
|---|---|
BubbleWorks station under its original lighting and scenic design 1990-2005.
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| Chessington World of Adventures | |
| Area | Transylvania |
| Status | Closed |
| Opening date | 1990 (As Professor Burp's Bubbleworks) 2006 (As Imperial Leather Bubbleworks) |
| Closing date | 6 September 2016 |
| Replaced by | The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure |
| General statistics | |
| Attraction type | Dark ride |
| Manufacturer | Leisurtec |
| Designer | Sparks Group & John Wardley (1990) Tussauds Studios (2006) |
| Theme | Factory |
| Music | Graham Smart |
| Capacity | 1,200 riders per hour |
| Vehicle type | Tubs |
| Duration | 6 minutes |
 Fastrack available |
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 Must transfer from wheelchair |
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 Closed captioning available |
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Bubbleworks (originally titled Prof. Burp's BubbleWorks, then Imperial Leather Bubbleworks from 2006) was a dark water ride opened in 1990 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Surrey, England. It took riders through animated scenes of a comical factory producing fizzy pop. The ride was designed by the Sparks Group and co-produced by Keith Sparks & John Wardley. The water transit system was manufactured by UK firm Leisurtec Ltd. In 2006 a sponsored refurbishment resulted in the factory theme changing to Imperial Leather toiletries. The ride closed in September 2016, and was replaced by The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure.
The ride was created as part of the second phase to regenerate Chessington Zoo into a popular theme park. The Transylvania area in Chessington World of Adventures was created in 1990, opening with two major rides led by John Wardley; the Vampire and Prof. Burp's BubbleWorks.
John Wardley developed the concept of a magical fizzy pop factory that followed the making of Professor Burp's fizzy pop from juicing to bottling, collaborating with Siriol Animation to design the characters and scenes. Colchester attraction studio Sparks Creative Services produced the ride, subcontracting the scenic artwork to Rex Studios and the wide range of animations to Seton Engineering. The famous musical soundtrack was produced by Welsh composer Graham Smart, consisting of a 13-track score that played in synchronisation throughout the ride using a timecode system.
The dark ride went on to be highly successful, frequently voted third best dark ride in the world by the National Amusement Park Historical Association, and spawned many similarly-themed dark rides around Europe. The iconic tunnel fountains were developed by the Sparks Group and were unique to the Bubbleworks at the time. Following the BubbleWorks, Keith Sparks and John Wardley teamed up again to produce The Haunted House at Alton Towers in 1992.
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