The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is a dark water ride that opened in March 2017 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Greater London, England, developed by Merlin Entertainments. It takes riders through scenes based on The Gruffalo franchise. The scenes consist largely of digital projection and include clips from the 2009 animated Gruffalo film.[1]
| The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure | |
|---|---|
| Chessington World of Adventures | |
| Area | Wild Woods |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | 18 March 2017 |
| Replaced | Bubbleworks |
| General statistics | |
| Attraction type | Dark ride |
| Manufacturer | Leisure Tech / WGH - (Lifts replaced by Garmendale) |
| Designer | Merlin Magic Making |
| Theme | The Gruffalo |
| Capacity | 1,000 riders per hour |
| Vehicle type | Tubs |
| Vehicles | 28 |
| Riders per vehicle | 4 |
| Duration | 6 minutes |
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Ride experience
From the entrance, riders then enter a station decorated with stage-flats and leaves suspended from the ceiling.
The scenes throughout the ride depict the Gruffalo story, using screens, ambient lighting, projections and animations. The ride ending retains the two smaller of the three sets of fountains from its predecessor Bubbleworks.[2]
An on-ride photo is taken as the boat drops down a ramp into the final scene.
History
The original Prof. Burp's BubbleWorks ride operated for fifteen years, before being redesigned for a sponsorship deal at the end of 2005, without the involvement of the ride's original designers. During this refurbishment, the ride's factory theme was changed to suit the new sponsor Imperial Leather, with most the animations and effects removed. By 2014 the Imperial Leather sponsorship had expired and so the brand logos were removed, but the ride remained in a poor condition. On 6 September 2016, the ride closed and the remaining props auctioned off.
On 1 January 2017, Chessington announced that The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure would replace Bubbleworks.[3] The new ride was produced by Merlin Magic Making and officially opened on 18 March 2017, with the surrounding Transylvania area renamed 'Wild Woods'.[4]
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure features far fewer animations, props and scenic detail than the original Prof. Burp's Bubble Works, instead employing TV screens and projected images on to whited-out sets, with the remaining spaces shrouded in darkness. Since the building was built to accommodate the original larger and more detailed scenes from Prof. Burp's Bubble Works, most the Gruffalo sets were simply built in front of the old scenes. However, smell pods were added to give a better effect for the forest at one point which were received well!
