The 5th Dimension (ride)

5th Dimension
Chessington World of Adventures
Status	Closed
Opening date	1987
Closing date	1993
Replaced by	Terror Tomb
General statistics
Attraction type	Dark ride
Manufacturer	Mack Rides
Designer	Tussauds Studios
Theme	Cyberspace
Capacity	1,200 riders per hour
Vehicles	5
Rows	24
Riders per row	Alternating 3 or 4
Duration	7 minutes

The 5th Dimension was a dark ride at the Chessington World of Adventures Resort in southwest London, England, when the theme park opened and was the first major special effects attraction of its kind in the UK. Its narrative followed the character of TV repair robot Zappomatic and the show was designed by Madame Tussauds Studios. The ride closed at the end of the 1993 season and was replaced by Terror Tomb, which in turn has been replaced by Tomb Blaster. 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 and was sponsored by Hitachi. It went through several script revisions and technical changes in its first seasons of operation. Riders were taken through large sets depicting Zappomatic's journey through the computer-generated "fifth dimension" to find and defeat a monstrous computer virus named The Gorg. The scenes featured animatronics and pyrotechnic effects.

Upon its initial opening, The 5th Dimension was considered a failure by the park because it did not meet guest popularity expectations. The ride was extensively redesigned for its second season to make the story more appealing to visitors, allowing the ride to operate for another six seasons until being replaced in 1994 by Terror Tomb.

See also

• Chessington World of Adventures Resort
• John Wardley
• Terror Tomb
• Tomb Blaster

External links

• Official website
• ReRide.net