Tomb Blaster: Cursed!

A much-loved cult attraction, Tomb Blaster at Chessington World of Adventures required a new chapter to refresh its appeal for a new generation of visitors. Mindful of all the essential ingredients that made the ride a classic, Sarner updated the soundtrack, enhanced the effects and lighting, and created a spooky new narrative that sends visitors on a mission to prevent the vengeful ancient spirit of a priest from escaping the tomb. The result is an all new, enhanced ghost train experience, set to thrill visitors for years to come.

Location

Chessington World of Adventures, Surrey, UK

Services

- Creative Development - Creative Consultancy - Concept Artwork - Theme Book Generation - Artworking for In-Ride Assets - Art Direction - Audio Direction and Production - Project Management - Lighting Design and Specification - Audio Design and Specification - Show Control Specification - Show Programming - Technical Installation and Commissioning

Links

Tomb Blaster

Client's brief

Re-imagining a classic ride

The ride today known as Tomb Blaster originally opened in 1987 as 5th Dimension. It underwent various re-themes and updates over the years, receiving an Egyptian theme in 1993 under the guise of ‘Terror Tomb’, before taking its current form as ‘Tomb Blaster’ in 2002. Sarner was tasked with enhancing the existing dark ride experience to deliver a futureproof upgrade on a tight budget. The brief was to bring back a Hollywood narrative to the ride and to “give Chessington its Ghost Train back”. We were challenged to an 8-week window to fully design, develop, install, commission, and program the ride prior to public opening.

Our solution

Our team fused a beloved cult attraction, which already boasted world class themed sets, with a new narrative and delivered the new, enhanced experience on time and on budget. We updated the soundtrack, enhanced the effects and lighting, and installed sophisticated new back-of-house show controls. We also built-in some new jump scares to surprise even Tomb Blaster aficionados. The result brought the ride up to date and gave Chessington World of Adventures some ‘Hollywood-style’ immersive thrills. Acclaim from the Chessington fanbase and the theme park community has been unanimous.

‘Sarner brought the ‘Life’ back to the Tomb using their vast knowledge on theatrical lighting solutions and audio. We were able to work with the creatives at Sarner to refurbish Tomb Blaster at Chessington to outstanding reviews and guest comments.’