Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Closed season blues

I'm disgusted that in the four and a half years of Dickens World in Chatham being open, I've visited once, and that was about a month or two after it opened. I have to make my way back up there again at some point. :Z
 
Why? It looks ****. It's 20 mins from my rents house, about 30 seconds from my Dad's work, I've shopped/eaten at Dockside loads of times, and I've never been.
 
Yeah, but we take no interest because no creds haha. It looks gross from what I've seen, isn't there a little boat ride or something in it?
 
Yeah, I believe there's some kind of boat dark ride type thing. I have little to no interest in Dickens, so it really doesn't appeal to me. I think my Dad knows quite a bit about it. Working a) in the industry (kinda!) and b) literally just along the road they kept sending him loads of stuff about it. At least, they did when it opened.

Also, the animatronics are really bloody scary. They've got a clock on the outside of the building with animatronics that do stuff on the hour etc and I've always found them to be pretty disturbing. Plus, periodically, they stick a display in the nearby cinema etc. There was one the other Christmas that was absolutely bloody terrifying.

I think, basically, it's one of those places that they force kids to go to on school trips (Canterbury Tales - I'm also looking at you!) but that nobody would ever go to otherwise. It's always completely dead at weekends.
 
Complaining about a theme park that you've never been to? Sometimes I find it hard to believe I'm not the only theme park enthusiast on the forum. I can tell you that Dickens World is an outstanding attraction, with high quality theming that beats that of any Merlin theme park in the UK. The water ride is in fact a superbly-themed log flume with a backwards 20ft drop. I would recommend it to anybody, but if your attitude is really that bad, I wouldn't bother.
 
^A boring backwards drop like the thing at the Dungeons, or an actually good backwards drop? I've always been sort of intrigued by Dickens world, seeing as I like some of his stuff, but I can't help feel it's going to be one of those forced education places with gross acting students doing Dickens skits that I'll be forced to watch </3

From the photos the theming looks quite.....weird? It's not entirely believable, it reminds me of Quentin Blake's illustrations. I imagine the place to be quite gloomy too, as most of Dickens's work isn't exactly a ray of sunshine and rainbows is it XD
 
You realise it isn't a "theme park" just because there's rides and themeing, right?

Blackcountry Museum isn't a theme park either <///3

Though that is fab <3

And "good themeing" is in the eye of the beholder. And, from what you've posted so far in your life, you've given us quite good reason not to believe your opinion.
 
TP Rich, does Dickens World hold a special place in your heart or something? You seem to be getting quite defensive over it XD
 
Just sitting here laughing at your pathetic attempts at offending me. Funny how you seem to disagree with everything I say, isn't it? XD
 
I wasn't trying to offend you, I was just curious because the general sentiment about Dickens World is that it's a bit poo, and yet you are defending it like it's a really good attraction, just wanted to know if there's a reason behind it.
 
Yeah, Dickens World is far from a Theme Park. I've heard mixed things about the place to be totally honest with you. They've not actually got MANY attractions inside the building from what I've been told. But, it's not meant to be Jam-packed full of shows and rides, it's meant to be educational towards Charles Dickens, so, hopefully, that's what it does, otherwise, it is kind of wasting space...
 
It's a bit like an interactive museum with rides and theming. It represents Dickens superbly and is highly enjoyable in a day out.
 
Well I haven't been, but my uncle and auntie have...and they asked for their money back!
(but then again, they are pretty uncultured).

I've read many of Dickens books and kinda like the idea of a themed educational museum - Dickens creates mysteriously dark and bleak atmospheres in his book that could translate well to an interactive set. I'm not really sure how a 'boat ride' would exactly fit in with that though, and to be honest, it just all sounds a bit tacky.

Dickens as a person was supposedly a rather nasty piece of work. His life story is certainly interesting and worth looking up. Apparently, he had a rather unhealthy interest in younger women, abandoned his wife (forcing her to get the equivalent of a divorce, which in those days basically meant being shunned by society, and no longer allowed to see her children), and was consumed by his work. He was a celebrity within his own lifetime, touring the country reading aloud from his Christmas stories. My mum's great aunt (or something) used to work for him as a cleaner and used to say he was quite horrible, despite his goody, goody stories.

No idea if the attraction conveys all this, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it doesn't, and is just feeding off the local Dickens tourism of Rochester. If you really want to learn about Dickens, then I suggest doing a local tour or going to see the local landmarks yourself. There are many shops and churches mentioned in his novels in the local area and across Kent. Rochester also has a Dickens Festival in June and a Dickens Christmas Festival in December where people wear period dress and sell mulled wine and all that ****. It's very touristy but I quite enjoy it all :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top