Expectations great for new Charles Dickens theme park

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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A new Charles Dickens theme park that will open soon will show the ghoulish side of life in Dickensian Britain......


Expectations great for Dickens the theme park

By Laura Clout

10/04/2007


Workers put the finishing touches to Dickens World Centre


The river is brown and pungent, the houses are haunted and the streets teem with thieves.

Charles Dickens's England, however, never had construction workers in hard hats and high visibility vests.

News that the finishing touches are being applied to the £62 million theme park may be unwelcome among literary purists, but Dickens World in Chatham, Kent, is expected to attract more than 300,000 visitors a year.



Dickens World​


The complex offers a boat ride in a London sewer, a haunted house and a reconstruction of Newgate Prison. Children can get a dose of Victorian discipline in an 1832-style school, or enjoy a play area called Fagin's Den.

Built on the former site of the Royal Naval Dockyard, where Dickens's father worked, the centre opens on April 20.


Fagin, from "Oliver Twist."


Before travelling the three miles in a horse-drawn cart through the streets of London (with their coffins travelling alongside them) to be hanged at Tyburn's dreaded "Triple Tree" gallows, prisoners were locked up in Newgate Gaol, which stands on the site were the Old Bailey now stands.

telegraph.co.uk
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About Dickens World


A New Themed Entertainment Visitor Attraction Based Upon the Life, Times, Books and Characters of Charles Dickens, Our Most Famous and Enduring Author.


Dickens World Location Map


Situated at Chatham Maritime, Kent.

Construction started in February 2005 and the attraction will open to the public in April 2007.

Charles Dickens lived most of his childhood in Chatham, where his father worked as a clerk in the Naval Dockyard. This period of his life was his happiest and he drew upon his experiences and memories of Chatham and Rochester to feature in many of his books.

The in-house attraction will reproduce the architecture of the period with picturesque archways, cobbled stoned streets and decorative features, together with specialised lighting and appropriate euphonics as well as a host of costumed characters, shop keepers and street entertainers.

Original concept and design by G.A.O'Sullivan-Beare.

Rides and animatronics by RMA, one of the leading UK tectonic specialists in the country.

The experience will feature a Dickensian Shopping Mall, together with a multitude of attractions and rides, including a mix of themed restaurants, bars and a multiplex cinema. Dickens World will also have facilities for seasonal variations, particularly over the Christmas period in which the attraction will convert into a Dickensian winter wonderland, replete with snow and other characteristics of a bygone era, complemented by a magnificent water feature which over the festive season changes into a spectacular 'ice fantasia' dominated by 'The Spirit of Christmas', 'JackFrost', 'Scrooge' and a host of other delightful characters who magically come to life. This and other seasonal events throughout the year an unforgettable experience for visitors of all ages. A series of 'burlesque' evening dinner shows are being especially created to provide a nightly menu of 'naughty delights' in the 'Free and Easy' Victorian Music Hall.

dickensworld.co.uk
 
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Vereya

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Apr 20, 2006
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I'd love to visit this park. I am a great fan of Dickens - I've read practically every book by him, and I really regret the fact that he is dead and so can't write anymore. :-|