Oblivion (roller coaster)

Last updated

Oblivion
Oblivion rollercoaster logo.png
AltonTowers-Oblivion.JPG
Oblivion's near-vertical drop
Alton Towers
Location Alton Towers
Park section X-Sector
Coordinates 52°59′12″N1°53′47″W / 52.986575°N 1.896498°W / 52.986575; -1.896498
StatusOperating
Opening date14 March 1998 (1998-03-14)
Cost £12 million
General statistics
Type Steel  – Dive Coaster
Manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard
Designer Werner Stengel
ModelDive Coaster
Lift/launch systemChain lift hill
Height19.8 m (65 ft)
Drop54.9 m (180 ft)
Length372.5 m (1,222 ft)
Speed109.4 km/h (68.0 mph)
Inversions 0
Duration1:15
Max vertical angle87.5°
Capacity1,820 riders per hour
G-force 4.5
Height restriction140 cm (4 ft 7 in)
Trains7 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 8 across in 2 rows for a total of 16 riders per train.
Website Official website
Slogan"Don't Look Down"
AltonTowersFastTrack.svg Fastrack available
Single rider line availability icon.svg Single rider line available
Oblivion at RCDB

Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. The prototype Dive Coaster model from Bolliger & Mabillard opened to the public on 14 March 1998 and was marketed as the "world's first vertical drop roller coaster" and was the first dive coaster installed in the world. With a maximum speed of 109.4 km/h (68 mph), Oblivion is the fourth fastest roller coaster in the UK, behind The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and Stealth and Hyperia at Thorpe Park.

Contents

History

Throughout the 1997 season, the Fantasy World area was closed to the public – except Black Hole – in order for construction to begin on a new ride under the codename "SW4" ("Secret Weapon 4"). [1] Signage posted on a fence surrounding the area stated, "World first ride opens [in] March 1998". Details about the attraction were not revealed until March 1998, when it was announced as "the world's first vertical drop ride" and the name Oblivion revealed. [2] [3]

Oblivion was constructed for a price of £12 million (equivalent to £27 million in 2023) by Bolliger & Mabillard with design work from Stengel Engineering. [4] [5]

As part of the ride's promotional advertising, Oblivion was marketed as an experience that tests the "mind and body", broken down into four stages: "physical trauma, psychological breakdown, the schizophrenic sequence, and finally chaos". [5] [6] Oblivion's opening was accompanied by a large promotional campaign, including appearances on Blue Peter , news channels, and Corn Flakes cereal box packets. [1] [7] Prior to its opening, memorabilia including its own brand of deodorant was available to purchase. [1]

Oblivion would be themed as a secretive facility (a theme previously considered for the cancelled Secret Weapon pipeline coaster), with the surrounding Fantasy Land area redesigned as 'X-Sector' accordingly. [1] The only attraction retained in the area was the Black Hole roller coaster, which was externally redesigned to suit the new theme. [8] Alton Towers moved and rethemed two existing rides from other areas of the park to open with X-Sector, Energizer and Enterprise. [9] [10]

For a brief period in April 2011, the ride was sponsored by Fanta. However, much of the branding was removed after only a few months "following numerous complaints about the obtrusive nature of the brand". [11]

On 8 May 2012, a reportedly suicidal 20-year-old man climbed over tall safety fencing and managed to access the underground ride area. [12] He reportedly entered via the tunnel exit portal and walked underground, emerging on a ledge around the entrance portal. [12] Neither he nor any guests on the ride were harmed. [13] He was arrested for a public order offence and the ride returned to normal operation the following day. [12]

Ride experience

A picture of Oblivion's drop taken from the guest observation area. Oblivion.JPG
A picture of Oblivion's drop taken from the guest observation area.

Pre-ride videos are played throughout the ride's line queue featuring actor Renny Krupinski, who plays a character named the Lord of Darkness. [14]

Oblivion features seven single-car trains which each accommodate sixteen passengers in two rows of eight, [4] allowing for a theoretical capacity of 1,820 riders per hour. [5]

After dispatching from the station, the train ascends a 18-metre (60 ft) chain lift hill at a 45-degree angle, then levels out and turns towards the drop. The car reaches the drop and pauses, facing over the edge for 3 seconds. Originally a voice intoning "Don't look down" was played before the car is released, but this was removed following a court order over noise issues in 2004. [15]

The car is then released, dropping 55 metres (180 ft) drop at an 87.5 degree angle into an underground tunnel, where the ride reaches a top speed of 109 kilometres per hour (68 mph) and riders experience 4.5 g's. [4] [5] Upon exiting the tunnel, a high-banked turn takes riders around into the brake run. [10] [16] There are two on-ride photos; one at the start of the drop and the other at the end of the high-banked turn. [7]

Legacy

Oblivion is classified as the first Dive Coaster, a model from Bolliger & Mabillard, with a vertical angle of 87.5 degrees. [4] The second Dive Coaster, Diving Machine G5, opened at Janfusun Fancyworld in 2000 with an 87.5 degree angle, a 179 ft drop, and a g-force of 5.0; it also featured a mirror of the layout of Oblivion. [17] Five years later, SheiKra opened at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay as the first Dive Coaster with a 90 degree vertical drop and a splashdown element. [18] [19] In 2015, a ride named Oblivion: The Black Hole opened at Gardaland, becoming the first vertical drop roller coaster in Italy. [20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Secret Weapons – Developing the Magic". TowersTimes. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Theme park still tourists' favorite". Burton Mail. 4 May 1999. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  3. ↑ The Guinness book of records 1999. Guinness. 1998. p. 185. ISBN   978-0-85112-070-6.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Marden, Duane. "Oblivion (Alton Towers)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Headlong into Oblivion". Burton Mail. 7 March 1998. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "Our man takes the plunge to Oblivion". Birmingham Evening Mail. 14 March 1998. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Oblivion". TowersTimes. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "Oblivion Construction Archive". TowersTimes. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "X Sector". TowersTimes. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Oblivion". ThrillRide!. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "Oblivion". TowersStreet. 14 March 1998. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 "Stray guest causes safety incident on Oblivion". Ride Rater. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Man rescued from Oblivion ride at Alton Towers". BBC News . 8 May 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  14. ↑ "Oblivion 'Lord of Darkness' on Fanta sponsorship". RideRater. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  15. ↑ Ward, David. "Oblivion a thrill too far for Alton Towers". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  16. ↑ "In to Oblivion". Coasters and more. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Diving Machine G5 (Janfusun Fancyworld)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  18. ↑ Marden, Duane. "SheiKra (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  19. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Splashdown Bolliger & Mabillard". Roller Coaster DataBase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  20. ↑ "Oblivion - The Black Hole: ecco cosa si prova a cadere in picchiata verticale". Vanity Fair (in Italian). 31 March 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.