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Oblivion: General Discussion

Oblivion has been down a lot today. So far three unsuccessful attempts to ride today. The lift hill motor is making an unusually loud rattle sound, wonder if this is anything to do with it?


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STEJENT said:
Oblivion has been down a lot today. So far three unsuccessful attempts to ride today. The lift hill motor is making an unusually loud rattle sound, wonder if this is anything to do with it?


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Guest complaint about lots of water hitting them in the tunnel was this morning's down time.
 
Steve74 said:
Really interesting video with the face/voice of Oblivion, Renny Kurpinski
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I actually e-mailed Renny after the interview, and he replied! I told him a few things that weren't mentioned in the video (such as the Lord of Light being removed from the videos post-2015, the sister Oblivion ride opening in Italy, the reason for the "Don't Look Down" audio clip / 3-second delay before the drop being removed*, and also my ideas for him to reprise his role in other rides!), and I also suggested that he make an in-person return as the Lord of Darkness for Oblivion's 30th birthday in 2028, which he was not opposed to!

*Speaking of the 3-second delay before the drop: I noticed in the on-ride video below that the drop began at the 38-second mark, but the audio didn't change until a few seconds later; is this because Alton Towers forgot to adjust the synchronisation of the audio/video after the 3-second wait at the top of the drop was removed following the Ropers' complaints in 2004 ?


From: https://youtu.be/iJp3kxn52AU?t=38
 
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That looks like an extract from YourDay/Alton Towers DVD, which didn't launch until several years after the Don't Look Down audio was removed.

I'm almost certain the removal of the Don't Look Down audio is also entirely unrelated to the length of the pause before the drop, which I don't think has ever been deliberately changed - it's just that it hasn't worked properly for ages. It's was barely stopping the cars at all over fireworks weekend, an even shorter pause than has been the usual for the past few years.
 
I don’t understand why it’s not holding anymore. It must be a maintenance decision? Randomly in the summer while watching over an hour (while eating, my 5 year old is obsessed with watching Oblivion) there was a single instance where it held for 3 seconds … then back to 0.25.


As for the noise complaints- is that valid and applicable anymore? You can’t hear anything at all over the Smiler
 
Alphe86 said:
I don’t understand why it’s not holding anymore. It must be a maintenance decision?
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I had always assumed that the pause was removed in order to speed up the queues, but this is apparently not the case (Oblivion spends so long on the brake run that extending the ride by an extra 2 seconds would probably not make any difference!).

Speaking of maintenance before the drop: John Wardley said in his first book that Oblivion only had 2 rows of seats because a longer train would not have been possible with a vertical drop (thus the rows were made wider to compensate for the lack of capacity behind) - but, if this is true, then how has Hyperia managed to have trains with 10 rows? (Granted: the extra rows were possibly what led to the problems on opening day)

Alphe86 said:
As for the noise complaints- is that valid and applicable anymore? You can’t hear anything at all over the Smiler
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I'm not sure if it's true, but somebody on the forum suggested recently that the noise abatement order from 2004 may have since ended (especially since the Roper family have allegedly now left Alton), which - if true - theoretically means that the "Don't Look Down" audio clip could now be brought back!
 
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I never experienced Oblivion with the 'don't look down' audio - but in a way, if they could extend the hold, isn't it better for the drop to be a surprise, rather than knowing when the ride will drop every time with the announcement?
 
Dhev123 said:
I never experienced Oblivion with the 'don't look down' audio - but in a way, if they could extend the hold, isn't it better for the drop to be a surprise, rather than knowing when the ride will drop every time with the announcement?
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Maybe they could do what Launch Pad at Blackpool does, and sometimes unexpectedly drop the riders before the audio clip has finished!

Incidentally: I rode Oblivion in 2001 and 2004, but I honestly don't remember the audio clip being played on either occasion.

I definitely remember seeing the "Lord of Light" sections of the queue line videos back then, though (which have since been removed).

For anybody interested, here is a link to the old audio clip:
From: https://www.tiktok.com/@josh45442/video/7420088778670525729
 
Secret Weapon said:
Maybe they could do what Launch Pad at Blackpool does, and sometimes unexpectedly drop the riders before the audio clip has finished!

Incidentally: I rode Oblivion in 2001 and 2004, but I honestly don't remember the audio clip being played on either occasion.

I definitely remember seeing the "Lord of Light" sections of the queue line videos back then, though (which have since been removed).

For anybody interested, here is a link to the old audio clip:
From: https://www.tiktok.com/@josh45442/video/7420088778670525729
Click to expand...

to be fair, whether intentional, that drop still did come as a surprise, with a delay after the announcement - that would be great to have!

I'm too young to even know what the lord of light is/was 😂 did my first ride on oblivion age 10 during 2012 scarefest
 
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