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2018: General Discussion

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Been riding the thing since 1998 and it has never had two shuttles on the lift. There has never been a need for it to do so. Shuttle two sets off as shuttle one exits the top of the lift, by the time shuttle 1 reaches the drop shuttle two is near the top of the lift hill. By the time shuttle one exits the service brakes shuttle 2 is approaching the drop.

Baring in mind the reverse chain hold is not a block if you allowed shuttle 2 to enter the lift whilst shuttle 1 was still on it you would only end up with it stacking before the drop. It was always very slick though, shuttle one would have barely left the chain when shuttle two was engaging it.

Now they may have tested it double loading the lift but it has never operated that way. There are plenty of videos of early operation if folk want to check.
 
Log Flume's Dennis said:
It has never been possible to have two trains on the lift. In that BBC documentary from back in the day John Wardley says something along the lines of "Only one car can ever be on the lift hill at any one time" while pointing at the lift hill. In addition to this, I know a few people who've worked on Oblivion and one of the very first things the operating guide says is that more than one car on the lift hill is a mathematical and technical impossibility
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Spot on - although I doubt the operating manual uses phrases like "mathematical and technical impossibility" - they are long words for an Alton Towers manual! It will just state that it is only possible to have one train engaged on the lift at any one time.

And the sensors in the centre of the lift hill about 85% of the way up (mounted on metal bars so the proxy switches can detect the main-central beam of the train) are the auto-cutout point for the lift. If the shuttle in front is stuck on the chain conveyor / drop brake, the lift will automatically cutout when the shuttle on the lift gets to these sensors. This happens because the PLC detects that a shuttle is about to enter a block that is not clear. (The exact same principle as Nemesis not letting a train over the lift if the other one is waiting outside the station as row 8's wheels are still in the safety brake).
 
Rob said:
Speaking of Oblivion, I sat watching it for a good 20 minutes yesterday and decided to see what throughput it was getting. It was running on dual stations, however achieved roughly 870pph over that period. How the once mighty fall!

:)
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If they opened the air gates as soon as the shuttle stopped which I think is how it used to happen the pph it could handle would go way up.
 
I've always thought it would be pretty interesting to link every single Oblivion car together, so it's just one huge train (technically getting around the one car on the lift hill rule) and sending it round. I know it's unlikely to ever happen but imagine the airtime on the back row. Your neck would be 14ft long when you came off. Like a goth giraffe (assuming you're a goth to begin with)
 
spinba11 said:
If they opened the air gates as soon as the shuttle stopped which I think is how it used to happen the pph it could handle would go way up.
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The problem with that is the exit platform would become overcrowded with both the boarding and alighting guests using the baggage racks.
 
If ever a ride would have benefited from people not having bags when boarding a ride, it's on Oblivion. The rows are so long that getting all the way from one end to the other and back takes long enough without having to fight through the crowd of people getting off/collecting bags.
 
Ultimately, whether right or wrong, since the incident, Alton Towers' focus on throughput has somewhat diminished.

I have to say, though, it is baffling how poorly Oblivion is operated. Like Nemesis, it should be easy to achieve a solid throughput.

I would love Alton Towers to install compulsory (free) lockers for larger items outside of ride entrances.
 
Universal Studios Orlando does it right with the lockers. I wish more parks would install these. Not only for operations but also for peace of mind that someone won't steal your bag or pick it up by mistake.
 
Universal's lockers are terrible, you end up barraging your way through groups of people and having to use the nasty biometrics that rarely work first time to open your locker which then charges you money when the ride queue time ends up being longer than predicted.

Worst part of a day at Universal, what's wrong with having a code!?
 
They'll never install free lockers because (a) they don't make money, and (b) slow throughputs aren't costing them money (if anything, they help to sell Fastrack)

It's a shame operations seem to have slowed down. I can see why they don't want to rush their checks anymore but the checks were never unsafe before (the Smiler investigation found no areas of concern in this area). You can be efficient without compromising safety
 
MakoMania said:
Universal's lockers are terrible, you end up barraging your way through groups of people and having to use the nasty biometrics that rarely work first time to open your locker which then charges you money when the ride queue time ends up being longer than predicted.

Worst part of a day at Universal, what's wrong with having a code!?
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Completely agree!

The Forbidden Journey locker space in particular is an awful experience. A tiny space with nowhere near enough lockers.

Then you’ve got to go through it all again to get your stuff back after riding.
 
bluesonichd said:
Just ban everyone from bringing bags into the park.
Problem solved.
If it don’t fit in your pocket leave it at home !
:cool:
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Don't give them ideas. They would do that to up the sales in f&b areas. As you could not bring a pack lunch.

Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk
 
Sorry if the following has already been discussed or mentioned on here some where.

Two things I notice on today's visit, there is a large flat screen TV above the baggage cages on the station showing the image of the baggage cages in real time to show that you are on CCTV for additional security.

The other thing is that they have barriers in place with a sign across several paths around the park during the morning advertising that all rides beyond this point won't open until 11 am. I'm aware that there has been one under the arch of the towers before, but I also seen them beyond the wicker man paths too.
 
MakoMania said:
Universal's lockers are terrible, you end up barraging your way through groups of people and having to use the nasty biometrics that rarely work first time to open your locker which then charges you money when the ride queue time ends up being longer than predicted.

Worst part of a day at Universal, what's wrong with having a code!?
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I commented to a Universal staff member that both the locker space & shop on Forbidden Journey were both way too small. The response I got was "JK Rowling had to sign-off the area & she agreed the space was in keeping with her theme". The less said about the old Dragons Challenge lockers the better - the queue for those was often longer than the queue for the ride and I have seen scuffles in the locker area when people nudged each other due to the over-crowding.

The big problem with biometric-scan lockers in the UK is that some chav would use their marker pen on the scanner, rendering the bank of lockers out of use.
 
Universal Orlando lockers can be both good and bad. The ones they have for the Hulk are excellent, plenty of space and easy to get to your stuff. I totally ageee about the Forbidden Journey ones, they’re a total nightmare. It does annoy me how they have rides like Ripsaw Falls and Jurassic Park which soak you and nay damage your phone, but you have to pay to use those lockers!

As I side note I went to Universal Hollywood recently and was told several times I was fine to take my phone on Forbidden Journey! I assumed it must have been a different type of ride or Orlando, so did what they said, and spent the entire ride clinging onto my phone!
 
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