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Gravitron

Firstly, apologies for the entirely sensible post.

Secondly, does anyone remember Gravitron? Used to be where Oblivion is now but I swear it was only there for a year or two at most. I went on it when I was young, probably 7 or 8 and thought it was incredible but they'd never get away with such a ride nowadays surely? Imagine if something had caused it to suddenly stop.

Different times man. Different times.
 
I remember the Gravitron and have several photos of it. It used to close on a regular basis to allow vomit to be cleaned up!
 
I'd love to see some photos if you ever get chance to post them. If I remember correctly they ride op had to just trust that you kept your arms on the rubber pad. I reckon it could have been strong enough to dislocate when it shifted to the up position
 
Basically you had to lie against what appeared to be a sort of inclined ironing board and as the speed increased, the board would slide up into the air.

Gravitron.jpg
 
I believe the graviton went to pleasure island Cleethorpes after it's time at towers. Not sure what happened after pleasure island closed down.

As far as I know it was operating until a few years ago when the park closed.
 
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Here are a couple of internal videos of Gravitron (I not sure if the second one is the one at Alton Towers and I don't know how that ride operator don't end up very dizzy/sick sat in the middle there)



 
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Here are some little known facts about the Gravitron:-

Before it's days at Alton Towers, when new, this Gravitron opened for a few years at Barry Island Pleasure Park in South Wales. It then had a brief spell abroad before returning to the UK... appearing at Alton Towers followed by a few moves between Flamingoland and Pleasure Island (where it remained until the parks closure and it's relocation to Barry Island)

Although there are many Gravitron rides worldwide...the majority built by Wisdom and operating in the USA... this particular Gravitron ... the only one in the UK....was built by Vekoma (not ARM as some reports suggest)

I operated this ride for most of its time at Barry Island in the 80's and it was an experience... seeing the sights that only a Gravitron operator gets to see! Great fun!
 
Sounds similar to the meteorite fairground rides?

Not really; it stays flat but the walls are slightly sloped so the wall which is on runners slides up a bit creating a gap between rider and floor. It has more in common with the fairground ride I know as a barrel (but goes by a variety of names) which is flat walled but has a floor which drops away creating a gap between rider and floor.
The big difference with Graverton though is that it's enclosed, so without any external points of reference it tricks your brain into thinking you're not moving even though you can feel the forces.
They really are fun.
 
I went on one at the Pavilion in Myrtle Beach. It was a fun ride, definitely couldn't do it more than once in a row though.

I seem to remember that once it got going you could barely move, like Enterprise only stronger.
 
That is debatable, given how many bits of it had been replaced over the decades. But in theory, yes, that is "Blade" in it's original form.
 
That goes back to what I say when people say black hole is still open at another park. No it closed at the end of 04/start of 05 and and a clone opened at a different park, it’s not the same ride unless something survived the move (which given the state of black hole when it closed I doubt) it’s a complete different ride.
 
I imagine most of the structure of the Blade is original...Huss built rides to last! Hydraulic pipes etc probably been completely replaced over the years...electrical systems updated etc.. but essentially the same ride! The same probably true of the Black Hole. There are plenty of Jet Star models of the same age ...not forgetting the Black Hole spent many of its years well protected from the elements. Certainly the Gravitron is the same machine that was at Alton Towers... again updated electrical systems but built by Vekoma to last!
 
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