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Idea: should Oblivion be converted to a floorless B&M Dive Machine?

Do you think Oblivion should be converted to a floorless B&M Dive Machine?

  • Total voters
    67
Skyscraper

Skyscraper

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although I've never ridden Oblivion (i might be going to AT soon, so i might ride it then if I'm feeling brave enough), i had the above (title) thought. please explain your answer to the poll question below, and discuss the idea.
 
No. Dont wreck an already perfect ride.

*mumbles about how stupid it would be to add a pointless gimmick to a coaster just for the sake of it*
 
This comes up from time to time. I doubt it would be possible given the queue passing pretty much under the station, at the least it'd be very expensive. I've never ridden a floorless dive machine so I can't say how they compare, it'd definitely be interesting but I'm not sure how much difference it would make, and personally I like putting my feet up against the bar.

I'd be even more interested however in them turning the back row backwards, I think that'd be pretty terrifying.
 
I've always thought about this myself, and to be honest I've never been to sure whether it should or not.

I think it can be a good idea and it's an conversion that can bring in more guest numbers if marketed correctly (like something how your feet is so close to the track) for a medium investment.

On the other hand, is there really any point? I mean, I know Sheikra was converted to floorless, but is there is there any major difference between when you rode it floorless and when it had a floor? I think you'd probably go "wow, my feet are close to the track!" And that would be it just that. Plus, where Blivvy is the only floored diving coaster along with its clone in Taiwan, I think that makes it stick out a bit more along amongst the others.

But really, if it were up to me, I wouldn't bother. But if it happened one day, I wouldn't mind it too much.
 
bluesonichd said:
if any of you horrible lot lay one finger on my beloved Blivvy I will chop them off !
She needs nothing doing to her, apart from adding an off load station, :)
Click to expand...

This, has given me an idea...

As we know, Oblivions story mentions riders disappearing, and the unknown etc etc.. and there is a line, "You may not be coming back". This could be implemented into a new concept, with an offload station, and tweaking of the station to allow a baggage hold.

I have this small plan, which in blue is the baggage hold building, pink is the offload, and green is the pathway.

3RbFl66.png


The offload building and current offload platform would be blocked off from onload, to give the idea of riders disappearing. Really, riders get off in the offload platform, cross over a bridge (like the ones that enter the station) into an corridor, which is followed along, bags are picked up here, and riders walk back around the baggage hold up a ramped bridge that leads over the top of the offload platform, flattens out as it goes over (Enclosed or visible to people in offload?) the offloading trains, before it reaches and extended (In height) section of the offload area now, down some steps by the op cabin and current baggage hold out into the open where we leave the station now, to lead into X-Cite.

Basically, the offload station gets riders off faster, and riders exit, large gates like on baron open, shuttle enters station empty with harnesses undone (Quicker loading) and it seems like the people that rode before have disappeared into Oblivion. Add in a slightly modernised story and queue, a full refurb, and the return of dont look down audio in form of on board speakers, and bravo! New for 2019! would be a small/ medium investment of around 4-8 million (Higher depends on whether it went floorless or not) and would update an iconic ride, and improve it even more.

This is honestly one of the best ideas i've ever come up with! :p
 
Yes i know its rather bad, but im not really good at ideas and for me this is half decent :p what I am suggesting is escaping from the rain on the break run quicker. :p I don't like the idea of it changing much, I just want an offload area and I can see towers doing something like this, marketing it as "New"
 
After waiting nearly ten minutes on the break run the other day, I think an offload platform would be great. At least it will speed up loading. Wouldn't like to see it turned floorless though. Wouldn't add anything.
 
It's a shame that when running 1-shuttle dispatch rather than 2, they can't use the 2nd loading area as an off-load. Also, there's absolutely no need to run 4 shuttles when on 1 loading area! 3 would be optimum but 4 most of the time results in 2 shuttles stacking outside the station.
 
Yes, why not? I've ridden the dive machine at Chimelong Paradise and I found that the floorless aspect works remarkably well. Unlike normal floorless coasters where you barely notice the difference, the moment when you are dangled over the edge is really enhanced by the fact that there's absolutely nothing around you and you have an uninterrupted view to the ground.

I'm not sure why everyone's so against the idea. I suppose the trains would look slightly less cool. And I think many would rather the money was spent elsewhere but that's not the issue at hand here. In a simple floorless or not situation, I can't imagine how it wouldn't improve the ride experience so I wouldn't be against it.

It's pretty much irrelevant anyway because I can't see Alton doing it.
 
It would cost far more than it is worth so no, I don't think that they should. The improvement on the ride experience would only be minor.

:)
 
I think in a few years time, if and when the popularity dies down, adding floorless trains would be a good option. The enhancement would provide them with a new marketing gimmick, bring a new lease of life to an older attraction and if nothing happens before, be the only floorless coaster in the UK. (And obviously enhance the ride experience).
 
I think this idea has come up before, and whilst it'd be nice to bring it in line with the more modern Dive Machines the consensus usually tends to be that the ride is too short to warrant the expenditure. Yes it could work as a marketing gimmick, but it wouldn't be a quick fix like turning The Swarm backwards. To convert it to floorless would require not only input from B&M but also a considerable amount of structural and architectural modifications in the station itself, which may or may not be worth it for the amount of people it would attract.

All of this said however, could I see Oblivion being earmarked for changes in the future? Quite possibly. I recently completed a survey on the touchscreen terminal in The Smiler shop and one of the questions specifically asked "how satisfied were you with your experience on Oblivion?" (Or something to that effect). This could of course be a complete coincidence, but it didn't reference any other ride specifically so its not unreasonable to be a little bit suspicious.

Watch this space...
 
Burbs said:
It's a shame that when running 1-shuttle dispatch rather than 2, they can't use the 2nd loading area as an off-load. Also, there's absolutely no need to run 4 shuttles when on 1 loading area! 3 would be optimum but 4 most of the time results in 2 shuttles stacking outside the station.
Click to expand...
Agree 100% about only needing 3 shuttles when single loading, I would say 5 is enough when double loading.
 
I don't want the floorless, but Oblivions break run and waiting to return to the station is pure hell with rain and those seats, runs all down your back, I personally feel like an offload platform would be good, but it would have to be a squeeze.
 
The short answer, from a commercial real world point of view, absolutely not!! This would cost a few million due to station enhancements and the cost of the shuttles, however it would not give you the return. This is different to the Air vs Galactica investment, which can be argued as a good commercial decision, as it cost less to convert the existing coaster due to less infrastructure needed and the change it did to the experience of an existing ride being far greater.

If it where free however? Yes of course. It would refresh a perfectly sound and well designed coaster and I think floorless trains would add to the intimidation and vulnerability felt at the top. On Sunday I remember looking at the track at the top of the lift hill and imagining how much more intimidated I would feel if I could see nothing below my feet, it would give the illusion of height (something which the hole itself does excellently like no other ride at Towers as in coaster terms you're not actually that high up at all).

I think this does raise a wider debate about the future of oblivion however. I personally love it. It's the only ride in the UK which still terrifies me almost 2 decades after it opened. It gets criticism for being a one trick pony, however it delivers it's one trick extremely well! It's not very high, extremely short and does nothing but drop (not even truly vertically) but it does what it does with such class, theatre and imagination it really represents a period when Towers was at its best and most pioneering. It's a magnificent part of world coaster history in my opinion and I love it for what it is. But.... It looks tired, old, doesn't draw in crowds, doesn't get talked about by the GP and no longer catches the imagination of visitors (although you never ever hear a bad review of it on the brake run!). The reality maybe that it's exilerating, intimidating and a great blast - but the perception is that it's short and not very interesting.

So I think the question is, What should does the future hold for Oblivion overall? Floorless seems a waste. Is backwards even possible? Should it be rethemed? Should it have the above mentioned station enhancements? Should it have something else added to the experience and if so, what?

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