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Oblivion: General Discussion

Skyscraper said:
I never thought I'd say this....

After more than 20 years, Blivvy's "DON'T LOOK DOWN" audio is back! šŸ˜


From: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1260950826201985
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Excellent news!!

It's a sign that the Roper family have gone, and AT are hopefully moving forwards (as seen by the gradual reintroduction of Smiler and Oblivion theming)

I wonder if they deliberately waited until a quiet day before reintroducing it, to prove that it doesn't generate any additional noise?

The last few major things remaining (AFAIK) are the "Half Way Corrected" audio and signage on The Smiler (as well as "Time to Get Corrected"), and the Lord of Light in the Oblivion queue-line

I'd say the Smiler correction theming is unlikely to return, but the Lord of Light might?

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I wonder if the audio clip is also a message to Alton Towers as well as the riders (don't look down into the past, but move forwards)
 
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There was no reason not to reintroduce it AFAIK, because (A) the Roper family have long gone; (B) I think the noise abatement order has expired anyway; and (C) it never caused any additional noise (unlike other parts of the park, such as the Corkscrew lift hill motor, which legitimately did).

It's interesting that it was reintroduced after John Burton left; I wonder whether it was his idea, but he wasn't able to reintroduce it immediately in March as he was waiting until the quiet period after the Easter Holidays (by which point, he had already left)?

P.S. Somebody in the Facebook comments said that the audio had been briefly tested last year (thus hinting at an eventual return), but I don't remember this?

P.P.S. Looking at the clip again: they should possibly start the audio a second or two earlier, because the train is no longer held at the top (as it was when the audio was first recorded in 1998), and thus Renny is still talking after the train has begun dropping
 
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Secret Weapon said:
There was no reason not to reintroduce it AFAIK, because (A) the Roper family have long gone; (B) I think the noise abatement order has expired anyway; and (C) it never caused any additional noise (unlike other parts of the park, such as the Corkscrew lift hill motor, which legitimately did).

It's interesting that it was reintroduced after John Burton left; I wonder whether it was his idea, but he wasn't able to reintroduce it immediately in March as he was waiting until the quiet period after the Easter Holidays (by which point, he had already left)?

P.S. Somebody in the Facebook comments said that the audio had been briefly tested last year (thus hinting at an eventual return), but I don't remember this?

P.P.S. Looking at the clip again: they should possibly start the audio a second or two earlier, because the train is no longer held at the top (as it was when the audio was first recorded in 1998), and thus Renny is still talking after the train has begun dropping
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I can almost guarantee this has nothing to do with Burton.

MMM donā€™t get involved much with existing rides unless they are asked to by the parks. This will have been a Towers decision. Probably the new VP.
 
Dave said:
I can almost guarantee this has nothing to do with Burton.

MMM donā€™t get involved much with existing rides unless they are asked to by the parks. This will have been a Towers decision. Probably the new VP.
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I hope you're right - not because I dislike Burton, but because I always worry that the corporate overlords know nothing about theme parks, and so it's a very positive sign if they are clued up enough about the park's history to realise that the audio clip can now be used again

I think the noise abatement order ended fairly recently (I think, but I'm not sure), and so maybe AT had the date circled in their diary anyway (regardless of who is in charge) ?
 
AT86 said:
What is your source for this?
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Somebody said it on this forum (towards the end of 2025)

I mentioned it in a post shortly afterwards

I can find my post from 2025 (see below), but I can't find the original post (I should have just linked to it at the time), and so I'm wondering if a moderator deleted it (I'll keep searching, and I'll add it to this post if I find it)
Secret Weapon said:
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 think it would be remiss not to point out this is also not true:
Secret Weapon said:
(C) it never caused any additional noise (unlike other parts of the park, such as the Corkscrew lift hill motor, which legitimately did).
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They don't tend to put in noise abatement orders for things that don't generate noise. And if it wasn't generating additional noise the park wouldn't have needed to turn off the audio to comply with the order.

I don't think the noise generated is as egregious as some of the other noises that folk have complained about over the years, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and wouldn't cause a nuisance.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
With the usual caveat, "I'm not sure if it's true".
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I don't think there was a source provided by the original poster
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I'm sure that after 20 years they've got a rough idea on how to run a theme park or two...
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Maybe, but you'd be surprised how little some executives know about their business or customers (see: the various blunders that tanked the Xbox, and harmed Microsoft, during the early 2000s)
Squiggs said:
I think it would be remiss not to point out this is also not true:

They don't tend to put in noise abatement orders for things that don't generate noise. And if it wasn't generating additional noise the park wouldn't have needed to turn off the audio to comply with the order.

I don't think the noise generated is as egregious as some of the other noises that folk have complained about over the years, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and wouldn't cause a nuisance.
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My understanding is that it wasn't the "Don't Look Down" audio clip itself that was noisy, but rather that it supposedly may encourage people to scream

I'm not sure how accurate this was, though, because video footage didn't show anybody screaming directly afterwards (unless the argument was that it made them scream more loudly during the descent than they otherwise would have done, by increasing their anxiety beforehand)

It's also possible that many people were riding Oblivion for the first time circa 2000, and so the screaming / apprehension may have been louder then than it would be now?

I can't speak for Nick Varney, but my gut feeling is that they perhaps they removed it so they could convince the council that they were "doing something" about the noise, whilst fully aware that it wasn't actually going to make much difference! (as opposed to, say, filling the track with sand, which actually would*)

(*I don't know whether Oblivion already contains sand or not)
 
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