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Oblivion: General Discussion

Dhev123 said:
I'm too young to even know what the lord of light is/was šŸ˜‚ did my first ride on oblivion age 10 during 2012 scarefest
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Thanks to the power of YouTube, you can see him in the video below, starting at the 7:02 mark!

(If it makes you feel any better, I didn't experience any of The Smilerā€™s theming that was removed in 2015, as I didn't ride it for the first time until well after that)


From: https://youtu.be/PKxSGm7q-pg?t=422
 
Not recent...more a decade or so ago.
Reduced staff and constantly resorting to a single station.
It was an absolute queue muncher, with probably double the staff.
Like the monorail on full flow, the queue was a constant very slow shuffle forward.
It used to have no queue at all most weekdays in termtime.
 
Secret Weapon said:
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)


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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The issue with a long train on oblivion is the quick transition from level to vertical, if you had a long train then the last car would be flung over the top way too quickly. Hyperia has the height to be able to gradually transition to vertical.

To get the worlds first within the height envelope they had you couldnā€™t have the gradual transition into vertical and the gradual transition out of vertical, as the gradual transition out of vertical is non-negotiable due to g-force limits they were forced into a quick transition into the vertical necessitating the short train.

As for the drop hold, itā€™s just a motor and a clutch, one has to assume either the motor is struggling to hold the weight of the train or the clutch is struggling to maintain engagement between the chain and the motor hence the lack of hold.
 
Throughput-wise, I do think Oblivion, more so than any other ride in the park, is utterly stifled by bags and would really benefit from a baggage hold or some other form of off-platform bag storage.

It takes what feels like ages to get everyone's bags across the platform!
 
Free mandatory lockers would work, or the bag hold under the bottom of the lift. Or you bin SRQ and put a curved wall of double sided lockers just past the circular building and use the SRQ as access for when people are done. When you're off the ride you don't count for throughput so walking makes no difference.
 
Assuming they have both stations open, capacity on Oblivion is rarely a major issue - it doesn't tend to get long queues unless the park is very busy. I don't think messing about with bags is really needed - they certainly could improve throughput on the ride but I can think of several other rides in the park they should be optimising first.
 
I think Oblivion is the 2nd most in need of a refurb at Towers really needs those two flat rides back as that did create cool interaction moments
 
Secret Weapon said:
Thanks to the power of YouTube, you can see him in the video below, starting at the 7:02 mark!

(If it makes you feel any better, I didn't experience any of The Smilerā€™s theming that was removed in 2015, as I didn't ride it for the first time until well after that)


From: https://youtu.be/PKxSGm7q-pg?t=422
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ohh yeah I have seen this, on youtube though lol

I did get to experience most of the q-line videos luckily when visiting a few years before 2015 - also what was even removed from the smiler apart from the marmalisation references and the 'get corrected/ 'half-way corrected' parts? I can't remember the changes tbh I visited scarefest 2014 and didn't return until 2021 when AT became my home park while at uni šŸ˜‚
 
John said:
Assuming they have both stations open, capacity on Oblivion is rarely a major issue ...
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Big assumption though, when they rarely have two stations open off peak.
It used to be a blessing, Oblivion and Nemesis pretty much walk on during the week term time, so any visit would have a reasonable base level of rides.
Not any more.
Cheap passes, no lockers, usually no second station, fasttrack, overused rap, fewer station staff...means the main queue runs at about 30% of its previous peak performance.

Or three times slower than it used to.

But this is progress.
 
Secret Weapon said:
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)
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I wonder if this is related to not being able to do exactly 90' drop (89 degree or whatever),

I recall this being because oblivions wheels aren't sprung (meaning it may bounce off the rail down the drop) the same may happen with any trailer cars (as oblivions train is essentially a car) with the trailer potentially fishtailing down the drop
 
Secret Weapon said:

From: https://youtu.be/PKxSGm7q-pg?t=422
Click to expand...

Really wish theyā€™d sort those crusty speakers and archaic little CRTā€™s in the queue so people can actually see this again! Smiler incident or not, that clip from that drinks shop was going to get cut anyway. No way they could.. lack for a better term, ā€œstageā€ a ride car disappearing in 2015 let alone 2025. Rides must of had a bit more mystique to them back then anyway.

Speaking of, I never hear anyone talk about how cool the tunnel really is. Iā€™m quite sure Oblivion is the only dive coaster where it is vertical (were rounding here, I know) at the point it enters the tunnel. Its always bothered me the way all the later dive coasters kind of start to flatten out a bit before the tunnel. Fair play, not many parks want to blow half the budget on a tunnel, but this thing must of been quite remarkable at the time for it.

Mind, the holding brake is an even more evil contraption, isnā€™t it?
 
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