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X-Sector's Future (including Oblivion and The Smiler)
- Thread starter CoastersLeo
- Start date
Squiggs
TS Team
I'm not sure where this myth that Oblivion would be prohibitively expensive to remove came from, to be honest. The tunnel's not that tight and has quite a shallow and easy access from the Enterprise end.
I'm not sure that it would actually be that much more difficult to remove Oblivion than removing most other coasters on park.
And as and when the inevitable day comes that Oblivion is removed, you've got to imagine that the park would first of all look to reuse the tunnel in some form. It would probably need some reprofiling at the drop end, but that would seem like a more sensible approach than wasting money just filling in the big hole they spent a lot of money digging out.
I'm not sure that it would actually be that much more difficult to remove Oblivion than removing most other coasters on park.
And as and when the inevitable day comes that Oblivion is removed, you've got to imagine that the park would first of all look to reuse the tunnel in some form. It would probably need some reprofiling at the drop end, but that would seem like a more sensible approach than wasting money just filling in the big hole they spent a lot of money digging out.
Citation needed.
Alton draws a huge crowd every year...how many of those people are drawn by the Smiler?
We really don't know.
Personal opinions again mate...You really like the Smiler, but lots of people avoid the ride because it is tainted by previous events, and a bit rough in places.
It is simply one of many attractions on the park.
Can't see Oblivion going anywhere...the very large issue of planning raises its ugly head once more, very unlikely anything new and large would get planning so close to the edge of the park.
The accident was nearly 9 years ago surely people still don’t think about that. It’s operated for many years since with no problems
Nerdsticks
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Silver Star
Oh they do. I'm quite likely to have someone joke "Don't lose a leg now!" if I mention I'm going down south for a visit. Some people even think that the accident was fatal.
So they’re bothered enough to not go on the ride yet they will drive in their car where they’re 100x more likely to get in an accident
Nerdsticks
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Silver Star
I'm not wanting to argue if their feelings are valid or not. I must say though you are making loads of assumptions.
Sorry mate, but you are struggling to see past the end of your nose again.
Parents fund most trips to the Towers overall.
They have long memories, parents do.
They especially remember incidents where young people get seriously injured.
After Battersea, I wasn't allowed on a coaster for a couple of years.
People have to travel on roads, and risk injury.
As far as mums are concerned, coasters can be very optional, there is no need to take any risk.
Coaster Credits Cymru
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Stealth
When it eventually needs a retrack, I can’t see Towers going to Gerstlauer for it due to the accident. I say they get Mack Rides to do it and, if possible, give it new Stryker Coaster trains. The ride experience would be head and shoulders above what it is now!
Blackhole_Sun
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
I hear it mentioned almost every time I’m at Towers. You are correct in what you say but reputation is hard to shift. You only have to check social media when they mention The Smiler to see the comments about legs etc.
I would rather retrack Oblivion as it’s a unique coaster to this country. The drop is excellent.
If anyone thinks lap bars would help The Smiler they are sadly mistaken. I did “Hang Time” at Knott’s recently and it was just as janky.
QTXAdsy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
Would take janky than headbanging TBH...
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Ug Bugs
Google predictive search is usually a pretty good, if basic, indicator to see the sentiments people have around certain words or phrases. When Googling "The Smiler" the recommended suggestions for the next word are "crash", "alton towers crash", "accident" and then further down we have "crash video" and "crash victims". The results for "The Smiler" alone feature a number of prominent reports on the accident.
The crash might have been almost 9 years ago now, but it's still very much in people's minds, it was very big news at the time and nothing the park has done in the proceeding years has topped it for a news story. There will be a generation of younger people who aren't aware of what happened, because they were so young when the smash occurred, but for many it's the only notable event at the park for many years.
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
When The Smiler reaches the end of its life, whenever that might be, it will likely be removed and replaced with something else. I think because we have seen a few recent examples of re-tracks (Nemesis, ongoing partial Big One re-tracks, partial Loch Ness Monster re-track, Eurosat) there is some assumption that all coasters will just be re-tracked at the end of their lives. Fact is they won't.
A re-track is costly and you will not get the same return on investment as you would for a completely new attraction.
As for Oblivion, my opinion has not changed, I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon.
A re-track is costly and you will not get the same return on investment as you would for a completely new attraction.
As for Oblivion, my opinion has not changed, I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon.
jmc
TS Member
I am strongly of the opinion that Oblivion wont go anywhere anytime soon. Realistically:-
- It is a unique ride experience in the UK and you could argue in Europe (granted there are several mini dive coasters in Europe but in my opinion these ride very differently)
- It is highly unlikely Towers could ever replicate any kind of big ‘drop’ ride anywhere else on park and would therefore leave quite a gap in their offering
- Even after Hyperia opening it will still have the 4th tallest drop in the country
- To the GP it is still a very intimidating ride
- The ride area/tunnel is bespoke and would likely be very expensive and/or difficult to change for something else
I have always rejected the notion of updating Oblivion to floorless etc as just thoosie fantasies, but after the Nemesis retrack and given the above, I do feel there is a small chance of something like that actually occurring in the future. I think the most likely outcome is some sort of X Sector refresh as it does now feel like this and FV are quite similar in style.
I definitely think its rusty neighbour is closer to the chop.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
- It is a unique ride experience in the UK and you could argue in Europe (granted there are several mini dive coasters in Europe but in my opinion these ride very differently)
- It is highly unlikely Towers could ever replicate any kind of big ‘drop’ ride anywhere else on park and would therefore leave quite a gap in their offering
- Even after Hyperia opening it will still have the 4th tallest drop in the country
- To the GP it is still a very intimidating ride
- The ride area/tunnel is bespoke and would likely be very expensive and/or difficult to change for something else
I have always rejected the notion of updating Oblivion to floorless etc as just thoosie fantasies, but after the Nemesis retrack and given the above, I do feel there is a small chance of something like that actually occurring in the future. I think the most likely outcome is some sort of X Sector refresh as it does now feel like this and FV are quite similar in style.
I definitely think its rusty neighbour is closer to the chop.
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Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
In terms of whether or not Smiler will end up getting retracked; I think it depends largely on how popular the ride is by the end of its life.
If the time comes and the ride is still as popular as it is now (I’d argue that it is currently one of the park’s biggest and most popular draws), I could definitely see it getting retracked.
But if its popularity has dwindled by the time it reaches the end of its operational life, then I could see it getting removed and replaced.
You can say what you like about build quality and rocky history, but that hasn’t stopped other rides getting retracked before. The Big One arguably doesn’t have outstanding build quality, and has its own accident history in the form of both a crash and wheels flying off, but Blackpool still deemed it worthwhile to retrack because it’s extremely popular. If Smiler maintains its current popularity for years to come, then I could see Alton Towers coming to a similar conclusion. I think it’s also worth noting that Smiler might be similar to Nemesis in that you’d probably struggle to replace it with something quite so ambitious.
Love it or hate it, The Smiler is currently very popular and a considerable draw for many Alton Towers visitors. If it holds that popularity for years to come, then I could definitely see it getting retracked.
Personally, I reckon it could; it’s not exactly a new ride anymore, at 11 years old, and it does still pull the crowds!
Perhaps controversially, I’m also a bit torn on whether Oblivion will be retracked if its time ever comes. On the one hand, I think it’s similar to Nemesis in that it would be a hard ride to replace with something else. On the other hand, though, it’s never seemed quite as popular or iconic as Nemesis. Anecdotally, it does seem to be a bit overshadowed by The Smiler within X-Sector now. As much as I personally love Oblivion, I don’t think it’s ever had quite the same cult following as Nemesis, and it does seem to fall by the wayside a bit compared to the newer rides, from my experience.
I’m torn. On one hand, I could definitely see (and would personally love to see!) an Oblivion retrack. But on the other hand, I don’t know if it has quite the same popularity as Nemesis to justify it.
If the time comes and the ride is still as popular as it is now (I’d argue that it is currently one of the park’s biggest and most popular draws), I could definitely see it getting retracked.
But if its popularity has dwindled by the time it reaches the end of its operational life, then I could see it getting removed and replaced.
You can say what you like about build quality and rocky history, but that hasn’t stopped other rides getting retracked before. The Big One arguably doesn’t have outstanding build quality, and has its own accident history in the form of both a crash and wheels flying off, but Blackpool still deemed it worthwhile to retrack because it’s extremely popular. If Smiler maintains its current popularity for years to come, then I could see Alton Towers coming to a similar conclusion. I think it’s also worth noting that Smiler might be similar to Nemesis in that you’d probably struggle to replace it with something quite so ambitious.
Love it or hate it, The Smiler is currently very popular and a considerable draw for many Alton Towers visitors. If it holds that popularity for years to come, then I could definitely see it getting retracked.
Personally, I reckon it could; it’s not exactly a new ride anymore, at 11 years old, and it does still pull the crowds!
Perhaps controversially, I’m also a bit torn on whether Oblivion will be retracked if its time ever comes. On the one hand, I think it’s similar to Nemesis in that it would be a hard ride to replace with something else. On the other hand, though, it’s never seemed quite as popular or iconic as Nemesis. Anecdotally, it does seem to be a bit overshadowed by The Smiler within X-Sector now. As much as I personally love Oblivion, I don’t think it’s ever had quite the same cult following as Nemesis, and it does seem to fall by the wayside a bit compared to the newer rides, from my experience.
I’m torn. On one hand, I could definitely see (and would personally love to see!) an Oblivion retrack. But on the other hand, I don’t know if it has quite the same popularity as Nemesis to justify it.
TomW
TS Member
Couldn't agree with this more. Seen multiple posts on here about how difficult/expensive it would be to remove or replace the track in Oblivion's tunnel. I'm no logistics expert, but I really don't think it would be particularly hard at all. In fact, given that around 70% of Oblivions track is under very minimal stress, if it ever was to need the B&M retrack treatment, I think it would actually be a relatively easy and cheap project.I'm not sure where this myth that Oblivion would be prohibitively expensive to remove came from, to be honest. The tunnel's not that tight and has quite a shallow and easy access from the Enterprise end.
I'm not sure that it would actually be that much more difficult to remove Oblivion than removing most other coasters on park.
And as and when the inevitable day comes that Oblivion is removed, you've got to imagine that the park would first of all look to reuse the tunnel in some form. It would probably need some reprofiling at the drop end, but that would seem like a more sensible approach than wasting money just filling in the big hole they spent a lot of money digging out.
jon81uk
TS Member
I don't think Oblivion will ever need a full retrack, its not under the same stresses as many other rides.
In regards to The Smiler, maybe it would have partial work done like the Big One and Colossus if needed but I doubt it would get a full retrack like Nemesis, if it was the case that the ride is that badly gone, its far better to scrap it and start again with something that could properly be marketed as brand new. Its not like Nemesis where fitting another ride into the space would be difficult, Smiler is basically in a flat pit.
Blackhole_Sun
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
Correct, two rollercoasters have fit on that plot of land. Could easily be a third at some point. They could consider bulldozing the toilet block or running into Enterprise’s site for more room if needed.
Alton towers always find a way.
Its popularity will last for as long as it holds the record. As soon as it loses its record its purpose is basically gone. Colossus for example is a fun ride but that’s all it is. It’s nothing special or unique anymore
James
TS Founding Member
Apart from geeks, does anyone know or care that The Smiler has the record for most inversions? No, they do not. Whenever I've told non-enthusiasts that little fact, it's news to them (and they've never seemed excited by the fact either). It's not something that defines The Smiler. If anything, the 2015 crash now defines The Smiler.
I think it's more likely to be removed than retracked. It has been a problem ride since day one, and I don't feel Towers/Merlin would be in any rush to pump millions into a retrack or keep it limping on.
As for Oblivion, that will stay for a long time and as discussed by other members, the tunnel could be reprofiled slightly to allow for a different coaster to take up that area when/if the time comes.
I think it's more likely to be removed than retracked. It has been a problem ride since day one, and I don't feel Towers/Merlin would be in any rush to pump millions into a retrack or keep it limping on.
As for Oblivion, that will stay for a long time and as discussed by other members, the tunnel could be reprofiled slightly to allow for a different coaster to take up that area when/if the time comes.