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X-Sector's Future (including Oblivion and The Smiler)

LJP said:
Forbidden Valley is more of an 'active' battle scene, The Phalanx are there because there's a battle going on. X Sector is the slightly more glossy 'government facility' - it's more clinical and organised.

To really differentiate the two areas going forward, X Sector needs to be kept in pristine condition - to maintain the idea that it's a state-of-the-art facility. This would mean the park will need to keep on top of regular maintenance - it won't be able to use the mantra that other areas of the park depend on: 'Scruffiness adds to the theme' (Original Nemesis, Dark Forest, Rapids and to some extent Wicker Man).

I think they need to maximise the use of things like comical amounts of security cameras, fresh concrete, red flashing lights and occasional (quiet!) sirens.
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I don’t know about how it was intended, but I’ve always seen x sector as a kind of concrete dystopia. The whole area feels like a source engine game, think half life or portal. I’m not sure if that is just me only knowing the grime though.
 
EarthlyKnight27 said:
Well, I've always thought that maybe when AT eventually do redo/retrack Oblivion, will they try and somehow change it to make it longer? Whilst I doubt it, it would be interesting to think about.
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Very unlikely I would think:

1. It would require full planning permission rather than that 'lawfulness of works' application that that they did for Nemesis which stands a high chance of being rejected in that corner of the park.

2. Space. Where else can it really go?

3. Height/speed. The shuttles bleed off so much speed due to being so wide and the station is very high up compared to the bottom of the drop. The ride doesn't really have much speed left to do anything else interesting before hitting the brake run. I think the only thing you could really add would be some sort of helix but would that really enhance the ride experience much?
 
I was always under the impression that x-sector was a little bit like a secret base you'd see villains use in Bond films.

I know most people are aware that Oblivion does emerge from its hole, but it'd be cool if somehow the entire section emerging was concealed from view somehow, so that you only see them go in, but never come out. If it were to be covered, there could be some kind of trippy light show in there, 2001 a space odyssey style.


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWmzp7EPPw
 
cookiee_munster said:
I was always under the impression that x-sector was a little bit like a secret base you'd see villains use in Bond films.

I know most people are aware that Oblivion does emerge from its hole, but it'd be cool if somehow the entire section emerging was concealed from view somehow, so that you only see them go in, but never come out. If it were to be covered, there could be some kind of trippy light show in there, 2001 a space odyssey style.


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWmzp7EPPw
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would be better if they also added an unload station on the brake run, allowing for empty trains to enter the station
 
not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but on a video shared in the nemesis chat, there appears to be a crane in the x sector, I recall there being one a couple of months ago in a similar spot, and people were saying it was for oblivion maintanence it seems strange to take it down just to put one back up, although it may be there due to them working on the smilers station (scalfolding placment/removal etc) (arround 2:50)

From: https://youtu.be/1zJmPcw_YQs?si=hUgLaipnaJqijTzz
 
Oblivions station also has scaffolding around it. Hearing that there has been a refresh of some elements after all, though I'm not sure to what extent.
 
I've always liked X-Sectors original theme, but the Smilers theme has always been a disjointed mess and an eyesore since day one. If they don't want to get rid of the smiler, they can at least Retheme it to fit in with Oblivions 1998 theme for more coherency, maybe then the station won't look like a concrete bunker haha!

As for Oblivion, I still really enjoy it's theme and ride experience, so it'd be nice if it could be kept but perhaps enchanted in places. As for new trains, I actually quite like the floored ones, so perhaps some new custom made ones. It is the world first Vertical Drop Roller coaster, so preserving it from a technological standpoint seems pretty obvious. At the least fix the station, get the mix back in the tunnel, clean the tunnel, and give the ride a fresh coat of paint. If they want to bring back the "Don't look down!" Line, perhaps add speakers near the drop zone which are close to the ride vehicles holding position?

As for the rest of the area, definitely keep on top with maintenance to make it as clean as possible. It wouldn't hurt to have 2 new flat rides as well that actually fit in with the theme. I think keeping the area spotless will definitely differentiate it from the new Forbidden Valley we have now.
 
I’ve never understood the theory that Smiler didn’t fit X-Sector.

X-Sector is designed as a ‘area 51’-esque secret government facility that is generally off limits to civilians where secret testing is conducted.

In that context The Smiler fits perfectly. A government ministry that has created a device to make people happy?

It fits far better than Air ever did in FV, or Rita in UG Land or Wickerman in Mutiny Bay.

The downfall of the area is the upkeep. It’s not meant to be run down, quite the opposite. Like a military base or government facility it’s meant to be clean and well maintained. That’s the bit that needs fixing for me.
 
The Smiler only really clashed with the area theme when the flats died out, coupled with a lack of general upkeep in the surrounding area. I liked the original colour coding of Orange for Oblivion, yellow for Smiler, Blue for Submission and green for enterprise. It only looks crap now that the bottom of the area looks abandoned.
 
Matt.GC said:
The Smiler only really clashed with the area theme when the flats died out, coupled with a lack of general upkeep in the surrounding area. I liked the original colour coding of Orange for Oblivion, yellow for Smiler, Blue for Submission and green for enterprise. It only looks crap now that the bottom of the area looks abandoned.
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Yeah, I did like the uniform look that the rides all had with the colour coding as you mentioned, did all help tie into the theme of the area though I'm sure Enterprise was more teal than green IIRC. That said, even if we still had flat rides in that area of the park, I do feel the the Y2K theme of X-Sector is starting to show its age even if you ignore the poor upkeep of that area of the park and with Forbidden Valley stealing its theme is more or less another nail in the coffin for that area.
 
I’ll be honest I’m not a huge fan of the X Sector theming, even if it was kept clean the style does nothing for me, but I can’t see a whole sake revamp of the area even being in Towers top ten priorities at the moment. I also can’t see either coaster going anywhere any time soon, so realistically all I can see is some much needed themed flat rides and a bit of a general tidy-up.
 
To me one of the problems is the bottleneck entry to the area. It's always jam packed especially if the smiler queue is overflowing or temporarily closed.

Don't know how it would be solved unless they carved a new access through to project horizon if that ever gets built but x sector really does feel like a "dead end" of the park.

It's also a shrine to awful concrete and steel brutalism but I guess some people like that.
 
AT86 said:
Removing the Smiler queue area before the main entrance would open back up the pathway into X-Sector and improve guest flow.
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I dont think it would, with my experience the problem is the fastpass/rap/single rider enterance as if 1 or 2 families are queueing up for it they can easily blocks the entire path as the attendant has to mark each book / scan each ticket, this takes a while (I normally queue for single rider)
 
jibbsie said:
I dont think it would, with my experience the problem is the fastpass/rap/single rider enterance as if 1 or 2 families are queueing up for it they can easily blocks the entire path as the attendant has to mark each book / scan each ticket, this takes a while (I normally queue for single rider)
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I have only ever known them check fastrack and RAP tickets at the merge point inside the station building just before baggage hold, not at the queue line entrance.

Has this recently changed?
 
AT86 said:
I have only ever known them check fastrack and RAP tickets at the merge point inside the station building just before baggage hold, not at the queue line entrance.

Has this recently changed?
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When I was there last year they were scanning them at the entry to the queue. So there was a fast pass/single rider queue going off towards the bottom of the hill waiting for the attendant to let them into the queueline itself.
 
dave___ said:
When I was there last year they were scanning them at the entry to the queue. So there was a fast pass/single rider queue going off towards the bottom of the hill waiting for the attendant to let them into the queueline itself.
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I noticed this on every visit last year too, annoying having to wait at the stop of the stairs when you don't have anything to scan or check for SRQ. I don't understand why they scan there either, as a group could go past all claiming "single rider" and then just join the fast track line when it splits off into 3 if they are only checking the tickets at the main queue entrance.
 
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