X Sector Refurbishment

Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:35 pm

Sam198 wrote:
Kenzie2012 wrote: I agree completely with Chris on this one.... Rita needed the repaint to different colours Oblivion doesn't.

I do think when discussing his, a point to remember is X-Sector rides each have their own specific colour.

Orange - Oblivion
Blue - Submission
Green - Enterprise
Yellow - Smiler

I don't think you'll see any rides mixing colours.
Sadly, this is no longer strictly true...

Enterprise's refurbished gondolas for the beginning of the 2012 season actually featured multi-coloured strips on their sides (Orange, Black, Green and Blue):

Although the ride's original green colour scheme can still be traced via the sign cenotaph outside.

Ah yes, you've got me there Sam.... Isn't there a photo of the green returning on the updated Enterprise model?

Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:47 pm

Hasn't the Enterprise always had the different colour stripes on the cars? I certainly remember (many years ago....) as a 12(ish) year old, always wanting to go on the Blue ones (being a Wednesday fan) rather than the red (Sheff Utd) cars......
They may have painted them all the same colour at some point though??

Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:50 pm

Kenzie2012 wrote:
Sam198 wrote:
Kenzie2012 wrote: I agree completely with Chris on this one.... Rita needed the repaint to different colours Oblivion doesn't.

I do think when discussing his, a point to remember is X-Sector rides each have their own specific colour.

Orange - Oblivion
Blue - Submission
Green - Enterprise
Yellow - Smiler

I don't think you'll see any rides mixing colours.
Sadly, this is no longer strictly true...

Enterprise's refurbished gondolas for the beginning of the 2012 season actually featured multi-coloured strips on their sides (Orange, Black, Green and Blue):

Although the ride's original green colour scheme can still be traced via the sign cenotaph outside.
Ah yes, you've got me there Sam.... Isn't there a photo of the green returning on the updated Enterprise model?

Not that I've come across, but I'll be sure to look into it when I get the time...

swfcjambo wrote: Hasn't the Enterprise always had the different colour stripes on the cars? I certainly remember (many years ago....) as a 12(ish) year old, always wanting to go on the Blue ones (being a Wednesday fan) rather than the red (Sheff Utd) cars......
They may have painted them all the same colour at some point though??

I do believe you're thinking of enterprise in one of its former guises... (ie. before X-sector's time)

I'm fairly sure it sported the scheme you've just described during its long spell in Festival Park.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:53 pm

Well, I'm (cough) 38 (cough), so I'm guessing it was Festival Park...

Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:09 pm

CoasterCrazyChris wrote: You can try as hard as you like to come up with some far fetched story as to how these rides work in conjunction with each other, but at the end of the day they are there because there is no room elsewhere.

They managed (just) to make it work with Air and Nemesis, but the whole Rita and Thirteen thing is just farcical.

In my opinion the story line behind these things is irrelevant, the link between attractions has to be created through the visual appearance of the rides and the theming. From what we've seen so far the marketing of The Smiler seems to tie in nicely with X-Sector whilst establishing an individual identity for the coaster.

I agree that The Smiler needs to have it's individual identity however it will make more sense to the GP if the ride's theme's are similar. When I was in the Rita queue some girls were saying "I don't get this ride, what's the theme suppose to be about?" and of course us enthusiasts know how Rita fits in with Thirteen but most people don't. Therefore it would be better for most people to understand that Oblivion and The Smiler both share the same sort of theme and link in some way or another.

Anyway, is the refurbished Enterprise for 2013 going to have a black colour scheme instead of the grey colour it's had for like the past twelve years or something?

Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:17 pm

swfcjambo wrote: Well, I'm (cough) 38 (cough), so I'm guessing it was Festival Park...

Yep, that explains it. 8)

Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:51 pm

I agree about the themeing needing some work.to me it just looks like some spacey kind of stuff has been put in a couple of walkthrough rooms... Someone did mention the CRT vs Flatscreen thing.. It would be nice to see the screens become flatscreens if The Smiler gets them. but if the smiler gets CRTs then they could at least get some new CRTs for oblivion.

I think it would be better without flatscreens on the smiler because I think old style tv's like the sanctuary or CRT's would fit in better although I do think Oblivion would be better with flatscreens

Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:57 pm

that's the whole problem with the smiler going into the x sector... it's supposed to be a futuristic high tech area, and then a rollercoaster based around old experiments, really still can't see how it will fit in!

Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:59 pm

DeanGaryCox wrote: that's the whole problem with the smiler going into the x sector... it's supposed to be a futuristic high tech area, and then a rollercoaster based around old experiments, really still can't see how it will fit in!

The reason it doesn't make sense, is because that is not the story of Xsector at all.
In no way is it supposed to be a futuristic area.... It just comes across that way.
Xsector is a secret government facility that deals with experiments from past, present and future.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:06 pm

That's not old, is futuristic because supposedly ministry of joy was closed in 2013 and now reborn Then there is old, others look to the spider and so on.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:13 pm

Is it still going to have an old run down theme?

I assumed from the marketing it was now going to have a modern finish. The spider in the promo image looks quite different to the plans.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:15 pm

Remember the plans were made ages ago and things may have changed since, not every ride is exactly the same as the plans that were proposed for them

remembering the fountains for air

Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:20 pm

getothing wrote: Smiler is difrent .The are cases belongs to the x-secctor, no need to change the thematic of other rides to be similar to The Smiler, that would be wrong because it is very different to oblivion The Smiler and from what I have understood, are companies rivals, ie a is produced by man of darkness and wants us to forget, this one is produced by dr.kelman and wants us to smile, I would like to see the x-secctor in a ministry of joy secctor.

I don't think you're getting it. Neither Smiler nor Oblivion will change theme, as that would be utterly ridiculous. It's still going to be called X-Sector, right? The Smiler will be very similar in theme. It WILL have pretty much the same theme to it. For example, 'Dr. Kelman' could well be the person 'behind Oblivion' if you get what I mean. Smiler and Oblivion are both in the same area of the park. Nemesis and Air - similar themes, Rita and Thirteen - similar themes, so Smiler and Oblivion - similar themes.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:32 pm

MC4 wrote: Remember the plans were made ages ago and things may have changed since, not every ride is exactly the same as the plans that were proposed for them remembering the fountains for air

This is true, but do not forget that the buildings can not changed from the plans at all. The track and area theming yes, but the buildings have had planning permission passed and an alterations would go against that agreement. That obviously means any Theming or desired "look" from the plans will be staying too.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:45 pm

Kenzie2012 wrote:
MC4 wrote: Remember the plans were made ages ago and things may have changed since, not every ride is exactly the same as the plans that were proposed for them remembering the fountains for air
This is true, but do not forget that the buildings can not changed from the plans at all. The track and area theming yes, but the buildings have had planning permission passed and an alterations would go against that agreement. That obviously means any Theming or desired "look" from the plans will be staying too.

But the buildings HAVE changed from what was shown in the plans.

From the station steelwork you can see the building will have a large sticky out part at the front whereas in the plans from the front it was just going to be flat.

There is also a sloping sticky out section at the top of the far left wall which definetely was not shown in the plans.

Website · Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:49 am

Liam-AltonTowers wrote:When I was in the Rita queue some girls were saying "I don't get this ride, what's the theme suppose to be about?" and of course us enthusiasts know how Rita fits in with Thirteen but most people don't

The idea that you need to be an "enthusiast" to understand what a ride is about is ridiculous. "Enthusiasts" may think they know the theme - not because they are more intelligent and can interpret the ride better, but because they have gone on a website and read some made up "backstory" thing.

A guest at Alton Towers should not have to go on the internet to understand a ride. The fact is, Rita had no theme. Even the people who built it will tell you that. I think it was Nick Varney (head of Merlin) who admitted that nobody cared about theme until much later in the planning process (during the mid-2000s when Tussaudes was run by a foreign company), and he wanted to change that. A sign saying "Ug Land - home to Thunder Rock Ralley" does not constitute a theme; a few painted boards in Ug Land colour schemes does not fit the ride into Ug Land.

Those guests on Rita did not know what Rita is about because Alton Towers did a rubbish job on the theme. It is a role of Alton Towers' art department to create a fully immersive theme that suits the ride, engages the visitors and is understandable - it doesn't have to be over explicit, but it should at least be apparent from a single visit. The theme shouldn't need people on internet forums to 'interpret' the ride and create a 'backstory' for the it to make sense.

JayTricky wrote:Tainted argument. Rita was repainted to fit in with Th13teen.

When Thirteen opened, they had the problem that Rita would obviously stick out. Since Rita had no real theme to begin with, it was very malleable so a simple repaint to dark grey/green colours and some branches was the solution. Now at least Rita has some sort of theme.

Oblivion's theme, on the other hand, was planned from the start. A lot of effort went into creating its theme design and you will see it is quite well executed, especially when it first opened. They could have simply put the drop off the path behind a fence, with a simple concrete hole. Instead they placed the drop in the centre of the whole area in its own pit, into which visitors can climb and walk right up to the drop, as it is consistently pumped with mist for effect... It was not designed that way by accident. Along with the extensive marketing/branding, queue line build up and the impact of the ride itself, you can see that Oblivion's theme design is a major part of the experience. It also cost them a lot of money to pull off.

To just come along 15 years later and "retheme" it (such a practice should be forbidden in theme parks, unless the ride is really bad), for the sake of a new ride opening next door, is ignoring the hard work and years of planning that went into Oblivion in the first place. Let alone the fact that it would taint the Oblivion's experience, having new characters "Dr Kelman" and whatever come along, who were never there before...

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Oblivion might see some 'yellow' somewhere on the ride. Linking it to Smiler, in small subtle ways, would be a clever thing to do. Or visa versa.

Well, that depends. Hints to The Smiler could be done very well - if subtle like you suggest. The Smiler could have hints to Oblivion. The two rides have to work together and apart at the same time. I think this will happen because it is essentially the same team that created Oblivion who is now working on The Smiler!

Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:21 am

No, enthuasts don't know better, because 'they read a website', it is because they've followed planning and construction, not some 'made up backstory thing as that would be ridiculuous.

Rita did have a theme. Just because you may not understand, DOES NOT mean that it hadn't got a theme. It was themed as a prehistoric race circuit, besides AT are NOT the people not to theme a ride.

They won't just 'come along and retheme Oblivion 15 years later', as Oblivion will have the SAME theme, for god's sake. All of these people saying things like,'they're different themes', or 'Smiler's Dr. Kelman and Oblivion isn't', they're wrong. AT would not add a ride in a certain area with a different theme, unless they wanted to change the theme - they don't. Again, Rita wasn't rethemed, because 'it never had one', but because it was only 5 years old and not as popular as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air, and would never be as popular as Thirteen. I suppose that was 'proven', in that stupid 'All-time greats' marketing ploy AT dished out.

So yeah, Oblivion and Smiler will be themed very similar.

Can we leave it there please?

Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:33 am

Time to change the subject I think!

When will Enterprise and Submission be reassembled? I assume this relies on when X-Sector will be opened, as there'd be no point in getting those rides ready, if people can't ride them.

Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:37 am

As you say, if they're not opening X-sector, they'll leave it as long as possible, same with blivvy's paint job/refurb. no point in rushing - the mainteneance crews could be sorting some of the other problem areas out instead...

Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:43 am

rhino18 wrote:
getothing wrote: Smiler is difrent .The are cases belongs to the x-secctor, no need to change the thematic of other rides to be similar to The Smiler, that would be wrong because it is very different to oblivion The Smiler and from what I have understood, are companies rivals, ie a is produced by man of darkness and wants us to forget, this one is produced by dr.kelman and wants us to smile, I would like to see the x-secctor in a ministry of joy secctor.

I don't think you're getting it. Neither Smiler nor Oblivion will change theme, as that would be utterly ridiculous. It's still going to be called X-Sector, right? The Smiler will be very similar in theme. It WILL have pretty much the same theme to it. For example, 'Dr. Kelman' could well be the person 'behind Oblivion' if you get what I mean. Smiler and Oblivion are both in the same area of the park. Nemesis and Air - similar themes, Rita and Thirteen - similar themes, so Smiler and Oblivion - similar themes.

Just a point: Air and Nemesis don't really have similar themes...