I love Oblivion and will always insist its my favourite ride and definitely one of the best in the UK. I think the ride starts in the queue; when your hearts pounding as you hear the screams of the riders being plummeted into the hole below. I think the slow rise to the top always adds to the fear created by this ride - the build up is huge. When you drop, you certainly drop. You feel the cold air rush into your face and it seems you fall forever.
Good Points
Excellent thrill ride
If feeling brave, this could be your first big rollercoaster
I've been too Alton Towers at least 7 times in my lifetime but somehow never been on Oblivion...One of the reasons I've never been on was fear; either the fear being with myself or with someone who I was at the park with, it's pretty obvious that the ride did it's job of scaring the rider even before they got on.
So on my trip to the park yesterday I enter the park with the mindset that no matter how much fear I feel I WILL ride Oblivion. There's no backing out as my friend makes sure it's the first ride of the day as he walks straight towards the X-Sector, I follow not wanting to look like a whuss in front of two of my good friends! We arrive at the queue entrance and walk through, there's no backing out now as we walk along the long path towards the the station which makes me even more nervous! Through the path there's videos hyping the ride but we kind of ignore these as we want to get to the ride as soon as we can but there's no doubt the theming is being kept up... We reach the ride station and I think for a second whether I really want to do this before saying to myself 'you only live once' as the queue opens and I place my bag in the holder and then take my seat. I think once more before pulling the restraint down and clipping myself in! There's no escape now as a fantastically made hype video plays as you await the car to make its ascent up the steep hill. It begins, the car pulls out of the station and begins to climb upwards, how ironic the for now you are looking up into the heavens peacefully and slowly, it's clear that this part of track had to be made for the ride to work but it definetely adds a sense of contrast. After what seems like an age the car finally reaches the top and as it turns the corner I wonder why the hell I did this, there's no going up to the heavens, this was done to play with my brain! The car travels slowly forward and I get a fantastic view over the X-Sector seeing Enterprise spin round at speed when suddenly the car stops! I catch a glance of the don't look down sign but where else am I supposed to look....SUDDENLY the car drops and I begin to scream in excitment as the force hits my face and I am glued to the seat. Within an instant the car is plummeted into darkness, it feels longer than it looks fro mthe outside but we suddenly reamerge as the car turns a tight bend and brakes as it queues behind other cars to go into the station. My heart is racing as I finally get off the ride, I tell my friends that is one of the best ride experiences ever and vow that I will ride it every time I go to Alton Towers (queue time permitting), so far I have kind of been true to my word as I rode it again the very same day!
Overall I would say Oblvion is the second best ride at Alton Towers. The fear element makes the ride itself brillian as when the car drops your emotions let go and you have nothing else to do but shout or scream. One thing I think lets the ride down is it's shortness, It'd be cool if they reconstrcuted it to have a few twists and turns and maybe loops after the initial drop but I'm not sure if the cars are designed for that. Another thing I think needs sorting is the restraints, my first ride it felt extremely loose and really made me scared, same thing happend to my friend on the second ride whilst mine was tight, I guess this can be easily rectifyed.
This ride as absolutely amazing, It scares the living daylights out of anyone look for a first time ride, Or returning to it to concur the 180 ft Vertical beast. You always hear people talking about how it is the scariest ride in the park, And how not many people dare to go on it and I think this aurora is created by Alton Towers, whether it be que line videos (Of me) scaring people and giving medical facts or be it just looking at it as it plunges at 70mph into the unknown. The ride itself is a journey of a lifetime, After receiving your final message from the LoD and him laughing at the end theres no question about it, You are nervous. You slowly climb up the hill with all thoughts rushing through your mind, But you know that you will take the plunge in a matter of seconds. You go over the holding break, Your heart stops waiting for the clutch to release. For some people your stomach is left at the top of the lift hill, But afterwards you will have a funny feeling in your tummy I promise you that. On the break run you chat to your companions about your achievement and I haven't heard one person not talk about oblivion during that break run. This is the ULTIMATE ride.
You start off walking through a spiral queue leading around the station while various different tv screens showing a man talking about how you will not return building up the atmosphere, you finally enter the station where you are shown the carts being loaded with the riders, above the exit out the station to the ride is a screen showing again the man talking explaining that this is the end...
Welcome to oblivion
You enter the cart and enter onto a lift hill that goes at about 65 degrees.you are then levelled out and go around a bend to seethe rest of x-sector. Then comes the drop.... The 90 degree drop. You get to the drop and are hung at the drop. Painted on the floor is the oblivion logo and written don't look down, Your hung for 3 seconds which feels like a life time. Then your dropped, the g's and force is unbelievable, you enter the hole and then re enter at the other side of x-sector which isn't very far. Your then turned in the air at force onto the brake track and the ride is over.
Oblivion is supposed to make the riders as terrified as possible before the 200ft vertical drop into the ground... And boy! It does!! The queue is filled with television screens of a strange man saying that you shall "never return" after dropping down the hole in the ground.
While being strapped into your seat, the strange man is still warning you about the drop that will take you to Oblivion once you drop down the hole. At this moment in time, my heart his beating as fast as a cheetah can run, and I am shaking like there is no tomorrow! Suddenly the ride starts and begins to pull up an almost vertical lift, extremely slowly.
"CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK" the lift hill machinery sounds as me and other riders are hurtled extremely slowly up the hill. When at the top, the view of the towers is amazing... But there is no time to admire the view as you are turning towards the edge of the 200ft drop that will take you to Oblivion.
Right now I am absolutely terrified, the train is about to go down the vertical drop... But the train stops. Hanging over the edge of the 200ft drop, everyone is forced to look straight into the hole in the ground below.
Suddenly, as quick as a flash, the machinery lets go of the train and you are hurtled towards the hole at around 60mph, mist sprays in your face and I shiver once I enter the hole in the ground. I am now covered in darkness, hurtling along what seems a never ending piece of track.
Suddenly I am shot out of the hole and the train goes straight into an over-Banked turn.
The brakes stop the train,shortly after, and rides into the station.
Overall, this is An amazing ride and is definitely one of my Favourite rides in the park!
The only thing I like better than roller coasters,Alton Towers, Towers times and Theme Parks is HARRY POTTER, yes, I am a Potterhead and proud of it!
I think that oblivion is the best ride in the park but a lot of people do not like it because it is to short but it is the ride that you get the most thrill out of closely followed by Nemesis but oblivion look out of place in xsector because there are no big rides in xsector so sw7 will go good there and oblivion will not look out of place.
Ohh oblivion this ride.....was terrifying....im not going to review it but ill tell you my first experience on it...from the start oF the x sector you can see the vertical drop (well almost vertical... :P) and what just that scared me! Because i was 13 years of age and i have vertigo....i would go on everything in the park except that because it was jut to much but then one day when i was there with my mum she got talking to a women while waiting for enterprise and she said that oblivion was amazing so my mum and i eventually went on it... (i didnt want to but she threatene to not buy me something from the shop i wanted cant remember what it was though....i watched all the videos in the que and i was TERRIFIED. We got on and as we were going up my mum shouted WHY ARE WE DOING THIS!?!?!?! That made me even more scared tbh...bu we hung over the edge an i closed my eyes but opened them when we dropped we came out the other side with a smile on my face I LOVED IT!
P.S. because this was my first experience of this amount of g-force on my on ride photo i looked like a duck! O_o
Thanks lewis97 for the signature!
Interesting fact: I play bass :P
I have fond memories of my first time on Oblivion. It was also my first time at Alton Towers, and I was with my sister and some family friends, majority of which had been before. They all insisted we run straight to Oblivion to get on it without a big queue; and I wasn't about to protest. The queue sets you up for it perfectly, with messages that you're never going to return from Oblivion, and I vaguely recall it saying something along the lines of "Turn back now." And oh man, how I wished I could! We queued for a short while, nothing more than 5 minutes and we were loaded in the the waiting bay area. I knew the next carriage was for us and my heart was in my mouth. We got loaded up into the carriage and I knew this was it. I remember muttering things like "My god, I can't believe you're making me do this." to the rest of the party. But it was too late now, and off we went.
The carriage crawls up a incline and the wait until you get to the top is TERRIFYING for a first timer. (Note I was around 12, and this was my first experience of a "big" ride. It just HAD to be Oblivion, didn't it?!) I was trying my best to just admire the scenery below us but I was definetley struggling. I saw us getting further and further from the ground so I sat back and tried not to look down. Then finally the track in front of me disappeared and I was met with the ground once again; as we were hanging over the edge of a seemingly vertical drop. I held my breath and before I had time to comprehend what was going on; I was plunged down into the hole in the ground below us. I probably made a bit of a scene with the way I was screaming; but I feel to this day it was completely necessary.
Once the drop itself was done and we were underground, mist was sprayed in my face and I was pretty much blinded for the duration of the rest of the ride. It was over so fast! By the time we got off, I can imagine my face being a picture. I was open-mouthed, pale and still with my hands gripping my restraint for dear life. We walked into the gift shop and I remember telling the rest of the party how I "felt like I was in a bubble". I was in awe of the whole thing! I bought an Oblivion mug to commemorate my seemingly gigantic acheivement of surviving Oblivion, and then left the shop.
I was scared but it was brilliant, and I am fairly sure the rest of the party got somewhat frustrated with my continuing cries of "SHALL WE RIDE OBLIVION AGAIN?!"
Don't be scared to walk alone, don't be scared to like it.
Awesome. Short and sweet.
Not a one trick pony in my eyes, it gets the job done every time, take you up, turn you round slowly, hold you, plunge. Sorted.
Who wants to join the queue again?
You can lick your lips, rub your hands, but don't stand around waiting, either get your ticket to ride, or get straight into the queue. The queue splits into two immediately, and spirals its way up a hill, passing through and under the station. Brainwashing videos try to mess with your mind, with a panicky person fretting over why its called Oblivion. He's soon re-assured by a slightly calmer person, and so it continues. First time, its passable, then on it gets on your nerves.
The queue continues. It gets to a sputnik from where you cross a bridge into the station. The queue is split further so that four rows wait per shuttle, with two being let on at a time. The station is huge, the space isn't used too well though, and it seems quite claustrophobic.
A half decent dance track quietly plays, and monitors above play more hype. Once your shuttle arrives, the gates open, and you start the long walk across the length of the car. Bear in mind, each car is little under half as wide as a Top Spin, and once you find your seat, sit down, pull down the chunky (yet typically comfortable) restraint, and clip in the seat belt.
Once you're squashed into your seats by the seemingly efficient staff, the shuttle departs. Although the seats are reclined, this really can't be appreciated until you start the lift. Why it's so steep is unknown, what is known though, is that it feels vertical, and it's a mighty strange feeling.
The lift is quite unpleasant at the far sides of the car, the vibrations seem to be amplified here, but you will reap the benefits of sitting on the edge soon. The lift is of a normal speed, and at the top, the pace slows, as you turn around, past the Towers.
The view is great, and you have plenty of time to admire, as at this point, the car is veritably crawling. It's a simple trick, and it works. I must admit, it was at this point that my heart was doing twice as much work than it needed to.
Soon, the track disappears, before in no time, you tip forward, your whole weight falling squarely on the restraint, and as the track re-appears, you stop, looking down at the ground, at the people below, and, at the track fading out into a sea of mist.
And then, you drop.
The roar of the train, of the people screaming, the feeling as you float down in a stomach quenching moment is surreal. It takes no time, yet you have time to absorb many thoughts, and in a flash of white, you burst through the mist and into the dark tunnel.
All of a sudden, you seem very enclosed, everything seems very quiet, and as you begin to slump in your chair, you are heading skywards, before in a near blinding moment, you pop out into daylight, are thrown onto your side, as you make an elegant turn behind the two spin rides, dipping past the cameras, before you climb up and hit the brake run.
On the brake run, you'll do the usual euphoric things, you'll rhapsodise over the ride, over the drop, over one of the biggest rushes you'll have experienced on a coaster for, aw, ever. The tunnel and the turn are only there to get you back to the station. The drop is the only element left, so yes, it's a one trick ride, it's a good trick though, and as it stands, probably one of the best elements you can ask for on a coaster.
Oblivion to me, is like a Skycoaster from the comfort of a coaster train. It has the build up, this time in the form of a lift hill, an agonisingly slow turnaround, and the moments of torture on the edge. The rush is over in a second, and then there is the calm after the storm, in which you have time to reflect, and little else.
It works for me, and it works for many. I have seen some people really freak out just before we drop. In the end though, they love it, and will probably beat me back to the queue.
Although it's a great trick it uses for its one trick, the novelty will soon wear off. The drop comes as a huge surprise if you haven't ridden it before, after even a few goes, it still fails to un-impress. After a while though, you'll know what to expect, you will learn when you're going to drop, and you will probably become blase.
There is a moral to this story. Don't expect too much, it won't deliver it. It's a six second ride, nothing more. Don't queue for more than fifteen minutes for it. It's not worth it for a ride that short, however good it may promise to be. Go on with an open frame of mind and it will blow you away.
Go on Oblivion if you dare but you've been warned... don't look down!
That moment when you see Oblivion for the first time is the most exciting yet scariest time ever. Everyone's running up to the hole where the coaster riders are swallowed up. You get an adrenaline rush as the coaster carriage zooms past you.
The queue isn't always as long as in the Summer holidays. Most the time, you can just walk through to the loading area. This doesn't mean that the ride isn't great though.
Walking through the queue make you slightly more scared as you hear a man saying why you shouldn't go on oblivion and telling you not to look down, but if the queue is short, you can bypass most of it anyway.
The carriages have two rows of seats, eight seated on each row. I was scared when the ride started and we were going up and up as I had been on before and the time the carriage drops slightly changes and you're hanging over the edge, looking over Alton Towers but as soon as you drop, the excitement begins as you go into the hole and are refreshed with some mist to cool you off. After the drop though, that's pretty much the end of the ride.
Overall, I would rate Oblivion 10/10 as it's very enjoyable.
lyssyloo00 wrote:
Go on Oblivion if you dare but you've been warned... don't look down!
That moment when you see Oblivion for the first time is the most exciting yet scariest time ever. Everyone's running up to the hole where the coaster riders are swallowed up. You get an adrenaline rush as the coaster carriage zooms past you.
The queue isn't always as long as in the Summer holidays. Most the time, you can just walk through to the loading area. This doesn't mean that the ride isn't great though.
Walking through the queue make you slightly more scared as you hear a man saying why you shouldn't go on oblivion and telling you not to look down, but if the queue is short, you can bypass most of it anyway.
The carriages have two rows of seats, eight seated on each row. I was scared when the ride started and we were going up and up as I had been on before and the time the carriage drops slightly changes and you're hanging over the edge, looking over Alton Towers but as soon as you drop, the excitement begins as you go into the hole and are refreshed with some mist to cool you off. After the drop though, that's pretty much the end of the ride.
Overall, I would rate Oblivion 10/10 as it's very enjoyable.
Tbh I always go in the summer holidays and the queue never has went over 20 minutes :-s
I pulled down the harness and was absolutely terrified. This was the last roller coaster I needed to ride before I completed the Alton Towers coasters and boy what a ride to go out on!
The vertical drop itself is very very fun but the anticipation is the best part, absolutely fantastic.
After the dropthe only bad bit is the wait to get back in to the station
10/10
Edited for CAPS LOCK and minor SPG ~ Michelle TTF
Last edited by SamSimkin on Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Once thought air was the best. Then Th13teen for some reason.
Although I have only been to Alton Towers once, earlier this summer, I can already easily say that I believe that this is the best coaster in the park, even though the ride's duration is only about a minute. As soon as I got off the monorail, I ran straight to X Sector to ride the Smiler, however, it was apparently closed all day due to 'technical difficulties'. Not wanting to waste any more time (I was very excited ok), I ran straight for the nearest rollercoaster, which only then did I notice was Oblivion- Giant and dominating... and an 196ft drop. I had seen the ride on the website before, yet it looked so much scarier in real life! I watched the test trains run down the track, thinking "How the hell am I ever going to get through that." Before long, I was moving through the queue line, feeling even more disconcerted when the evil guy in the videos is listing all the physical and psychological damages of the rollercoaster. Before I can even register what I'm doing, I'm in my seat with the restraints down, listening to Evil Guy saying "For some things there is no rational explanation. There is no way out. There is no happy ending to this story. Welcome to the unknown, welcome to eternal darkness, welcome to... Oblivion." How very comforting. Then I am ascending the lift hill (although maybe 'crawling' would be the more correct term to use), and I am really getting scared. Then as we turn around the corner, I remember desperately wondering if anything I could do to stop the ride now and get the hell off. But of course, it's too late. My hands clamp the chest restraint as hard as they possibly can, and as we dangle just over the edge, I stare at The Smiler, anything to stop myself from looking at that terrible vertical drop. Then suddenly I feel a drop, and I'm screaming the whole way down. All I can see is darkness as we plunge underground. As the train comes up to ground level, I catch my breath and smile, realising what an amazing ride it was. I went on the ride twice, the first time in the front, and the second time at the back, and the same fear was there when I rode the second time. As you can tell by my username, Oblivion is definitely the best ride at Towers in my opinion.
No matter how many times I ride oblivion, I'm always scared to go on it on the next visit. I wish this wasn't the case but oh well. But I think I get a bigger adrenaline rush when I'm terrified. After the drop I have this surge off energy were I feel I could ride anything. Its a good ride and I'm glad I rode it at a young age otherwise It was never gonna happen!
As you walk into the front entrance of the ride you see the car fall into the unknown and your stomach is feeling queasy. You pass the mechanical constructions and have messages that confuse you telling you to go on the ride and that it's safe and then don't go on the ride it's unsafe. You are totally unsure until you sit in the comfy b&m seats and get locked in, knowing there is no way out. As you climb the undeniably tall lift hill your heart is racing because you know in a matter of seconds you will be dropped into darkness. Closer to the edge every second. You're hanging, holding on for dear life. 1...2...3...clunk. Fwoosh! You drop faster than any ride in the park into eternal darkness. As you rise up out of the abyss, you find yourself laughing wanting to go again. Great fun and sheer terror. For some things there is no rational explanation...There is no way out....There is no happy ending to the story...Welcome to the unknown...Welcome......To Oblivion..... DONT LOOK DOWN.
Last edited by TheAdvocate123 on Sun Sep 29, 2013 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DONT LOOK DOWN.
