What was the Black Hole like?

[Shockadelica]

From TT itself;

[mathmos]

That's the one Shockadelica  8) not seen it for ages, The Black Hole was one of Altons Classic coasters and nothing else has that sense of claustraphobia and atmosphere, sadly missed ride!

[garyh]

I remember being one of the lucky ones who attended the "Black Hole event" many years back when it closed.  Think there was about 40 of us there and Alton put on a nice meal for us, some speeches from ride ops and engineers before we had an hour of the ride in the dark and then an hour with the lights on.  I wasnt one of the very very final ones to ride it, but I did manage to get my picture in the local paper (The Sentinel)  which I still have the cutting from in my "Black Hole" DVD case as we were allowed to take video cameras onto the ride with us )

Ahhh happy days!

[WillPS]

The really annoying thing about the Black Hole's closure was that it came far too early. The £10k investment would have definitely been worth it with hindsight (given the ride could've outlived Corkscrew, which the same season received a £20k repaint!).

[garyh]

Agreed ^^^

The Black Hole always attracted huge crowds, and its sinister, futuristic theme worked well in that area, particularly with Oblivion next to it.  Its a real shame there wasnt any investment in the ride as you say, it would still to this day be a very popular attraction in the park.

[spark]

I was under the impression that the figure for the evac stair case was closer to £190,000 which is why they chose to get rid

[garyh]

£190k? 

Easy, thats about a weeks worth of car parking charges!

[spark]

I could be wrong but i am sure it was around that figure,

Due to the ride being rather old it was a lot of money which they wouldnt get back,

[garyh]

I think it was also due to the cost of maintaining the actual track if I recall the engineer saying. The staircase and H&S concerns were just 1 factor in it closing down.  Remembering all the white blotches all over the track where the metal had been tested, the Black Hole track was actually black with white spots!

[WillPS]

I was under the impression that the figure for the evac stair case was closer to £190,000 which is why they chose to get rid

I could have missed a zero but it was certainly less than Corkscrew's repaint.

[domnicholas]

i loved black hole. i thought it was an amazing ride. i only ever managed to ride it once in the whole time it was open. the themeing on the ride i thought was really really good. the ride itself was fast and enjoyable. the only thing i didnt like was the fact that u have to sit in between your friends legs, other than that i loved it and wish it was still in the park

[seanyboyuk]

It was a good ride indeed, very intense for a dark coaster id say. The first time i rode it the drop did take me by complete suprise. My favourite bid was the helix section, you got a huge sense of speed and felt some force!

[Boz]

used to love this ride , i probably got at least 7 rides on it over the years, and it never got dull or repetitive.
i fondly remember zooming along with tiny star like lights whizzing past, it really did give the full immersive feel to being whisked through time and space,

i consider it the joint first greatest loss to the park with the corkscrew (never got to ride thunder looper so can't comment on it), and miss it terribly

[Adam]

My main memory from The Black Hole is that it was a great ride to press your junk up against someone's back... Which was nice.

[smudge.]

My main memory from The Black Hole is that it was a great ride to press your junk up against someone's back... Which was nice.

  Depended who it was I guess.

But on the breaks you would slide forward and squeal as your babies crushed against someone... no so nice...

I remember it well and was a great 'social' experience as you could probably talk through most of it  :O we used to take the mick, but really it was a good ride looking back. The station and que were an experience in itself, i always loved that bit.

[Stern John]

I'm blatently asking this in the wrong place but does anyone have any pictures/videos of when the scare maze was in the Black Hole Tent?
Thanks

[The baron]

Can anyone else remember the dance stage that was set up to entertain as you queued up, I remember the song by Sarah brightman and hot gossip" I lost my heart to a startship trooper" playing and people on the stage dancing, there was also a green alien head in a clear plastic bowl above the stage which was saying something.
When they got rid of the stage they moved the green alien head inside and it was put (I think) at the top of the coster just before the first drop happened.
Black hole what a rush, I still have my photo from it. We went on it so many times we knew where the camera was lol.

[Shockadelica]

Yes, we had a conversation over at TowersNerd about it too.

http://towersnerd.com/community/index.p ... ole-alien/

And I'm glad you mentioned the alien was put at the top of the drop after, cos I thought I was the only one who remembered it being there.

[Bekky]

The Black Hole was the first coaster I ever rode.  I think I went in 2004, the ride was fairly rough but the thrills of barely seeing anything and hearing the screams from the train in front was intense as you had no clue what was coming. In truth, I can't remember a whole lot other than pretty much having to relax into the ride and let it guide you. I'll never forget it & I wish I could ride it again given the chance, I know i'd appreciate it a lot more now!

[MattsDesigns]

I think at first it was all or mostly in the dark, then some years after that it the put some lighting FX in there. I remember scanners that pointed out from the middle of the lift spiral -this kind of thing http://www.lightshow.se/d2bcba35-ff94-4 ... b3-29.html

They was quite a lot of fog/haze used and I remember the arcade (yes an actual arcade) that you exit through would have this fog in it which you could see blow out the door when you left.