Attraction Source Forum

I was thinking would Oblivion be more, less or the same thrill without the underground section. If it didn't have an underground section what would X-Sector look like? Your thoughts?

I reckon that Oblivion would be boring if it didn't go underground. The misty abyss makes it so much more terrifying and atmospheric, I think it'd be severly lacking, for want of a better word, soul without the hole. (Plus without the hole, there'd be less oblivion involved, so it'd have to have a different name. )
Without the hole it'd have to be higher up, so the drop would seem bigger, but I maintain that it's about fear and mystery more than it is about size.

the hole makes the ride good in my opinion.

Would Oblivion be the same without the underground section?

NO, the hole make it. it would be just another dive coaster without it

It would make it instantly undermined by Krake. Why go to Staffordshire to ride a Dive Machine when you can go to main-land Europe for the fair amount to ride a better version.
Oblivion is unique by being the only Dive Machine into a vertical tunnel. And also, the tunnel allows the rider (if they have imagination) question how deep the drop is because you can't really tell. Fear of the unknown is powerful.

Without the hole, Oblivion's theme would lose significant impact or have to be completely changed. Considering the hole is to represent falling into oblivion; without the hole, there would be no Oblivion.

Absolutely not.

The hole is what makes the whole ride, as intimidating and scary as it is, more so than the actual drop.
The noise of the car falling down the drop and plunging into the dark empty abyss, used to terrify me as a child. And still does to this to do today (not as much though, I have to say). That noise, the sound of the air being sucked into the hole, has to be the scariest sound I've ever heard coming from a coaster.

If the ride didnt have the hole, then I would imagine it would either be in a different park of the park, or it would be more of a landscaped ride than it is, it would probably have had less of a vertical drop, maybe only 20 feet or so, but it would have twisted and turned more around x sector.

The difficulty is, for Alton Towers, the only way for them to build a decent dive machine was to do it the way oblivion was done, the height they needed wouldnt have been possible anywhere else on the park, and so X sector was the only choice, then, because X sector is a smaller area, it had to be the length of track that it is.

I can't see it being any different to the way it is.

'Don't look down' would be redundant to all but those with a fear of heights if the underground section was omitted. It's the unknown darkness that makes it terrifying.

Well at the weekend I was watching the Alton Towers story and was shocked to hear that half the rides budget went on the hole but without it I doubt  they would have build the ride bigger as to the lack of space. It's the same with Nemesis I doubt it have the same impact if it was all build on flat land.

The name oblivion wouldn't be relevant if the hole Wernt there.
Of course the hole needs to be there can you imagine how boring it would be without it?
I could imagine half the budget being on the hole tbh, its awesome

I can't make sense of what x sector would look like if oblivion didn't go underground, can anyone do a mock up 

I've said before, Oblivion with the hole and Nemesis with the landscape...
-this stuff really makes the ride me

If Oblivion did not have the hole then I would hope that the drop height would still remain the same, the ground would have been lowered for the track to be open air and it have some kind of splash down; it would also have to have some kind of extended layout because the hole really is Oblivion's only trick.

Oblivion without the underground section?... well it would certainly stop a hell of a lot quicker, although i imagine it would take a while to clean-up all the mess

I doubt Oblivion would have been longer without the hole, it was a prototype element, so was only ever intended to be a one-trick-wonder. The DM elements of SheiKra and Griffon for instance, are developments based upon the lessons learnt from Oblivion (floorless trains, true 90 degree drops thanks to the addition of spring-loaded wheels etc)...

If you want to see what Oblivion would be like without the hole, the G5 in Japan is pretty much a holeless Oblivion - - it has a little tunnel at the bottom and that's about it. Nothing like the experience on Oblivion, and Blivvy would never have had such height in its favour either. I know plenty of people who will ride anything at Alton, but Blivvy still puts the fear of god into them. It's my fave coaster, although Nemesis comes pretty close, for similar reasons, the way it hugs the landscape. Without the landscape-hugging of Nemmy or the hole of Blivvy, neither would be anything to shout about these days.

By this do you mean it is like a gorge (Open top) or completely filled in. If it is then its exactly the same but without a giant hole!
Being more sensible the hole makes it seem faster like the scenery is so close to the train on Nemesis.

That made no sense!?

Basically if you go near the terrain it seems faster!

the underground section IS oblivion without it the ride, as said before, would be boring and have a different name and have less atmosphere and without the hole we wouldn't have x-sector without oblivion's name (as the back story would be different, who knows it may have been land of unicorns) so what i say is that short underground section is x-sector as well as oblivion

Oblivion  thunders through that Underground section! The roar of the ride is incredible, it may not be the steepest vertical drop in the UK, but its unique plummet into the hole makes it more appealing to me than Saw the ride at Thorpe!


DON'T LOOK DOWN!!