Oblivion (roller coaster)
| Oblivion | |
|---|---|
Oblivion's near-vertical drop | |
| Alton Towers | |
| Location | Alton Towers |
| Park section | X-Sector |
| Coordinates | 52°59′12″N 1°53′47″W / 52.986575°N 1.896498°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | 14 March 1998 |
| Cost | £12 million |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel – Dive Coaster |
| Manufacturer | Bolliger & Mabillard |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
| Model | Dive Coaster |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 19.8 m (65 ft) |
| Drop | 54.9 m (180 ft) |
| Length | 372.5 m (1,222 ft) |
| Speed | 109.4 km/h (68.0 mph) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 1:15 |
| Max vertical angle | 87.5° |
| Capacity | 1,820 riders per hour |
| G-force | 4.5 |
| Height restriction | 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) |
| Trains | 7 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 8 across in 2 rows for a total of 16 riders per train. |
| Website | Official website |
| Slogan | "Don't Look Down" |
Fastrack available | |
Single rider line available | |
| Oblivion at RCDB | |
Oblivion is a steel roller coaster at the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, England. Marketed as the "world's first vertical drop roller coaster", it was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard as the first Dive Coaster.
Oblivion was constructed for a price of £12 million (equivalent to £27 million in 2023) beginning in 1997. Themed as a secretive facility, it was billed as an experience which had four stages, "physical trauma, psychological breakdown, the schizophrenic sequence, and finally chaos", reflected by screens placed in the ride's queue. Oblivion was promoted across multiple forms of media as part of its advertising campaign prior to the coaster opening on 14 March 1998.
Oblivion stands 19.8 metres (65 ft) tall and features a 55-metre-tall (180 ft) drop at an 87.5-degree angle into an underground tunnel, where riders reach a top speed of 109.4 kilometres per hour (68 mph) and experience 4.5 g. Its track is 372.5 metres (1,222 ft) long, and the ride lasts one minute and fifteen seconds.
Following Oblivion, Bolliger & Mabillard have constructed more than fifteen other Dive Coasters, including a mirror image of Oblivion – Diving Machine G5 at Janfusun Fancyworld.