Oblivion

Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. The prototype Dive Coaster model from Bolliger & Mabillard opened to the public on 14 March 1998 and was marketed as the "world's first vertical drop roller coaster". With a maximum speed of , it is the third fastest roller coaster in the UK, behind The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Stealth at Thorpe Park. History In Theme Park Review's YouTube video of the IAAPA 2011 trade show, Walter Bolliger stated that development of the Dive Coaster model began between 1994 and 1995. Throughout 1997, the Alton Towers park's 'Fantasy World' area was closed and all its former rides removed, except the Black Hole. The closure led to it being used for secretly constructing a new attraction known as "SW4" (a codename that stood for "Secret Weapon 4", after Nemesis' codename, "SW3"). The attraction's construction site was surrounded by a patrol guard who kept it hidden, and the park initially did not reveal much information about it to the general public. A fence was inserted into the area along with the sign announcing that a "world first ride opens [in] March 1998". Many people did not know of the then-upcoming ride other than that its building stage involved making a hole that gradually increased in size. When new parts of track appeared on the site, some grew suspicious about the project. Details about SW4 were not revealed until March 1998, including its name Oblivion and its status as the "worlds first vertical drop roller coaster". Oblivion was given a secret military theme, which was previously used for the park's earlier SW1 and SW2 coaster projects. Oblivion's opening was accompanied by a large promotional campaign, including appearances on Blue Peter, news channels and Corn Flakes cereal box packets. Prior to its opening, memorabilia including its own brand of deodorant was available to purchase. The total cost to construct the ride was estimated at £12 million. The park area containing Oblivion was redesigned as 'X Sector'. The only surviving ride from the former area was the Black Hole roller coaster, which was externally redesigned to suit the new theme. Alton Towers moved and rethemed two existing rides from other areas of the park to open with X-Sector, Energizer and Enterprise.