Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in England. The ride opened as the world's first vertical drop roller coaster on March 14th 1998 amidst a large publicity campaign. The ride has a height restriction of 1.4 metres. With a maximum speed of 68 mph, it is the third fastest roller coaster in the UK and the tallest rollercoaster in Alton Towers.
During 1997, Fantasy World (the area of Alton Towers in which Oblivion was eventua...
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Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in England. The ride opened as the world's first vertical drop roller coaster on March 14th 1998 amidst a large publicity campaign. The ride has a height restriction of 1.4 metres. With a maximum speed of 68 mph, it is the third fastest roller coaster in the UK and the tallest rollercoaster in Alton Towers.
During 1997, Fantasy World (the area of Alton Towers in which Oblivion was eventually situated) was closed off and all the old fantasy-themed rides were removed except the Black Hole. Surrounding the area were signs announcing the arrival of a world's first, codenamed "SW4". Over the year, Alton Towers' secrecy and the ever-deepening hole being excavated fueled speculation and hype. The details about Oblivion were finally unveiled in March 1998.
The "SW4" codename stood for "Secret Weapon 4". SW3 was Nemesis, and SW 1 & 2 were unbuilt roller coasters originally intended for the Nemesis site.
Oblivion's opening was...
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