Location - X
Sector
Opened - March 1988
Closed - March 2005
Manufacturer - Schwarzkopf
Ride Type - Jet Star II
Speed: 45 MPH
G-forces: 2.5 G
Track Length- 560 Metres
Height Drop- 44ft
Weight: 175 tonnes
Ride Duration- 3mins 42 secs
Capacity per train- 12
Capacity per hour- 1022
The Black hole was a mystery to all, unless you rode it you would never of had an idea of what it was. The 600metre long ride took place in almost total darkness . The only illumination came from stars and asteroids.
It was a vast undercover roller coaster, similar to the Beast which used to be situated in Forbidden Valley. You
travelled through helixes upwards until you were completely disorientated and then suddenly, you were dropped straight down a 15 metre drop into the Black hole itself.
To build this ride, the rail framework had to be covered completely with a canopy, but not before a quarter of a million tonnes of soil had been dug away from the hillside. The ride was originally green and yellow, but in 1998 when Oblivion was installed it was rethemed and painted blue.
Because the ride was totally hidden from view it means you didn't know what to expect until you had ridden it, so for first time riders the queue was quite intimidating not knowing what you were
queuing for. Once in the station it was the first time you could see the trains, here you saw that passengers sat in twos, one behind the other rather like sitting on a sledge.
Spiralling upwards the train goy fairly high, before you heard a voice say 'sit back-hold tight', you were then plunged down large drops and tight corners before a quick return into the brakes. The ride had a very poor through-put, because of this queues often built up.
