''keep low and keep your eyes peeled boys were goin in guns blazing''. We will also send you breaking news alerts, so you'll get the news when it happens. For the 1988 season, Black Hole was dismantled and transported to Europe, where it had an overhaul by BHS (later becoming Maurer Shne) of Peienberg in Germany, to accommodate dual-car trains. The Battersea Fun Fair closed two years later due to the accident. Most recently, the ride system has been reused again as part of the Alton Towers Dungeon. The ride opened in 1981, and at the time was the longest flume attraction in the world. Over the following years many rumours circulated, both about potential purchasers for the coaster as well as what might replace it, though none came to fruition. When researching the article, this is the one that stood out most to my mother, who said she was "fascinated" by the ride, at the tender age of around eight when it opened in 1981. This new generation rollercoaster was called Corkscrew with Bayerncurve and opened to huge crowds at Holiday Park in Haloch, Germany, and Walibi Belgium in Wavre, Belgium.Did you ride the Black Hole? There have been various shakeups over the years but it has remained popular with thrillseekers and families. At the same time it gained new effects within the tent as well as an updated restraint system. It didn't reopen for the 2017 season, and despite being advertised as closed for refurbishment, it instead deteriorated for the next two years, and Alton Towers confirmed it wouldn't return in 2019. This was the first time the structure had been put to public use since the attraction's closure in March 2005. and our During the time that the ride operated, the park also operated an outdoor Jet Star III, the Beast. And according to an Alton Towers archivist, caused roads to be blocked at its opening as visitors joined queues of up to nine hours for the chance to ride this beast of a rollercoaster. The coaster was located within a huge silvery black tent (formerly green and yellow) that ensured the ride took place in total darkness. As far as I know, it was the first Schwarzkopf coaster to fail in this way. The coaster's continued popularity, saw its queue line expand in 1993 to swallow the neighbouring Vintage Cars site, and for its remaining years in operation, the Black Hole's extended outdoor queue-line was actually sited on the former track of the Vintage Cars as it snaked through the bushes at the top of Fantasy World. The worst roller coaster tragedy in history happened in May 1972, on the old wooden roller coaster. The Black hole is a Schwarzkopf Jet star 2 coaster with a length of 1919ft, Height of 44'3 and a duration of 1min 50 seconds. Defunctland: The History of Alton Towers' Black Hole - YouTube We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. An hour later, Candy Taylor, 32, fell from a ride called Flight Commander and died from the impact. Black Hole was standing but did not operate. It was then reopened, and named Black Hole II, the New Black Hole, before going back to its original name. It operated from 1984 until 2005. No replacement was ever built inside the tent, although the park considered various ideas including flat ride and rollercoaster concepts. From here, the layout comprised mainly a set of clockwise and anti-clockwise helixes. The car derailed due to undercarriage failure. Clearly showing the supports still in place. Now renamed Duel, the Haunted House was originally quite a different experience. She later died of internal injuries. Cookie Info In June 2008 a teenager was decapitated by the roller coaster after he hopped over two fences into a restricted area to retrieve a hat. This situation was somewhat rectified at the end of 1987, when the coaster was dismantled and taken away to be re-profiled in order to accommodate coupled trains, greatly improving the ride's capacity. Opening in 1983, The Black Hole was located inside a large green and yellow tent. Galaxyland Amusement Park, Alberta, Canada. Click this link and you'll see what you can expect. All you need to do is follow this link and click which newsletters you want to receive. The roller coaster was given a space theme and debuted at the park in 1983. The coaster was located within a huge silvery black tent (formerly green and yellow) that ensured the ride took place in total darkness. A man was thrown from the ride three days after the park opened in 1999, but escaped with minor injuries. No, the newsletters are absolutely free. The three other deaths involved an electrocution, a heart attack and a passenger suffered fatal injuries when their face smashed onto a rock during a ride. Not so much a rollercoaster, but instead purely a product of its time, before 3D was even a thing. The advert can be found on the Disney VHS releases of Dumbo (1996 Re-release), The Fox and The Hound, The Lion King, Pocahontas, D2: The Mighty Ducks, White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf, Angels in The Outfield and Leon. Six Flags Over Georgia Park, Georgia, USA. This rocket simulator ride had a multi-car centrifuge that whirled inside a domed screen showing movies about space. But in June 1986 missing bolts caused the four-car-train to fly from the track. Many of the items, including the bathtubs, were auctioned off. Once upon a star field you could journey into deep space and explore a powerful natural phenomenon. The thriving amusement park opened in 1970 with more than 40 rides and attractions. 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And there isn't just the main news email - there are Stoke City and Port Vale newsletters, our Way We Were nostalgia weekly email, and many others that might be of interest. In 1988, the ride was dismantled and went on holiday to Europe, where it had an overhaul to hold dual-car trains. The Smiler is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. The Black Hole lift hill music composed by Andy Quin called Encounter which was used in the attraction was also reused for advertising Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris. The second happened a year later (approx) on MindBender at West Edmonton Mall, Canada, where poor maintenance and loose bolts caused the undercarriage to fall away from the last car of the coaster, killing 3 people. The Black Hole was built on the site of the former Dinosaur Land in 1984, becoming the park's second major coaster and quickly establishing itself as a perennial favourite with park guests. The ride, which closed in 1992, was the resort's first 'dark ride' taking its smaller visitors on a trip based on Phileas Fogg, and the 1873 novel, called - you guessed it - Around the World in 80 Days. Black Hole, Alton Towers - Theme Park James Attraction Source Events & Meetup Archive, http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p281 cu0009.jpg. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, it opened in 2013 as the world's first Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster. It was originally brought to Alton Towers as the Black hole in 1983 before going through a couple of name changes, New Black Hole, Black Hole 2 and finally back to Black hole again. Following a special enthusiast event to say goodbye to the ride, Black Hole was closed in March 2005. Easter 1984. One guest was taken to hospital for checks after hearing her "neck crack" while. Black Hole. But on May 5, 2007 the Fujin Raijin II roller coaster was derailed, sending cars flying off the tracks. It took you on an (initially quite relaxing) winding ride around some of the park, before featuring three drops. From Corkscrew to Black Hole: Eight rides at Alton Towers we loved and After a renovation from Gerstlauer, the former Black Hole ride was transported to Sweden and reopened as Rocket at Furuvik Zoo on 21 May 2011. The colour scheme of the original tent was changed from yellow and green to a dark blue, and the entrance was revamped to reflect the X-Sector theme. The ride was closed in 2006. The ride stood in the X-Sector area of the park. At the time of its closure, there were no plans on what to do with the now redundant area, so the building that once housed the ride was never removed. Defunctland: The History of Alton Towers' Black Hole Defunctland 1.58M subscribers 1.2M views 4 years ago For more pictures of the Black Hole and Alton Towers, check out this. The large tent which housed the now former Black Hole was eventually dismantled in April 2012 to make way for The Smiler. wait wait wait.. did the black hole not have the under wheel? But the story didn't end thereafter many years of looking as though the coaster had a date with the scrap heap, The Black Hole did eventually find a new owner, and since 2011 has been enjoying a second lease of life as Rocket at Furuvik, a park in Sweden. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. While riding Hydro, a water roller coaster, she suddenly flew out of her car, falling 100 ft to the ground. Did you grow up in the 80s? Indeed for those who had never ridden before, the enigmatic nature of the ride built up tension and upped the fear factor. If you decide you don't want to receive the newsletters any more, just click the unsubscribe box and you won't get them again. Black Hole was an enclosed steel roller coaster at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. Following a special enthusiast event to say goodbye to the ride, Black Hole was closed in March 2005. By the mid-2000s, however, it was becoming unreliable and costly to both maintain and keep in line with modern safety standards. Oblivion, Alton Towers' Secret Weapon 4, was the fourth of the Ministry of Joy's experiments in X-Sector. This proved to be the tent's final use, as 2012 saw it demolished to make way for construction of The Smiler. Cookie Notice [/quote], as memery serves i did a bit of modeling of this ride in the late nineties and all i can think of is one of the wheels had burst as, ''holy crap lead wasps''. I legitimately have around eight of them, starting from age five, in my fetching Dalmatian-themed raincoat, to the year before it closed. For the third time that day, his flaps fell off. Enclosed within a giant tent, Black Hole was a rollercoaster which took place in near complete darkness. The ride was closed for a year after Hayleys death and then renamed Drenched.. The park reopened closed down that December. Certainly. Eco-Adventure Valley Space Journey at Overseas Chinese Town East, Shenzhen, China. It closed to make way for Rita: Queen of Speed in 2003. There were no confirmed plans to reuse the site, and the tent remained unused for several years. Arsonists were believed to have started a blaze which, whipped by winds, became a furnace, melting metal walls and leaving eight trapped teenagers torched beyond recognition. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. In its early years the tent in which the attraction was housed was originally bright green and yellow in stark contrast to its gloomy innards, as well as its space based theme. Hidden away from sight, the ride was located in a large tented structure which gave away little about the thrills that could be found within. It was not until Scarefest 2011 that the tent finally found a new occupier when it housed the two paid mazes, when The Boiler House and Carnival of Screams came on park for the first time. The park shut in 1996 due to legal action, but reopened under a new name in 1998 following a safety-led refit. It was later found the safety barriers were not designed for amputees and he should never have been allowed on. Black Hole, briefly known as Black Hole II (1988) and New Black Hole (1989), was an enclosed steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers theme park near Alton in the English shire county of Staffordshire, United Kingdom. Morrisons trials loyalty scheme changes after More card axe, The new scheme will once again allow shoppers to collect points, Asylum seeker slams UK hotel as children won't eat the food, The family came from Albania in September, The Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire criminals locked up in April, These are the offenders who've been put behind bars, Recognise anyone? We take a look back at the rides that have been lost to the sands of time, Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? In 1985, a number of changes were made. In 1998, the opening of Oblivion in the area brought about the redevelopment of Fantasy Land into X-Sector; the Black Hole was integrated into the new themed area with another refurbishment. [2], In late 2021, Furuvik Zoo put the rollercoaster up for sale. Has there ever been a death on the Black Hole ride or is this - Reddit The Cine 2000 (back when 2000 seemed a long way away) came to the park in 1980 - it offered visitors an unusual viewing experience, and the predecessor to 3D, by surrounding them with the film. Want to make sure you never miss the most important headlines from Stoke-on-Trent daily? We know how irritating it is to find your inbox filling up with emails you don't want. Not signed up to the newsletter? For more information, please see our They're a digest of all the most important local headlines of the day in an easy to read format. [2] The track layout was enclosed within a large tent to provide a dark ride experience. The space-themed ride had some lights added in 1985, as it turned out that a sudden drop in complete darkness was actually quite unpleasant for the riders. Here, you're welcome to talk about all things Alton Towers! But you can always sign up again whenever you like. Try it outhere. Where the legendary Alton Towers rollercoasters are now The last car hit support structures before crashing into a concrete pillar in front of a packed audience watching a concert. All that happened, by reading that article at least, is part of the undercarriage became loose and impacted with the track, causing the train to sharply stop and the track to be lightly damaged.