Rocket into the heart of a Black Hole on a journey into space...
Rocket into the heart of a Black Hole on a journey into space...
| Theme Park | Alton Towers |
|---|---|
| Park Area | X-Sector |
| Type | Rollercoaster |
| Audience | Older Families and Thrillseekers |
| Opened | 1984 |
| Closed | 5 March 2005 (replaced by The Smiler) |
| Manufacturer | Schwarzkopf |
| Model | Jet Star II |
| Height | 44 ft |
| Length | 1919 ft |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 2 minutes |
Black Hole sat in a tent in X-Sector
Enclosed within a giant tent, Black Hole was a rollercoaster which took place in near complete darkness.
The rollercoaster itself was a Jet Star II, designed and manufactured by the legendary Anton Schwarzkopf. Black Hole had an outer space theme, with the queueline and station featuring Jules Verne style scenery.
Trains were comprised of two cars, each seating up to six riders in three groups of two, one in front of the other. The ride began with an unusual spiral lift hill, before plunging down a 44 foot drop into the "black hole". From here, the layout comprised mainly a set of clockwise and anti-clockwise helixes. Due to the pitch blackness, occasionally punctuated by illuminated asteroids and other space objects, Black Hole felt more intense than the ride perhaps really was.
Initially the Black Hole tent was bright yellow and green, although this was changed to a midnight blue when the area was converted into X-Sector with the arrival of Oblivion in 1998.
Black Hole was one of Alton Towers' classic rides. By the mid-2000s, however, it was becoming unreliable and costly to both maintain and keep in line with modern safety standards. Following a special enthusiast event to say goodbye to the ride, Black Hole was closed in March 2005. The tent remained in place for several years, being utilised Boiler House and Carnival of Screams scare mazes for Scarefest 2011, before finally being torn down to make way for The Smiler which now sits on the site. The rollercoaster itself was refurbished by Gerstlauer, and can now be found operating as Rocket at Furuvik in Sweden.
The Black Hole tent
Inside the station
Riders board one of the Black Hole trains
Black Hole's entrance was found half way up the hill descending into X-Sector
