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Galactica: General Discussion

Controversial opinion; as much as I wasn’t a fan of the VR itself, I really liked what they did with the whole retheme of Galactica, and I think I much prefer the theme to Air. The portal, the soundtrack and the whole vibe of it are all things I admit I really like about it.

As nice as Air was, I feel like the ride arguably has a greater sense of theme and presence since it’s been Galactica.
 
Matt N said:
Controversial opinion; as much as I wasn’t a fan of the VR itself, I really liked what they did with the whole retheme of Galactica, and I think I much prefer the theme to Air. The portal, the soundtrack and the whole vibe of it are all things I admit I really like about it.

As nice as Air was, I feel like the ride arguably has a greater sense of theme and presence since it’s been Galactica.
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The idea, yes... The execution, not so much. When walking through the extended queue line this season, it really shows how tired the area around Galactica is and apart from the station re-vamp and the portal, it was a half hearted effort to try and restore visitor numbers after the incident... it feels slightly lost on me.
 
I get why they blacked out around the station so videos could be played, but why did they add walls on the queue bridge to the left side station? They just looked tatty within weeks.
 
jon81uk said:
I get why they blacked out around the station so videos could be played, but why did they add walls on the queue bridge to the left side station? They just looked tatty within weeks.
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In my mind it was to give it more of a "space-age" feel and to give the same vibe and feeling you get when you walk through an air bridge to an aeroplane (what's one of them?! :p). Remember that the back story of Galactica is that you're boarding a space ship to go on on an intergalactic journey.

As for the state of the walls, blame the public and their inability to not vandalise things.
 
Steve74 said:
In my mind it was to give it more of a "space-age" feel and to give the same vibe and feeling you get when you walk through an air bridge to an aeroplane (what's one of them?! :p). Remember that the back story of Galactica is that you're boarding a space ship to go on on an intergalactic journey.

As for the state of the walls, blame the public and their inability to not vandalise things.
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But also if they were designed and made of the right stuff they wouldnt be in such a state.
 
I suspect even if Air has remained the same that bridge would have been changed in some way. Those fences weren’t high enough for Merlin’s liking and would have had to have been raised.
 
jon81uk said:
But also if they were designed and made of the right stuff they wouldnt be in such a state.
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I believe the graphics are now covered in Perspex to reduce vandalism? I haven't been on the bridge in a couple of years so not sure if it's changed since.

People wonder why we don't get a lot of theming in theme parks. Yes, it's mainly down to the park owners and budgets but there has to be an element of not theming a queue line or similar public area for fear of vandalism and damage and the ongoing cost of repairing the damage surely?

Within weeks of Wicker Man opening, there was writing on the wooden posts (some of it done with a Sharpie - I mean who takes a Sharpie pen to a theme park? Only some prat who is intent on vandalising things)

Last year when the wooden boards went up to separate the FastTrack queue of Spinball from the main queue, someone had drawn (in quite good detail ironically) a line drawing of an intimate sexual act. I mean, why?

I should say that in both instances Towers were swift in removing the damage.

OilyWater said:
Enclosing the bridge was a mistake and ruined a cool view of the ride you were about to board. Never a nice feeling being stuck in a stuffy queue tunnel like that.
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In one sense yes, but if they were going for the "boarding a spaceship like to boarding a plane" feeling then you can understand why they covered the bridge over.
 
Steve74 said:
People wonder why we don't get a lot of theming in theme parks. Yes, it's mainly down to the park owners and budgets but there has to be an element of not theming a queue line or similar public area for fear of vandalism and damage and the ongoing cost of repairing the damage surely?

Within weeks of Wicker Man opening, there was writing on the wooden posts (some of it done with a Sharpie - I mean who takes a Sharpie pen to a theme park? Only some prat who is intent on vandalising things)

Last year when the wooden boards went up to separate the FastTrack queue of Spinball from the main queue, someone had drawn (in quite good detail ironically) a line drawing of an intimate sexual act. I mean, why?

I should say that in both instances Towers were swift in removing the damage.
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None of those are theming though, just fencing. When designing theming it should be taken into account that there will be vandals and wear & tear. Think about the Duel Haunted House indoor section of queue. The "fencing" is durable and varnished and all the theming is beyond arms length, it is designed as theming.
Adding some plywood and vinyl over a queueline is not theming and they didn't properly think about where it is being installed and how it will be used.
 
jon81uk said:
None of those are theming though, just fencing. When designing theming it should be taken into account that there will be vandals and wear & tear. Think about the Duel Haunted House indoor section of queue. The "fencing" is durable and varnished and all the theming is beyond arms length, it is designed as theming.
Adding some plywood and vinyl over a queueline is not theming and they didn't properly think about where it is being installed and how it will be used.
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I'll give you that for Spinball as it is only temporary but you could argue that the wooden posts that make up the Wicker Man queue (the path from the entrance leading up to the queue line shop) is not theming per se, but themed fencing. They could've just used standard cheap metal fencing there (like Nemesis, Galactica etc) but chose to keep the wooden theme and used wood instead. But my point was - fencing or theming - vandalism could be small reason why theming isn't as good as it could or should be.

Your Duel example is good, and Th13teen in the Tesla coil area (I'm thinking of the wall with the writing on not the Tesla coil bit itself) is another example and both show that Towers can separate guests from theming it when needed. You also see in places like Universal and Disney that they place metal fencing along indoor queue lines to separate you from the theming/walls. But for the Galactica bridge, short of extending the bridge width-ways by a 2 or 3 feet to allow for a gap between queue and wall, there isn't a lot more they could've done.
 
The panels in that bridge were replaced a few times, however they seemed to be perfectly fine when I did it this season, as they are converted over. And I guess with the removal of VR the queue actually moves quickly across the bridge so people aren’t bored enough to start peeling and damaging the walls.
 
Steve74 said:
In one sense yes, but if they were going for the "boarding a spaceship like to boarding a plane" feeling then you can understand why they covered the bridge over.
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But why would anyone want to feel like they were boarding a plane? That tunnel feels even less exciting than boarding a real plane

Steve74 said:
But for the Galactica bridge, short of extending the bridge width-ways by a 2 or 3 feet to allow for a gap between queue and wall, there isn't a lot more they could've done.
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Yes other than not build it. Put non-durable materials in guest reach it will always get damaged

I just don't think anything about Galactica revamp was thought through and improving the ride experience definitely wasn't their priority
 
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