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Galactica: General Discussion

Josh555 said:
Yeah it would.

Would be cool though, a way to give it a new lease of life. I don’t think you’d lose much by doing it either as the theming has never been the strongest, by Wardley’s own admission.
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I imagine the space experience would be much better with physical lights and scenery rather than VR. Still, Galactica's the best (as in the only one that didn't suck) of the three VR coasters I've tried so far
 
Josh555 said:
They either need to keep the VR or revert back to AIR (or some other theme.) having a space themed rollercoaster, outside, In the light, surrounded by trees, is farcical.
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You could argue the same of Spinball, you're meant to be the ball whizzing around a pinball machine but that's all out in the open. I think they expected - like all other parks that introduced VR - that it would be a huge success so it wouldn't matter what it looked like to the riders.

If they ever were to put a building over something it should be Wicker Man so we can always experience it in the dark!
 
Steve74 said:
You could argue the same of Spinball, you're meant to be the ball whizzing around a pinball machine but that's all out in the open. I think they expected - like all other parks that introduced VR - that it would be a huge success so it wouldn't matter what it looked like to the riders.

If they ever were to put a building over something it should be Wicker Man so we can always experience it in the dark!
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Spinball would benefit from being in the dark, probably a more realistic option as well as I can’t imagine it would be that tricky to accomplish.

That said. If you use a pinball machine, it isn’t in pitch black, it’s got a lot of bright lights etc.

There is just no way you can have a space themed ride outdoors, it’s just totally at odds with the theme.

I’ve no doubt they expected VR to be a huge success, but it hasn’t been. And they now need to deal with it. I’m not suggesting they’d actually make Galactica a dark ride, as cool as that would be, but at least just go back to its original theme.
 
Alsty said:
What was the original theme? I don't consider Air was ever actually themed.
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It was sort of like an oasis, a place of refuge after the nasty and darkness of Nemesis. Well that was the plan before it's budget got cut. We still got it slightly though, with the light colours, nice rocks, foliage and audio. But the theme was not fully realised to what was planned.
 
Josh555 said:
Spinball would benefit from being in the dark, probably a more realistic option as well as I can’t imagine it would be that tricky to accomplish.

That said. If you use a pinball machine, it isn’t in pitch black, it’s got a lot of bright lights etc.

There is just no way you can have a space themed ride outdoors, it’s just totally at odds with the theme.

I’ve no doubt they expected VR to be a huge success, but it hasn’t been. And they now need to deal with it. I’m not suggesting they’d actually make Galactica a dark ride, as cool as that would be, but at least just go back to its original theme.
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I think it has been a hit, but not with coaster enthusiasts. It's always popular with those who only visit once a year, probably to try it out.

If you go to the park a lot then you see the length of the queue and don't bother. although it's always a shorter queue to ride without VR.
 
I personally think that a useful thing they could think about doing is splitting the VR and non-VR queues earlier on in the queue or maybe even at the entrance, because while the current system is fine, me and my mum were waiting for about 30 minutes in September, but walked straight on as soon as the VR and non-VR queues split and we went down the non-VR path.
 
I think part of the problem is the split isn't clear enough so people just join the queue they can see, blocking off the entrance to the non-vr seats in the process. Separate entrances would be a logistical mess given the queue splits at each station anyway.

Hopefully they'll kill off vr next year and this will all become irrelevant.
 
It’s very difficult to incorporate VR and additional adjacent queue lines on a ride which was never intended to have such things. It just doesn’t have the infrastructure to cope, and that is very clear to see.
 
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John said:
I think part of the problem is the split isn't clear enough so people just join the queue they can see, blocking off the entrance to the non-vr seats in the process. Separate entrances would be a logistical mess given the queue splits at each station anyway.

Hopefully they'll kill off vr next year and this will all become irrelevant.
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Burbs said:
It’s very difficult to incorporate VR and additional adjacent queue lines that was never intended to have such things. It just doesn’t have the infrastructure to cope, and that is very clear to see.
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Ah right. Thanks guys! The current system is perfectly fine anyway, in my opinion, so I wouldn't say that was a change that really needed to happen; more a suggestion!
 
Yup, it's to blend in with the trees. Been like that since it opened.... And never painted since.

Same for the high points of Rita's track.
 
Yeah it’s always been that colour, though I believe it got a jet wash when it became Galactica.

It’s actually really surprising just how much of it you can see from the back side of Alton village.
 
I love how without the VR guests are screaming again on the ride. Compared to last year with complete silence as each train went around the track. Makes a difference!

I've noticed that a lot of Galactica merch is now on sale at heavily reduced prices. Now it could just be the usual end of season sales so they can shift stock ready for new stock lines in 2019, although I am wondering if they're trying to flog it all off ready for the removal of VR.

I would be very surprised to see VR next year. The removal of it the past week doesn't seem to have put off guests (it has consistently had long queues all week), so it seems pointless to keep something that does nothing but wastes costs on staffing.
 
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