Galactica: General Discussion

[TPC]

Has Galatica been operating with or without VR for the last 2 weeks?

 

[Ethan]

Without up til a couple of days ago but the queues have suddenly gone up for it recently so assuming it's back on again

 

[WL18]

Without up til a couple of days ago but the queues have suddenly gone up for it recently so assuming it's back on again

VR was working on the back three rows on both the 26th and 30th when I went. I think the long queue time advertised on the 30th was as they went down to a two car one station operation at around 11am because of technical issues as I was waiting to be loaded when it broke and they had to bring everyone from the other station over before we got on.

 

[monkeyboy]

3 rows and 2 stations today, although vr was doing its usual pointing to the lhs not central thing

 

[James564]

3 rows and 2 stations today, although vr was doing its usual pointing to the lhs not central thing

Interesting, I tried the VR at the end of the day on Sunday just incase it does suddenly disappear (heaven forbid ) and I thought I could feel the Galactica logo drifting off into space if you’ll pardon the pun whilst the train was still loading. Once we set off the picture stayed focussed to the left.

Has this been a regular thing for a while now? It was the first time I’ve used the VR since it was added and it made me feel quite queasy to be honest but that may have just been the off-picture disorientating me.

The loud exhale and sigh from the platform attendant when I asked to use the VR said it all.

 

[Matt N]

Sorry to bump the thread, but with today's park map release, TowersTimes picked up on an interesting detail of this year's map:

As the riders have apparently had headsets on since 2016 and they don't this year, that would certainly seem like an intentional change that implies that if the VR isn't gone this season, its presence will be significantly reduced.

What do you guys think? Do you think VR will be gone completely, or are TowersTimes overthinking things here?

I'm not sure how popular of an opinion this will be, but I'd personally like to see the VR removed completely. It was a very bold move for Alton to put it in, but I'm not entirely sure how well it worked. While I admit it was a cool novelty initially, its appeal had kind of worn off on the 2nd ride, and I certainly enjoyed my non-VR ride in September 2018 far more than the VR rides that had preceded it in July 2017 and April 2016. I actually quite liked the VR in April 2016, but I wasn't a fan in July 2017. The VR also seems to have caused Alton quite a few problems as of late and never really seemed especially popular to me, particularly in 2017 and 2018, so I personally think that removal of the VR would make sense. In my opinion, VR does have potential uses within theme parks, but I'm afraid that I don't think retrofitting it to roller coasters is one of them.

However, I would personally like to see the Galactica brand and theming stay, even if the VR goes.

 

[Alsty]

Hopefully the VR headsets are buried in the gardens never to reappear.

 

[MakoMania]

Great news, long may the queues continue to move at a reasonable pace.

 

[ringo]

So much for future of theme parks then.

But in reality correct decision, they didn’t update with new videos / alternate journeys so it got boring extremely fast and the quality was poor

Now cue the comments about signs needing to be changed and will there be a new theme to bring the park a “New for 2020”

 

[ChristmasPud]

Great news! Cause for celebration, let's make today a national bank holiday!

Most convoluted way ever to add a portal and some lights to a ride, but at least we got some improvement out of this!

 

[Ethan]

Well with the headsets gone and the whole purpose of the retheme, I guarantee they will either retheme the ride again next season or change it back to air

 

[MakoMania]

Well with the headsets gone and the whole purpose of the retheme, I guarantee they will either retheme the ride again next season or change it back to air

Why would they do either of those? What's the point?

 

[Ethan]

Why would they do either of those? What's the point?

Because the theme is pointless now. It's just air with a space theme, which makes no sense

 

[ringo]

Why would they do either of those? What's the point?

To give the park a “new for 2020” tag line.

 

[MakoMania]

Because the theme is pointless now. It's just air with a space theme, which makes no sense

It's a theme, it's not supposed to be realistic. The portal looks nice, the music is good too. It will be running for the whole of this season without VR, most rows last year didn't have VR. Why would they run most of the ride for 2 years without VR and then suddenly decide they need to retheme it. It's not going to happen.

 

[Skyscraper]

And will they uncover the station (like it was before the re-theme) or leave it as it is?

 

[AT86]

Hopefully the VR headsets are buried in the gardens never to reappear.

Only to be unearthed in 2025 during routine restoration works. Galactica: Sub Terra, your worst techy gimmick. Underground.

And will they uncover the station (like it was before the re-theme) or leave it as it is?

They will spend zero on changes.

Here is hoping for the air dispatch audio to return.

 

[Ethan]

I predict Galactica will be the site of SW9

They're not going to remove the ride any time soon

 

[MakoMania]

They're not going to remove the ride any time soon

Agreed, still one of the most popular rides in the park.

 

[Ethan]

I hate to say this but I fear with Rita still being a popular ride and spinball being a potential cbeebies expansion site, the most likely ride to be removed for sw9 is nemesis