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Galactica: General Discussion

The more I ride with VR the more I don't like it.

I find it really hard to focus it at times, and if it's not focused right you come off the ride with a bad headache.

The headsets are tight against your ears and nose. And the problem is if you don't have them on tight you almost lose it when you go on your back.

The station, tunnel and lift hill are really good, but as soon as the ride starts its hard to really tell why is going on, it goes so fast and I don't know why they needed to add space, ice and fire . There is just too much happening in too short of ride. Would much rather it was just a space theme ride, so you could really tell what is going on.

The ride doesn't really make much difference to the VR either, as you are just flying all over the place and through portals that have no relation to how the layout of air is.

I have never been a massive fan of air, but I would rather have air than Galactica. From now on I'll keep the headset on and ill just remove it on the lift hill to enjoy the ride as normal.
 
I agree, too much going on for such a short ride. I found it impressive initially, but, I fear the more I ride it, the more bored of it I will get.

They should have called it GalacticAir - the left side of the station for those wanting the VR experience, the right side for those just wanting to ride Air. Now, instead of the rubbish "the worlds first ride dedicated to VR", they could have promoted it as the worlds first dual experience ride or something like that.

I fear that the whole VR malarkey will last this year, but will be scrapped by next season.
 
I think I may be in minority when I say I'm really enjoying my space travels on Galactica.
The more I ride the more things I find to look at and discover :)
Well done Towers !
:D
I do agree there has been a lot packed into such a short ride time.
Maybe they could have made it so you got shown just one longer random destination , flight each time you rode.
 
I'm yet to ride galactica yet(going on Saturday).

I'd like to think that after a while they will develop different videos(destinations) and ones for scarefest/fireworks would be good as well.
I don't see why this can't be done and it would help make the ride more rerideable.
Regarding being forced to wear the googles I echo what some people have already said, if this had been the case all along people wouldn't have an argument but because they have changed there mind since opening they have just caused problems for no apparent reason, they should at least clarify why they made this decision imo
 
Lizkatewells said:
Took my sons friends and one didn't want to wear it, he does suffer with headaches so we tried this and the attendant went away to ask her supervisor who came back saying if the headaches are bad enough to not wear VR headset then he shouldn't be on the ride.....
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Wow The station sounds like is is some sort of Department for work and pensions fit for work test centre. They should enroll iain duncan smith to walk the platform checking people are not cheating the system.

What happens when with peoples glasses if they sit down and are told they can't wear them? Are they left in the cage or do they have to hold them? seems it could be an issue if the ride had to evacuate and people couldn't see where they were going.
 
tp said:
http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/feat...towers-new-vr-coaster-isnt-out-of-this-world/

Uncertainty from Digital Spy.
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I haven't been on it yet but a lot of the negatives from the review sound fixable. The only problem is that not many rides get upgraded for the better and the GP aren't going to be fussed if 2 years later we get VIVE's and a new route. I do like their idea of the interactive elements of virtual reality but again something like that needs to be in at launch before people get turned off from riding it.

It's still a ride I'm looking forward to but I agree with everyones point that this will be lucky to survive 4+ years of staff cuts and long term maintenance. VR is the new 3D for me, theoretically impressive but whilst the tech is bulky and clumsy it will always struggle to get mainstream. Like I say I'm still looking forward to it but I am a little concerned this will go the same way as NST.

As for compulsory/non-compulsory headsets Merlin needs to stick by a decision and get it out to all comms (not just the social media team) before the summer otherwise the honeymoon period will very quickly become a divorce.
 
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Agree, it's pointless updating it later, all the marketing has been done now. They could possibly update the tech with a new film in a couple of years which would provide the new marketing. What we have now is the best offering they have in terms of tech/staff and possibly procedures, they can only go down from here. I'd expect them to revise the marketing in the very near future to take out the 'fully VR' claim once the fuss has died down, they will then probably remove some rows of VR or more sensibly have one station VR and one without, which is what should have been done anyway.

I've tried VR and really enjoy it and am looking forward to one day trying this concept out but as anyone else who has tried this tech may realise it's often not as easy as placing a headset on and off you go, and this is showing with throughputs alongside extra issues that come with the hygiene delays

:):)
 
Croftybaby said:
What happens when with peoples glasses if they sit down and are told they can't wear them? Are they left in the cage or do they have to hold them? seems it could be an issue if the ride had to evacuate and people couldn't see where they were going.
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I can't say for sure but when I was there I think they asked one of us to leave their glasses in the pouch where the headset is stored. Saying that, unless you have a stap for your glasses you have to take them off on thrill coasters anyway (for obvious reasons) so that issue regarding possible evacutations exists all over the place.

This whole forcing you to wear the VR thing is really quite silly. In all of the build up, and when the ride first opened, they said it was optional. Why the sudden change? Were they noticing a lot of people choosing not to wear it and they didn't think this looked good at such an early stage? I can only see forcing people to wear the headsets causing more faff as staff and guests give their sides of the argument!

:)
 
Rob said:
Saying that, unless you have a stap for your glasses you have to take them off on thrill coasters anyway (for obvious reasons) so that issue regarding possible evacutations exists all over the place.
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That's not entirely true. The only coasters/rides I have to take my glasses off for are - Rita, Stealth & Apocalypse off the top of my head. Any other coaster I leave them on with no request to have them removed or a coaster strap.
 
Spike said:
That's not entirely true. The only coasters/rides I have to take my glasses off for are - Rita, Stealth & Apocalypse off the top of my head. Any other coaster I leave them on with no request to have them removed or a coaster strap.
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Fair enough! I'm probably not the best person to comment as I don't wear glasses, I just can't imagine wearing them on something like El Toro! :p
 
Rob said:
Fair enough! I'm probably not the best person to comment as I don't wear glasses, I just can't imagine wearing them on something like El Toro! :p
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Yeah, they do stay on your face easily and I've never had a moment where they felt like they were going to fall off. I'd love to wear them on the aforementioned rides but the staff always request for them to be removed, which is fair enough.
 
Spike said:
That's not entirely true. The only coasters/rides I have to take my glasses off for are - Rita, Stealth & Apocalypse off the top of my head. Any other coaster I leave them on with no request to have them removed or a coaster strap.
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Don't think you can on nemesis or smiler either. I think it's only thirteen and oblivion that you can wear glasses on (not entirely sure though, I have been asked in the past to not wear them on nemesis, so now I wear contact lenses at theme parks :))
 
Leah said:
Don't think you can on nemesis or smiler either. I think it's only thirteen and oblivion that you can wear glasses on (not entirely sure though, I have been asked in the past to not wear them on nemesis, so now I wear contact lenses at theme parks :))
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I wear a glasses strap to theme parks and I have always been checked if I'm wearing a strap on Rita and this year on 13 as well. On Galactica I asked the ride host and they told me to put them in the baggage cupboard.

The only other rides that I've been checked on are: Infusion and almost everything at Drayton. Lightwater do not allow riders to wear glasses on the Ultimate with or without a strap it seems.
 
Spike said:
That's not entirely true. The only coasters/rides I have to take my glasses off for are - Rita, Stealth & Apocalypse off the top of my head. Any other coaster I leave them on with no request to have them removed or a coaster strap.
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I was asked to remove mine for TH13TEEN on Easter Saturday which I found extremely odd.
 
Leah said:
Don't think you can on nemesis or smiler either. I think it's only thirteen and oblivion that you can wear glasses on (not entirely sure though, I have been asked in the past to not wear them on nemesis, so now I wear contact lenses at theme parks :))
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Odd, I've never been asked to take them off on any coaster at Alton. I wear them on all coasters. :confused:
 
Apologies if someone had already mentioned - what happens in regard to hygiene checks someone spoke briefly about previously?
 
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