Galactica's Future

[JDJR]

Ideally if we never got Galactica in 2016 and Towers still had some more money to play with or if the incident never happened, it would have been nice if they had gone to really expand that area around the attraction to make it is own thing as when you look as the area around it when you don't include the car park behind the ride, its a fairly sizeable area to play with as you can see from this image of the area.

The queue lines themselves are just wooden fences, cattle pens in truth, with nothing to them so you could easily not only reroute them but theme them into the attraction far better, imagine walking past many relaxing waterfalls giving a calming feel about it. In doing so you open up more of the area in which instead of converting the Air shop, RCR could have had its own building in that area by the final turn on the ride and could have given you a good view of the ride and of a wider themed area that would have been Forbidden Valley before Nemesis corrupted the land in which you could say the area was called Thunder Valley before (a wink to the area's past name before) or something not dark in which the Stonehenge theming idea of worshipping Nemesis as we see in FV could be used here. A more 'lighter' theme would really help balance out not just FV next door but pretty much all the other dark areas on the park.

I agree that if you had a Ripsaw replacement on its original location then you could split FV in two as with Blade, Nemesis and Sub Terra being there then the area would be more or less up to full strength. With this new area, you could have another flat ride or two in that area or even a indoor Valhalla water ride on the site of the car park but I digress. Either way, it is an possible untapped area of the park that could be put to good use and not just hidden away from many other than those in the queue for Galactica. Either with my proposal or maybe just include it into the wider Phalanx theme means its ripe for change either way.

It is a big area when you look at that picture. Definitely some possibilities but I suppose this is down the pecking order.

One reservation of the car park area would be how far any new ride / area would be from the park entrance. Galactica is a hike as it is.

Either way though getting the ride back nicely presented is a must. Really enjoy the ride.

 

[Jb85]

Didn't the Oasis theme only come about due to 9/11

 

[Squiggs]

Didn't the Oasis theme only come about due to 9/11

No, it was the chosen theme well before then. Most of the concept art you will have seen for the Oasis theme was generated in the first half of 2001.

 

[Matt.GC]

Didn't the Oasis theme only come about due to 9/11

The Fanta theme for Oblivion may have. No idea why Rita's Dr Pepper theme was cancelled though.

 

[AT86]

The Fanta theme for Oblivion may have. No idea why Rita's Dr Pepper theme was cancelled though.

I believe it was misunderstood.

 

[Matt.GC]

I believe it was misunderstood.

But let's face it, what's the worst that could happen?

 

[jon81uk]

But let's face it, what's the worst that could happen?

Getting soaked on Tidal Wave apparently.

 

[Morgan Price]

From: https://x.com/theme_parkgeek/status/1733943364867793079?s=46&t=yO1yBjvLsYAwa_Hl7yMQvA


Galactica main entrance sign partially removed, apparently most/all of the other Galactica signs have been removed too


From: https://x.com/yonel6969/status/1733963982468219164?s=46&t=yO1yBjvLsYAwa_Hl7yMQvA

 

[rob666]

Not "partially removed"...look at the full picture... in my professional and educated opinion, that looks very much like wet rot and storm damage.
Nothing more.

 

[Jb85]

A bit minging that.

One of two things, and only time will tell.

Storm damage or re theme.

I'm going with the former.

 

[Squiggs]

Is it just me or is that G illuminated?

I think that might give a good indication whether that sign is being removed or has just been damaged in the storms.

 

[lee2804]

Could the storm damage cause them to bring plans forward as it seems pointless to replace the same signs if in a few months they will retheming or repainting it

 

[djtruefitt]

That sign has definitely just fallen off because it’s rotten. A year or two ago it was handing off and we did a TS post, it was then screwed back on.

if it was being removed you wouldnt just pull the middle bit off and leave it on the floor, whilst leaving the sides up and the G still powered up.

the pics I saw of the signs covered up is pretty standard winter maintenance at towers, I’ve seen it before with the Nemesis signs covered over to protect them from the winter weather.

 

[Bert2theSpark]

It would be cool if Galactica had a minor retheme akin to Rita's in 2010, where it receives a minor touch-up and backstory changes. It could be about a rogue ragtag intergalactic team (A.I.R) whose incompetence causes the Galactica portal to crash land in Forbidden Valley, where the Nemesis creature emerges through the portal from the abyss of space...

The ride would see a refresh around much of the area, however many of the supports in the plaza area walking up to the entrance are repainted and decorated a variety of orange and reds. There are a couple of Phalanx crates and systems dotted about as they are investigating the portal and are hoping to develop their own version of NASA.

The music is an extended remix of the Galactica soundtrack that merges a mix of instruments to convey how 'put together' the A.I.R team are. Then once in the station, the lights display red and purple hues, with shelves on the wall of various oddities that the A.I.R team have collected before boarding one of their crafts. The projectors from the preshow remain as various photos of the teams' journey through space, and photos of the planets from Galactica's VR end the photos end with sightings of the Nemesis creature and the portal crashing to earth...

 

[Trooper Looper]

Here's a Virtual Towers creation of air if the concept and theming was all built. Wonderful work by the developers!

From: https://twitter.com/coaster_gen/status/1743689840099488028?t=8cFtswC2TaHHggEsxlnbIA&s=19

 

[BSwiss]

Simple Retheme: Nemesister

Nemesis’ irritating, high-achieving sibling. Fill the tunnel with framed certificates of achievement, honorary degrees and a picture with Pele.

Alternative: Nemesister-in-law

Nemesis’ irritating, low-achieving sponger SIL. Fill the tunnel with Certified Life Coach plaques.

Either would explain Nemesis’ anger and could be themed with purchases from Sue Ryder in Leek.

 

[DistortAMG]

Here's a Virtual Towers creation of air if the concept and theming was all built. Wonderful work by the developers!

From: https://twitter.com/coaster_gen/status/1743689840099488028?t=8cFtswC2TaHHggEsxlnbIA&s=19

It looks great, but as they clearly say, they have took inspiration from the original concepts to create this concept. So this is not accurate to what it would have been as you suggest, In any case, it does look great.

I would love to see some work put into this ride going forward, it certainly is in desperate need of it.

 

[djtruefitt]

Seems Galactica won’t be going anywhere this year, with the entrance sign looking like it’s being replaced the same as before. As the portal graphics now replaced the same as before on the side of the station.

From: https://x.com/towersstreet/status/1758901294222221525?s=46&t=sMwQzIe0X_e3jY-eDO9i0g

 

[mo237]

With all this talk stemming from Nemesis Reborn, Project Ocean and Forbidden Valley as as whole, naturally there's been discussion about integrating Air/Galactica into the new military story. Personally, I think giving it a Phalanx theme would be detrimental to the ride as a whole.

The entire point of Air was for there to be a thrill coaster that wasn't intimidating - more inviting, joyful, and positive. The light blue track, the bubbly music, sleek futuristic buildings - the overall atmosphere was very welcoming. As a kid who suffered greatly from anxiety around doing the big rides, Air was seen as far more accessible - not only due to the layout, but the style of the area not being as intense as Nemesis or Oblivion.

Granted, the ride was never really decorated, but the idea of the "oasis" is pretty cool and naturally leaves a lot of room for expansion. Get some fountains in, bolster the rockwork in a few places, open the station back up, and the ride itself is already closer to what was promised back in 2002. Take it a bit further - have a small beach area by the drop with some benches and a little water play area. Kids love running through fountains and being silly!

There's an auroa about the military that they strip away peoples personalities to make them tough soldiers - I could see this happening if the Phalanx took control of the ride. There's been pages of discussion over many years about how Merlin's love for painting things black and putting tanks/helicopters around the area doesn't do a lot for people. Personally I haven't seen the updated Nemesis as I'm very hesitant to see it with this new army overlay. And if you're really anxious about it fitting in with the area, just keep the original idea of something like "the safe haven amongst the chaos, where peace reigns - a place so pure that not even the alien could infect it".

Or just lean more into the sci-fi aspect with Galactica. Just please don't homogenise the ride. We've had enough of dark scary themes, and taking the one positive theme away would be really saddening and contradict the design.

 

[jesterrace989]

With all this talk stemming from Nemesis Reborn, Project Ocean and Forbidden Valley as as whole, naturally there's been discussion about integrating Air/Galactica into the new military story. Personally, I think giving it a Phalanx theme would be detrimental to the ride as a whole.

The entire point of Air was for there to be a thrill coaster that wasn't intimidating - more inviting, joyful, and positive. The light blue track, the bubbly music, sleek futuristic buildings - the overall atmosphere was very welcoming. As a kid who suffered greatly from anxiety around doing the big rides, Air was seen as far more accessible - not only due to the layout, but the style of the area not being as intense as Nemesis or Oblivion.

Granted, the ride was never really decorated, but the idea of the "oasis" is pretty cool and naturally leaves a lot of room for expansion. Get some fountains in, bolster the rockwork in a few places, open the station back up, and the ride itself is already closer to what was promised back in 2002. Take it a bit further - have a small beach area by the drop with some benches and a little water play area. Kids love running through fountains and being silly!

There's an auroa about the military that they strip away peoples personalities to make them tough soldiers - I could see this happening if the Phalanx took control of the ride. There's been pages of discussion over many years about how Merlin's love for painting things black and putting tanks/helicopters around the area doesn't do a lot for people. Personally I haven't seen the updated Nemesis as I'm very hesitant to see it with this new army overlay. And if you're really anxious about it fitting in with the area, just keep the original idea of something like "the safe haven amongst the chaos, where peace reigns - a place so pure that not even the alien could infect it".

Or just lean more into the sci-fi aspect with Galactica. Just please don't homogenise the ride. We've had enough of dark scary themes, and taking the one positive theme away would be really saddening and contradict the design.

I'd rather just have Air back. Logo, theme music, the whole lot. Merlin need to address the elephant in the room and admit that Galactica was a cheap, lazy makeover