Galactica's Future

[Trooper Looper]

With all the major work going on in Forbidden Valley, and the rumours of a new HUSS Top Spin replacing Funk N Fly, I'd be surprised if nothing happens to Galactica for next year of the near future. The ride has been in a right state for years now, from the numerous logo peeling off, grease on the outside of the station, moss on the supports and track, paint peeling off the rock work, plants growing in the station, etc, etc...

Next year would be a perfect opportunity to do something with Galactica ever since they dropped the VR concept and it doesn't really make much sense in the area. So, what would you like to see happen to Galactica in the near future?

For me, I'd really like to see if they redid it back to air with the originally planned theming. What was proposed looked great and very original, and having a more heroic theme instead of a more villainous theme would be very welcomed.

 

[Zeock]

I would probably choose a new theme to tie in with Nemesis and the Phalanx, but an improved version of Air would also be brilliant.

 

[Rob]

Something does need to happen to Galactica, as it is a complete mess. They got totally caught up in the VR fad of a few years ago and saw it as a relatively low cost way to promote a new attraction. But like most VR on theme park rides, it did not last and ever since Galactica has become more of a state year on year.

If it was me I'd go for a complete re-theme, as the space theme just does not work at all now. I did like Air as a concept, but again this was never fully realised and I am not sure going back to it is the right thing. It would make more sense to go with a new theme that fitted in with Forbidden Valley, but at the same time I wouldn't want to see another coaster being re-painted with dark colours! I like the idea of it being a lighter theme, but am not totally sure how that can be fully incorporated in to Forbidden Valley.

 

[Mhoowee]

I do have a idea about the future I think that they could make the area that you enter a Phalanx base with darker bricks and darker themes, then you enter through a Phalanx facility and there is a pre-show and they use basically the same pre-show as Guardians at WDW where they teleport you to the ship but in this case up to the Galactica space station, and then the rest of the station and everything is indoors (When this reimagining happens they would replace the system to make it more reliable) they use screens to show that your in space then you reach the station and you set off to the first jump point and they use screens to keep the theme and then you teleport straight into earth (there will be a onboard audio system) then after the earth segment which is the main part that goes over bits and then you enter another building through another portal which takes you into deep space and you see a supernova and you need to get to another jump point and you end up back at earth (the turn that faces the car park) then you enter the same building but a different part of it that takes you to a ice planet and then back to the space station

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Call it Skein and theme it around geese in flight, obviously. 🪿

 

[Trooper Looper]

Something does need to happen to Galactica, as it is a complete mess. They got totally caught up in the VR fad of a few years ago and saw it as a relatively low cost way to promote a new attraction. But like most VR on theme park rides, it did not last and ever since Galactica has become more of a state year on year.

If it was me I'd go for a complete re-theme, as the space theme just does not work at all now. I did like Air as a concept, but again this was never fully realised and I am not sure going back to it is the right thing. It would make more sense to go with a new theme that fitted in with Forbidden Valley, but at the same time I wouldn't want to see another coaster being re-painted with dark colours! I like the idea of it being a lighter theme, but am not totally sure how that can be fully incorporated in to Forbidden Valley.

True, it would be pretty hard for them to incorporate that. I think their best route is to separate that side of the sea to its own thing. Keep the rustic and black ascetic around Nemesis, and keep the oasis theme around air/galactica. Give it a reason, but it doesn't have to be linked with Nemesis or the Phalanx. There was this quote John Wardley stated about air and what they wanted out of it, and I think I couldn't describe it any better.

"The sensation of flight is a very liberating thing, and we decided as where the previous two rides (Nemesis, Oblivion) were villains, this was going to be the hero. It was going to enable you to do something that you really wanted to do (flight). Instead of being dark, and threatening, and gloomy, we wanted to make it in a welcoming manner, and the idea of flying, the colours were going to be sort of a sky blue, silver, and high tech, but non-threatening."

We do know that John Wardley is involved with Nemesis 2.0 and the new version of Forbidden Valley, but how much, we don't know. It'd be interesting to see if he still stands by what he said above for air. I would hardly call a military themed Flying Coaster a 'hero' theme. Time will tell though.

 

[Mykeprime]

Random idea; the 'ArcNet' from Men In Black 3. It was a protective shield system visualised as lots of blue things flying around. With a decent scrub, AIR could be themed to something like that without much extra work. Hits the heroic angle while still keeping it with the new Nemesis/ Valley.

 

[s_g_k]

I’d personally like to see Galactica receive a medium level retheme so it’s more in keeping with Forbidden Valley 2.0 and I’ve had an idea on the theme.

Story wise, the ride could be themed so that it was The Phalanx’s escape ship which has been left in situ after everything went wrong. The idea is that the ride was essentially the Phalanx’s craft for escaping the valley and it remains there to this day. You could add more near miss structures which have been clawed at by the Nemesis creature, and the infamous Air Tunnel could have additional theming features such as lighting, strobes, smoke and screens to create the idea that the Nemesis creature is trying to attack the escape ship on it’s way out. Get some subwoofers in the station and have bassy sounds accompanied with red beacon lights etc to symbolise taking off from an unstable environment

Name wise, a synonym of the word “Escape” or “abandon” could work, something like “Freedom” or “Breakout”?

Granted this is quite ambitious, but what are people’s thoughts?

 

[Sharko]

If Galacticair is not themed to a phalanx attack drone or air assault on the Nemesis beast, i shall not be stepping foot in the place again….until i have calmed down at least.

 

[QTXAdsy]

In a ideal world, I'd not only go for the full Air theme as planned before, but actually split Forbidden Valley into two themed lands in which you have new look Forbidden Valley on one side and this tropical Atlantis or Lost Continent themed area in which the two lands are separated by a wall (just south of the Ripsaw site) in which the theme could be that Phalanx have contained Nemesis on one side of the wall yet have discovered the hidden area on the other side of the wall in which is protected by the Goddess or sprit of Air that protects the last area of FV not affected by Nemesis and gives more lore to the wider area showing what the area might have been before Nemesis corrupted the area.

Combine the fact of the return of Air looking more well themed even compared to the concept art, that whole area right up to the carpark behind the ride could all be landscaped into a new themed area which would give the park a much needed 'lighter' theme to contrast from all the darker themed areas. So yes, the classic good vs evil message here in which Air is protecting the one last piece of paradise from Nemesis' rampage. Just imagine that station building and even the RCR all having a outside reskin of rockface or ancient Greek style building with the queueline having lovely waterfalls all around which would be a nice contrast to the blood waterfalls of Nemesis should the latter return.

I'm honestly suprised no one has looked at that whole area round thr final helix on the ride and the space you could play around with, much potential...

 

[Trooper Looper]

In a ideal world, I'd not only go for the full Air theme as planned before, but actually split Forbidden Valley into two themed lands in which you have new look Forbidden Valley on one side and this tropical Atlantis or Lost Continent themed area in which the two lands are separated by a wall (just south of the Ripsaw site) in which the theme could be that Phalanx have contained Nemesis on one side of the wall yet have discovered the hidden area on the other side of the wall in which is protected by the Goddess or sprit of Air that protects the last area of FV not affected by Nemesis and gives more lore to the wider area showing what the area might have been before Nemesis corrupted the area.

Combine the fact of the return of Air looking more well themed even compared to the concept art, that whole area right up to the carpark behind the ride could all be landscaped into a new themed area which would give the park a much needed 'lighter' theme to contrast from all the darker themed areas. So yes, the classic good vs evil message here in which Air is protecting the one last piece of paradise from Nemesis' rampage. Just imagine that station building and even the RCR all having a outside reskin of rockface or ancient Greek style building with the queueline having lovely waterfalls all around which would be a nice contrast to the blood waterfalls of Nemesis should the latter return.

I'm honestly suprised no one has looked at that whole area round thr final helix on the ride and the space you could play around with, much potential...

I agree with a lot of what you've said here, but personally, tieing a goddess with air would kind of ruin airs uniqueness. Airs theme was always left to be a bit ambiguous/mysterious, presenting the untouched area of forbidden valley that luckily escaped Nemesis' rein, like a living fossil. I don't think air would need a story to it, just a basic theme that someone could pick up on subconsciously.

Perhaps they could incorporate airs theme with it being stated by the Phalanx in forbidden Valley as foreign territory, since they're part of the Nemesis theme. That could explain why airs area would look untouched by Nemesis or The Phalanx. Just an idea. I agree though that Forbidden Valley would have to split up into two themes, though I'd actually welcome that. It could still be called Forbidden Valley afterwards. One side filled with Forces of evil (Nemesis, Phalanx,) and the other being an oasis of good (Air).

In fact, I believe Towers did try to convey the idea of airs being forbidden valley before Nemesis, but I'm guessing they didn't have the budget for it. I noticed that the old Mutant Racers had a mixture of Forbidden Valleys rustic ascetic, and the architecture that Air uses. Imagine if that was applied to more of the facilities between Nemesis and Air!

 

[Matt.GC]

Although I'm sure I'm among the majority in thinking that the star attraction in Forbidden Valley is Nemesis by a wide margin, just whacking some black paint all over Galactica and making it a side show to Nemesis will simply relegate it to 'the other coaster' status even more so than it already is.

It's depressing enough that Nemesis itself appears to be adopting the theme of a relatively new, mediocre drop tower in a shed that's spent most of its life closed. The last thing Galactica needs is to be the fourth coaster in the park themed around secret organisations, and the sixth painted in dark colours.

I would have voted for an improved version of Air as I thought it was a decent concept that suffered from half arsed implementation. But there's a whiff of "bring back the Haunted House" about it. That ship has sailed now.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Although I'm sure I'm among the majority in thinking that the star attraction in Forbidden Valley is Nemesis by a wide margin, just whacking some black paint all over Galactica and making it a side show to Nemesis will simply relegate it to 'the other coaster' status even more so than it already is.

It's depressing enough that Nemesis itself appears to be adopting the theme of a relatively new, mediocre drop tower in a shed that's spent most of its life closed. The last thing Galactica needs is to be the fourth coaster in the park themed around secret organisations, and the sixth painted in dark colours.

I would have voted for an improved version of Air as I thought it was a decent concept that suffered from half arsed implementation. But there's a whiff of "bring back the Haunted House" about it. That ship has sailed now.

Yeah, even if Nemesis will always be my favourite ride in Forbidden Valley, I don't think incorporating Galactica into this new version of the area will look the ride any favours. I don't want a other Rita situation when that area became Dark forest. We don't need another ride coated in dark paint, themed in dark and gloomy manner. Besides, I don't think it'll favor the parks famous Rollercoaster Restaurant. Imagine that building painted in black and themed to a military... not very appealing for first impressions towards guests.

I suppose my bias to a new version of Air would be loosely related to my nostalgia of seeing the air advert on the Internet eons back, but putting nostalgia aside, I generally really like the name and brand. Shame they never got to do all the effects and theming. I personally believe if they were gonna theme Galactica to tie in with forbidden valley for nest year, they would have to close the ride earlier this season. When air was being redone to Galactica, all that work was done under the closed season, and the only difference they achieved there was repainted rocks, an extended building, a new logo, and one giant prop the ride goes through. There wasn't much of a difference if you compare the two. I personally doubt they'll have the time to add a new flat ride there, redo the scenery around Nemesis, finish the station, repaint everything black to the Phalanx, and give Galactica the same treatment at the same time. It just seems quite a bit to do in 5 months.

If they do manage to do anything in that time span, I just hope it's separated from Nemesis and the Phalanx, and is allowed to be it's own theme and now overshadowed by Nemesis thematically.

 

[Jb85]

Thinking about this. 5 months isn't a lot of time to do any work whilst the rest of the area has work ongoing. Even less time if a flat is built. I reckon we will see nothing.

 

[JDJR]

In a ideal world, I'd not only go for the full Air theme as planned before, but actually split Forbidden Valley into two themed lands in which you have new look Forbidden Valley on one side and this tropical Atlantis or Lost Continent themed area in which the two lands are separated by a wall (just south of the Ripsaw site) in which the theme could be that Phalanx have contained Nemesis on one side of the wall yet have discovered the hidden area on the other side of the wall in which is protected by the Goddess or sprit of Air that protects the last area of FV not affected by Nemesis and gives more lore to the wider area showing what the area might have been before Nemesis corrupted the area.

Combine the fact of the return of Air looking more well themed even compared to the concept art, that whole area right up to the carpark behind the ride could all be landscaped into a new themed area which would give the park a much needed 'lighter' theme to contrast from all the darker themed areas. So yes, the classic good vs evil message here in which Air is protecting the one last piece of paradise from Nemesis' rampage. Just imagine that station building and even the RCR all having a outside reskin of rockface or ancient Greek style building with the queueline having lovely waterfalls all around which would be a nice contrast to the blood waterfalls of Nemesis should the latter return.

I'm honestly suprised no one has looked at that whole area round thr final helix on the ride and the space you could play around with, much potential...

Splitting the area is a possibility. If Forbidden valley received a new flat eventually then 4 rides is enough for that area.

If you added an area by the helix as you mention you could fit in some rides to compliment Galactica.

A long term option though. In the meantime a clean and spruce up will do.

 

[cookiee_munster]

Air's original oasis theme never really sat well with me, it almost seemed like a brush-off after thought just due to the proximity of the ride right next to nemesis/forbidden valley.

I do wish when creatives are dreaming up a new attraction that consideration is made towards the location and how well it will fit within the existing themed land.

I'd either like to see air get its own themed area using land from the car park next to it, or more integrated into forbidden valley's newer phalanx related theme that it's started to adopt.

 

[Danscott22]

My ideal outcome would be a complete retheme of Galactica. If not, a jetwash or repaint/making it look much more presentable again at the very least.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Splitting the area is a possibility. If Forbidden valley received a new flat eventually then 4 rides is enough for that area.

If you added an area by the helix as you mention you could fit in some rides to compliment Galactica.

A long term option though. In the meantime a clean and spruce up will do.

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.

 

[havaska]

In a perfect world I’d like to see the car park area by Galactica turned into a new land filled with Victorian esque classic funfair style rides, all themed properly. This area could then stay open later for hotel guests. Think like what Butlins have but to a much higher standard (think Eftelings classic rides area). As I’ve said before, add some other entertainment options here like bowling etc. too.

And then just copy Fly and Phantasialand and apply a steampunk theme onto Galactica to tie it all together.

Will never happen though.

 

[mo237]

Considering the park have Nemesis to redo, as well as get Hex and Skyride back, finish polishing off Curse, plus the rumoured flats... There are other priorities right now. I can see why people think now is the right time to do something to it - drab military homogenisation or oasis fulfilled - it's clear with NST and Blades new entrance that FV2.0 is very much a thing - but budgets come to mind, as does commercial draw.

Galactica - love it or hate it - is still relatively new in the grand scheme of things, so I'm not convinced that a retheme is imminent (the counter-argument of DBGT being rethemed may stand, but that was mainly due to the contract expiring).