Galactica's Future

[GJMarshy]

I think the question isn’t “Will Air get a retract”, rather “How long will the coaster remain?”

It’s 22 years old now. The track has (probably) got another 10-15 years in it. It’s a case of are upgrading the ride systems and retheming it better than replacing it with a new ride ahead of its time? (Track life)

My “bets” are firmly on towers keeping it until the track can take no more, and very likely giving it a desperately needed spruce up! Yes they’ll need to invest £2-3m to do this, but for the sake of keeping what’s still a very good ride experience going for another decade or so, it’s probably a safer bet than expending circa £20m to replace it before its time.

With new and updated theming it’d feel like a new ride “experience” - which ultimately, is what the park strives to offer guests to bring them in and keep them coming back.

Might as well sweat your assets as much as possible for as long as the maintenance is viable.

 

[Jb85]

As a businessman - £3m refurb or £20m capex - over 20 years. I’ll take the £20m option. Makes my accounts look better.

And you get the new ride boost for a few seasons.

 

[Squiggs]

Realistically though, we are some way of Air even being considered for removal from the park.

If we make the assumption that Horizon is still on, we know that will be the park's next 'major' investment, and is likely to come in 2026. The next major investment after that might come in 2029/2030, and the good money would be on that going into Dark Forest (likely replacing one of those two coasters).

The earliest that an Air replacement might be on the cards therefore is 2033/34, but by that point there has to be some question mark about which coaster will be removed to make way for that new ride. It's by no means certain that Air would even be near the chopping block at that point, given there are three younger coasters that in one way or another seem to be ageing more rapidly than the B&Ms. By 2033 there is a real possibility that one (or all) of The Smiler, Thirteen or Rita will have reached a point that they are ready for replacement ahead of Air.

 

[James]

I can see Air lasting a long while. If anything, the technology will cause issues before the track itself. A £2-3m refurb with some fancy marketing will renew it and the surrounding area.

I would have my bets on The Smiler being removed before Air.

I cannot see any other ride at Alton Towers receiving a re-track. Nemesis is a very unique case, and we know now that Merlin considered a different layout prior to deciding to keep it the same. No chance for the other rides.

 

[flyingguitar]

I could see the smiler getting small retracks, similar to colossus and for the wickerman I am pretty sure that for wooden coasters they tend to have parts retracked every few years, it is why we see quite a few old wooden coasters as they naturally get replaced like that ship of thesius.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Forgot to upload this on here as well. Just me messing around with the brand, made a fan made poster as well.

 

[WillPS]

"Presumably there's only 6-10 years before Air's current track will be life expired, and presumably the whole thing ready for scrap?"

This is why myself and another member are "focusing exclusively" on the track, that was literally your argument point.

Fair cop. There is a multitude of things which can cause a steel rollercoaster to become economically unviable, track condition is just one.

 

[DistortAMG]

Fair cop. There is a multitude of things which can cause a steel rollercoaster to become economically unviable, track condition is just one.

Totally agree with you. I would suspect, like you mentioned, it would be other things besides the track that would mean Galactica reached the end of it's service life.

 

[cookiee_munster]

The disused car park next to air, I need a bit of clarification, Is it just the bit I have highlighted in blue, or is it also including the bit in orange as well?

 

[AT86]

There isn’t a disused car park, the whole section you have highlighted is used on a regular basis.

 

[Jb85]

The disused car park next to air, I need a bit of clarification, Is it just the bit I have highlighted in blue, or is it also including the bit in orange as well?

The whole lot is what people elude to when suggesting building on the car park

 

[LoomJ]

Or don't have a preshow, that's an option. Some rides benefit from not having an overarching story or preshow, and I think air is one of them.

I second this. Wasn’t Air was designed to be something simple - an experience like nothing else that was calming, smooth and made you feel as though you were flying.
I was at Towers today and Galactica had some of the longest queue times out of every ride, a pre-show would just add to that time

 

[AT86]

a pre-show would just add to that time

A pre-show would just be something to watch whilst in the later part of the queue. It wouldn’t make the wait time longer.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Had they done the orignal planned oasis theme, it would have been nice to have the queue go around many of the themed rock features and waterfalls all giving the calm feeling it was supposed to be.

Given how there is literally nothing there and is ripe for landscaping, I could see something like this happening if Galactica is seeing major changes in future as given how bare the current queueline is for theming they'd have nothing to lose. Honestly, other than Hex's inside queue, IMO none of the park's main attractions have quite the best queue experiences with Rita being the poster girl for this and for good reason. Even Nemesis' new queue doesn't quite have 'it' IMO.