Galactica

Galactica is located at Alton Towers Resort in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. Formerly known as Air, Galactica is a flying roller coaster located in the Forbidden Valley area of the Theme Park. The £12m thrill ride was the first-ever flying coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). Galactica features a dual-platform loading station, permitting three trains to operate simultaneously.

Galactica at Alton Towers

Alton Towers conceived the concept of a flying roller coaster twelve years prior to the ride opening. Following the opening of Nemesis in 1994, there were plans to open a flying coaster in 1998, but this was delayed due to technological limitations. As with Nemesis and a number of Alton Towers other Secret Weapons, the roller coaster was developed in part by ride designer John Wardley. Construction of the ride began in 2001 and it officially opened to the public on 16 March 2002. A £4.5m marketing campaign for the ride included commercials based around the ride’s slogan, “assume the position”.

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Galactica Statistics

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Top Speed – 75km/h 47mph
Original Cost – £12m
Est Cost Today – £20.5m
Length – 2760ft 840m
Height – 66ft 20m
Manufacturer – Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M)
Type – Flying Coaster
Lift/Launch – Chain Lift
Inversions – 2
G-Force – 3.5
Trains – 3
Passengers per Train – 28
Ride Duration – 1m 40s
Theme Park – Alton Towers Resort
Year Opened – 2002 (as Air) 2016 (as Galactica)

Galactica Merchandise

Pick up some excellent Galactica Merchandise from Redbubble.

* Facemasks
* Clothing
* Phone Cases
* Stickers
* Posters
* Bedding
* Cushions
* and Many More…

Galactica Jigsaw Puzzle

Try our fun Galactica Jigsaw challenge. Visit the Attractions Near Me Puzzle Page for more fun activities and jigsaws.

If you enjoyed this jigsaw puzzle then either visit the Attractions Near Me Puzzle Page for more fun activities and jigsaws or select another Alton Towers Resort jigsaw from the list below.

Nemesis
Spinball Whizzer

The Rebranding of Air to Galactica

Between 2002 and 2015 the ride was named AIR. The original name was derived from Alton Towers advertising the new roller coaster as a “next-generation Aerial Inversion Ride”. In June 2015, Alton Towers Resort submitted a planning application to make modifications to the rides station building and retail space. This proposal included the addition of a new photo opportunity into the queue line, enclosing the station building with new walls, and constructing additional theming elements around the ride area (including a large portal which the ride now passes through). This was in addition to an earlier planning application to convert the existing ride shop into the Roller Coaster Restaurant. Promotional material posted on the Alton Towers website advised guests to “prepare for a new flight” and to “watch this space”.

Galactica Virtual Reality

On 12 January 2016, Alton Towers announced that Air would be re-themed as Galactica for the 2016 season and would include on-ride virtual reality headsets simulating a ride through the cosmos. Each seat on the roller coaster was initially fitted with a Samsung Gear VR headset and pouch with the virtual reality experience being optional. Galactica opened to the public on 24th March 2016.

The configuration of the ride allowed for up to 1500 riders per hour, although this was heavily reduced when the virtual reality headsets were in operation.

The reduction in throughput was one of the key reasons why during the 2018 season, the virtual reality headsets were reduced to the back three rows of each train only, with guests choosing whether or not to use the virtual reality headsets when they entered the station. On 17 March, 2019, Alton Towers announced that the virtual reality headsets would be removed entirely, due to guest feedback. Despite this, the ride still maintains its Galactica name and theme.

John Wardley – Ride Designer

For anyone who would like to learn more about John Wardley, the man who designed AIR, Nemesis and a number of other Alton Towers rides, we recommend this book. The autobiography of the man who brought the theme park concept to Britain, and created some of the world’s most thrilling rides and attractions.

Purchase a copy of John Wardley’s book on Amazon – ‘Creating my own Nemesis’

Alton Towers Secret Weapons

The roller coasters at Alton Towers Resort often claim the title of World’s First Elements. Alton Towers Resort often give as little away as they can when building these new rides, giving them Secret Weapon codenames. As the construction of the ride progresses marketing campaigns are launched giving thrill seekers little insights into what is to come, this always leads to lots of speculation on Social Media. During construction, Air/Galactica was referred to as Secret Weapon 5.

Alton Towers Secret Weapons Timeline

Secret Weapon 1: 1991 – Arrow Pipeline Rollercoaster (Never Built)
Secret Weapon 2: 1992 – Arrow Pipeline Rollercoaster (Never Built)
Secret Weapon 3: 1994 – Nemesis in Forbidden Valley
Secret Weapon 4: 1998 – Oblivion in X-Sector
Secret Weapon 5: 2002 – Galactica in Forbidden Valley (originally named AIR)
Secret Weapon 6: 2009 – Th13teen in Dark Forest
Secret Weapon 7: 2013 – The Smiler in X-Sector
Secret Weapon 8: 2016 – The Wicker Man

UK Roller Coaster Rides

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UK Roller Coasters
Roller Coaster Quiz

Alton Towers Roller Coasters

There are seven thrilling roller coasters on offer at Alton Towers.

Wicker Man

Wicker Man is the UK’s first new wooden coaster built in over 20 years, a globally unique experience that will reconnect riders with the primal essence of rollercoasters. Wicker Man was also the first to incorporate fire.

Galactica

Galactica is a flying roller coaster located in the Forbidden Valley area of the Theme Park. The £12m thrill ride was the first-ever flying coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and features a dual-platform loading station, permitting three trains to operate simultaneously.

Nemesis

One of the best roller coasters here in the UK, Nemesis is an angry alien creature trying to rip its way out of the ground. It was Europe’s first inverted roller coaster and features a truly thrilling storyline.

Oblivion

Oblivion was the world’s first vertical drop roller coaster featuring a 180ft drop at 87-degrees. As each car reaches the drop it is held by a holding chain for a maximum of five seconds, giving the rider a clear view of the long drop, before a brake is released allowing the car to drop into the tunnel. Each car features two rows, with the back row being slightly raised in order to give passengers a clear view of what lies ahead.

Rita

Rita starts with the train racing forward from the station area, accelerating from 0 to 98.3 km/h (61.1 mph) in 2.5 seconds. The ride negotiates high-speed corners and air-time hills. It was the first hydraulic Launch roller coaster of its kind in the whole of Europe.

The Smiler

The Smiler is the world’s first and only 14 loop roller coaster. When viewed from off the ride, The Smilers batwing element resembles the Smiler logo. The roller coaster’s twisting track combines the world-beating 14 loops with a speed of 85kph.

Th13teen

The £15m Th13teen ride was the world’s first vertical freefall drop roller coaster, on which the track and train freefall in darkness.

Attractions at the Alton Towers Resort

In addition to the famous Theme Park, you will also find a wide range of other Attractions at Alton Towers Resort.

Website Links

Alton Towers Resort Maps
Ride Height Restrictions
Attractions Near Me – Alton Towers Waterpark
Attractions Near Me – Merlin Entertainments

Alton Towers Resort Tickets

Purchase your tickets in advance to save time queuing at the entrance to the park and also save on the full-price admission. View our Alton Towers Resort Special Offers Page for the best discounts on your Tickets and Accommodation.
You can buy your tickets in advance direct from Alton Towers Official Website.

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Travelling to Alton Towers Resort

Alton Towers is located in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. There are a number of ways to get to Alton Towers. If you are travelling by car, Alton Towers Resort is between the M1 and the M6. When driving to any of Alton Towers Resorts Attractions use the postcode ST10 4DB. Please follow the signs for the final part of your journey, as your Sat Nav may attempt to take you down a local farm track, especially if you’re coming down the B5417.

Please drive with care when you’re in the area. There are many walkers, cyclists and horse riders, and the roads can be very narrow in places.

Travelling by Train

The nearest train station to Alton Towers is Uttoxeter, which is accessible from a large number of UK train stations including London, Birmingham and Newcastle upon Tyne, where trains depart every hour. Search for your train tickets using Raileasy. From Uttoxeter, the remainder of the journey can be made by taxi or bus (there is one daily bus service which takes approximately 40 minutes). Visitors also catch trains to Alton Towers via Stoke-on-Trent (four bus departures daily) and Nottingham and Derby (both one bus service daily).

Nearby Accommodation

There are lots of places to stay in the Peak District. Alton Towers is surrounded by beautiful countryside.  The theme park offers on-site accommodation. If you only planning on visiting the park for one day and would like to explore some of the other attractions in the area then take a look at some of the wonderful self-catering cottages available from Snaptrip.

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