Alton Towers promises out of this world experience with new VR rollercoaster
STAFFORDSHIRE theme park Alton Towers is set for a world first with the launch of what it claims is the first fully dedicated virtual reality rollercoaster.
Set to open in April, Galactica combines the park’s existing Air ride with the latest virtual reality technology to give riders a taste of what it is like to experience the G forces of a real rocket take-off and spaceflight.
Capitalising on the current popularity of space travel – partly due to the escapades of Britain’s astronaut Tim Peake and the huge success of the latest Star Wars film – the theme park has accompanied the launch of the new ride with a slickly-produced video (see below) complete with Thunderbirds-style countdown.
Each rider will wear a specialist virtual reality headset and through this, an on-board artificial intelligence guides them through the launch sequence until they are travelling through space.
The park has now revealed how much the new ride has cost.
Gill Riley, marketing director at Alton Towers Resort, said: “Galactica use ground breaking technology to give riders a breathtaking and completely unique rollercoaster experience.
“Tim Peake captured the imagination of millions of Brits last year when he set off on his mission to the International Space Station – and now our visitors can become astronauts too.”
The park, which has dubbed the new ride a “complete game changer”, will be hoping it can do just that and restore some of the gloss to the UK’s premier theme park following a disastrous 2015 – underpinned by the dreadful accident on The Smiler rollercoaster in which two people lost limbs.
The park has said it is likely that The Smiler will reopen later this year.
It will be pleased that the accident has been attributed to human error rather than any malfunction of the equipment.
However, it remains to be seen whether an attraction such as Galactica is enough to pull back the crowds to where it wants to be.
Galactica in numbers
Total G-Force – 3.5Gs
Track Length – 840 metres
Height of Drop – 20 metres
Ride Duration – 189 seconds
Maximum Speed – 75km (47mph)
Capacity Per Car – 28 passengers
Capacity Per Hour – 1,500 passengers
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