From June 19th through June 24th I had visited the city of Edmonton, the capital of the Province of Alberta. While there, one of the attractions I had visited was Galaxyland at West Edmonton Mall, which is the largest mall in Canada and the largest or second largest mall in North America depending on which sources you look at. Galaxyland is an indoor amusement park that opened at the West Edmonton Mall in 1985 and features many rides and four roller coasters, including the Autosled, Galaxy Orbiter, Dragon Wagon (kiddie coaster), and the Mindbender which was unfortunately closed due to maintenance during my visit.
Despite the legendary Mindbender being closed, I still greatly enjoyed my time at Galaxyland taking in many repeat rides on the Galaxy Orbiter spinning coaster, the Autosled family coaster, and the Space Shot power tower just to name a few. The photos I took really show how compact Galaxyland is! :-)
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| After a short bus ride, I arrived at the West Edmonton Mall. What you are looking at is the exterior of Galaxyland! Inside that tower is the Space Shot. |
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| While walking towards the mall entrance, I happened to walk by a bay door that was left open by maintenance workers. It was quite a view for an amusement park enthusiast such as myself! |
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| Here is one of the entrances to Galaxyland. It didn't open until 12pm, so I spent some time walking around the West Edmonton Mall before I redeemed my admission ticket that I had purchased online that morning. |
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| Once Galaxyland opened for the day, I redeemed my admission ticket and headed inside. The first ride I came across was the unfortunately closed Trouble Twist ride. It is a Unicoaster ride manufactured by Chance Rides and lets riders go upside down as it goes around in a circle. |
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| Further along in the park I came across the beautiful Swing of the Century, a Zierer Wave Swinger ride. |
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| It looks quite pristine as it has never faced the elements! |
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| It had some beautiful paintings on its panels, like most Wave Swinger rides do. |
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| While on my way to my first ride of the day, I walked by the Mindbender which was down for on-going maintenance. The Mindbender is a large triple looping roller coaster manufactured by Schwarzkopf of Germany. It's unfortunate that it was still closed during my visit, but it is what it is. |
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| The Mindbender features many steep drops and curves that produce massive amounts of positive g's! I sure hope to experience this legendary coaster one day! |
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| Its lift hill and triple loops look massive under the roof. |
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| My first ride of the day was the 120 foot tall Space Shot! This S&S power tower blasts you up and down a few times! |
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| Bystanders can observe thrill-seekers being launched up towards the roof on this thrilling ride! |
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| The Havoc was also closed for the day. This Moser Rides Space Trainer ride opened at Galaxyland a few years ago and flips and twists thrill-seekers throughout the duration of the ride when operating. |
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| The Galaxy Orbiter and Autosled interact with one another. |
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| Although closed, the Mindbender was hard to ignore! It is just so photogenic! |
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| Those swooping drops and loops look quite intense! |
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| One of the Mindbender's trains was parked on the track while on-going maintenance has been occurring. |
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| When riding the Galaxy Orbiter, you come quite close to the Mindbender. This is the closest I have come to a Schwarzkopf Coaster to date. The next step is to ride one! haha |
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| The Galaxy Orbiter is a Gerstlauer spinning coaster that opened at Galaxyland in 2007. It sure does a lot of spinning throughout the duration of the ride! |
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| The lift hill on the Mindbender was receiving some work. |
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| As you can see, the booster wheels on the lift hill have been temporarily removed. |
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| As I had mentioned earlier Galaxyland is home to four roller coasters consisting of the Autosled, Mindbender, Galaxy Orbiter, and the Dragon Wagon, a Wisdom Rides kiddie coaster as pictured. |
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| Anther ride I took a spin on was the Cosmic Spinner. It rises, lowers, and spins all while the gondolas spin. |
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| Here is a map of Galaxyland. It truly shows how many rides and attractions they fit into such a small space! |
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| Later on I took a ride on the Swing of the Century. It provided a long ride for a Wave Swinger! It is one of the original rides at the park and dates back to a time when the park was known as Fantasyland. The park received its space theme in 1995. Swing of the Century appears to have received newer seats from the manufacturer within recent years. |
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| For lunch I headed to the larger food court and had some chow mien noodles with some steam vegetables and honey chicken. |
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| After lunch I ventured back to Galaxyland. |
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| It is quite mesmerizing to watch Swing of the Century swing over the path as you walk by! |
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| A few years ago Galaxyland partnered with Hasbro to bring some Hasbro themed rides to the park. Some of the children's rides were rethemed to feature Hasbro IP. |
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| The 'mess' of track looks quite spectacular! |
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| It must be quite a thrill for bystanders when a train-load of passengers passes over the path through the one of three loops! |
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| More parts waiting to be reinstalled on the Mindbender. |
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| The launch to the top on Space Shot is quite a thrill as it feels like you are going to hit the ceiling above! |
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| The yellow track of the Galaxy Orbiter and the Autosled sure brighten up the place! |
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| The first drop on the Galaxy Orbiter sure caught me by surprise! |
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| The youngest of visitors enjoy the Dragon Wagon which is surrounded by the Autosled and Galaxy Orbiter. |
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| Once you get launched to the top of the Space Shot, a camera quickly captures your photo! Of course I rode it every time with my hands up! |
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| Quirks in the Works is an interesting and unique interactive dark ride featuring targets that you can hit with laser guns. |
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| The cars are circular and spin around as they move along the track allowing riders to rack up as many points as they can! |
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| Here's a closeup of the Autosled's station. It takes off quickly and stops quickly too, making it a bit more intense than other Zierer Tivoli coasters! |
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| The ride up the lift hill is a fast one! |
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| As you zip along on the Autosled, you come across some head-chopping sections! |
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| The final helix features an on-ride photo section. |
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| Up next was the Haunted Castle, a fun year-round haunted house attraction featuring various animatronics and gory scenes! |
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| Another ride at Galaxyland that recently received a Hasbro IP retheme was the bumper cars known as Hungry Hungry Hippos: Feeding Frenzy. This bumper car ride really bumped you out of your seat as the cars collided with each other! Next door was a kiddy bumper car themed to Sorry! |
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| Later during the day I took a ride on the Galaxy Express, a miniature train ride. |
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| It takes you through a series of tunnels and close-up to other rides at the park. |
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| Under shots of roller coasters always look interesting! |
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| It just amazes me how much they can cram into such limited space! |
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| Autosled just goes over your head as you pass under it on the Galaxy Express. |
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| The lighted tunnels on the Galaxy Express were quite neat! |
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| The breeze from the Swing of the Century while on the Galaxy Express was quite nice! |
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| The Autosled is a roller coaster fun for visitors of all ages! Riding it in the back is highly recommended! |
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| There is even a Carousel tucked into the layout of Galaxyland. |
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| Here's a look at some more Hasbro rethemed rides. |
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| The Flying Galleon sits high up as it swings, providing a bit of airtime! |
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After a fun-filled day at Galaxyland, it was time to head back to my hotel and rest up!
I hope you enjoyed looking at my photos from my visit to Galaxyland at the West Edmonton Mall! :-) |
