astronomy

Galaxyland

Galaxyland is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Galaxyland rather than just read about it. In short: Galaxyland Powered by Hasbro (formerly Galaxyland and Fantasyland) is an indoor amusement park located in the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was home to the world's tallest (14 stories) and longest indoor roller coaster, the Mindbender.

Key takeaways

Galaxyland belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Galaxyland to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Galaxyland from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Galaxyland Powered by Hasbro (formerly Galaxyland and Fantasyland) is an indoor amusement park located in the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was home to the world's tallest (14 stories) and longest indoor roller coaster, the Mindbender. It is also home to the Space Shot, the world's tallest indoor tower ride at the time of opening, at 36.5 metres (120 ft). The record was broken by Nickelodeon Skyline Scream at American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 2019.

History The amusement park, then known as Fantasyland, held its grand opening on August 17, 1983 as part of the mall's phase 2 expansion. It was built at a cost of $9 million and featured 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of space and also included a supervised daycare. On March 15, 1986, the park officially opened its expansion with the addition of new rides such as the Drop of Doom, Perilous Pendulum, and Mindbender (which opened earlier on December 20, 1985). An appellate court ruled on March 11, 1994 that the name "Fantasyland" was already legally in use for one of the lands of the themes existing in Disneyland and other theme parks, like the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Park in Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland Park, owned by the Walt Disney Company. The lawsuit forced the mall's owners to change the park's name, though they were allowed to continue using the name "Fantasyland Hotel" for a hotel in the mall. Fantasyland became Galaxyland officially on July 1, 1995. This was celebrated with a new Space Age theme and the arrival of the park's new mascot, "Cosmo". On December 18, 2019, it was announced that Galaxyland would undergo a renovation to be completed by late 2020, featuring new attractions licensed from Hasbro franchises. The park held its grand re-opening as "Galaxyland Powered by Hasbro" on December 17, 2022 with the completion of the first phase of the renovation. The second phase was expected to be completed by 2023. Galaxyland remained closed for most of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

1986 Mindbender accident

On June 14, 1986, a wheel sheared off the last car on the train of the Mindbender and the train crashed at high speed into a concrete pillar, killing three of the ride's occupants and severely injuring one. The ride had several safety improvements, including more routine maintenance checks and three emergency brake sections added to the track.

Rides There are a total of 27 different rides operating in Galaxyland.

List of rides

Decommissioned rides

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Galaxyland

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Galaxyland claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Galaxyland before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Galaxyland ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Galaxyland

In research: Galaxyland appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Galaxyland in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Galaxyland is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 establishments in Alberta, Amusement parks in Canada, Amusement parks opened in 1983, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Galaxyland outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Galaxyland in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Galaxyland means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Galaxyland out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Galaxyland in simple terms?

Why does Galaxyland matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Galaxyland?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Galaxyland.