Galaxy History

Our History

The Galaxy Multi Rides story began in England in 1989 when founder Robin Whincup was the owner of a company renting out bouncy castles for children and adults. Robin realized his Gillies Bull was making good money, but it wasn’t practical. It took six men two hours to set up and break down, and it wasn’t very portable. Robin had already designed and built a surf ride for his rental company called The Surf Machine. It was a lightweight, portable ride. After adding a spin motor, it could be used as a mechanical rodeo bull. The Multi Ride System was born!

Our history starts back in the 80’s

Bounceraround. A Rental Company at First.

Our history starts back in the 80’s. In 1985, Robin Whincup started a rental company hiring out bouncy castles for children and adults. As the company grew, he invested in a Gillies Bull from the USA. The Bull made good money, as there wasn’t many bulls in the UK in the 1980’s; the main drawback, however, was it took 6 men to take it out and two hours to set up & break down: it was not designed to be moved and was extremely heavy.

In 1989, whist attending the annual IAAPA exhibition, Robin came across a Kodak Photo booth that was themed as a giant wave with a freestanding surf board in the centre. Being of an innovative nature, Robin on his return to the UK designed a mechanical surf board: “The Surf Machine“. This was a lightweight portable hydraulic surf machine.

Robin’s only intention was to use it for his own rental company, with no intentions of getting into manufacturing. Within a short period of time, a spin motor was added so it could be used as a mechanical rodeo bull: the multi ride system was born.

This innovative product solved Robin’s biggest headache, which was the portability of his Gillies mechanical Bull: now he was able to send a bull or surf machine out with two operators in a small van or trailer, set it up in 20 minutes and fit it into the smallest of venues.

This totally transformed the mechanical bull from a curiosity into a multi purpose profit making piece of leisure equipment.

This is where the Galaxy story begins, in England in 1989.

In January 1990, whilst providing the bull and surf as entertainment at a trade show in London, Robin met several potential customers who wanted to buy the multi ride. Very quickly, orders for the product were placed and the machine went into production.

As the product evolved, new ride attachments were developed and the motion base was upgraded from hydraulic to all electric. The most infamous ride, which was invented in 1993, was the Ride of Your Life (the sexy man & woman ride/Erotic Rodeo).

This took the LIW show in Birmingham England by storm and was a huge success. Many other rides soon followed. Some were specifically designed for individual clients, others for large blue
chip companies. Two of the most successful products are the drinks bottle and can: Galaxy has made promotional bottles and cans for many beer and drinks companies.

In 1993, automatic pre-set programs and LED clocks were added to the control console and flashing eyes in the bull body. In 1999, the Automatic Stop Switch (ASS) was added, and in 2007 the Soft Foam Safety head was invented. The company can now boast over 56 ride attachments that are available to use with the motion base.

Getting into the Manufacturing Industry

A Family Business Creating the Best

Galaxy Multi Rides has totally re-invented the mechanical bull and multi ride system, making it the safest of its genre in the market. Some interesting figures:

  • Over the last 25 years we have sold over 5,400 machines into 45 countries.
  • On average our mechanical bulls are ridden by 150,000 people every week worldwide!
  • Or to put it another way, we have had over 25 million people ride our mechanical bulls over the last 25 years! That is some test!

We continue to grow and expand. As we do so we have other companies that try to copy what we do. This is both flattering and highly frustrating, yet we continue to innovate and develop the multi ride and new concepts to stay at number one.

Over the past few years we have brought you a new range of Action Games, which have been incredibly successful. From Redneck Games, to Toxic Meltdown, from Toxic Rampage to KAPOW, all these games can be enjoyed by the whole family together, and everybody loves them! They get the concept instantly and jump on to enjoy the ride. We’ve also created one only for kids, because they like to have fun on their own: the Toxic Meltdown Junior.

Galaxy Multi Rides | Galaxy Team | Robin and MikeWe are a family company who has built a fantastic reputation on quality, service and innovation. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

“In 1985, when I opened my rental company in Harrogate (Yorkshire, England), I would’ve never imagined that I would’ve found myself 5 years later opening my own manufacturing company. Let alone that I would be celebrating our 25 year anniversary in 2015 as successfully as Galaxy Multi Rides has become.

As we approach 2019 we continue to grow. We have customers in 45 different countries, we also continue to innovate creating high quality, safe products that make profits for our customers. Over the last 28 years, we’ve made friends for life, traveled the world from trade show to trade show and innovated some highly lucrative products. While it’s fun to look back… we much rather look forward into what’s yet to come!

We have a plethora of ideas for new games, to continue to excel and innovate, to keep you, as our valued customer and follower.”

In 2015, we celebrated 25 Years of Excellence and Innovation

Let’s Talk

No matter where your business is located, Galaxy Multi Rides is here to provide you quality customer service, industry leading warranties and custom entertainment solutions.

When you finance or buy commercial amusement equipment from us, you receive high quality parts manufactured to surpass top safety standards. The return on investment can quickly pay for your new entertainment equipment giving you an endless revenue stream for years to come. Let our sales team provide you customized pricing and information now!