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Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

P. 467: Media Town Hall Report

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True, but Intamin has proven themselves in the drop tower ride type.

 

Yep, they've definitely proven themselves.

 

In 1984, three passengers riding The Edge at Six Flags Great America were injured and hospitalized. The boys were soon after released. The ride had experienced a software malfunction that caused the ride to fall backwards down the wrong shaft.

 

n August 1999, a 12-year-old boy who was mentally disabled fell from the Drop Tower: Scream Zone ride at Paramount's Great America and died. The victim's family claimed the harness was not locked properly. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed.

 

In June 2007, a 13-year-old girl had both of her feet severed at the ankles on Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. A ride malfunction caused a cable to snap and a cord to wrap around the girl's feet, amputating both of them. She was brought to the hospital in critical condition [8] and the park was later fined $1,000 for not properly maintaining the ride.

 

On February 24, 2012, a 14-year-old girl died in an accident at Hopi Hari, Vinhedo, São Paulo State, Brazil. She fell from the drop tower ride "La Tour Eiffel" suffering cranial trauma and died on the way to the hospital. Local police are investigating the accident, initial investigations suggest the possibility of mechanical failure in the restraint latch

 

Sure not all these incidents are reflective of the company...but when was the last time Intamin opened a major drop tower? Incidents like these, no matter whether they are caused by the company or not, don't exactly have people clamoring to buy them.

 

Lex Luthor Drop of Doom... doesn't get more major than that. And Drop Tower at Kings Dominion is relatively new too.

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This is worth checking out!

 

It done by Devin Olson Media, who also created the Intimidator 305 & Cheetah Hunt documentaries.

 

That was great! I'll have to check out the other two documentaries.

Here's an imbedded version for the lazy people like me that might just overlook it. I did, a few times.

 

Edited by STR8FXXXINEDGE
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Concerning the incidents on Intamin's Drop Towers, were not most of these accidents on older design/model versions? Seems to me that those accidents happened on those models where the sectional ride carriages/seats are attached right against the tower itself with the lift/counterweight cables exposed above and below (referencing the horrible incident involving the girl and the severed limb). As far as the seat restraints go, it appears that those were issues with certain models manufactured during a certain time frame as well.

 

I have never heard of any major issues/incidents with the newer versions of Intamin's drop towers like the carousel style ride carriages at KI (gyro version) and KD (stationary version). On those models, the seats are 12-15 feet away from the tower itself, and the counterweight cables are inside the tower. I assume the seat/restraints are more reliable as well.

 

As far as Seas World/Busch Gardens corporate having a grudge against Intamin, why would they have allowed BGT to let Intamin create their new coaster a couple of years ago?

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As far as Seas World/Busch Gardens corporate having a grudge against Intamin, why would they have allowed BGT to let Intamin create their new coaster a couple of years ago?

 

I doubt there is any grudges, its all business, and if another manufacture puts in better bid than Intamin (which is the case of Verbolten) then Seaworld Entertainment will go with it. Why would anyone hold a grudge against a quality manufacturer? (yes, that's retorical).

 

I bet, and this is my opinion, that Mach Tower's idea was bidded upon by the major manufacturers and Moser won out with the best bid that the park was looking for. Yes, IF Busch built an Intamin drop tower, it would probably more reliable since they have more experience with this type of ride. Moser had only one or two major towers built by the time MT construction started. There is a difference in experience, but I would wager that Moser just had a better bid than Intamin.

 

I hope that they don't remove MT, ever. I find it to be a quality attraction, though it does have its problems (extended downtimes, problems with the audio)... But the ride is more aimed for families compared to thrill enthusiasts.

 

/rant

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If this closure improves the ride's long-term reliability, so be it. I can't find a ride to East Coast Bash anyway.

 

The issue with Intamin AG is long gone, I believe. I know that the park and Intamin had some...creative differences...when they built Escape from Pompeii.

 

The manufacturer that got to build Mach Tower (Moser) was the one that could produce the most cost-effective solution. That's usually how it always goes. At the end of the day, it's all about the money.

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Perhaps they didn't account for that ugly decoration on the gondola when choosing the lifting mechanism?

 

Moser has built a few park versions of their drop tower and I'm pretty sure they have many drop towers in carnival circuits so it's not like they're inexperienced or anything. Eventually it'll all be ironed out, same with Verbolten.

Edited by asimowalk
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That will be devastating for the park. And a real shame right in the middle of the summer season. All the great buzz from Boltz will be overridden by the drop town fiasco.

 

My, my--aren't we dramatic?

 

I hardly think this will be "devastating" for the park, or overshadow the "buzz" for Verbolten.

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That will be devastating for the park. And a real shame right in the middle of the summer season. All the great buzz from Boltz will be overridden by the drop town fiasco.

 

My, my--aren't we dramatic?

 

I hardly think this will be "devastating" for the park, or overshadow the "buzz" for Verbolten.

 

Speak for yourself, I'm going to cancel my entire East Coast Trip, this was the only thing I was wanting to ride!!!!

 

True, but Intamin has proven themselves in the drop tower ride type.

 

Yep, they've definitely proven themselves.

 

In 1984, three passengers riding The Edge at Six Flags Great America were injured and hospitalized. The boys were soon after released. The ride had experienced a software malfunction that caused the ride to fall backwards down the wrong shaft.

 

n August 1999, a 12-year-old boy who was mentally disabled fell from the Drop Tower: Scream Zone ride at Paramount's Great America and died. The victim's family claimed the harness was not locked properly. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed.

 

In June 2007, a 13-year-old girl had both of her feet severed at the ankles on Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. A ride malfunction caused a cable to snap and a cord to wrap around the girl's feet, amputating both of them. She was brought to the hospital in critical condition [8] and the park was later fined $1,000 for not properly maintaining the ride.

 

On February 24, 2012, a 14-year-old girl died in an accident at Hopi Hari, Vinhedo, São Paulo State, Brazil. She fell from the drop tower ride "La Tour Eiffel" suffering cranial trauma and died on the way to the hospital. Local police are investigating the accident, initial investigations suggest the possibility of mechanical failure in the restraint latch

 

Sure not all these incidents are reflective of the company...but when was the last time Intamin opened a major drop tower? Incidents like these, no matter whether they are caused by the company or not, don't exactly have people clamoring to buy them.

 

You are talking about 4 incidents in the span of 28 years. One of them is on a 1st generation ride. The most damning one is the SFKK incident obviously.

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Moser drop towers a reliable, and great!

 

If the park could have settled with the regular one's, then there would be no problem.

Instead they had them build an Intamin drop ride, without any experience doing so.

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Just replace it with an Intamin tower.

 

The enthusiasts will be happier, and the GP won't know the difference.

 

Although, this may do down in history as one of the biggest fails ever built in the amusment industry. This thing definately wasn't cheap. Although, I guess that is what they get for building a prototype.

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For what it's worth, it doesn't seem like having Mach Tower closed is a big loss. When I went on it earlier this summer, I was not impressed by it. It's probably my least favourite drop tower. It's odd saying that about a ride at a Busch park.

 

I think Moser just bit off more than they could chew with this.

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Just replace it with an Intamin tower.

 

The enthusiasts will be happier, and the GP won't know the difference.

 

Although, this may do down in history as one of the biggest fails ever built in the amusment industry. This thing definately wasn't cheap. Although, I guess that is what they get for building a prototype.

 

I seriously don't think it will go down as one of the biggest fails ever built . There are issues - they are closing it to fix said issues - then it will re-open.

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^Exactly--it pales in comparison to, say, the Rocket Rods fiasco.

 

Mach Tower's best feature was always the rotation on the way up. As far as drop towers go, it's average.

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Just replace it with an Intamin tower.

 

The enthusiasts will be happier, and the GP won't know the difference.

 

Although, this may do down in history as one of the biggest fails ever built in the amusment industry. This thing definately wasn't cheap. Although, I guess that is what they get for building a prototype.

 

Sorry that you live into a fantasy world. When something new breaks, you fix it. You don't go out a replace it at the begining of it's life cycle. Fixing is generally cheaper than replacing. As an outsider we have no insight into the contract that Busch Entertainment signed. If Busch was smart with a prototype they would have built in some warranty to minimizes costs.

 

One of the biggest fails in the amusement industry, seriously???? The ride that isn't even the centerpiece of that area of the park.

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^I'd say that if you want to talk about "fails" at BGW, I think the Drachen Fire mess was a much bigger one (whether you liked the coaster or not).

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It's reopened.

 

UPDATE - Busch Gardens' Mach Tower returned to service Thursday afternoon.

 

Park spokesman Kevin Crossett said the popular drop tower ride re-opened about 2:30 p.m. Another ride, Escape from Pompeii, that was closed Tuesday evening due to a "minor mechanical issue" was reopened Wednesday evening, he said.

 

On Wednesday, Crossett said Mach Tower was out of service since July 12 while park officials reviewed manufacturer recommended changes to the ride.

 

"We worked with the manufacturer and looked at some issues. That's all I have to say," Crossett said Thursday, after the ride reopened. "Everything checked out fine and we're back in operation."

http://mobile.dailypress.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp&id=2434236&postId=2434236&postUserId=49&sessionToken=&catId=6110&curAbsIndex=0&resultsUrl=DID%3D6%26DFCL%3D1000%26DSB%3Drank%2523desc%26DBFQ%3DuserId%253A49%26DL.w%3D%26DL.d%3D10%26DQ%3DsectionId%253A6110%26DPS%3D0%26DPL%3D10

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^I'd say that if you want to talk about "fails" at BGW, I think the Drachen Fire mess was a much bigger one (whether you liked the coaster or not).

 

Snf... snf... WAAAAHHH!!! I liked DF! I never had to wait in a line, and it had a great numbing effect on me during college...

 

As for Mach Tower:

 

Realistically, I'd rather them take their time, get it right, and reopen the thing with fewer repairs/bugs in the system. If it means the ride doesn't re-open this season, so be it. Parks have spent way too much time rushing things and realizing their mistakes later on. A good move for BGW I think to do this now, instead of later on when it becomes a real problem.

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