Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[Skycoastin Steve]

I only rode it after the re-profile when I was 10 years old, and I loved it. It was actually the coaster that got me loving coasters. Up until that point, I was pretty terrified of going upside down, but for whatever reason, it broke me of that fear and I've been loving coasters ever since. The day it was torn down was a sad day for me.

[cfc]

^Time to add another entry to my "People Who Remember Drachen Fire Fondly" list.

[DJeXeL]

Said list only has a handful of people?

[Skycoastin Steve]

^^I'm almost certain that if I rode it at age 26 instead of 10, I probably would have hated it. However, that's the great thing about childhood ignorance, it's pure bliss!

[Saldek]

Found some old pics from 1991 of Drachen Fire under construction.

 

enjoy!

 

Awesome pics!

 

Thanks for sharing!

[PhantomNick]

My wife and I absolutely fell in love with this park when we finally visited last summer. The place is gorgeous, and the detail in the different countries is just awesome. Not to mention the food, which is sinfully good! We loved the coasters too, as there wasn't a bad one in the bunch!

 

The drop tower is a fantastic addition, and if the launched coaster turns out as good as Cheetah Hunt is looking, then the Germany area will get a huge shot in the arm! We liked the area, but with BBW gone it felt like it was missing a "signature" ride. With these expansion plans, there's no doubt that a return trip to Williamsburg will be in order for us!

[redfoot12]

^^^I rode it when I was 16 (before the re-profile) and remember feeling headachy right after. I remember liking the layout and the forces but the headache muddled things up for me. Unfortunately, that was the only time I rode it as my friend wasn't a fan and didn't want to ride it again.

Chuck--can you create a "memories are inconclusive" category?

[pianojohn]

Nice! Thanks for sharing. I've heard mixed reviews on DF. How was your experience?

 

I rode it many times from 1992-97. I worked full time at the park from 94-97 so I rode it both in the original and altered forms.

 

I never found it too rough, but I did find it disorienting.

 

And in 1995, I had to ride it for about an hour for a commercial. NOT fun! (see pic below!)

4th row, right side, yellow tank top.

[cfc]

Said list only has a handful of people?

 

Four--one of whom is my niece Leslie (she really liked it).

[DJeXeL]

^^Looks like 1/2 of those rider's smiles were squeezed out. Riding it for an hour sounds very painful.

Viper @ SFMM holds a special place in my heart but I never ride it more than 3 times on a visit to the park.

[A.J.]

Screamscape is reporting that BGWfans is reporting some crazy rumors that are supposedly true.

 

Stay with me on this one. I'm confused already.

 

From Screamscape:

...they believe that the coaster train will move from the station into a bizarre tilt-track section, which sounds like what that 90-something foot tall themed “bridge” they got permission to build could be for.

This tilting bridge track may then swivel to put the coaster train into a vertical NASA style launch position. Here I have some doubts that they can launch the train skyward from this position, as the combination of required thrust and crushing G-forces may simply make this unrealistic. In any case, the train is said to rise from there to an unknown height before continuing on with the rest of the wild journey, which could include those extra “launch” moments along the way.

 

Screamscape Link

BGWFans Link

 

BGWfans says that the "unknown height" is 300 feet.

 

My take on this?

 

No.

 

I don't believe it for even a quarter of a second. An Autobahn, which the ride is supposed to be themed to, does not launch vertically to 300 feet in the air. Plus, the coaster would dwarf Mach Tower.

Edited March 4, 2011 by A.J.

[Ed Farmer]

Drachen Fire was fine when I rode it a few times in the mid-late '90s. I think Busch Williamsburg would be a better park if it had remained. Based on my handful of rides (maybe 15, spread over three visits) I think the stories of trauma and battery are exaggerated, much like they often are with SLC's or Boomerangs. I don't remember if my rides happened before or after the modification, or both. It was '94, '96 and '97. Didn't get to visit BGW again after that until 2006.

[coasterfreak101]

^^I'm with you - no way.

 

I think I've said it before in this thread, but I'd LOVE to see them pick up the tilt-coaster concept to drop off that elevated bridge. Build it to appear broken, and go from there!

[DATman]

I'm still waiting for my Intamin terrain woodie. It will never happen, but it'd be so magical.

[SKULLY]

Add another Drachen Fire fan right here! I was also a bit younger while riding it for the final time, 9 years old, but the whole experience was much more enjoyable than people make it out to be. It never ruined my day and despite how prone I am to headaches, I was able to re-ride without interference. The first drop with the corkscrew was something I have yet to see repeated with very good hang time at 140+ ft. In addition, as others have said, it was a great color with a beautiful support structure and some of the coolest looking trains on any coaster. The day it was ripped out hurt me quite badly. Of course, it was the original "BIG" coaster from my childhood but it still holds a place in my memory next to BBW. Who would have thought back in 1994, in the hugely thriving Oktoberfest, that there would be a day when both spots stood empty? It's a crazy world we live.

 

As for the new coaster, I think that this 90 degree upward launch seems a bit overboard but who am I to decide? While it would be an engineering nightmare, the mechanism needed to launch a car vertical wouldn't exactly have to do it quickly as you're starting out at 1G anyways. It would just need enough to get over the top and stop in case of a rollback. Once again, I doubt we will see this but it should be incredible regardless of what gets built. I'm really hyped up to see what the park can do with an indoor section and just how long the duration will be. Too bad we have around eight or so months before it gets announced if things go as usual.

[netdvn]

Hey everyone! Rides were testing for the first time today!

 

I haven't received word at any of my orientations that the ride was gonna be a 300 footer and with the stringent height laws that Williamsburg has on top of the Kingsmill residents complaining about height and noise (except me of course), I highly doubt any of this is legit anyway (at least until more info is released).

 

90 degree upward launch (from the ground) is definitely possible... Look at TTD/Hypersonic.

 

For a 90 degree launch (space shuttle style) look at Volcano... Granted Volcano is already traveling at a high speed when it hits the vertical launch, but it's still a vertical launch nevertheless.

 

Mach Tower opens around May!

[coasterfreak101]

^None of those rides launch from a start in a vertical position, or in a vertical position at all. The closest thing out there is Wicked at Lagoon, which, if I'm not mistaken, launches for a short distance horizontally and then continues to launch vertically, but not from a start like this rumor suggests.

[netdvn]

^None of those rides launch from a start in a vertical position, or in a vertical position at all. The closest thing out there is Wicked at Lagoon, which, if I'm not mistaken, launches for a short distance horizontally and then continues to launch vertically, but not from a start like this rumor suggests.

 

Wicked launches from a horizontal track...

 

Volcano IIRC has two launches. One outside the station and a vertical launch inside the volcano going into the first inversion on top of the volcano.

[coasterfreak101]

Volcano launches horizontally, makes a big sweeping turn, and launches horizontally again into the mountain before it climbs up into the first inversion out of the mountain. And I said that Wicked launches horizontally, then again vertically to power the car over the top hat.

[KDcoasterMAN]

^Yeah, none of Volcano's launches are Veritcal.

[rcdude]

To my knowledge, Wicked is the only coaster that launches vertically, and it starts on horizontal track. Mr. Freeze has linear motors on the vertical section, but they don't really launch, just boost. Almost every other coaster either launches on level track or a slight uphill. A few have a decent slope to the launch, but it is nowhere near vertical. Rides may appear to have vertical launches, but in 99% of the cases they don't.

 

I highly doubt this new coaster will launch vertically, especially from a standstill. It would take a lot of power to launch a train vertically because the acceleration will not only have to get the train up to speed, but will also have to overcome the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s or approximately 32 ft/sec). I'm guessing that BGW will end up with something similar to Cheetah Hunt if it is an Intamin, or a larger version of SWSD's Manta if it isn't.

[Skycoastin Steve]

The Mr. Freeze coasters have vertical launches to get them up the spike before it rolls back through the course.

[A.J.]

Volcano launches horizontally, makes a big sweeping turn, and launches horizontally again into the mountain before it climbs up into the first inversion out of the mountain. And I said that Wicked launches horizontally, then again vertically to power the car over the top hat.

Correct!

[eddie200330]

The Mr. Freeze coasters have vertical launches to get them up the spike before it rolls back through the course.

 

The train is carrying momentum, not from a starting position. If BG was to add this element somewhere in mid run, I really could see it being a possibility.

[KDcoasterMAN]

BGW is making much progress on the Phase 1 of the Oktoberfest area renovation. Though Mach Tower has not yet gone vertical, the structure surrounding it has. Th new pretzel shop and beer garden area also shaping up.

 

http://www.buschgardensnews.com/page/bignews