Mäch Tower

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Status
The first entry in this thread is a WikiPost. As such, it can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.

Manufacturer
Moser's Rides

Model
Gravity Tower

Hamlet
Oktoberfest (Germany)

Opening Date
August 18th, 2011

Closing Date
January 8th, 2023

Attraction Height
240ft

Duration
About 90 Seconds

Riders Per Cycle
30

Height Requirement
48in



Mäch Tower was a Moser's Rides Gravity Tower located in the Oktoberfest section of Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Originally planned to debut in the spring alongside Beste Brezeln und Bier and numerous other alterations to the Oktoberfest hamlet, Mäch Tower faced months of delays throughout the first half of 2011. Ultimately, the attraction did not open to the public until August 18th, 2011.

Mach Tower was typically converted into an observation tower named Nächt Tower for the park's annual holiday event, Christmas Town.

On December 16, 2022 it was announced by the park that Mäch Tower would close on January 8th, 2023. The ride did not operate in it's typical Nächt Tower mode in 2022, in order to have final sendoffs in the normal drop tower mode.

When it debuted, Mäch Tower featured an onboard audio system which would play music throughout the ride's ascent and a seat vibration effect that would trigger immediately before the drop. A POV featuring the on-ride audio can be found below.

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Direct Link to Embedded Media Source


Sources:
  1. Mäch Tower Announcement Press Release
  2. Official Statement Regarding Opening Delays
  3. "Waiting for the Mach Tower to Drop" via The Virginian-Pilot
  4. "Busch Gardens opens towering drop ride after 3-month delay" via The Virginian-Pilot
  5. First Ride Video & Opening Day Photos via BGWFans
  6. Early Mäch Tower Ride Impressions via Theme Park Insider
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Click to expand...
I guess Mach Tower was being tested today. It was at the top for a loooooong time. Then it started coming down very slowly. Much more so than the observation mode thing for CT. I thought I was seeing things, but there appeared to be a man standing on top of the carriage as it was coming down. Do they really do that? I don't think I was seeing things. Look at the second picture. The man is circled in red. Apologies for the poor quality; we were on the train and I just happened to look over there. Then the trees were blocking.

 

Attachments

  • Mach Tower 1.JPG
    Mach Tower 1.JPG
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  • Mach Tower 2 - man on top.JPG
    Mach Tower 2 - man on top.JPG
    2.3 MB · Views: 46
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Reactions: Planeteer and Zachary
It's the same thing with all drop tower rides or swing rides (WindSeeker or Skyscreamer) That's the most effective way to be transported to the top of the tower and do the inspections/ fixes. A lot of that is going with all of the WindSeekers at the moment. There might be some photos of people working on the catwalk in the WindSeeker gondola in the Knotts Berry Farm section of the forums.
 
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Reactions: chickenking
I was standing outside the pretzel shop today while they were doing some testing. Every time it dropped, there was this very loud grinding/rattling noise that would start when the brakes would usually kick in. They did this 10+ times. Needless to say, it sounded bad for the ride. Hopefully no damage was done.
 
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Reactions: Zachary, Mushroom and Party Rocker
^Yes, an employee outside told me that the modifications they gave the ride require them to treat as if it's a "new ride" all over again. This is just a haunting redo of what happened the first time (translation: :dodgy: )
 
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Reactions: Party Rocker
Any major change to the ride requires full testing all over again, as well as the state needs to approve the ride to. But since the changes are done by the park itself (or at least no one has said otherwise) then they don't have to worry about manufacture testing, just park testing, then the state inspection.
 
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Reactions: Mushroom
I'm sure the park has hired some manufacturer to make the modifications, a parks maintenance department doesn't just modify a ride like that, at least not to this kind of effect. I am sure that who ever made the modifications is doing their own testing as well.
 
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Reactions: Party Rocker
Unless the ride was planned to have the larger drop area in the orginal designs. When testing drop towers they add a lot more breaks than needed to make sure the carriage does not go crashing, then slowly remove the breaks to their desire or lowest safest point. I'm sure with all the delays with the ride system they were not able to fully test the ride to the desirable drop length and they are now catching up with themselves now that they were able to work out all of the main kinks for the ride.
 
I still don't think maintenance would be making this change unilaterally. This would be something the manufacturer or another engineering company would oversee or give them direction on. I know I wouldn't want something I put out there being able to be changed like that without my consent, especially if it has the potential to injure people.
 
I wouldnt think so unless Moser has a strict contract with the park saying that they cant make any changes. Rebel Yell was never designed to run backwards but KD changed it do so.
 
pandorazboxx said:
This would be something the manufacturer or another engineering company would oversee or give them direction on.
Click to expand...

I'm just saying the maintenance department wouldn't make the changes on their own. There would need to be some company or person that knows how the ride works and operates to make that change. It could be Moser or some other company they hired.
 
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Status
The first entry in this thread is a WikiPost. As such, it can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.
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