Mäch Tower

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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 rode Mach Tower for the first time, yesterday (I actually was working my way counter-clockwise through the park but when I saw it was working, I ran over before it was too late). I thought it was a lot of fun, and a cool twist to have it spinning like that (get it? Cool twist. You like that? Yeah.).

Ah-hem.

But, yeah...the views from the top were great.
 
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I have a neat concept:

Mach Tower is supposed to be a Maypole, right?
Maypoles are supposed to have banners streaming from the top, right?
Does Mach Tower have any banners? No.

I propose that BGW gets a bunch of multicolloured ribbons and stuff and drapes them from the top of Mach Tower, down to some of the high points around it.

For example:
The top of the pretzel shoppe, the top of the house-thing that has the lockers in it, some lamp posts, and even the tops of some trees.

This would make the ride more authentic and make looking at it a bit more spectacular.

Warning! Epic MS Paint concept picture incoming!

 

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b.mac said:
but "World's Largest Maypole" is quite a marketable record for the park to use...
Click to expand...

I looked it up, and yes, if they attached working ribbon to Mach Tower it would be the world's tallest maypole ever! The tallest maypole is said to have been erected in London on the Strand in 1661; it stood over 143 feet high. It was felled in 1717, when it was used by Isaac Newton to support Huygen's new reflecting telescope.
It would be VERY marketable, however, it would have to be usable. Sorry, sorry, back to topic. :)
 
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Mach Tower had a bad break down yesterday. The train stopped half way up the tower with people still on it! I took a couple videos. I will try to have the video of the car slowly coming down uploaded soon. For the time being, here is one video on my Youtube. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa8OPKZ9MFM

P.S. Sorry about the shakiness, this i the worst of the videos that I took. I will try to upload more. ;)
 
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I've seen this happen on Drop Tower at Kings Dominion. But instead of halfway up the tower, it was at the top. From what I understand, once it reaches the top, the system does a series of safety checks (like checking the brakes area, the pumps at the bottom, each ride gate, ect.), then drops the carriage. So I assume something failed or didn't get checked properly.
 
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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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