Mäch Tower

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

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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

 

[Mushroom]

Also, just listen to what Shawn from Theme Park Worldwide has to say about Mach Tower in this vlog from 50:26-51:07. This may be one of the most universally disliked drop towers in the world, at least that's a marketable feature, right?

I love how immediate his reaction was. Less than one second after the drop and he goes "What the hell was that? That was probably one of the worst drop towers I've ever been on!"

 

[I305Evan]

... You’d get to the top, the carriage would rumble violently, and then it would drop. The effects vanished years back. ....

Now it just rumbles the entire way down the tower. Gives you the same feeling that you're going to die.

 

[bill s]

Random thought here but if they replaced MT would it require a new height waiver even at the same height?

FWIW if this ever did die I would want to see an S&S triple shot replace it with 3 towers like Hershey.

FWIW as a township planner I did make a church replacing the bell tower at the same height resubmit their height waiver being pre-approved so we had record of new sight lines with the tree and town skyline changes.

I don't understand why anyone would prefer the S&S rides, except me because they're less scary. I never understood why some people think ejector air with OTSRs isn't real airtime until I rode the Kisses and Reeses towers. No floater at all, just slammed in your seat or against the restraints.

Meanwhile, Mach is terrifying.

 

[BGW Family]

I like carrying an extra bolt with me. Just before we leave the ground, I whip it out and say to the guy next to me, "Hey, I think this came out of your seat." That is the only thing that makes the ride fun.

 

[halfabee]

I don't understand why anyone would prefer the S&S rides, except me because they're less scary. I never understood why some people think ejector air with OTSRs isn't real airtime until I rode the Kisses and Reeses towers. No floater at all, just slammed in your seat or against the restraints.

Meanwhile, Mach is terrifying.

I agree with this. The only S&S tower ride that has legitimately scared me is the Big Shot at night, and that's because it is profoundly unsettling to start at 920 feet above the ground and then watch the lights of the entire Las Vegas Valley seemingly drop out from under you as you rocket upward from there. Most towers don't really offer that. And for me, the actual airtime on the S&S towers just doesn't do anything to activate that visceral, unsettling terror that is supposed to be the one and only major thrill of a drop tower.

The Hershey-style towers also are just louder than hell, and everyone knows it's the calm and quiet killers that are the scariest.

Meanwhile, Mach Tower has enough odd and eyebrow-raising moments its history to leave me feeling less than perfectly safe, every single time.

 

[Irishman]

I agree with this. The only S&S tower ride that has legitimately scared me is the Big Shot at night, and that's because it is profoundly unsettling to start at 920 feet above the ground and then watch the lights of the entire Las Vegas Valley seemingly drop out from under you as you rocket upward from there. Most towers don't really offer that. And for me, the actual airtime on the S&S towers just doesn't do anything to activate that visceral, unsettling terror that is supposed to be the one and only major thrill of a drop tower.

The Hershey-style towers also are just louder than hell, and everyone knows it's the calm and quiet killers that are the scariest.

Meanwhile, Mach Tower has enough odd and eyebrow-raising moments its history to leave me feeling less than perfectly safe, every single time.

Due to these points, I have not ridden Mach tower in a while and I do not plan to do so.

 

[FoozMuz]

Mach tower has a reasonably good drop, I think. The seats and restraints are horrible, especially for a taller person with broad shoulders.

 

[Mushroom]

Mach tower has a reasonably good drop, I think.

I disagree. In my opinion, the drop is the worst part about Mach Tower - more so than the uncomfortable seats and restraints. The freefall section of the drop is so short and controlled, with the carriage hitting the brakes practically halfway up the tower. It's such a waste.

 

[Nicole]

I think MT’s drop is better than Falcon’s Fury, but worse than Drop Tower at KD. Which begs the question: why doesn’t BGW build something different than the drop tower up the road?

 

[Zachary]

I disagree. In my opinion, the drop is the worst part about Mach Tower - more so than the uncomfortable seats and restraints. The freefall section of the drop is so short and controlled, with the carriage hitting the brakes practically halfway up the tower. It's such a waste.

On the flipside, the ride was at least designed to facilitate dropping. It wasn't designed to accommodate people with arms. It's horrible at both dropping and holding non-bilateral amputees of course, but I can see arguing that failing at dropping is less of a sin than not even trying to design seats for people who still have all four limbs. ?

 

[SLC Headache]

I disagree. In my opinion, the drop is the worst part about Mach Tower - more so than the uncomfortable seats and restraints. The freefall section of the drop is so short and controlled, with the carriage hitting the brakes practically halfway up the tower. It's such a waste.

I have the same feelings about Verbolten's drop track.

So the drop sucks and the restraints suck (and I'm pretty short). About the only thing redeeming Mach Tower is the view.

 

[basseyfish]

Crane at mach tower today. I assume light change

 

[Zachary]

I imagine a light change could be completed without a crane? @AIR theorized yesterday that it looked like it could be a lift motor swap which strikes me as more likely.

Anyway, thanks for driving by the park to keep an eye on Pantheon and thanks for capturing the photo! This stuff really helps!

 

[ControlsEE]

I imagine a light change could be completed without a crane? @AIR theorized yesterday that it looked like it could be a lift motor swap...

I would agree with that estimation. Smaller items that can be lifted by a person can be taken up in the gondola and carried that last 10' to the top. A motor or gearbox would require a crane to lift it directly into its spot. Replacing cables would be the same.

 

[finalcloud]

I like Mach Tower. Just wish more of my family did. I also thought Hersey's three drop towers were nice as well.

 

[Gavin]

That moment when you realize the url for this thread is parkfans.net/.../maech-tower... and not parkfans.net/.../mach-tower....


No, I’m not going to fix it.

 

[SLC Headache]

I thought the "ae" came from "ä".

 

[Gavin]

It does, but how many people actually know that?

 

[warfelg]

It does, but how many people actually know that?

Ze Deutsche.

 

[horsesboy]

Still there this afternoon and it appeared to be making more then one lift so I going to go with some more substantial maintenance.