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:
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redheadtanman said:
Zachary said:
If you haven't been following Mach Tower recently, it has been down for the last two weeks or so. I've heard that it should be reopening very soon.
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I don't think anyones paying attention to that thing anymore haha
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They were doing a lot of test rums on it Friday while I was at the park.
 
As I understand it MT has been down this long due to last week's extreme heat ( it's been too hot to get back up in the tower and try to fix the thing). I would assume the storms we have had lately haven't helped either.
 
Party Rocker said:
I think they should expect lightning to to hit it since its practically a lightning rod itself.
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Exactly! They should expect it to. Meaning that it is designed for only a certain part of the tower to get hit through a grounded rod. Lightning hitting it shouldnt cause and issue. There is a grounding system to deal with exactly that issue.
 
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Anyone know if Mock Tower has reopened yet? Just curious since it was brought up in the Verbolten thread.
 
Definitely more fitting in this thread...

lemon.jpg
 
Has anyone noticed in the new Mach Tower advertisements they specifically advertise it as a moment of silence and nothing going on before you drop.
 
^Very true, but I have to admit, I really enjoy Mach Tower and haven't had too much trouble catching it operational. May not be the highest/bestest/mostest, but it's a solid ride with great views.

Not saying I don't understand some disappointment, just for me, it's a good ride and a good addition to the park.
 
Mach Tower is now closed indefinately.
The Daily Press[/url]]Busch Gardens: Mach Tower closed indefinitely

One of Busch Gardens newest signature rides — the Mach Tower — has been closed indefinitely for reasons a park official said were not safety-related.

Park spokesman Kevin Crossett said Mach Tower was removed from service July 12 while park officials "review manufacturer-recommended changes to the ride's parameters." Crossett said the current closure is unrelated to a previous closure in late June he characterized as maintenance-related.

"It's as good a time as any," Crossett said, of the closure's timing. He characterized the move as following "best practices," and added: "It's not a safety-related issue."

In an email, Crossett explained: "The review is an attempt to alleviate future ride down-time issues. Removing Mach Tower from service benefits guests by reducing the amount of time Mach Tower is down for maintenance and related issues. Mach Tower will return to service soon, but no official date has been set."


Mach Tower — a 240-feet-tall ride that incorporates features like vibrating seats, a spiraling carriage and onboard audio for effect as riders are lifted past the tree tops and suddenly dropped back to ground level — opened to riders in late August 2011 after weeks of delays related to unspecified "technical issues."

It wasn't the only ride closed this week at Busch Gardens. Escape from Pompeii was closed about 7 p.m. Tuesday due to a "minor mechanical issue," Crossett said. "We're working on it and it will be operational soon." The spokesman explained the issue involved a lift mechanism and he anticipated work would be completed Thursday if not sooner.

Crossett wrote in another email that a June 27 closure of Mach Tower and the park's newest roller coaster Verbolten were related to maintenance needs and lasted only a short time.

"Both Mach Tower and Verbolten are new attractions and will be shutdown periodically to perform maintenance and to tweak various aspects of the ride to ensure it provides the highest quality experience for our guests," Crossett stated. "We would rather shut down a ride briefly to perform these procedures than provide an inferior experience for our guests. We think our guests understand and appreciate our willingness to go well beyond the minimum necessary to operate a ride."

As far as summer attendance goes, Crossett declined to provide numbers for Busch Gardens or Water Country USA. He did say Busch Gardens was experiencing a boost in attendance from the addition of the Verbolten roller coaster.

"Water Country is always a popular place to go when its hot outside — we're doing pretty good over there too," he said, in a telephone interview. "The economy is still shaky but overall we're doing well."
--Via @WDWRLD
 
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This really makes me laugh. Though I'm not shocked about it all. I wonder what they're going to do with it for now and the types of testing it's gonna go through.
 
I say launch the fireworks off of it. All it's good for is just sitting there anyways...
 
It was a big mistake on every end. The investement was a waste. Not all the features worked. It had a super delayed opening. The ride itself sucked. Maintenance nightmare. More downtime than uptime. and so on.
 
I see this is a good thing to do. Here is my list of changes I would make during the Closure

1. Remove some of the brake fins (I want more of a freefall)

2. Fix the seatbelts (Not the most comfortable things and show alot of wear and tear.

3. Fix the vibrating back to normal.

4. Would it kill them to change the music ?

5. Fix the downtime issue (obviously thats what their doing)

6. Not a change that is high on my list but I would like to see some lighting added to the ride itself (It's dark and it would be cool)

Feel free to add on to this list :)
 
^

1. No.

2. Yes,please.

3. No, it was pointless.

4. I like having music, something that matched the actual ride experience would be nice.

5. Duh.

6. Good idea... now what could they do though? I wouldn't want something like Windseeker; that is far too intrusive to the night sky.
 
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