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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:
The area under Mach Tower is closed off because things are known to fall off the tower when it shuts down. Park doesn't want people getting hurt from falling bolts and such.

Don't know about the whole no pictures thing. I've been able to take pics of the ride shut down before lol. I've even got pics of Griffon cycling empty trains and Mach shut down from years past.
 
Since I was there, let me explain. Zachary went over to take a picture of MT, since it was down. He was told that it is now against park rules to take pictures of rides closed for maintenance. About fifteen minutes later Tony went over and walked within six feet of the same guys (directly in their line-of-sight) and took pictures of the drop tower with no problem, even though it still was shut down.

People can infer from that whatever they want. I would point out, however, that when we were at Tempesto earlier in the day, the staff clearly knew who Zachary was and that he was from BGWFans.
 
Zachary was standing behind the no admittance sign too, in fact other random people were standing much, much closer to the ride. Zachary was the only one ever spoken to while over there.
 
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Yes things have fallen from the tower. I've been told by some of the employees there that bolts and such falling off the tower have contributed to ride shutdowns.

When people are working high up in the tower, there's also a chance something could slip out of a pocket high up in the air. I don't know if that's happened before but there's a good reason why you've got catch nets underneath the track on some of the coasters. I don't think the netting underneath Mach is enough to catch small objects like bolts though.
 
I think I was unclear, or perhaps I misunderstood the initial point.

We were discussing that Zachary was told that he could not take photographs of MT while it was closed for maintenance. netdvn raised the issue of falling objects, like bolts. I inferred that netdvn was asserting that the park wanted to keep guests with cameras out of range of objects dropping off the ride during repairs.

Based on the comments above, it seems that things have historically fallen off the tower while the ride was operating, which is a different issue.

I asked if anyone knew for a fact that things have dropped from the tower, while it was closed for maintenance, or if that was an assumption.

I would add that I hope that if Zachary stayed outside the barriers (which he did), he would have been in no danger from falling objects. If that is not the case, the perimeter needs to be extended for everyone's safety.

My guess is that they did NOT in fact tell Zachary that he could not take pictures, because they were concerned about falling objects, for both the reasons above and because others were allowed to snap photos unmolested.
 
So any guess as to whether Manby pulls the plug on this ride?

Read somewhere about "Timber Tower" in Dollywood being removed because of design, reliability, and structural issues etc, etc.

Don't know how hands on he was on this decision as CEO of Hershend but if he sees down time on this thing is not up to par with the rest of the park chances are it's days are numbered.

This is all speculation on my part, but there is a precedent for removal of rides that aren't operating as promised being removed under his leadership.

As far as the Timber Tower Story there are several articles about it and the Lawsuit that led to it's removal.

I would think as CEO of Hershend he would be in the loop about Lawsuits for dud rides and there eventual removal, and be aware after some time at SEAS of MT and its history of under performing.

Article cited below.

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9042546/dollywood-huss-settle-lawsuit-over-timber-tower
 
rode it everyday this weekend. One time a kid pushed the gate open and it immediately shutdown and very slowly lowered from the top back down. Maintenence had to come reset it. I assume the attendant didn't close it all the way but it was enough the fool the sensors.
 
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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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