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

 

[Nicole]

Given all of the mechanical problems that MT habitually has, why would you assume a sensor malfunction is the fault of the ride op?

 

[phareous]

Well the gate opened and since it is magnetically locked that shouldnt be possible if the two parts are touching and it is energized. Plus maintenance ran the ride a bunch of times and tried to push it open and couldn't. And it never happened again the rest of the weekend. But who knows

 

[Thomas]

The ride wouldn't have started if it wasn't closed... and any magnet lock can be opened with enough force.

 

[phareous]

Well this was a little kid who pushed it open... maybe it malfunctioned but if so that is a scary thought. At least it eventually aborted rather than dropping on someone's head

 

[Thomas]

Mach Tower will never just drop if the ride cycle is interrupted in any way. Moser may not be the best ride manufacturer, but they did a good job of putting safety measures in place; in fact, a lot of Mach Tower's problems stem from over-cautious safety sensors rather than actual mechanical issues.

 

[UncleDuncan]

The ride wouldn't have started if it wasn't closed... and any magnet lock can be opened with enough force.

Magnets are no match for the power of the dark side.

 

[Eric]

Every single time i have rode this ride, the seats have never buzzed. I dont know if thats a good or bad thing though.

 

[netdvn]

The vibrating seats were cut off after opening year.

 

[Thomas]

[split] Carl Lum Has Left the Building

The music was working when I rode last weekend. The seat vibrations are not missed and haven't worked for a long time.

 

[Thomas]

It didn't add to the ride experience, it just made the ride seem more broken.

 

[Zachary]

RE: Carl Lum Has Left the Building

The problem with the seat vibration is that people legitimately thought the tower was breaking. Given the ride's reputation and the odd sounds that thing makes, it's not really an unreasonable thought either.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

RE: Carl Lum Has Left the Building

I agree about with both Thomas and Zachary the vibration. It added little to no thrill. As Zachary said, it caused people to freak out. I wonder how much the vibration added to the toll on maintenance.

As long as I can remember; the music never worked properly. It has always shorted out somewhere along the ride, especially at the top.

This morning, I rode on the first cycle of the day. The music kept popping in and out. Also, when I got to the top, the pre-drop sound queue did not play. I highly doubt that the audio will ever work the way its supposed to.

 

[John]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the park reduce the length of brakes up the tower and give the ride a longer free-fall? I vaguely remember hearing about that a few years ago.

 

[Zachary]

I believe I remember the same.

 

[Irishman]

This is correct !

 

[phareous]

I didn't realize it had music/sounds..It's never worked anytime I rode it including today

Edit..I rode it once this week where the audio played but it was very faint and kept cutting out

 

[Shane]

I only remember riding it once with working audio. It was garbled and hard to hear.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

I can't imagine them trying to calm people down with that sound system. They have to in the event of an emergency drop on Nacht Tower.

 

[Mushroom]

Does Mäch Tower not have a megaphone speaker at the top of the tower? Most drop towers I've ridden, Drop Tower at Kings Dominion included, have some sort of megaphone speakers at the top. They're directly tied to a microphone for emergency announcements, or (more frequently) for an operator who loves the sound of their own voice to goof around with guests before they drop.

I always figured MT had such a system. But since it has on-board speakers (even if they rarely work), is there no other audio system?

 

[wombat96]

Does Mäch Tower not have a megaphone speaker at the top of the tower? Most drop towers I've ridden, Drop Tower at Kings Dominion included, have some sort of megaphone speakers at the top. They're directly tied to a microphone for emergency announcements, or (more frequently) for an operator who loves the sound of their own voice to goof around with guests before they drop.

I always figured MT had such a system. But since it has on-board speakers (even if they rarely work), is there no other audio system?

Yup, I've only heard it used once. When I was riding in August 2011 for some reason  the ride op did the "Dropping in 5,4,3 Goodbye!" spiel. I don't know why because the music was working that day so it was strange to go from peaceful music to loud ride-op announcing our free-fall.