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

 

[DJTLG]

Last weekend it was closed and a few maintenance people were working on the exit gate. They had electrical tools and it looked like they were working on the magnetic lock/sensor.

Also, it sounds like we may need to put a bumper sticker on it: "Honk if parts fall off!"

 

[MAZ]

Looks like Mach Tower's wicked step sister had an incident. The article appears to have been written by a second grader.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/17/vertical-funfair-ride-plummets-when-brakes-fail-injuring-12-6073160/

 

[phareous]

Looks like Mach Tower's wicked step sister had an incident. The article appears to have been written by a second grader.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/17/vertical-funfair-ride-plummets-when-brakes-fail-injuring-12-6073160/

Sounds to me like the brakes worked just fine and the issue was they had an uncontrolled free fall for the first half of the ride

 

[Merboy]

Lol, yes it does read like a second-grader wrote it. But perhaps it was just poorly translated from the original Spanish? Anywho, looks like another incident in the recent surge of reported park-related injuries. I'm extremely grateful everyone was okay though. I'm terrified of heights and only ride Mach whilst inebriated. Falling to my death from that thing is a huge fear of mine.

 

[BenWilkerson]

Mach tower got stuck 10 ft off the ground going up today at 3:28 pm

 

[CarterGee]

Y'all remember when we were supposed to get tilting seats? I remember. Hansa remembers... http://screamscape.com/html/hansa-park.htm

 

[Eric]

Been reading the Drop Tower at KD thread and saw about how grease has literally come off the tower before and chunks and such. I was just wondering is this a problem for Mach Tower too? The tower looked pretty clean everytime ive seen it but i wouldnt really know.

 

[Irishman]

Been reading the Drop Tower at KD thread and saw about how grease has literally come off the tower before and chunks and such. I was just wondering is this a problem for Mach Tower too? The tower looked pretty clean everytime ive seen it but i wouldnt really know.

Anyone can correct me if I’m wrong, but i believe that the mechanisms for the lift such as the cable are on the outside whereas MT’s are on the inside. I believe this to be the main reason!

 

[CastleOSullivan]

@Joe reminded me of this in the Roto Baron thread. Does anyone else realize that Mach Tower with an “ä,” as the park spells it is pronounced “mech?” (The German ch sound is pronounced like a hiss.)

 

[Zachary]

@CastleOSullivan: @Joe and I have been talking a ton about the "authentic" names of the German-area rides, shops, etc and neither of us know the language. Please consider making a thread to educate us on proper pronunciation, what the park got right, what they got wrong, etc. I'd find it super interesting!

PS: with the ä and ch combined, would Mäch be pronounced more like "Mess"?

 

[Mushroom]

“Mess Tower” sounds like a more accurate name TBH.

 

[b.mac]

So the name is actually accurate...

 

[warfelg]

Here’s some help:
https://forvo.com/languages/de/

 

[CastleOSullivan]

I forgot to say that it’s more like “meh,” as in :”The ride was meh.” It just has more of a hissing/phlegm sound at the end. Some German speaking countries pronounce it like the SH in “shush,” and I think the Dutch (not really German, but still understandable to a degree) tend to pronounce it more like a “k” sound.

So, “Meh(hiss) Tower.”

In the video below, they start explaining the sound at about 1:00.

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[GrandpaD]

It certainly is "Meh Tower".

 

[warfelg]

I forgot to say that it’s more like “meh,” as in :”The ride was meh.” It just has more of a hissing/phlegm sound at the end. Some German speaking countries pronounce it like the SH in “shush,” and I think the Dutch (not really German, but still understandable to a degree) tend to pronounce it more like a “k” sound.

So, “Meh(hiss) Tower.”

In the video below, they start explaining the sound at about 1:00.

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I would add: like English having different accents/dialects, German does too. You can get all this different ways of saying it and be correct. The phlegmy -ch sound, more of a h-hiss, and a -k are all “correct” but depending on where you are in Germany they might laugh at you. The pronunciation I was taught by a German as first language instructor was the more phlegm-ch sound.

 

[Thomas]

Mach tower is actually the best drop tower in the world. Nothing is scarier than the very real threat of mechanical failure and resulting death or injury.

 

[warfelg]

This will sound strange but I like Mäch Tower. Just behind S&S double shots (the turning takes my mind of slowly being pulled up).

 

[GrandpaD]

I know some EMTs that refuse to climb the rickety interior stairs.

 

[b.mac]

Mach tower is actually the best drop tower in the world. Nothing is scarier than the very real threat of mechanic failure and resulting death or injury.

Meteor Impact Simulator looks fun!