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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GrandpaD said:
I know some EMTs that refuse to climb the rickety interior stairs.
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Out of curiosity, why would an EMT need to climb unless dealing with a situation for a mechanic somewhere up the tower or on top where the cables are?

Also, how would guests get evac'd off the tower?
 
Jonesta6 said:
Out of curiosity, why would an EMT need to climb unless dealing with a situation for a mechanic somewhere up the tower or on top where the cables are?

Also, how would guests get evac'd off the tower?
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That's the evac. I'm sure he'd go up in an evac...but "practice" no freakin' way he told me. ?
 
GrandpaD said:
That's the evac. I'm sure he'd go up in an evac...but "practice" no freakin' way he told me. ?
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Practice makes perfect...

But seriously though, if the gondola was somehow stuck halfway up how would they evac guests?

I know at KD they have a cage thing they can raise independently, does MT have EMS performing a high ropes rescue from the top of the tower on down?
 
Gavin said:
Drop Tower can be released manually if needed. If that doesn’t work, they’ll call for a cherry picker. Hanover County FD does practice this yearly with the park. I’d wager Mach Tower has a similar evac plan.

Windseeker is the ride with the evac platform you’re thinking of.
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Oh yeah, thanks.
 
I have personally witnessed an incident where there was a mechanic stuck at the top of Mach Tower in need of medical assistance. There was apparently no set plan or at least no one knew or followed whatever set plan there is because everyone kept suggesting different ideas like having the FD go up the stairs and then rappel downward or as Gavin mentioned using a high reach or sorts. I never had the chance to see what happened it the end, but this has happened before. Maybe someone else has more details to share? It was during an off-season day.
 
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Interesting that there appeared to be no plan for that - my guess is there was one but the folks suggesting options weren't familiar with it. Could be that the folks familiar were already in action even if it wasn't apparent?
 
CastleOSullivan said:
@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.)
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The "ä" in this case is a metal umlaut rather than the correct German spelling.
Supposedly that makes it like 20% more cool.

en.wikipedia.org

Metal umlaut - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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VonDerrick said:
I have personally witnessed an incident where there was a mechanic stuck at the top of Mach Tower in need of medical assistance. There was apparently no set plan or at least no one knew or followed whatever set plan there is because everyone kept suggesting different ideas like having the FD go up the stairs and then rappel downward or as Gavin mentioned using a high reach or sorts. I never had the chance to see what happened it the end, but this has happened before. Maybe someone else has more details to share? It was during an off-season day.
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I was working Verbolten that day and it was right at the beginning of peak season, about the first week of June. We started walking out to the ride and noticed the trolley stopped about a third to a half way up the tower, slightly tilted. Didn't think anything of it at first. Ops only told us at the opening meeting that Mach would not be operational that day and sent the team home/to AH and for all the other locations to keep getting ready like normal. About half an hour before opening, they said that there was a maintenance guy stuck on the trolley and they may have to call a crane to get him off. Shortly after, they confirmed that a Lockwood crane was on the way and that we were all supposed to finish getting ready, then turn the ride off, as the area would be opening late. We finished up and were told to head to the break room. Saw the crane and a truck carrying a man basket coming across the Camp Wallace crossing when we were walking to the break area. About an hour and a half later, we were told we could go back to the ride and start cycling, since the area was going to be open as soon as the crane left the area. The crane was still in place, in-between Verbolten and Mach, getting packed back up when we got there. All in all, we opened about 2 hours or so late, and Mach's trolley stayed tilted for a few days until they could get it fixed again.
 
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ControlsEE said:
I was working Verbolten that day and it was right at the beginning of peak season, about the first week of June. We started walking out to the ride and noticed the trolley stopped about a third to a half way up the tower, slightly tilted. Didn't think anything of it at first. Ops only told us at the opening meeting that Mach would not be operational that day and sent the team home/to AH and for all the other locations to keep getting ready like normal. About half an hour before opening, they said that there was a maintenance guy stuck on the trolley and they may have to call a crane to get him off. Shortly after, they confirmed that a Lockwood crane was on the way and that we were all supposed to finish getting ready, then turn the ride off, as the area would be opening late. We finished up and were told to head to the break room. Saw the crane and a truck carrying a man basket coming across the Camp Wallace crossing when we were walking to the break area. About an hour and a half later, we were told we could go back to the ride and start cycling, since the area was going to be open as soon as the crane left the area. The crane was still in place, in-between Verbolten and Mach, getting packed back up when we got there. All in all, we opened about 2 hours or so late, and Mach's trolley stayed tilted for a few days until they could get it fixed again.
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So sounds like the confusion was more a debate over the most practical method of rescuing the maintenance worker than it was actual panic?
 
Jonesta6 said:
So sounds like the confusion was more a debate over the most practical method of rescuing the maintenance worker than it was actual panic?
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Honestly, I have no idea what was going on behind the scenes. That was the last year I did not hold a position with a radio, so I only heard what we were told. Eitherway, it is not a situation likely to repeat with guests on the ride, as maintenance can just do a manual drop to get guests off. If it was something catastrophic enough to put guests in danger by doing that, the fire dept would most likely be called, since they can get there before Lockwood.
 
ControlsEE said:
I was working Verbolten that day and it was right at the beginning of peak season, about the first week of June. We started walking out to the ride and noticed the trolley stopped about a third to a half way up the tower, slightly tilted. Didn't think anything of it at first. Ops only told us at the opening meeting that Mach would not be operational that day and sent the team home/to AH and for all the other locations to keep getting ready like normal. About half an hour before opening, they said that there was a maintenance guy stuck on the trolley and they may have to call a crane to get him off. Shortly after, they confirmed that a Lockwood crane was on the way and that we were all supposed to finish getting ready, then turn the ride off, as the area would be opening late. We finished up and were told to head to the break room. Saw the crane and a truck carrying a man basket coming across the Camp Wallace crossing when we were walking to the break area. About an hour and a half later, we were told we could go back to the ride and start cycling, since the area was going to be open as soon as the crane left the area. The crane was still in place, in-between Verbolten and Mach, getting packed back up when we got there. All in all, we opened about 2 hours or so late, and Mach's trolley stayed tilted for a few days until they could get it fixed again.
Click to expand...

It was not during the operational season. The incident I referred to was definitely during the off season.
 
As of about 9:30 this morning there was a large crane situated at Mäch Tower with the cables at the top of the ride. The only think I can think of that being for would be a motor swap in the motor house at the top.

We did one at Kings Dominion on the Drop Tower. Just wondering if its anything more serious than that.
 
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I heard a long while back (pre-COVID I think...?) that Mach Tower was really broken and was going to need a major repair of some sort before it would be ready to operate again. Since then, I’ve had no idea whether or not that work had actually been done. There’s probably a good chance this is related to whatever that issue was.

Alternatively, maybe they’re finally just removing it! The dream... ?
 
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