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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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

 

[ControlsEE]

What would go there in its place, even if it was removed? Another flat? I can’t see a real ride without major landscaping

#DerKatapult

 

[warfelg]

Highly likely just an empty plaza for a while if not permanently. Mach Tower really isn't very well located the park just had to new concrete work and erosion mitigation last year as a result of erosion along the Rhine side if it. I would be very skeptical of anything new going in that location if Mach Tower goes.

I could see the pretzel spot being more gourmet and turning that into a seating area.

 

[Click]

What would go there in its place, even if it was removed?

I could envision a very small footprint, low budget ride where you sat in a chair and got pummeled on both sides of the head for about a minute. You could call it Revenge of Drachen Fire.

 

[Nicole]

Bring back the Spider and put it there.

 

[kulthus]

Bring back the Spider and put it there.

That'd be cool. Never rode it as a kid and got to ride a similar ride at another park and it was actually a flat I enjoyed, which is rare for me.

 

[Zachary]

I don't think there's any reason to believe that almost any other tower or circular flat couldn't stand in Mäch's spot. An Intamin SkyJump (Falcon's Fury) or a Starflyer seem like super obvious solutions to me. Either could be designed to take a regional record from KD too—SEAS loves that sort of thing.

 

[Alpentheon]

it Definitely does not have much longer, i could see a intamin sky jump as bgw is currently working with intamin.

 

[finalcloud]

Got my seven year old on it on Sunday. He was fine until the drop. He had a big day rode Nessie and Mach.

 

[Howl-O-Scream Fanatic]

A bulldozer would make a lovely gift

Nah, forget the bulldozer, what MT needs is a flamethrower!

 

[VB06Hokie]

Can they rename it Mock Tower, and have a mic'd up jester on the ride and/or the ground that just roasts everyone mercilessly for riding?

 

[horsesboy]

Are the new restraints more comfortable or the same as the old ones?

They are not it's almost like they did nothing to them.

 

[Zachary]

Rumor: Mäch Tower's Downfall – BGWFans

Over the past month or two, there has been a growing chorus of insiders all echoing the same story: Mäch Tower's future is currently in question.

bgwfans.com

Spoiler

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[RollyCoaster]

Zach, it’s 4:30am

This is what I’m rewarded with for not getting any sleep and I’m not mad at all. Never thought I’d be so interested in an article about a pile of junk ride.

#TearItDown

 

[Thomas]

It is a good place to put a NebulaZ.

 

[warfelg]

Please replace with that S&S tower concept in Ireland.

 

[Nicole]

Bring back the Spider.

 

[mikes]

As much as I despise this ride, due to comfort, I don't want to see another loss without a replacement happening at the same time. I get that some things are out of the parks control.

 

[rvadude85]

IF this rumor is indeed true, then it leaves the park with another attraction closed without an immediate plan for replacement. Does anyone know the current ride count across the entire park? Even with Pantheon and DarKoaster project next year, the total number of rides in the park seems to be on the decline while charges for parking, daily tickets, and pass membership are on the incline when comparing Y/Y.

Could this be bad timing for rides reaching end of service life or more of an intentional strategy to bring down the total number of attractions just a bit to manage costs and/or drive up in park spending?

 

[Zachary]

Could this be bad timing for rides reaching end of service life or more of an intentional strategy to bring down the total number of attractions just a bit to manage costs and/or drive up in park spending?

I won't comment on the potential "why" regarding this rumor, but looking back only one of the recent ride closures was due to an actual major issue with the ride (Da Vinci). The others (DarKastle, Germany kiddie rides, Battle for Eire), all seem to have been, at least in large part, budgetary measures.

With DarKoaster debuting next season, it's not hard to imagine now being a particularly good time to remove Oktoberfest's drop tower. The hamlet would still be gaining far more than it would be losing.

 

[sotomexx]

So then the question is will they bother trying to get it working during Christmastown? If last year was any indication I don’t see it running