Mäch Tower

Peter R. · Apr 29, 2012

pandorazboxx said:
They were not working yesterday. I think it is a little scarier that way actually. It's hard to know when it's coming.

Let me offer my own thoughts ( while hopefully not turning this into a bash Moser's Rides Post) however ill informed or uninformed they may be

. Whether or not the lack of vibration make it more exciting or unpredictable or not is irrelevant, as it is not what the park was promised. The Vibrating seat are part of what BGW marketed as making the ride a unique experience and separated them from Drop Tower's at Cedar Fair, or Six Flag's Park. It is a feature that in my opinion they need to get online again as soon as they can (preferably before the really busy time of the season) or risk harming in some minor way the guest opinion of the ride and possibly the park. Logically, if they are not able to fix it soon they would need to really back down on advertising the ride ( which does not seem difficult considering Verbolten is about to open.)

Washingtonian · May 17, 2012

Peter R. said:
pandorazboxx said:

They were not working yesterday. I think it is a little scarier that way actually. It's hard to know when it's coming.

Click to expand...

Let me offer my own thoughts ( while hopefully not turning this into a bash Moser's Rides Post) however ill informed or uninformed they may be. Whether or not the lack of vibration make it more exciting or unpredictable or not is irrelevant, as it is not what the park was promised. The Vibrating seat are part of what BGW marketed as making the ride a unique experience and separated them from Drop Tower's at Cedar Fair, or Six Flag's Park. It is a feature that in my opinion they need to get online again as soon as they can (preferably before the really busy time of the season) or risk harming in some minor way the guest opinion of the ride and possibly the park. Logically, if they are not able to fix it soon they would need to really back down on advertising the ride ( which does not seem difficult considering Verbolten is about to open.)

I have been on this ride twice this year, April 7th and May 6th. The seats were not vibrating on either day. On top of that, the ride broke at most 2 hours after I rode it on April 7th. I was like, really? I was there last August and the ride hadn't opened yet.

Shafor · May 17, 2012

I've been to the park 19 times this year and I've seen MT broken down at some point almost every visit. Also, the sound effects and seat vibration seem to have been off completely for the past few weeks.

pandorazboxx · May 17, 2012

Luckily they've put in a good distraction nearby.

Shafor · May 18, 2012

They had it running during the VIP party last night. Seemed to be no issues.

WhatutalkinboutWillis? · May 18, 2012

Yesterday was my first time getting on the ride ever because the seats would not latch far enough for me to get on. None of the employees ever told me this but there are 3 seats on Mach Tower specifically designed for bigger people. During all 4 rides I sat in seat 27 in the blue section and the next 2 seats beside it in the blue section. Didn't know if it had been found out but there is hope for all us bigger people yet!

HAJiME · May 18, 2012

Are we sure the vibrations are not working, as opposed to just turned off?

It would not surprise me if there had been concerns from guests about the ride being broken, and they've been turned off.

No evidence to support this what so ever, but that would be my educated guess based on what I know about the general public perceptions of parks and how safe they are. Unless you're Thorpe Park, there's no desire to exaggerate those fears.

Gabe-O-Tron · May 18, 2012

HAJiME said:
Are we sure the vibrations are not working, as opposed to just turned off?

It would not surprise me if there had been concerns from guests about the ride being broken, and they've been turned off.

No evidence to support this what so ever, but that would be my educated guess based on what I know about the general public perceptions of parks and how safe they are. Unless you're Thorpe Park, there's no desire to exaggerate those fears.

I talked to the Mach Tower operator last night at the VIP party and he said that the vibrations are not broken they just had to turn them off because a couple park guest said it made the ride "too scary." Both the ride operator and I thought it was ridiculous for Busch Gardens to oblige those people. He also told me that the ride operators would sometimes sing to guests and talk to them through the speakers right before they were supposed to drop, but they have been told to stop because some guest said that the operators were "forcing them to have fun." Crazy.

BBW · May 18, 2012

^Oh, that's sad. So what do the rest of us have to do, go complain that the ride is now too boring so they will turn the vibrations back on?

And I think it's always fun when the ride ops interact and joke around with you. Shows they care about their jobs and are having a good time.

frontrownohands · May 18, 2012

I agree that I love when the ride ops are social. Last night at the VIP party, for instance, the ride op was singing "Call me Maybe" with us as we ascended, it was fun. In addition, the team I normally see there is very friendly and does a great job (given the capacity of the ride) with what they can.
On the subject of the vibration, I don't know if I actually enjoyed it. When it was working, it almost felt lackluster, like I was asking "was it supposed to do that?" I do think it needs music or some sort of audio, it adds to the theme and experience. It's a shame to waste the speakers since they have the capability, even if the vibration effect was not used.

b.mac · May 18, 2012

I like it when the ride ops interact with people waiting in line or on the ride. Sad that BGW calls it a "no-no" and the fact that they listen to the few who speak the loudest. BGW should just shrug the people off because I mean it's your decision to ride the ride, and if you don't like it who says you have to ride it again?

I'm glad they have the issues at least brought down to a minimum, this is the same stuff that plagued other parks with prototype rides (and thankfully good maintenance crews). The ride has major issues year 1, the issues are minimal year 2 but still pop up, and (hopefully this happens) year 3 the issues are pretty much gone and only pop up rarely.

HAJiME · May 18, 2012

Ride op interaction can be great and it can be awful. I know that in the UK, there have been problems with ride ops going overboard and scaring guests too much. There used to be a fantastic member of staff operating a tower ride near where I live who'd not drop the ride until everyone had their hands up and the like. It's fun for those of us who aren't THAT scared, but can you imagine if you were?

It's a fine line. Working with the public is a hard job where you get criticised for being false and robotic, or criticised for not being professional enough.

What I have loved about BGW every time I've been is that the staff seem to hit that difficult mark. Usually they are professional but very human. That's rare and something the park should be proud of and aim to maintain. I have a personal pet peeve with staff who try too hard, smile too much and generally come across as being a product of the company. I want them to appear honest and caring and like they are genuinely enjoying the job (but not TOO much), whilst being professional.

Mach Towers problem is not this though. It's not that the vibrations were too scary, it's that it felt like something was wrong with the ride, that it was dangerous and broken. There is no thematic explanation for the vibration, no logical reason for it to happen, so when it does your instinct is to think "something is wrong" or "why the hell is it vibrating?" Neither are positive. And to make matters worse, it's on the scariest ride type there is.

Scaring guests is something thrill rides should aim to do, but the problem occurs when the fear mechanism cannot be distinguished from true danger. People go to theme parks to have fun, not to be harmed, so making them believe that is so is a dangerous game that only very niche parks should be hitting. Busch is not, by any stretch of the imagination, one of those parks.

Mach Tower is a weird addition to Busch on every level. I just don't get it. I think as a show piece it looks great and perhaps it aims to serve, along with Verbolten, as a package comparable to the parks other big coasters? Perhaps it's a niche ride to entertain the few extreme thrill seekers?

As drop towers go, it's also a terrible ride. I feel that since drop towers are meant to be terrifying an intense, I should judge them on their ability to scare me. I HATE tower rides. Still not been on Drop Zone, but Mach Tower isn't scary at all to me... So it must be poor, if you get my logic? But I'm sure that was intentional, as to not make something TOO intense. None of Busch's rides are. It is, after all, a family park... With unusually huge rides, which are all very tame.

Parkgoer · May 18, 2012

So they canned one of the key features of the rides that was marketed on? And Verbolten's drop track doesn't catch people off guard and scare them? It sounds like a great PR excuse for a broken feature, however. The best thing about the ride (as said opening day) is the view it provides.

HAJiME · May 18, 2012

I'd not say that's canned, but rather amended.. IF it is the case that it's been removed due to guest response.

Read my post, I think it's less likely that it scared or caught people off guard and more likely that people thought it was dangerous.

pandorazboxx · May 18, 2012

i actually think it is scarier without any effects.

HAJiME · May 18, 2012

Cuz you can't tell when it's going to drop. I agree. But that's why I'm arguing it wasn't removed because they were scary, but because guests thought it was broken. Huge difference.

Parkgoer · May 18, 2012

HAJiME said:
I'd not say that's canned, but rather amended.. IF it is the case that it's been removed due to guest response.

Read my post, I think it's less likely that it scared or caught people off guard and more likely that people thought it was dangerous.

As I am sure you know, I am highly objective of "official reasoning" behind moves like this at the park; other parks as well for that matter. With all the problems they have had with the tower is surely is an easy way to cover up yet another problem they have with the attraction.

Shafor · May 18, 2012

Gabe-O-Tron said:
I talked to the Mach Tower operator last night at the VIP party and he said that the vibrations are not broken they just had to turn them off because a couple park guest said it made the ride "too scary."

They've been on, off, on, off all season so far. They have been completely off the past few weeks it seems. If they turned them off due to complaints, why do they keep turning them back on?

I talk with tons and tons of guests, employees, read fan forums, follow their FB and Twitter activity closely and I have never, ever, not once, heard someone complain about the seat vibrations on MT being "too scary" or whatever.

I don't buy this for a second.

Party Rocker · May 18, 2012

It could just be a random GP member or maybe a secret park cover up?

Unagi · May 18, 2012

Got in line for this around 11:45 a.m. today, waited 30 minutes, and what happens?

This POS ride breaks down with one group in front of me! I had my red card in hand too! Maintenance guys were all over it after that.

I left the park around 4:45 today and it was still down.

Anybody know if the park got it working again?

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