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:
Click to expand...
Something tells me it's much more likely that whatever effects aren't working are simply broken. Let's remember what ride we're talking about here. :p
 
Correction here is the first mention of effects not working April 7th, 2012 - http://forum.parkfans.net/thread-1065-page-3.html

~ April 9th, 2012, it was reported that the vibrating was never coming back and the audio will always be off.

~ April 10th, 2012, it was reported that a ride ops said that it was a maintenance issue and they were hoping to get them fixed soon. (probable lie)

~ May 18th, 2012, it was first thought that perhaps effects were just turned off rather thank broke.

~ May 18th, 2012, in response to the above, a ride ops team member said the effects were in fact turned off because guests complained saying that it was too scary. Also, ride ops were told not to talk, sing, or speak to guests using the speakers at the top because guests said they were forced to have fun. (This seems to be the most likely result as the park is just like that.)

~ May 18th, 2012, in response to a post by Atlantis, it was determined that the effects were indeed turned off for good but it has yet to be confirmed.

This discussion happened about 1 year ago, can we move on now?
 
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netdvn said:
My sources claim that the vibrations wore out some of the inner workings faster, so they turned it off to save money and to increase reliability.
Click to expand...

From what I've seen with or without vibrations there is NO reliability whatsoever with that ride. It is just a failed project that either needs good rehab work or dismantled.
 
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Personally, I'm wondering how long the park will let this ride sit as more of a decoration than an actual ride. After nearly two years, it has shown absolutely no consistency in behavior.
 
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Mach Tower had a mess up today. As I was walking by, the ride seemed fine. The car dropped and stopped at the bottom okay, but the maintenance car got stuck about halfway up. A weird and odd noise similar to a cable snapping or cables in general could be heard. Just shortly after guests exited the ride, the operator announced that the ride was having technical difficulties and the ride had some downtime, not sure it if got up and running later in the day, but this was around 7:45-ish.
 
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Status
The first entry in this thread is a WikiPost. As such, it can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.
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