Project 2021/Drachen Spire: Intamin Multi-Launch Shuttle Giga Coaster [Cancelled]

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General Information:​

"Project Drachen Spire," is a community-generated identifier for the Intamin-made, multi-launch, shuttle giga coaster that was originally slated to open at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 2021. The attraction is planned to utilize the currently-vacant land behind Verbolten, Festhaus Park—the former home of Drachen Fire.

The coaster's main layout—as leaked before the addition was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic—featured two launches, two spikes (one spiral, one vertical-ish), and a couple of banked turns. Drachen Spire was designed to run two trains by means of a pair of switch tracks connecting the primary, shuttle portion of the layout to the station platform.

Important Articles:​

  • Most Up-To-Date Understanding of the Layout:
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  • Most Recent Status Update:
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    Drachen Spire Height Waiver Extension Details – BGWFans

    Just over a week ago, we reported on the renewal of the notorious 355 foot Festhaus Park height waiver that was originally requested for the controversial, Intamin-made, multi-launch, giga, shuttle coaster we’ve dubbed Drachen Spire. In last week’s article, we were very careful to leave the door...
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So today I had a really cool idea.

What if they themed Project 2022 to a catapult that is designed to slay a dragon or some sort of serpent-esque creature? I started thinking about how the train is locked into place, launches backwards, and then builds up speed to go towards the spike. Well, what if the back spike was themed to the catapult and the larger spike was themed to a dragon? The way I envision it is the ride is named Katapult. This is a reference to the scrambler attraction that has been moved many, many times across the park with various names.

The name evokes the sense of being propelled backwards and then flung forwards which is extremely similar to the motions of the ride. It’s also a very fitting name for the park in comparison to the more recent additions of Invadr, Tempesto, and Verbolten. They’re unique and not similar in vein to the older coasters names in the park. Those are all specifically themed to a mythical beast while the newer names have strung away from that theme while still keeping subtle elements of fantasy and mythology through their theming. The name is also extremely easy to trademark with a K replacing the C in the word catapult. I’ve heard the park dropped the E from InvadR to trademark the name and to make it the only search result for the rather generic name.

For the theme, I imagine something extremely similar to Griffon. In a quiet German town on the outskirts of the Black Forest, a ravenous dragon has caused mayhem amongst the dull countryside landscape. This would be very easy to convey with some destroyed roofs, burn marks on wooden structures, and a sense that this village was quickly abandoned and essentially frozen in time. We play the role of villagers who are attempting to slay the dragon and restore peace in their village. The coaster train is themed to an arrow of sort and is trying to stab the heart of the dragon. We are loaded into place, dispatched, and then moved onto the launch track and then sent backwards. Audio of ropes tightening would play along the launch track and in the ride plaza to convince riders and spectators that this is a catapult. Riders would then fall down the spike and the sound of the riders being flung toward the dragon are amplified by the hum of the LSM, the roar of the train, and sounds of the release of the rope. The train would then go along the course and when they reach the peak of the spike, a roar would play in the plaza and the train would roll back. When riders transfer back to the station the sounds of horns and cheers would play, similar to InvadR, symbolizing the defeat of the dragon.

Theming would also be very easy for the actual coaster portion as they could use different colors to differentiate the two spikes with the smaller spike being the catapult and the taller one being the dragon. They could also do some really cool detailed paint jobs similar to Falcon’s Fury at BGT below the 60’ sight line. I would love to see a flame thrower at the top of the 355’ spike synced to the roar of the dragon as a subtle nod to Volcano, but I imagine Kingsmill would much rather all of us just use our imagination instead.

Anyways, this is just a random idea, and I imagine @Zachary has all of the theming documents sitting on his desktop and he’s just putting the final touches on his article for us to read as I write this.

EDIT: Forgot to mention this Le Catapult would be repainted and given a viking overlay with a new name to help tie it in better with that section of New France. This would be acheived with chains hanging from the shade structure as well as placing the neutered “dragon parts” near the entrance.
 
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Sounds like a somewhat realistically achievable idea, but two things could be problematic:

1. The Scrambler has been called the (sic) Katapult for decades now so the trademark/copyright would need to be altered for a roller coaster and the Scrambler would be to be renamed. To me, not a huge hurdle but still more work than needed.

2. Syncing sound effects for off-ride is not in BGW's wheelhouse; keeping the effects running over time has also proven to be problematic/non-existent.
 
Exeter Dime said:
it could be considered a trebuchet which is different and would make more sense due to this rides working
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I agree about the naming, but not the logic about how the ride works. A trebuchet's defining characteristic is a mass being dropped to launch the projectile, which would be an apt description of the old Schwarzkopf launch coasters, but with this being an electric launch, not so much. Not to mention that one could classify a trebuchet as a type of catapult, just like a torsion or a spring. In the end, they probably would not go with a derivation on the name catapult anyways, given the scrambler being named the same.
 
I hear you on Trebuchet but it also made me think of the Greek ballista. Artillery crossbow missile on steroids.
 
I think they have plenty of medeival weapon themed rides sprinkled about the park (battering ram, Katapult, Invadr, etc), so either this follows tradition with a hopefully German slant, or it'll be something way different.
 
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