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:
    bgwfans.com

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    If there’s a god, he’s up there laughing this afternoon. Why? Because BGWFans just had one of those classic sitcom moments. Yesterday, we published our painstakingly detailed analysis of the footer plan for what we believe is Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s 2021 roller coaster—seemingly a huge...
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  • Most Recent Status Update:
    bgwfans.com

    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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Rumors. Someone somewhere knows something. For the rest of us right now, it's an emergent and tantalizing possibility to think about.
 
Rheath said:
I'm confused. So Drachen Spire got canceled?
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Officially? No. All the public records still claim the project is on track in its previously-leaked form. Behind the scenes though? Who knows.

According to @BGWnut (who has a great track record with this project), things are being/have been reconsidered/redesigned since we last saw the coaster. Hopefully we'll see public records movement soon.

As always, if someone knows something or has something to share as evidence—whether on deep background or even entirely off the record—feel free to reach out.
 
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Zachary said:
Officially? No. All the public records still claim the project is on track in its previously-leaked form. Behind the scenes though? Who knows.

According to @BGWnut (who has a great track record with this project), things are being/have been reconsidered/redesigned since we last saw the coaster. Hopefully we'll see public records movement soon.

As always, if someone knows something or has something to share as evidence—whether on background or even entirely off the record—feel free to reach out.
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Thanks for great insight as always
 
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Airtime monster plzkthx.

Yeah, Apollo does airtime as its main thing. Not crazy airtime though; not Intamin airtime. Would that be too much at BGW? The winding Intamin twistysnake experience is already on offer at KD. It would maybe fit the existing plot better than a stretched out airtime monster. So maybe a mix? Would that be too much like a bigger and longer post-top-hat Pantheon with a conventional lift? I have my own ideas that would be readily Intamin-compatible but different from any of these... can they just go ahead and read my mind and then build that?

If there turns out to be a big change in play but it's something like a switch from a green Drachen Spire to electric blue, I'll understand and appreciate the reference but I'm also going to be cynical about everything for the rest of my life. Grandkids? They're probably gonna be stupid. Eternal life? What's the point, it'll take that long for BGW to get a full circuit giga anyway. World peace? Too late to protect Anheuser-Busch from the Great Belgian Invasion. The advent of perfectly nutritionally complete world-class pizza, consumption of which one literally never tires of over time thanks to clever and harmless brain hacking, amazingly available at the old La Cucina location in a completely yellow-jacket-free environment? The line will probably be too long, and anyway my kids will insist upon consuming only Water Country chicken nuggets for as long as I infinitely live.

Suddenly it feels like I've got a lot riding on this thing.
 
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@BGWnut got me theorizing about what this could be so I did some digging and found an early press release:
Drachen Something! The world's Tallest, Fastest and ONLY FULLY INDOOR GIGA COASTER! Enjoy 360 degree views of the inside of a knife blade shaped building at 355 feet up. Then get ready to descend backward, or forward, over some distance of track, new or repeated. It'll be dark so who cares! Drachen Something launches, or drops, 2022!!
 
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BGWnut said:
It's worth noting that the height waiver only talks about the highest point. There is nothing preventing the ride from going above the tree tops at any other point.
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If they design something similar to Millenium Force with tall hills abound, that will have very different views than the knife like view that was presented to get approval. I'm not saying the county wouldn't approve it, but why re-open that fight when you can just build something in the mode of I305 or Skyrush and avoid that challenge.
 
I don't think we'll see something all that close to I-305 as it doesn't really fit the park's family vibe, and isn't all that popular at KD - too intense for most guests. ElToroRyan did a great job explaining the whole thing on one of his videos.

I'd also think they're gonna have major issues with securing future height waivers if they turn around and add more to the proposed skyline. And, they also have the RPA buffer permitting to deal with which makes it less likely they're going to build anything extensive in the buffer zone.
 
Jonesta6 said:
I don't think we'll see something all that close to I-305 as it doesn't really fit the park's family vibe, and isn't all that popular at KD - too intense for most guests. ElToroRyan did a great job explaining the whole thing on one of his videos.

I'd also think they're gonna have major issues with securing future height waivers if they turn around and add more to the proposed skyline. And, they also have the RPA buffer permitting to deal with which makes it less likely they're going to build anything extensive in the buffer zone.
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My hunch with the Pantheon and Giga coaster installations is that BGW is trying to seriously dominate market share that KD has historically gotten. Any ride that goes 355' up is going to be quite intense and not really a family ride anyway. The question is what do you do with all that speed coming down. Big hills crowd up the skyline, so you are left with low to the ground or just straight to the brake run.
 
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Jonesta6 said:
also think they're gonna have major issues with securing future height waivers if they turn around and add more to the proposed skyline. And, they also have the RPA buffer permitting to deal with which makes it less likely they're going to build anything extensive in the buffer zone
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Actually they likely wouldn’t. The only thing that would get hurt is credibility with Kingsmill, who is fed up with BGW anyways it seems.

A height waiver means going up to a certain distance and you do have a radius to do it within. That could have had the back spike go 150 feet in the air and it was covered by the main spike height.

As for the buffer zone, if they stuck to the current zone they asked for originally they can change the plans some because they have already been granted that area.
 
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rswashdc said:
If they design something similar to Millenium Force with tall hills abound, that will have very different views than the knife like view that was presented to get approval. I'm not saying the county wouldn't approve it, but why re-open that fight when you can just build something in the mode of I305 or Skyrush and avoid that challenge.
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Jonesta6 said:
I don't think we'll see something all that close to I-305 as it doesn't really fit the park's family vibe, and isn't all that popular at KD - too intense for most guests. ElToroRyan did a great job explaining the whole thing on one of his videos.

I'd also think they're gonna have major issues with securing future height waivers if they turn around and add more to the proposed skyline. And, they also have the RPA buffer permitting to deal with which makes it less likely they're going to build anything extensive in the buffer zone.
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The height waivers for any attraction only cover the highest point of an attraction. The rest of the attraction would simply need to be under that highest point. Take Pantheon for example. It has multiple points that would be above the height waiver but it still only needs the one height waiver that was granted when it was a very different project.

This ride can be redesigned and still present a knife-like view at the very top. Nothing in the original request promised anything about what the rest of the ride would look like. The only potential issue is that I think that it would require am FAA waiver for each point advice 200' but I'm not sure on that
 
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rswashdc said:
My hunch with the Pantheon and Giga coaster installations is that BGW is trying to seriously dominate market share that KD has historically gotten. Any ride that goes 355' up is going to be quite intense and not really a family ride anyway. The question is what do you do with all that speed coming down. Big hills crowd up the skyline, so you are left with low to the ground or just straight to the brake run.
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I guess we'll see - just not ready to believe that the trains will actually go that high and they'd be willing to make a major full-circuit ride. If we get something closer to MF than I-305 I think that'll be right in the wheelhouse. Yes it'll be intense, but not the distinct possibility of guests regularly blacking out intensity seen by I-305.
 
In my opinion, I think intamin will go for a giga that is similar to konda but would also feature large airtime hill similar to Orion. As airtime hills are a good way to kill of speed while also giving a fun ride. I think you could also see intamin try new stuff with this giga to make it stand out, think "worlds first giga with a beyond vertical drop", worlds first giga to go upside down", or even some outward banked hills and a non inverted cobra roll.
 
Jonesta6 said:
I guess we'll see - just not ready to believe that the trains will actually go that high and they'd be willing to make a major full-circuit ride. If we get something closer to MF than I-305 I think that'll be right in the wheelhouse. Yes it'll be intense, but not the distinct possibility of guests regularly blacking out intensity seen by I-305.
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I would say minimum expect it to be taller than I-305. But with height difference it could be a 270' tall tower and still have a larger drop than I-305
 
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Twisted_Airtime said:
In my opinion, I think intamin will go for a giga that is similar to konda but would also feature large airtime hill similar to Orion. As airtime hills are a good way to kill of speed while also giving a fun ride. I think you could also see intamin try new stuff with this giga to make it stand out, think "worlds first giga with a beyond vertical drop", worlds first giga to go upside down", or even some outward banked hills and a non inverted cobra roll.
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Interestingly enough that's not the first time I've heard it compared to Kondaa.

I definitely think it's likely that it will have some elements that are new to the type of coaster that it will be.
 
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