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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    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:
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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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My issue with this being red force style ride wouldn't be that it's another launch coaster. Personally I think the feeling you get when you are launched is one of the best feelings you can get on a coaster. My issue is that the concept is redundant. The park will have then built two straight coasters that are launched into a top hat. I just don't know what this would add to the attraction. While Pantheon does share some similarities with Tempesto and Verbolten it does a lot more on top of it to differentiate itself. A red force style ride would just be taller and faster version of one element of Pantheon.
 
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b.mac said:
A 16-seater giga coaster is not what I wpuld have in mind for an addition to any amusement park.

Considering the size of the available plot for any potential ride it's easier (and cheaper) to slap a launch on it and call it a ride.

Tallest, fastest coaster in the South has a pretty good ring to it when you consider the closest competition pieces on the entire eastern seaboard are Fury 325 and Kingda Ka.
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What if by using 16 person cars they are then able to use more trains increasing the capacity?


Also I've been thinking about this but is it possible that the coaster car in the plan is just a placeholder and doesn't reflect what the actual car will be? Or could it be that they have different designs in each set of plans so that if there is a leak they could determine where it came from?
 
If they're using the DF station and the high point is close to the Verbolten bridge, I'm hard pressed to see how a Red Force clone would fit. From end to base of top hat, RF is about 925ft. Staying within the test areas we know about and the approximate high point, I'm only seeing maybe a 700ft straight line (and that's being creative).
 
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The wrinkle in a simple red force model is that in the obvious orientation, the top hat would be 60 or so feet wide facing kingsmill, so there must be something funny going on with the top hat to meet the knife edge 10-foot description.
 
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BGWnut said:
What if by using 16 person cars they are then able to use more trains increasing the capacity?
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That would require more blocks which on a coaster that relies on what would be assumed to be a cable lift hill would create a natural inefficiency in operations. It's unrealistic.


The plan itself showed an exact rendition of the DF station depicting only a 4 car train seating 16 riders per train. The plan itself also had comments about what to do with various parts of the station as what I could only assume to be a final adjustment.

@Zachary put it best. If this document was made in order to bait potential leakers and mislead the enthusiast community, it would be a gambit worth suggesting that someome high up in BGW may actually be Batman.
 
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Won't be long before we see some overlays of notional track layouts using the high point, it's orientation, and that of the station...
 
b.mac said:
@Zachary put it best. If this document was made in order to bait potential leakers and mislead the enthusiast community, it would be a gambit worth suggesting that someome high up in BGW may actually be Batman.
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I find this a stretch too, given it violating occam's razor & the cost of production of the plans. Those were produced externally, correct? Doubt they'd spend money on that, unless it's just one of many alternatives being considered, but I doubt that also since Zachary says it was produced late July. A little late to still be considering different alternatives and work towards 2021. Also, there are far better/cheaper/easier ways to track leaked plans, IMHO. e.g. they could have duplicated them and added some sort of number/mark/watermark/etc.

My guess: they're real, we just don't know the context, layout, design, etc....yet. We have a train/station configuration & likely manufacturer (which may propose something more off-the-shelf as part of a two-for deal in order to add something relatively quick/cheap on the heels of Pantheon). Which helps narrow things...but we won't have much of an idea until more facts come out and/or someone draws notional layouts (edit: or we see what those crude drawings are) to see what may/may not be possible.
 
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Who's to say it can't start off like TTD or red force and end like a lift hill giga?

People had been questioning if there was room for a giga lift hill; maybe this is a solution to that.

I don't think something like this is off the table.
 
Cjeiban said:
On a side note, I don't know if anyone has said something about this, but couldn't getting two coasters in two years could also be a sign that one coaster could soon be reaching the end of it's lifespan?
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I don't see which coaster that would be, but the first to go would likely be Alpengeist. (and if it doesn't get the Hulk treatment....I'm not going to go there)
 
Jahrules said:
Who's to say it can't start off like TTD or red force and end like a lift hill giga?

People had been questioning if there was room for a giga lift hill; maybe this is a solution to that.

I don't think something like this is off the table.
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Would obviously be terrific, but wildly expensive.
 
Pink said:
I don't see which coaster that would be, but the first to go would likely be Alpengeist. (and if it doesn't get the Hulk treatment....I'm not going to go there)
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I was thinking more about Lochness. It's a staple for the park though so that would probably get a refurbishment. I know they got new cars somewhat recently but it's an old girl now and definitely can show it.
 
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