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:
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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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Yeah we should see filings later this year and the beginning of next year. I'd expect a cadence similar to MMXX with the caveat that if this is a larger expansion then it might start earlier. But that is something that can't be said right now.
 
belsaas said:
So I have decided I would love an observation tower i.e. Carawinds or SeaWorld.

Busch Gardens is the World's Most Beautiful Theme Park® after all, I think being able to look from up high would be really welcome, especially since it would serve anyone at the park.

The fact that they change Mäch Tower into Nächt Tower at Christmas shows the demand is there.
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Observation towers are pretty much out of the question. Not many parks have gotten them in a while and even then the lines at carowinds the day i went were VERY long and the observation tower was a hop
on. maybe i got lucky, but i dont think it would do the best.
 
I don't think an observation tower is impossible. I do think it's not the most likely. They are fairly popular though
 
I dn't think that a giga would go in FP. I can see one going in near the entrance to france and following the edge of the property. If FP is used for a coaster I think it will be much shorter, DF was half the size we're talking about, there just isnt much room, unless that bridge thing we saw a permit for was for 2021
 
I have no idea what you mean by not enough room for a Giga back there. The below map shows the area around FP. The green circle is the very rough location of DF. The purple circle is where the boneyard is located. The blue circle is all the space they could use of they didn't want to move the boneyard. There's a lot of room back there. Also this is all if they don't want to cross any portion of the Rhine.




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Of possible locations to build a rollercoaster I would think that France is the last place they would build. There just really isn't a space that would make sense especially for a Giga
 
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Yes, is a lot of room. But I was under the impression that a certain amount of BGW land was going to be reserved for watershed and natural habitat.

But I do love, every time they fly a balloon, the "it's gotta be a Giga" talk starts again.
 
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That is something that I do not know anything about. As far as I know BGW doesn't have anything specifically marked off for that. If they did I would assume it's mostly stuff that's across the river from both Festa and FP.

And to be fair I think the Giga talk is only when they fly a balloon or file for a height waiver that is over or around 300 feet
 
GrandpaD said:
I highly doubt, based on materials they were going to construct the "bridge", that it's intended for pedestrian traffic.
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Concrete caps on wooden pilings would be more likely to support pedestrian traffic than, say, a high-speed amusement ride crossing.

Of course, it could be neither.
 
Is it just me or does it seem like BGW attractions, like MMXX or this project, have a level of secrecy that other parks in the Seaworld family don't have? I just don't understand why it takes so long for them to confirm this stuff! UGH!
 
madmax said:
We know more about MMXX than the SWO or SWSA coasters to be fair.
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We know more about MMXX because of all the great investigative abilities from the community here. From a confirmation perspective though, Seaworld really hasn't confirmed much at all. In the time that these threads have been open, they've built tigris and confirmed an RMC makeover for Gwazi. Heck, they even had the short video highlighting the new coaster. I just wish they could finally start opening up soon.
 
Cjeiban said:
We know more about MMXX because of all the great investigative abilities from the community here. From a confirmation perspective though, Seaworld really hasn't confirmed much at all. In the time that these threads have been open, they've built tigris and confirmed an RMC makeover for Gwazi. Heck, they even had the short video highlighting the new coaster. I just wish they could finally start opening up soon.
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It's all about protecting attendance for 2019. If they start confirming and advertising MMXX, then they give people a reason to postpone a planned trip.

On Google you can find studies about when Disney and Universal have announced announced large projects early and impact to attendance numbers.
 
SWF has literally said nothing about the coaster for next year and they haven't said anything about SWT getting a coaster next year.

Tigris wasn't announced until the fall last year. Honestly the only reason that they have teased RMC Gwazi is because construction on it has already started. That coaster is going to take a lot longer to build than these others.

Bottom line is that BGW isn't doing anything different than the other parks are with their announcements. We probably won't see a larger announcement for all these rides until all the 2019 rides are open
 
Cjeiban said:
We know more about MMXX because of all the great investigative abilities from the community here.
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One could argue that this means BGW is, effectively, doing a better job than all the other parks.

The goal is hype, yeah? Well the hype levels for MMXX are enormous considering how far out we are. This is despite the fact that BGW has literally spent next to nothing on actually creating that hype.

Maybe they are actually doing the right thing by letting BGWFans do their job for them. Similar effect for zero investment. Seems like a win-win.
 
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