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

    Leaked Electrical Plan Depicts Busch Gardens Williamsburg's 2021 Roller Coaster in Detail – BGWFans

    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...
    bgwfans.com bgwfans.com

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For what it's worth....as @BGWnut stated, a lift hill such as Intimidator could work. Using Earth, the large footers supporting the lift hill are ±40ft. Thus, about 20ft. to either side of the center of the track. The FAA point is ±40ft from VB track. So, 20ft. to spare.

And I still like my layout ?
 
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ControlsEE said:
While true, my question is more about the ability to adjust the height waivers after approval and how common is it for BGW to do that.
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My could adjust it down but there was a fair amount of heat about doing another height waver of this size after the Madrid and JCCBS more or less said hey we are approving it but don't keep coming back with these things unless you REALLY need them. That combined with the fact that for the first time that I can recall KM fought fairly hard against the waver makes me think that BG would be reluctant to squander this opportunity as nd that they likely are planning on using most if not all of the weaver's height.

Jahrules said:
Not to mention that Verbolten and 2021 could start dualing. It's an easy way to add intrigue to an existing ride.
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No that what those dominion towers over the James are for.
 
Well there goes zachary’s layout - tbh I really liked that concept. We’ll have to see where this one goes but that’s awfully close to verbolten
 
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GrandpaD said:
If you're talking his double launch idea, I think it's doable. And, because of the extra distance away from the railroad tracks, it might actually have a more pronounced river drop.
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If they do use a double launch, it would have to be a straight shot from launch to the top hat. A turn exerts g’s which burns energy and speed super fast. I could see a Rita like layout that goes into a top hat though.
 
I'm so angered that this is gonna be another launch coaster. We do need to be thankful that we are getting a new coaster (ie: VF, MIA, SFGE..) But a launch coaster isn't what the park needs right after Pantheon. There are so many better, cheaper options they could roll with IMHO. (Chance GTX, RMC Raptor/T-rex, RMC woodie...)
 
So I apologize for the quality in advance. I'm on my phone and I don't want to go downstairs and get my computer. There are a number of people who seem unhappy about how close this ride is to Verbolten. So I thought I would compare some other rides and there proximities to each other. There are a lot of rides at BGW that are very close to each other outside of Tempesto and Apollo. Bear in mind that these are taken from Google maps so the measurements are not perfect.


First example is Invadr and Le Scoot. They are intertwined around Invadr's lift hill.

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Second example is Apollo and Roman Rapids. Apollo crosses above Roman Rapids multiple times.

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Next example is Alpen and Le Scoot. According to Google they are roughly 20 feet apart as the closest point

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What about two coasters being in close proximity? Well here is Alpen and Loch Ness. They are roughly 43 feet apart

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Then we get really interesting. Here's Griffon and Alpen. They are only 16 feet apart at their closest point. I always forget how close they to each other.

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Then there is Griffon and Loch Ness. Which based on this perspective of the map are basically right on top of each other.

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Basically this long post was just to point out that building another ride close to an existing ride doesn't mean the older ride is ruined or the experience lessened. In fact most of these when you are riding you don't even realize that you are that close to them.
 
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Rheath said:
There are so many better, cheaper options they could roll with IMHO.
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To be fair, we should be careful about guessing about the financials at play here. If this is actually an experimental ride of some sort, BGW could be getting a healthy discount. Additionally, the common rumor is that BGW is already getting a good deal on these two rides thanks to them being sorta a package deal from Intamin.

In BGW's shoes, when offered a 355 foot launch coaster at a steep discount, it's probably hard to turn that down...
 
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Rheath said:
I'm so angered that this is gonna be another launch coaster. We do need to be thankful that we are getting a new coaster (ie: VF, MIA, SFGE..) But a launch coaster isn't what the park needs right after Pantheon. There are so many better, cheaper options they could roll with IMHO. (Chance GTX, RMC Raptor/T-rex, RMC woodie...)
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So I don't know if it'll be a launch in the traditional sense that we think. It's possible that the "launch" is a LSM lift hill instead of a more traditional launch. It appears to me that the concept from Six Flags Qiddiya shows a slow launch up the lift hill and another later to add more speed.
 
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warfelg said:
The fact that more Intamin prefabs don't exist in America is a travesty.

As for this project, trying to think of what it could be, today it crossed my mind....what if this is an S&S or something of the like (Vekoma). I really wonder how willing BGW would be to take on a risk of a manufacturer looking to make the push to come back. They haven't had very extensive supports on many coasters, create some great elements. If you are looking to avoid I-305 and F-325 overlap....a S&S 335 would be a great option.
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very expensive to have one in your park not only are they expensive maintenance and upkeep is costly
 
If it's truly a launch, I wonder how they're going to solve their power problem considering VB's launch timing issues from a lack of power availability?

That's not to say a regular lift wouldn't raise the same concerns since I'm guessing those too would require a lot of power, just not as much as a launcher.

Does anything indicate that the park would either be upgrading their grids or adding a new grid?
 
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