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...
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Ok, so pardon the length of this thread, some of this is talking out loud. But I think they all are in a way relevant.

The concrete pads that are assumed transfer tracks:
Ok, so I mentioned this earlier, but I have researched it some and there's not too many with trick/switch tracks that have full pads. Add in the fact the the 'western' most pad is right up against the fence in what looks like a spot that you can walk right up to it is something I struggle with. Also one pad is 24.83' by 25'; 25' x 21', and 23' X 26'. I listed width first and length second. I know two are nearly 25 feet wide, but why would the one that needs two curved tracks be the same size of one that needs 1 curve and 1 straight, which is bigger than the other one that needs the same thing? Looks like the new maintenance shed is 18 feet wide by 74 feet, and that makes sense because the old station building is 84 feet long. But again....why not reuse DF's old maintenance building (I know there's an obvious answer with it and no it's not money). and then lastly, why would the fence go under the track between the transfer track and the maintenance shed. Something is a little fishy there IMO.

So I wonder, what if these are pads for area's with some sort of mechanical operation to it rather than a transfer track. Or some sort of 'mini'-lift launch (because these match recent Intamin lift footers) as opposed to a flat launch with transfer tracks.

Possibility of making this a full layout:
Ok so, I've Been thinking about this one ALL day and that's not a stretch. Even though TTD and KK's track reaches across 100 feet, the footers do not. The widest part of the build out zone is roughly 108 feet. Keep in mind, that those supports were more triangle shaped than anything else. Personally think that it can fit there to have this be a full circuit. Maybe not a huge full circuit, but it possibly can be.

The other fenced in area:
This one is interesting to me. There's no scale that I see but, it seems as though this area is much wider than the area near the start of the ride.And on top of that the building that's being built out there is built on stilts and not at ground level.

Non-removed tree area:
The area in the middle has some paths going into it that look to not being pre-existing, along with the second drainage ditch, is just rather interesting. It's just interesting to remove most of the area, without removing these two little pockets of trees.
 
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Doesn’t that put the max height far away from where the park’s materials indicate it will be?
 
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CharCren said:
Saw this online, could make sense. full circuit?
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It can't actually be this. The FFA height waver required the highest point to be GPS marked so we KNOW where that is and Zachary marked that with a star. To move that point would require new wavers from other the FFA and county.
 
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Ok, I came up with a full circuit option:
Project 2021.jpg
Ok, so to talk through it here:
Red - Launch lift
Teal - the drop
Blue - Overbank into a big sweeping drop turn
Pink - Secondary launch
Blue - Tophat turnaround a la KK and TTD
Drop and the building is possibly a tunnel (although highly unlikely) or under. Would be a really cool touch.
Raising turn out of the ravine, into an Xcellerator style figure-8 type loop, to back around inside the fenced in area.
To get into the maintenance shed, the trains end up backing in.
 
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I'm sorry if you addressed this and I missed it @warfelg, but it looks to me like your direction of travel through the station is reversed? The leaked floorplan says the train should be facing east.

Also, I haven't seen this addressed anywhere yet (and I probably should have pointed it out in my article...) but it seems that having another run of track between the Rhine and Woods Maze is impossible, no? That area is in the RPA buffer area and we know all of the foundations in that area. Maybe there's some way that an out and a back course could be layered one right on top of the other with the turnaround outside of the RPA area...? But that's starting to seem really complicated... And entirely unnecessary.
 
Zachary said:
I'm sorry if you addressed this and I missed it @warfelg, but it looks to me like your direction of travel through the station is reversed?
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Sorry, I didn't reverse, just comes out the way I think you had it backing out (couldn't quite tell). The part of the RPA (t answer the other part) that could have a possibility is the face that what's now fenced in didn't have footers in it.
 
I guess my general take would be with all the switch tracks and everything, it seems over-engineered and costly just to be over-engineered and costly. Even the space it 'saved' couldn't have been made up any other way, two train operations doesn't seem like it would save much time.
 
For whatever it's worth for you planners/dreamers -

Building 30 (23ft tall) is classified S-1 (moderate hazard storage) and Utility/Misc.
Building 40 (15ft tall) is Utility/Misc.
Building 50 (14ft) is A-3 - occupancy includes assembly uses intended for amusement such as arcades, etc. (Note the building code for amusement park structures is A-5.)

For a single story structure, 30 is real tall).
 
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GrandpaD said:
For whatever it's worth for you planners/dreamers -

Building 30 (23ft tall) is classified S-1 (moderate hazard storage) and Utility/Misc.
Building 40 (15ft tall) is Utility/Misc.
Building 50 (14ft) is A-3 - occupancy includes assembly uses intended for amusement such as arcades, etc. (Note the building code for amusement park structures is A-5.)

For a single story structure, 30 is real tall).
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Building 30 is likely a 'tall one-story' to accommodate level track entry into the building, from the aforementioned elevated height of DF station.
 
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So if these are switch tracks, it the plan that the train on the track backs up to the end of the track, that track switches to allow into station, and the train in the station leaves and gets onto the track, then both tracks swap to straight while the train on the tracks starts to backup, and finally launch?

Honest question here for those that know more than me:
Is that really any faster? It seems like in the time it does that whole switcheroo, a 1 train operation could have re-entered the station and then been reloaded.
 
warfelg said:
So if these are switch tracks, it the plan that the train on the track backs up to the end of the track, that track switches to allow into station, and the train in the station leaves and gets onto the track, then both tracks swap to straight while the train on the tracks starts to backup, and finally launch?
Click to expand...

My theory was that the train in the station would back out and then sit on a block while the other train renters the station. Then the two tracks would switch, and the first train would launch.

@halfabee then proposed a different option which I think I like better. The train on the track would return backwards, and come to a stop on the west-most block. The tracks would then switch, the train in the station would depart forwards (eastwards) out of the station and straight into the launch. The train that was originally out on the track would proceed forward back into the station.

4F63AA77-1382-4C91-BB1C-8BFB3CD215A0.jpeg

Yes that theory makes the first launch much shorter, but I think it's probably still long enough?

Another note... I know someone else brought this up before, but I'm getting suspicious that there may be a back spike here too... That punch out in the project area to the west of the photo booth does make me think the track could be crossing over the top of it...
 
Thanks @Zachary. @halfabee's suggestion is what I was trying to describe.

The downside with the spike in the back is now it's a 3rd coaster with a reverse launch into a spike to a forward launch, and at that a 2nd one that's a shuttle coaster style that does it? I think the thing I struggle with if this is what they decided internally....who stopped them to remind them there's one with similar style in the park, one being built the year before, and another launched coaster.

I feel like either there's got to be something extremely unique about this or someone at SEAS/BGW got sold on something being this similar. Honestly I wish we didn't know the station layout, because with it this similar it would have been a lot of fun to speculate wing seats to make it a different experience.

I dunno....this just seems to repetitive to Partheon in a way.

@Gavin I did think of that, but with such a small amount of track in the station 'loop' it still means we need to wait for the train in the station to clear before the train on the track can go in, and the train leaving the station can't start to cycle until the train entering the station has cleared.
 
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Has there ever been a ride to use a cable lift after a turn out of the station and not directly from the station?
 
Zachary said:
My theory was that the train in the station would back out and then sit on a block while the other train renters the station. Then the two tracks would switch, and the first train would launch.

@halfabee then proposed a different option which I think I like better. The train on the track would return backwards, and come to a stop on the west-most block. The tracks would then switch, the train in the station would depart forwards (eastwards) out of the station and straight into the launch. The train that was originally out on the track would proceed forward back into the station.

View attachment 18645

Yes that theory makes the first launch much shorter, but I think it's probably still long enough?

Another note... I know someone else brought this up before, but I'm getting suspicious that there may be a back spike here too... That punch out in the project area to the west of the photo booth does make me think the track could be crossing over the top of it...
Click to expand...

I think it would definitely make the ride more interesting to roll out forward, then launch first backward, then hit ridiculous speed moving forward!
 
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