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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Previous Thread:​

 
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halfabee said:
And juice it up to the max of the ride system's allowable performance envelope, since the resulting speed report will stick forever.
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Yeah, except its not that simple. Not going to get into all the technical jargon, but these rides usually require an adjustment of the code to make that kind of difference, something you would not want to do on opening day. It's not just an adjustment on the touch screen or a "Turbo Button". Also, if there is a range of speed that the ride is allowed to operate in, why wouldn't they operate it at near the top of that speed? To save money? I'm not a lawyer (and I don't play one on TV), but if they did speed it up for some promotional thing, advertise the ride as going X mph, but it really goes that much slower (more than +- 3 mph or so) wouldn't some sleazy lawyer at least try to file a false advertising lawsuit against them? Seems like an unnecessary risk.
 
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@ControlsEE Us marketing folks (I was one in another life) can find a million ways to juice things.

Since you ran rides- I'm thinking an empty train would be a few MPH faster than one full of "I just ate 5 funnel cakes and a hot dog" guests. So they test at 102 (a couple miles faster than Superman) yet loaded down it hits below 100. My marketing hat says this is the fastest..I don't have to qualify how and when...and Sleaze LLC hasn't a leg to stand on.
 
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warfelg said:
RE: Front and back seating.

Hacking some seats in each direction is going to make queuing a complete shit fest from groups trying to sync up and who wants front facing and back facing.
No thanks on that.
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I really don’t think it’s that bad. You just have extended station lines for the front and back like many coasters do for the front row anyways
 
Delaware Giga Coaster said:
I really don’t think it’s that bad. You just have extended station lines for the front and back like many coasters do for the front row anyways
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Sorry for being a multi-poster...I asked earlier...do we foresee 2 trains or one?
I think with 2, it would give them the time to sort out the front/back situation. With the timing of the concept POV, that's about 1:30 to load a train while the other runs the circuit.
 
GrandpaD said:
@ControlsEE Us marketing folks (I was one in another life) can find a million ways to juice things.

Since you ran rides- I'm thinking an empty train would be a few MPH faster than one full of "I just ate 5 funnel cakes and a hot dog" guests. So they test at 102 (a couple miles faster than Superman) yet loaded down it hits below 100. My marketing hat says this is the fastest..I don't have to qualify how and when...and Sleaze LLC hasn't a leg to stand on.
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While yes, marketing can (and will) spin things a million ways (that's why they are in marketing), and your general idea about the loaded vs unloaded train is generally true for traditional gravity powered coasters, the systems controlling the launches are a lot smarter than most give them credit. For those who have a computer/control systems background, I'm talking about PID loops. For those who don't know, PID loops are algorithms (fancy word for math equations in this case) that take a setpoint (in our case, the final speed you want the train travelling at the end of the launch track) and an analog value (the current speed of the train), calculate the error (final speed minus current speed), then control an analog output device (power going to the LSM Stators). Constants can be adjusted for how quickly the algorithm reacts to get the current speed to equal the final speed, which controls how quickly the train accelerates (This process is called "tuning" the PID). The PID loop will always try to get the current speed to reach the final speed. It is certainly possible for the current speed to not reach the final speed setpoint. Usually, this would be solved by tuning the PID further, but its possible to drive the stators at 100% and not get it to move fast enough. WARNING: I am now about to make an assumption. I assume that Intamin has done their math homework and know what the maximum weight the train can be to not have to drive the stators at max level to reach the max speed every time. A good engineer will include some margin between what they need and the max given by the manufacturer. While it is certainly possible that the programmers may allow someone with the right cridentials to easily change that max speed setpoint somewhere (IE touch screen on the control panel), most coasters like this record data about every cycle and use that to automatically adjust setpoints and the like to keep the ride operating at 100%.

Sorry for the word block, like others had said before, discussing this respectfully is the best way to pass the time until we hear about this from the park. Also, this is way more exciting than entering red line edits on engineering drawings. I really need to get back to work... lol
 
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GrandpaD said:
Sorry for being a multi-poster...I asked earlier...do we foresee 2 trains or one?
I think with 2, it would give them the time to sort out the front/back situation. With the timing of the concept POV, that's about 1:30 to load a train while the other runs the circuit.
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There is zero reason for the whole switch-track configuration if this isn’t running 2 trains.
 
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I'm still trying to figure out the Zachary system units of time. Is an "ASAP" longer or shorter than an "imminent"?
 
To quote the great Lorelai Gilmore:

“When the big hand hits the oon and little hand hits the s”
 
ControlsEE said:
Yeah, except its not that simple. Not going to get into all the technical jargon, but these rides usually require an adjustment of the code to make that kind of difference, something you would not want to do on opening day.
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Oh, man. I wasn't being serious about juicing the ride up on opening day! Control systems and operating practices don't provide that sort of knob for arbitrary marketing use. ?
 
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Zachary said:
Major, unexpected news is dropping ASAP. Stay tuned this afternoon.
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Imagine the unexpected news drops if we had ParkFans in the very early 90s.

"...Wait, it WON'T be a B&M in that field next to Festhaus? Then who the heck is gonna build that multilooper? The leaked plans look sick!"

Or the early 80s.

"Schwarzkopf is likely to go BANKRUPT??? Then who the heck is gonna build that hillside coaster in Oktoberfest? The leaked plans look sick!"

Or the mid-1970s.

"They're replacing the planned ferry route with a floating pedestrian bridge? Then where the heck will we be able to get a boat ride? The leaked plans look sick!"
 
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