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:
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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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So to the ride itself - anyone else hoping for a decent amount of air time on this one? Curious about that speed curve into the valley and what sort of laterals it'll give.
 
Jonesta6 said:
So to the ride itself - anyone else hoping for a decent amount of air time on this one? Curious about that speed curve into the valley and what sort of laterals it'll give.
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I think it would be a better ride if it started out backwards so that you experience the drop forwards.
 
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It's my understanding that the SEAS 2021 projects are all already significantly funded. They likely have some small payments left but the bulk of the payments have already been made as the park preferred to pay for them ASAP. Part of this was because they were striving to reach $500 million in EBITDA this year and they wanted limited payments for rides or attractions to help them reach that goal.
 
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The ride looks like it's meant for the enthusiasts who want height and speed while Pantheon is more aimed at the GP. I think it's actually a smart move to give something to both fans, especially after years of family friendly coasters, to make give two levels of thrill coaster.

I think Pantheon will be the more fun ride and worth doing all the time and 2021 will be cool but the type of coaster you do a few times throughout the year.

I can clearly see them being one coaster at one point before they realized it wasn't feasible for whatever reason, so they did it as two rides.

I'm just worried about the downtime after these coasters are opened before we get another coaster. I still want a wing/flying coaster at Busch!
 
Thomas said:
I think you’ve got that backwards.
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My reasoning being big tall scary coasters tend to scare away a bulk of the GP. Not all but most. Enthusiasts want it for the credit. While the average person may avoid it and go for Pantheon instead.
 
In my mind, it’s not about enthusiasts vs. GP, it’s about quality vs. records.

Pantheon was clearly designed to be a GREAT coaster. 2021 was designed to check off a bunch of records for BGW (tallest and fastest in the mid-Atlantic, tallest and fastest multi-launch in the world, potentially tallest and fastest shuttle coaster in the world, etc). 2021 was designed to be marketable. It’s all about the numbers.
 
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Zachary said:
In my mind, it’s not about enthusiasts vs. GP, it’s about quality vs. records.

Pantheon was clearly designed to be a GREAT coaster. 2021 was designed to check off a bunch of records for BGW (tallest and fastest in the mid-Atlantic, tallest and fastest multi-launch in the world, potentially tallest and fastest shuttle, etc). 2021 was designed to be marketable. It’s all about the numbers.
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You left off "biggest waste of potential in the world" as well
 
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I would agree that GP doesn't look at ride experience as much as basic stats (height/speed etc). Yeah, tallest and fastest rides can be fun, I wouldn't say that they are necessarily the best rides. Saying you have the tallest or fastest ride of its kind is a good way to get GP into the park. Yeah, enthusiasts will ride for the credit, but I can tell you now, from what I know about both rides from this site, I will probably ride Pantheon more times in a given day than the 2021 ride, just like why I usually ride AC more than once in a day vs Griffon. They are both fast, tall, and relatively intense, but Griffon is much shorter, with more dead time in the ride than AC, yet I would argue that Griffon is a bigger draw for GP than Apollo.
 
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Hamptonian said:
My reasoning being big tall scary coasters tend to scare away a bulk of the GP. Not all but most. Enthusiasts want it for the credit. While the average person may avoid it and go for Pantheon instead.
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Do you not remember the rush of extreme coaster shows on Travel Channel and Discovery Channel in the early to mid 2000’s? Anytime I tell someone I’m a coaster enthusiast they immediately follow it up with “Have you been on Kingda Ka?” and “Have you been to Cedar Point?” The GP absolutely love records, they want to go on the biggest, the fastest, the coaster with the most “est” for bragging rides and because they assume it will be the best.

After LNM, BGW mainly focused on unique, quality coasters. The B&M Trio along with Verbolten are the main draws and selling points of the park. People that come note that the park has exceptional theming and landscaping compared to other regional parks. However, there is also a consensus that is slowly diminishing that BGW doesn’t have the best coasters because many of them aren’t record breakers. Project 2021 stands out because it will be fast, tall, and just look absolutely absurd to the GP. This is the tactic of new SEAS, build unique, thrilling, and visually impressive rides to attract mass audiences. This strategy goes against the BGW of the past, however it does seem like it’s working.
 
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I thought people came to BGW because of atmosphere (including scenery/landscaping), quality and quantity of rides, and that the whole place is one giant ABC-on venue.

Thinking about CP's rides situation - is TTD the height/speed record holder for the park (not world anymore since KK broke it) for tallest/fastest? Yet there always seems to be longer lines for MF (and now Steel Vengeance since it opened) when TTD is even operating.

So same thinking would probably apply to this one - just because it's a record holder/breaker doesn't mean in a few years that it'll still be there star of the show.
 
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