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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BGWnut said:
Interestingly enough that's not the first time I've heard it compared to Kondaa.

I definitely think it's likely that it will have some elements that are new to the type of coaster that it will be.
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i’ve talked to one person and particular with vast insight to the project and on the intamin side i’ve heard from that person directly; and yes it did in fact at the time a few months ago sound like the site was still being bid for by manufactures such as the ones i’ve previously mentioned: “In order for intamin to get festhaus park they are gonna have to pull a Kondaa” take that for what you will, it was a few months ago so the manufacture could’ve already been chosen but at the time it sounded a lot like it was competing with an RMC T. rex
 
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BGWnut said:
The height waivers for any attraction only cover the highest point of an attraction. The rest of the attraction would simply need to be under that highest point. Take Pantheon for example. It has multiple points that would be above the height waiver but it still only needs the one height waiver that was granted when it was a very different project.

This ride can be redesigned and still present a knife-like view at the very top. Nothing in the original request promised anything about what the rest of the ride would look like. The only potential issue is that I think that it would require am FAA waiver for each point advice 200' but I'm not sure on that
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They'd still have to get a permit for the revised project. Going from a single tower to multiple high points will probably reopen fights over the project, though IMO BGW would almost certainly get approval regardless.
 
matthewcsoup said:
i’ve talked to one person and particular with vast insight to the project and on the intamin side i’ve heard from that person directly; and yes it did in fact at the time a few months ago sound like the site was still being bid for by manufactures such as the ones i’ve previously mentioned: “In order for intamin to get festhaus park they are gonna have to pull a Kondaa” take that for what you will, it was a few months ago so the manufacture could’ve already been chosen but at the time it sounded a lot like it was competing with an RMC T. rex
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Aside from the previous discussion about how they’ve already been paying Intamin for this, I have a really hard time buying a TRex could be a possibility. It’s been heavily rumored for a couple years now that RMC had a lot of problems making the TRex financially attractive and they haven’t really been pushing it as something they offer lately since they first debuted the concept years ago. The fact nobody has purchased one while Raptors and Hybrids are flying off the shelves further corroborates that.
 
It's not like RMC needs a foot in the door for SEAS considering Iron Gwazi, so I doubt they'd be giving a sweetheart deal for an unproven concept.
 
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PhantomJB93 said:
Aside from the previous discussion about how they’ve already been paying Intamin for this, I have a really hard time buying a TRex could be a possibility. It’s been heavily rumored for a couple years now that RMC had a lot of problems making the TRex financially attractive and they haven’t really been pushing it as something they offer lately since they first debuted the concept years ago. The fact nobody has purchased one while Raptors and Hybrids are flying off the shelves further corroborates that.
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The whole reason why the T-Rex hasn't been rolled out to prospective customers is due to the demand of Raptors by parks. There was never really anything about financial attractiveness it's just the demand for Raptors made finishing the development for T-Rex a waste of time for RMC. Once the popularity dies down don't be shocked if RMC starts working on it again.

I also think y'all are placing too much hope in BGW going for broke with upgrading Drachen Spire. Unless they're submitted an entirely new crop of waivers and plans for the project I wouldn't anticipate Drachen Spire being too different from its current known iteration.
 
rswashdc said:
They'd still have to get a permit for the revised project. Going from a single tower to multiple high points will probably reopen fights over the project, though IMO BGW would almost certainly get approval regardless.
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The only thing that would be re-permitted is the site plan. As long as BGW stays within the radius and doesn’t let the clock expire on the current height waiver they can change as they please.
 
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Reminder: Stay weary of any claims of "someone heard something." There's a lot of hersay here being given a lot of weight it definitely doesn't deserve right now. After @BGWnut's performance with Drachen Spire, I definitely listen when he speaks—but that credibility is earned.

Folks who haven't been immersed in this discussion for years now probably don't know who they should or shouldn't trust—hence me saying this.

Right now, all the public records evidence says Drachen Spire is still the plan. There are rumors from a historically reliable narrator, @BGWnut, to say that the current internal plans look different than those on the public record. Beyond that, people should keep their expectations in check and their skepticism goggles firmly affixed to their faces.

Again, if anyone out there has evidence for their more detailed claims, my inbox is always open. I'm always happy to look at or talk about any evidence you have entirely off the record—I keep a lot of secrets for a lot of people. If you show me what you have, if you want me to, I can then go out and say "Hey, this person reached out and their evidence looks solid to me. I buy it."

Ultimately, this is an open online forum full of many anonymous users. Anyone can make basically any claims they want here. Readers need to stay clearheaded about that fact.
 
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rswashdc said:
They'd still have to get a permit for the revised project. Going from a single tower to multiple high points will probably reopen fights over the project, though IMO BGW would almost certainly get approval regardless.
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Yes they will have to get some permits for construction, but that part was in the approval process when the pandemic began. However they still won't have to get a height waiver from the board of supervisors.

Just like with Pantheon they won't need to do anything that would require a public hearing. It's just standard construction permitting that ensures the plans are sounds structurally.
 
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Zachary said:
Reminder: Stay weary of any claims of "someone heard something." There's a lot of hersay here being given a lot of weight it definitely doesn't deserve right now. After @BGWnut's performance with Drachen Spire, I definitely listen when he speaks—but that credibility is earned.

Folks who haven't been immersed in this discussion for years now probably don't know who they should or shouldn't trust—hence me saying this.

Right now, all the public records evidence says Drachen Spire is still the plan. There are rumors from a historically reliable narrator, @BGWnut, to say that the current plans look different than those on the public record. Beyond that, people should keep their expectations in check and their skepticism goggles firmly affixed to their faces.

Again, if anyone out there has evidence for their claims, my inbox is open—I'm happy to look at what you have on or off the record—if it looks solid to me, I can say that publicly to back you up.

Ultimately, anyone can make basically any claims they want—this is all about encouraging readers to say clearheaded about that fact.
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To add on to what @Zachary has said. While I have been told that they have gone back to the drawing board, there is still a chance that they do that and still come back with DS. It just doesn't seem very likely based on what I am hearing.
 
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BGWnut said:
To add on to what @Zachary has said. While I have been told that they have gone back to the drawing board, there is still a chance that they do that and still come back with DS. It just doesn't seem very likely based on what I am hearing.
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Can you just tell us what you heard or seen? Or is it confidential?
 
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tursiops said:
Whatever it is, my biggest hope is that it uses the vast majority of the waiver.
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Same here.

Zachary said:
Yeah, not speaking with any inside information here, but if BGW doesn't build something taller than i305 I'll honestly be shocked. I think all signs point to BGW really wanting that VA height record back from Kings Dominion.
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And yes! I’ve been wanting BGW to beat KD with the tallest VA coaster for years!
 
I’m gonna go off-topic a bit to talk about theming... do you think this coaster is going to just be German-inspired in general (like Verbolten), or more focused on the Oktoberfest celebration itself (like Der Wirblewind which is based off the traditional swings of the Oktoberfest festival)?
 
Nope. When the project stalled out, I decided against publishing more. I dropped a few details in this thread, but there really isn't a comprehensive place I can point you to.

A quick recap: Drachen Spire, as the community dubbed it, was themed to a dragon, reusing much of the same iconography as Drachen Fire. The small queue entry building (under the shorter spike) featured a "smashed" roof with the coaster track running through it—imagine the look of a partially caved in roof resulting from a dragon clipping it as it's flying. The track was literally depressed into the roof. Super cool look. Over at the station, the entry and exit points for the train were arches that had been partially destroyed by dragon fire (crumbling with burn marks around what remained). Inside, the station itself looked to have a distinctly castle-y vibe with iron lamps on pillars and a large iron chandelier suspended from the apex of the interior frame. All of the structures were accented with classic, painted and carved wooden Drachen Fire motifs—dragon heads on the beam ends, Drachen Fire sigils on the braces, etc.

I honestly think the original scenic concepts were fantastic. I really hope that whatever they build doesn't stray too far from their initial goals thematically.

PS: One day I'll write more in-depth about this in a frontpage article—hopefully with photos... I just don't want to cover it while it's all in limbo. If it's going to happen, I want to be able to report it as the current plan. If it's cancelled, I want to be able to point to "this is what was planned." Anything in-between will just serve to confuse our already VERY confused more casual readership.
 
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Zachary said:
A quick recap: Drachen Spire, as the community dubbed it, was themed to a dragon, reusing much of the same iconography as Drachen Fire. The small queue entry building (under the shorter spike) featured a "smashed" roof with the coaster track running through it—imagine the look of a partially caved in roof resulting from a dragon clipping it as it's flying. The track was literally depressed into the roof. Super cool look. Over at the station, the entry and exit points for the train were arches that had been partially destroyed by dragon fire (crumbling with burn marks around what remained). Inside, the station itself looked to have a distinctly castle-y vibe with iron lamps on pillars and a large iron chandelier suspended from the apex of the interior frame. All of the structures were accented with classic, painted and carved wooden Drachen Fire motifs—dragon heads on the beam ends, Drachen Fire sigils on the braces, etc.
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1 - I hope they do keep the station stuff no matter what iteration of Drachen Deuax we get.
2 - Rather than the spike going over the small queue, I would love to see a swooping turn come down over that small queue with the same design effect.

If they are willing to go out into the woods opposite the train tracks down Boneyard Rd a touch they could create something really cool. I think an awesome missed opportunity here is to have the track pass through the old DF maintenance shed for a pass through moment. I came up with a layout with nearly 4500 ft of track that would be really fun and want to make a decent drawing, but alas, much like you, since this is the current plan I don't want to falsely get my hopes up.
 
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