Project 2021/Drachen Spire: Intamin Multi-Launch Shuttle Giga Coaster [Cancelled]

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:
  
  

  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:
  
  

  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

NoLimits Model of the Layout:​

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Additional Coverage (Newest to Oldest):​

• https://bgwfans.com/2022/drachen-spire-height-waiver-extension-details/
• https://bgwfans.com/2022/drachen-spire-height-waiver-renewal/
• https://bgwfans.com/2021/drachen-spires-slumber/
• https://bgwfans.com/2020/leaked-ele...-williamsburgs-2021-roller-coaster-in-detail/
• https://bgwfans.com/2020/busch-gardens-williamsburg-2021-shuttle-giga-coaster/
• https://bgwfans.com/2019/germany-expansion-site-plans/
• https://bgwfans.com/2019/2021-rpa-impacts-plan/
• https://bgwfans.com/2019/newly-leaked-document-depicts-project-2021s-station/
• https://bgwfans.com/2019/project-2021-height-waiver-vote-happens-tomorrow/
• https://bgwfans.com/2019/born-from-the-ashes/
• https://bgwfans.com/2019/bgw-project-2021/

Previous Thread:​

https://parkfans.net/threads/january-2019-festhaus-park-height-survey.5696/

 

[Zachary]

Please excuse me for being annoying, but would something like this make sense? Use of the castle & then the spike over in the “park” area? Excuse my Cave Man doodling.
View attachment 22099

This actually brings up a super worthwhile point!

Unless we see evidence of new rounds of soil testing, more likely than not, we should only expect foundations in the area highlighted by the map on BGWFans’ (horribly outdated—sorry!) Project 2021 page.

Project Drachen Spire: Multi-Launch Shuttle Giga (Cancelled?)

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...

bgwfans.com

Designing foundations for anything outside those bounds almost certainly would mean more soil testing would need to be conducted at some point. There’s always a chance it could have happened and we didn’t know about it or that it will be needed but hasn’t occurred yet. Regardless, it is a detail worth keeping in mind.

 

[DE_Creative]

One aspect I haven’t yet seen discussed is how these updates will be received by KD and Cedar Fair. They’ve already been lagging behind and seem - for the moment at least - reasonably content to do so. How do we see them responding to these new developments, assuming something would change?

 

[BGWnut]

Please excuse me for being annoying, but would something like this make sense? Use of the castle & then the spike over in the “park” area? Excuse my Cave Man doodling.
View attachment 22099

While that would be interesting, we know that the plan was to use the drachenfire queue building and for the tower to be right on the water next to verbolten.

I will say that I think this is unlikely because it would cut off road access to the Festhaus plus it would remove at least an additional 2 mazes in addition to already losing lumberhack

 

[Zachary]

One aspect I haven’t yet seen discussed is how these updates will be received by KD and Cedar Fair. They’ve already been lagging behind and seem - for the moment at least - reasonably content to do so. How do we see them responding to these new developments, assuming something would change?

In all seriousness though, I think it’s difficult to claim that Cedar Fair is even trying to “win” in this market these days. I don‘t see a path to turning that around anytime soon either. Carowinds beat out Kings Dominion to be the south east flagship—Kings Dominion is Virginia’s Dorney now. They’ll add attractions when they have to in order to maintain their local market pass holder base, but I don’t think they have a route to do anything much more than that right now.

BGW is out for blood and they’ve been drawing it for years now. The average coaster quality has always been incredibly high in Williamsburg, but it has been a LONG time since someone could reasonably say that Williamsburg had the most marketable coaster in the state. BGW is almost certainly about to flip the script on that.

And honestly, what is anyone supposed to do against these moves by SEAS? They’re investing like crazy to stack one of the best regional theme parks in the country with one of the best coaster collections in the country. Few parks could possibly compete with BGW’s current onslaught. It’s basically an inevitable knockout. The playing field isn’t even remotely fair.

 

[BGWnut]

I have to agree with @Zachary. If you look at the past decade it really looks like they have shifted their strategy because they realized that ultimately they can't compete one for one against BGW and they didn't want to. So instead they have been investing heavily into Carowinds.

Honestly, if SEAS weren't on a crazy spending spree the last few years and as far as we know continuing into the future, I don't think we would be looking at it in the same context. But what SEAS is doing at BGW is insane and there's just no way that CF could justify spending enough to match SEAS in VA.

It's a really good point that ever since I-305 BGW hasn't had the most marketable coaster in the state, but when Pantheon opens this year they will take that crown from KD. This will only increase further when this ride opens.

Hopefully for KD the ride that they had planned for Volcano's plot doesn't get cancelled due to Covid because it really does look like BGW is out for blood and are trying to take out some of KD's market from them

 

[CoasterAuditor]

^I mean the billboard placement near KD is hilarious lol

 

[halfabee]

Been a while, but in 2009 when KD announced it was putting in a 305 foot Intamin, and BGW had just installed Grover before abruptly announcing the departure of BBW, I thought the opposite... KD was finally hitting the true ongoing bigtime and would quickly grow to be THE destination for VA thrills. In the ensuing years at BGW, Verbolten was a massive expenditure for an entertaining and ambitious but distinctly family-balanced ride; years passed before another roller coaster appeared and then it was Tempesto; InvadR was solid but on the small side... BGW was filling holes that by necessity needed to be filled, while leaving out the big stuff. Good plan for Great Recession recovery and the unique turbulence of SEAS at the time, yet it left KD with this long and leisurely on-ramp to literal dominion via one or two more really big coasters. If they wanted it.

And it felt familiar. For ages, KD was just a bit bigger than BGW with certain rides. Installed at different times, not necessarily better, sometimes notably worse, not even always comparable -- but bigger, more intense. Roman Rapids? White Water Canyon. Questor? Days of Thunder. LNM? Anaconda. (Granted, DF tried before it died.) Alp? Volcano. Apollo? I305, sorta kinda. Nothing? An entire wooden lineup. Then KD's other 80s and 90s rides with no comps at BGW. It was easy to forget the items that went in the other direction, like Pompeii vs. Diamond Falls or Griffon vs. nothing or pre-09 BBW vs. world. Through the 80s and most of the 90s especially, BGW clearly was in the beauty-with-thrills business even if it sometimes meant a slightly more modest scale, and KD had more of the quantity/wider variety/edginess. I really thought I305 marked a return to that dynamic.

Yet... times being what they were, KD being what it was, and CF being what it was, nothing huge in the coaster department happened at KD for eight years after I305... in the rear view there's an explanation for it, but in my ignorance at the time it just seemed to me that CF was going to pull the trigger at any moment and keep bounding up that staircase with KD, like CW or KI. Not to be, though. Eight years later it was TT (no complaints, clear upgrade to Hurler) paired with the sudden end of Volcano (ow). And simultaneously BGW was in planning stages to go hog wild for first one, now two MAJOR and regionally very unique pure-thrill rides -- even, it seems, through a pandemic. Steely eyed, laser focused, steady hand on the money-tiller or whatever that last metaphor should be.

Didn't think it would go this way for SEAS and BGW. I really didn't. Wild.

 

[matthewcsoup]

This actually brings up a super worthwhile point!

Unless we see evidence of new rounds of soil testing, more likely than not, we should only expect foundations in the area highlighted by the map on BGWFans’ (horribly outdated—sorry!) Project 2021 page.

Project Drachen Spire: Multi-Launch Shuttle Giga (Cancelled?)

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...

bgwfans.com

Designing foundations for anything outside those bounds almost certainly would mean more soil testing would need to be conducted at some point. There’s always a chance it could have happened and we didn’t know about it or that it will be needed but hasn’t occurred yet. Regardless, it is a detail worth keeping in mind.

i think if we’re looking at a traditional giga, 1 of 2 things are gonna have to happen; more soil testing to allow more room for a larger layout and room for a 300+ ft chain lift, or if not that, ditch the drachen fire station and put it in a location to allow a more comfortable fit for a chain lift

 

[matthewcsoup]

i think if we’re looking at a traditional giga, 1 of 2 things are gonna have to happen; more soil testing to allow more room for a larger layout and room for a 300+ ft chain lift, or if not that, ditch the drachen fire station and put it in a location to allow a more comfortable fit for a chain lift

and adding onto what i said i think a twisted drop like kondaaa would be very helpful with the land at hand

 

[warfelg]

i think if we’re looking at a traditional giga, 1 of 2 things are gonna have to happen; more soil testing to allow more room for a larger layout and room for a 300+ ft chain lift, or if not that, ditch the drachen fire station and put it in a location to allow a more comfortable fit for a chain lift

Some simple math on this:
Skyrush's lift has a 212 foot length to reach a peak height above the ground of 212 feet.
i305's lift has a 288 for length to reach a peak height above the ground of 305 feet.
A rough estimation of a 1:1 for the rise of this style lift.
Giving some space out of the station for a slight turn to the previously marked high point is 388 feet.

So there's space to put a lift there if they decide to go at a very steep lift angle and use the same lift system from MF, I305, and Skyrush.

 

[panopticon31]

and adding onto what i said i think a twisted drop like kondaaa would be very helpful with the land at hand

would also be 100% unique among gigas. Think about the marketability "Worlds first 300ft twisted drop". I like it.

 

[UncleDuncan]

Yet... times being what they were, KD being what it was, and CF being what it was, nothing huge in the coaster department happened at KD for eight years after I305... in the rear view there's an explanation for it, but in my ignorance at the time it just seemed to me that CF was going to pull the trigger at any moment and keep bounding up that staircase with KD, like CW or KI. Not to be, though. Eight years later it was TT (no complaints, clear upgrade to Hurler) paired with the sudden end of Volcano (ow). And simultaneously BGW was in planning stages to go hog wild for first one, now two MAJOR and regionally very unique pure-thrill rides -- even, it seems, through a pandemic. Steely eyed, laser focused, steady hand on the money-tiller or whatever that last metaphor should be.

Didn't think it would go this way for SEAS and BGW. I really didn't. Wild.

I completely agree. It seemed for a while after 305 the wind was in KDs sails. Credit where credit is due: they did do a nice park refurb - cleaned up the look and feel. But other than that, and the aforementioned TT, it's really been cricket chirps. In retrospect, it almost seems TT is out of place with how little they've done, if that makes any amount of sense.

I'm fairly park agnostic and I don't think it's as clear cut as some would like in the "KD vs BGW" saga. However, I find myself a little more impressed with BGW's expansions and overall direction the last few years, and I think they've shaken off the bad ju-ju from the harsher parts of last decade.

 

[rswashdc]

View attachment 22102

In all seriousness though, I think it’s difficult to claim that Cedar Fair is even trying to “win” in this market these days. I don‘t see a path to turning that around anytime soon either. Carowinds beat out Kings Dominion to be the south east flagship—Kings Dominion is Virginia’s Dorney now. They’ll add attractions when they have to in order to maintain their local market pass holder base, but I don’t think they have a route to do anything much more than that right now.

BGW is out for blood and they’ve been drawing it for years now. The average coaster quality has always been incredibly high in Williamsburg, but it has been a LONG time since someone could reasonably say that Williamsburg had the most marketable coaster in the state. BGW is almost certainly about to flip the script on that.

And honestly, what is anyone supposed to do against these moves by SEAS? They’re investing like crazy to stack one of the best regional theme parks in the country with one of the best coaster collections in the country. Few parks could possibly compete with BGW’s current onslaught. It’s basically an inevitable knockout. The playing field isn’t even remotely fair.

As much as the coaster competition is a problem for KD, it is a solvable problem if CF would make the investment - i.e. add two of Maxx Force, Steel Curtain (a working version), a raptor, or a hyper hybrid, none of which are that expensive and could be capitalized out over a long period. The bigger issue I see is competing with BGW on being a year round park, particularly with how it impacts season pass purchases. That would require re-imagining KD as a higher end park and changing the guest experience. CF has been tiptoeing into events, but it's very centralized with limited capabilities, and not nearly sufficient enough to compete with BGW currently.

Going the Dorney route is risky in that if the value proposition in KD is reduced too much, SFA becomes an attractive alternative for the DC/NOVA crowd. This would put KD in a death spiral of sorts where disinvestment leads to lower revenue, leading to further disinvestment, until the park is a local seasonal park.

I'd like to see KD go big here, though I'm not sure CF is the proper owner to do that with. The park has good bones and with the right investments they could piggy-back off BGW's investments to make the VA region a strong alternative to FL for theme park visitors.

 

[UncleDuncan]

As much as the coaster competition is a problem for KD, it is a solvable problem if CF would make the investment - i.e. add two of Maxx Force, Steel Curtain (a working version), a raptor, or a hyper hybrid, none of which are that expensive and could be capitalized out over a long period. The bigger issue I see is competing with BGW on being a year round park, particularly with how it impacts. That would require re-imagining KD as a higher end park and changing the guest experience. CF has been tiptoeing into events, but it's very centralized with limited capabilities, and not nearly sufficient enough to compete with BGW currently.

Not arguing because I think the solvable problem, as you say, is pretty clear cut. KD needs some new rides.

However with regards to year-round operations and looking at the lay of the land, I don't think it's as clear cut as 'KD needs to re-imagine itself as a high end park' in order to win this particular issue. In fact, I think this may be one area where doing nothing benefits KD the most. BGW turning on the open sign year-round has introduced a slew of problems I see as potentially unsolvable; mainly, how do you turn Williamsburg into a destination in the Winter? Meanwhile, KD has turned their localized Xmas holiday event into what seems like a pretty solid win with little effort - do they need much more? I dunno. Seems to me SEAS is taking on a big risk on this one and I have to be honest, I don't think it's going to pay off for them. I actually think it's a terrible idea.

 

[tursiops]

I like the idea of both building on each other's success, if that's possible.

 

[warfelg]

FWIW if you haven’t noticed CF is prioritizing experience over rides. So making the parks better looking, bringing them up to date, and updating F&B brings back a better ROI for them.

 

[UncleDuncan]

I like the idea of both building on each other's success, if that's possible.

That's partially why I don't think it's as clear cut as 'RAWR! KD VS BGW. - FIGHT TO THE DEATH'

 

[Nicole]

People keep saying that KD did nothing for several years. While it is true that they didn’t install big, new coasters, they did do more than refurb the park. They added Delirium, several new water slides, and expanded Planet Snoopy. They have also experimented with a variety of special events and focused a lot on their culinary department.

In the context of their apparent push to be a “family thrill park,” those investments make some sense. There are good cases to be made for parents to take their kids to KD over BGW, and honestly, their children’s events often appear better than BGW’s. Moreover, while their food is improving, BGW’s is (at best) stagnating, in my opinion.

Was the Planet Snoopy expansion especially frustrating? Of course. Are people on this Forum particularly more interested in hearing about a massive thrill ride? Sure. Would they probably have gotten more coasters and fewer water slides, if they were in Ohio or if Caro hadn’t won the crown? Yup. But that doesn’t make their additions nonexistent.

All of that said, we are way off topic here. There is even hateful little thread specifically about comparing the two parks, if that is what people want to do.

 

[ijerngvidsnvk]

The redesign will be a 350 foot Dippin Dots stand, per source.

 

[Zachary]

Now that we're somehow back in the wild speculation phase of discussion on this project, lets bring back the Star Flyer memes! Everything old is new again!

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