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, 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...

  bgwfans.com
• 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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Direct Link to Embedded Media Source

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/

 

[GrantLee123]

The answer is in the wiki post at the top of the page.

If I can’t ask questions about something that’s currently or not being built, what’s the point of the forum. Some wiki can’t have the answer to every question. Jeez. At least I’m asking something related to it compared to posting clickbait speculation videos on the topic.

 

[Zachary]

You asked about the most recent movement on the project and I was simply highlighting that the wiki post has a section for the "Most Recent Status Update" that links directly to the last new thing we knew about Drachel Spire.

 

[Ice]

The answer is in the wiki post at the top of the page.

I love these responses lately, it is like when a company that used to have an open door IT policy now keeps the door locked and has a sign that says "Did you put in a ticket?".

I like the new-ish wiki system, I just think it is hilarious how many people blatantly ignore the huge thing at the top of the page that is quicker and more comprehensive than just walking up and asking a question, simply due to old habits.

 

[mikes]

I feel Zachary's pain. I'm a software developer and we'll spend hours working on documentation for others that consume our code only to be asked a sometimes stupid question that is easily answered by the docs. Or it will be a complex question that I myself have to refer to the docs. RTFM Granted we miss things from time to time, but we won't know it's missing unless you first read them.

Back on topic. I hope this thing either dies, or we start to see some real progress soon.

 

[BGWnut]

I feel Zachary's pain. I'm a software developer and we'll spend hours working on documentation for others that consume our code only to be asked a sometimes stupid question that is easily answered by the docs. Or it will be a complex question that I myself have to refer to the docs. RTFM Granted we miss things from time to time, but we won't know it's missing unless you first read them.

Back on topic. I hope this thing either dies, or we start to see some real progress soon.

We won't see progress until after Darkoaster is finished. But don't get your hopes up that this will die, because it's a pretty sure thing as far as know.

 

[TGOALA]

We won't see progress until after Darkoaster is finished. But don't get your hopes up that this will die, because it's a pretty sure thing as far as know.

Nooooooooo

I hope that SEAS reacts to the most common reactions from guests about Drachen Spire the same way that KD responded to guests’ reactions about the leaked B&M wing coaster that was to sit on Volcano's plot.

 

[GoHokies87]

We won't see progress until after Darkoaster is finished. But don't get your hopes up that this will die, because it's a pretty sure thing as far as know.

My understanding is that it's basically been bought and paid for, less the site work. Re-enginerring is very possible at this point, but to do so would mean spending considerably more money which seas is not keen on.

Seas will build the "we have a giga coaster at home" thoosies be damned.

 

[CoasterTalkBob]

Nooooooooo

I hope that SEAS reacts to the most common reactions from guests about Dragon Spire the same way that KD responded to guests reactions about the leaked B&M Wing coaster that would sit on Volcano's plot.

Sadly I think BGW/SEAS will actually double down on it just because people aren't impressed. It's a weird relationship between "fans" and the park

 

[BGWnut]

Nooooooooo

I hope that SEAS reacts to the most common reactions from guests about Dragon Spire the same way that KD responded to guests reactions about the leaked B&M Wing coaster that would sit on Volcano's plot.

We'll see but SEAS has had this one in development since 2019. Not likely to get cancelled. Also, SEAS has largely already paid for the ride from Intamin.

 

[BGWnut]

My understanding is that it's basically been bought and paid for, less the site work. Re-enginerring is very possible at this point, but to do so would mean spending considerably more money which seas is not keen on.

Seas will build the "we have a giga coaster at home" thoosies be damned.

Yes, Pantheon and this were largely paid for at the same time. Like you said, all that really remains is to pay for construction and any theming

 

[TGOALA]

Yes, Pantheon and this were largely paid for at the same time. Like you said, all that really remains is to pay for construction and any theming

Pantheon and Drachen Spire were clearly supposed to be part of the same coaster for project Madrid but were broken up; my wish was that the COVID pandemic and BGW’s break in operations would have allowed management to take a beat and re-evaluate future developments with the same energy that they had in scamming 2021 season passes with their “new for 2021” changed to “anticipated 2021” (read: no effing way) marketing language.

 

[PhantomJB93]

It’s insane to me that we basically already know something else major is happening in the boneyard and people are still bitching about Drachen Spire being a gimmick. There’s a real possibility that BGW adds three MAJOR, extreme thrill coasters in like a 5 year span, not even counting Darkcoaster, and people are still going to complain that the 350’ one should have done more.

 

[Coasternerd]

It’s insane to me that we basically already know something else major is happening in the boneyard and people are still bitching about Drachen Spire being a gimmick. There’s a real possibility that BGW adds three MAJOR, extreme thrill coasters in like a 5 year span, not even counting Darkcoaster, and people are still going to complain that the 350’ one should have done more.

My issue isn’t the fact that they’re adding a gimmicky coaster, in fact it’s a great idea. It’ll pull on the masses.
The issue is they’re (once all of this is said and done) going to have FOUR coasters in one area of the park. 2 of which would basically be on top of each other.

I think the park needs to hit the chill button on coaster additions and use some of those MILLIONS of dollars to improve the park other areas, such as flats, paint, new paths (or widening where needed), parking lot repaving (Desperately needed), etc

 

[Ice]

A bad ride is a bad ride. There should be no reason to be like "here is a bad one but a good one" and think that is fine. I'd much rather see investments towards bettering the park experience than pissing money away on a bad ride. Put a couple millions towards culinary training and ingredient sourcing rather than a damn stick in the sky.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

At this point it's best to just focus on how cool it will look and how fun shooting up that spike is gonna be. Also swooping around that huge overbank to drop down into the launch ravine will be epic.

 

[horsesboy]

A bad ride is a bad ride. There should be no reason to be like "here is a bad one but a good one" and think that is fine. I'd much rather see investments towards bettering the park experience than pissing money away on a bad ride. Put a couple millions towards culinary he training and ingredient sourcing rather than a damn stick in the sky.

Is a bad ride though. I mean sure from an enthusiast prospective it is. But I have seen plenty of rides that the enthusiast community doesn't like that are extremely popular that a broader range of the population like.

 

[Ice]

I think from both perspectives it is a bad ride. Gimmicky, uninspired, lame excuse for a giga from the enthusiasts perspective. Low capacity, boring, and weird for the average person. Two coasters with a spike, I already know the average person is gonna get them confused.

 

[CoasterTalkBob]

I think from both perspectives it is a bad ride. Gimmicky, uninspired, lame excuse for a giga from the enthusiasts perspective. Low capacity, boring, and weird for the average person. Two coasters with a spike, I already know the average person is gonna get them confused.

I partially agree here. I honestly think what we've seen of DS looks like a really fun ride but there's a whole lot to unpack regarding what is going on here. My biggest complaint is that if DS gets built as it is then it pretty much ensures that BGW will never have a true giga coaster. It's also a bad excuse for marketing power that isn't likely to translate to long term boosts -- which is what usually happens with record breakers.

It’s insane to me that we basically already know something else major is happening in the boneyard and people are still bitching about Drachen Spire being a gimmick. There’s a real possibility that BGW adds three MAJOR, extreme thrill coasters in like a 5 year span, not even counting Darkcoaster, and people are still going to complain that the 350’ one should have done more.

There's bigger issues at play here. I think Pantheon is probably the exception only because it was spun off of something that was created before this "shortcut" behavior started at BGW/SEAS. You can look at this as BGW adding three major coasters or you can look at this for what is actually going on -- building major-looking coasters that check very specific marketing boxes but likely don't translate to long-term permeability. SEAS is not spending the amount of money that people think they are -- don't take that the wrong way, we are talking millions and millions of dollars but in the scheme of things I think what's happening now is intended to look good on paper to get people in the gate year after year without actually improving the things that keep people wanting to come back. What I mean by this is that when a new coaster opens up it's almost an obligation to go to that park to try it out but the experience when you get there just isn't enough to bring people back over and over again. Meanwhile you have KD build a freaking free spin and people can't wait to return because their marketing is correctly targeted and their focus is on the entire guest experience in the park.

 

[PhantomJB93]

I think from both perspectives it is a bad ride. Gimmicky, uninspired, lame excuse for a giga from the enthusiasts perspective. Low capacity, boring, and weird for the average person. Two coasters with a spike, I already know the average person is gonna get them confused.

I genuinely don’t understand how you can call this “uninspired.” I won’t challenge any of the other adjectives but a coaster like this simply has never been seen before. I can’t call something this unique “uninspired.” If anything they came up with a really creative way to hit the giga threshold on a budget without just doing the standard launch-top hat-brake layout.

 

[CoasterTalkBob]

I genuinely don’t understand how you can call this “uninspired.” I won’t challenge any of the other adjectives but a coaster like this simply has never been seen before. I can’t call something this unique “uninspired.” If anything they came up with a really creative way to hit the giga threshold on a budget without just doing the standard launch-top hat-brake layout.

I mean, it kind of is just an impulse coaster with one big tower instead of 2 smaller ones......