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23-480: Mäch Tower was a drop tower , located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg , in James City County, Virginia . Located in the park's Oktoberfest section, Mäch Tower's base was encircled by two concentric rings of pillars from which festive blue, orange, and red banners hang. The tower's bright color palette and signature flags were also mirrored on nearby restaurants, shops, and booths. The ride carriage itself featured

46-454: A "late spring 2011" opening.) The gondola held thirty riders divided into four colored zones (red, green, blue, and yellow). It ascended at a rate of 6 feet per second to the top, completing three revolutions along the way to give all riders a panoramic view of the park and the nearby James River . The ride was also unique in that it had on-ride audio, with speakers attached to the ride carriage that played classical, European-themed music during

69-491: A decaying covered bridge accompanied by sound effects of the bridge creaking in the wind. As a recreation of the Big Bad Wolf 's finale, the train drops 88 feet (27 m) off the bridge into a hard left-hand turn along the river bank. A high speed S-curve follows, as the train traverses a bunny hop and a turnaround into the final brake run. Multiple nods to Verbolten's predecessor, the Big Bad Wolf , can be found throughout

92-438: A dive into a series of high speed turns and a helix that guides the train onto a brake run , where a psychedelic visual of leaves with wind-blowing sounds are on display. The train then dives into a curve and up a medium-sized hill onto a second brake run, as it slowly comes to a stop. During this time, more psychedelic special effects are displayed, which vary depending on the theme's rotation that switches from ride to ride. After

115-521: A family launched roller coaster with two launched sections and a building that houses special effects. The coaster was constructed on the former site of Big Bad Wolf . The track layout was completed in January 2012. Verbolten had a soft opening on May 11, 2012. A week later on May 18, the ride opened to the public. Other coasters, such as Th13teen at Alton Towers and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Islands of Adventure , also feature

138-657: A large, blue casing that was adorned with depictions of doves, crests, and festive designs that further exemplified the German theme. The queue line was located in a Bavarian-lodge style wooden covering that wrapped around the tower's base. Mäch Tower was one of two drop towers in SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment with the other drop ride being Falcons Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa . Announced in September 2010, Mäch Tower soft-opened on August 18, 2011 (initially having been targeted for

161-419: A motor tours agency owned and operated by the brother-and-sister team of Gerta and Gunter Schwartzwald. A portion of the queue is decorated as Gunter's office, which houses such curious items as plant samples, monitors, and the luggage of the unlucky tourists who have come before. The station house is themed as a garage where riders board trains that resemble stretched roadsters in one of five colors. The theme of

184-593: A vertical free-fall drop. The ride was inspired by the Autobahn , the German highway system. As shown in the teaser video, a car takes a leisurely trip down the Autobahn, but suddenly lightning strikes the car and causes it to drive into the Black Forest , a "forbidden" forest in which the ride takes place. The dark forest encounters weather changes, such as lightning, as shown in the video. The queue and station are themed as

207-550: Is a Zierer multi-launched partially-enclosed steel roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia . The concept was jointly designed by the park's creative design team and by Zierer of Germany. "Verbolten" is a play on words of the German word verboten , which translates to "forbidden" in English . Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced a renovation to

230-510: The Oktoberfest section in October 2010. This included a now defunct drop tower named Mäch Tower , which opened the year after. The remodel also included a new multi-launch coaster with first-of-its-kind elements. In May 2011, the coaster's layout was made public during a James City County, Virginia board meeting. On September 17, 2011, Busch Gardens Williamsburg officially announced Verbolten,

253-556: The closure of Disney California Adventure Park 's Maliboomer drop tower). Larry Giles, vice president of Busch Gardens engineering and maintenance, stated during an interview “We did not need to go for six hundred feet” and “I guarantee you anyone who rides the tower will be screaming on the way down”. Referring to Mach Tower’s height of 246 feet, the tower falls short of other rides of its kind, most notably compared to nearby Kings Dominion 's 305 foot-tall Drop Tower , opened in 2003. Attraction reviewer Brian Krosnick noted in his review of

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276-532: The concept and released their own variation that employs pneumatics , which involves pistons, air pressure, and steel cables to control the speed of the gondola at all times. This variation can move the gondola at speeds faster than free fall and can alternatively be configured to accelerate gondolas in the opposite direction, moving at fast speeds up the tower as well as down. Drop towers can vary in height and capacity, and some models are either mass-produced or custom. Newer features include gondolas that rotate along

299-454: The day after the announcement of it being closed indefinitely. Drop tower (ride) Swiss manufacturer Intamin renewed interest decades later when it pioneered the modern drop tower with an early iteration released in the 1980s, which was later refined to use magnetic braking systems in the 1990s. This led to larger models, such as the Giant Drop and Gyro Drop. S&S Sansei modified

322-458: The event building: The inclusion of multiple effects stories ensures that repeat riders will have a unique experience. The train departs the station gently dipping to the left into a leisurely winding S-curve. Exiting the S-curve, the train enters the first linear synchronous motor launch, accelerating through a stone archway into the event building and cresting an airtime hill. This is followed by

345-411: The laws of magnetism . Taller riders with long torsos, or more stout riders, may have found that they didn’t fit in the seats. The problem was that while the shoulder harness locked the seat sensors would not register the harness as secured. This would prevent the ride from launching. Such passengers would have to leave the ride. As of August 26, 2011, operators were giving passengers thus removed from

368-589: The opening of a new, multi-launch roller coaster , specifically mentioning that "next year when half of the [Oktoberfest] area goes “dark and sinister” with the Gardens’ hinted-at, multi-launch, world’s-first coaster , you better believe people will be flocking towards the bright blue beacon that guides the way." In July 2012 the Mach tower closed for a short period of time. The park said it was not for safety reasons but to make manufacturers recommended changes. Mach Tower reopened

391-566: The ride a pass that permitted a single re-ride on another attraction in compensation. During the park's holiday event, Christmas Town , the tower operated as "Nacht Tower" and the freefall element was disabled. The tower operated instead as a rotating scenic tower, offering views of the park's festive light displays. This did not return in 2022. It was announced in late 2022 that the tower was to give its final rides on January 8, 2023. The ride closed permanently on that same day. According to reports, 760 cubic yards of concrete were needed to create

414-548: The ride itself is the Black Forest and various legends associated with it. The ride features an indoor portion (referred to the " show building "), which represents a ride through the Black Forest and features one of three alternating special effects–driven story lines. The inside of the event building is decorated with painted drops and set pieces, as well as featuring unique sound and lighting effects, such as low whistles. Currently, there are three randomized story lines inside

437-439: The ride that Mäch Tower does put a unique spin on the drop tower, noting that Busch adds a festive design, a prime location, and surprises [in the music and vibration], resulting in a "grand, detail-oriented experience that puts you in your place and demands respect." He also encouraged skeptics to remember that Mäch Tower is only the first stage in a multi-year expansion for the Oktoberfest section, culminating in spring of 2012 with

460-509: The ride's ascension. Once the gondola had reached the top of the tower, the classical music ended in three dramatic notes which trailed off in an echo. After a short pause, the carriage dropped at 50 miles per hour. Mäch Tower used a magnetic braking system to slow the carriage quickly and smoothly once it reaches the bottom of the tower. This system – typical for many drop tower rides – is fail-safe, because magnets do not need to be powered by electricity or other sources; they work intrinsically by

483-414: The tower's foundation. The foundation required 85 concrete delivery trucks, and took 10 hours of consistent pouring to lay the entire base. According to reports, some coaster enthusiasts were disappointed with the decision to construct Mäch Tower, as it was viewed as a generic, off-the-shelf ride that lacked the theming and storytelling of Busch Gardens' other rides (the same accusations had recently incited

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506-459: The train stops for a few moments on a pitch black section of track, magnets suspending the train release, quickly dropping riders 18 feet (5.5 m) feet vertically while they remain facing horizontally. The train rests for a moment before descending a short dip into the second LSM launch, accelerating the train to its top speed of 53 mph (85km/h) out of the event building and through an ascending reverse S-turn. This leads to another brake run on

529-405: The vertical plane, tilting riders so they are facing the ground prior to the gondola's release. Falcon's Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay , for example, is a 335-foot (102 m) tower that rotates riders to face the ground, and then returns riders to an upright position as the gondola nears the end of the drop. Mass-produced tower rides include: (360 ft) Verbolten Verbolten

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