So where can we find videos of Drachen Fire? Someone mentioned off ride videos; I want to get a feel for this ride's course and how rough it might have been.

__________________

^I know Coaster Force has an on ride video.

__________________
GO MAGIC

I think that video even has dubbed in coaster screams. I had to have it my collection though.

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
My Draft 10 in '10: El Toro, Afterburn, Phoenix

I couldn't find it. Could someone send me the link or the video?

__________________

No one answered my question about the eagles nest on the lift hill? Was that true? What is the story??

I have never heard of that. I don't know what that is. I woudl also be interested to know about this.

__________________
I like the Zingo a lot.

[QUOTE=Montu Man]It may not own everyone anymore, but it still owns most looping coasters in the world. It's only competition is newer, full-fledged, B&M's.[/QUOTE]
Kumba's still my favorite coaster ever. Even if the layout has become old hat, its still the most intense coaster I've been on. Smooth enough, yet not too smooth/forceless like the new B&M's have become.


I rode Drachen Fire once, its last season of operation. I despised that ride. The first inversion was amazing, it had so much hang time and was unlike anything I've been on. The way it was right after the lift and the way it continued dropping was great. But the ride as a whole was so unbelievably rough. The fact that when I went there was a one train wait for the front and noone else in the station also spells "scrap metal" in most circumstances. Unlike the premeir loopers the transitions were so poor that lap bars could possibly horribly maim a persons legs....

__________________
"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."

[QUOTE=Thunderhawk]So where can we find videos of Drachen Fire? Someone mentioned off ride videos; I want to get a feel for this ride's course and how rough it might have been.[/QUOTE]
sorry to double post to all those who are anal about that kind of thing...

Theres one that was done before the modifications after the MCBR on America's Greatest Roller Coaster Thrills in 3-D, the first volume of he series. The ride also has Steel Phantom so its like a nice little trip down memory lane for now torn down, poorly designed, arrow loopers.

__________________
"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."

I wonder, all this confusion over doller figures, and why it was scrapped. If my memory serves me correctly, there actually were some lawsuits filed against the park I believe - although, please DO NOT take this as the gospel, because I do not feel like researching it, NOR do I have the proof to back up what I am saying - and they were more than just complaints to my understanding.

[QUOTE=willski2002]Drachen Fire closed because of a mixture of reasons.

1- It was a terribly designed ride with awful transitions. The first half was ok, but the second half was horrible. (the roughness drove people away)

2- It was in the back of the park behind Das Festhaus and BBW/Bumpercars, so a lot of people never found it/saw it but couldn't get to it (low ridership).

3- The park put it up for sale for a whopping $20 million, sealing its fate since no other park would buy it (heck, it only cost them $4 million).
[/QUOTE]

I think those are pretty much it.

Drachen Fire was for sale during the time it was SBNO. Busch finally decided that no one was interested, so it scrapped the ride and was done with it.

__________________
It's Homespun Fun!

[quote=5150]In my experience with the ride, it was the general public who had problems with the roughness. Most enthusiasts knew which way to bend, and twist, and turn their heads, so as to make the ride a better experience. Of course, on any given day g.p. to enthusiast count is probably 1000 to 1.

If S&S rethinks this design, I'd fly wherever to give it another shot (well, maybe not Dubai).

What was the deal with the eagle's nest?? Was that just a rumor?[/quote]

I have a picture of the "nest" on the wraparound loop on drachen fire. Could be any bird of prey found in the area. Most likely osprey.

__________________
I'm not a child anymore, I'm an adult. I can buy my own insurance and everything! - Amarao

I, one of the many few, actually rode it. I went on it the year before it was closed, and I must say, it was an amazing rude, yet rough.

I can't really remember how old I was, but I went there with my dad, step-mom, and my sister. My sister couldn't get on all the rides like I could. But my dad and I always had a blast.

I was just able to make the height requirment. My dad and I went on, and I remember that there was no line and I also remember boarding the train and departing the station.

What I remeber is, that it was rough, and my dad complaining. But, I do remember seeing a shirt with the logo on it. Man, I wish I was smart enough back then. I would have had my dad buy me a shirt.

__________________

When I was there the year after the ride closed for good, there was some sort of nest built on top of the lift hill but there didn't seem to be anything in it. I have seen pictures where there was something in it but I'm not sure if that was the main reason that the ride closed or if the nest got built after the ride was shut down.

__________________
"Fahrenheit-97 degrees and falling fast...Welcome to Hersheypark 2008."

"Virginia Tech Hokie for life...Recognize..."

My grandparents neighbors often complained about the noise. They live in Kingsmill, the huge neighborhood owned by Busch that is right next to Busch Gardens.

Drachen Fire could have been saved. They should have re-done the transitions and put in lap bars along with new trains.

__________________
GO MAGIC

I actually got to hear one of the guys talk last year at Carowinds (he works there now) that worked on building Drachenfire.

I asked him if he knew why it was closed and now my age is showing and I can't recall all that he said.

There were rumors of a pending lawsuite, but nothing ever materialized in concrete so to speak.

Arrow's are almost always rough, you add to the fact that Drachenfire was faster than most arrow loopers and it made for a rougher ride.

But I found that if I held my head back that I didn't really have that many problems riding it.

The glow-in-the-dark trains were awesome. Why didn't they do that on Magnum?!?

It's funny to me how an ok coaster still generates all this buzz years after it's demise.

__________________

Intimidator Racing in to Carowinds 3/27/2010!

[QUOTE=bgwfreak]
It's funny to me how an ok coaster still generates all this buzz years after it's demise.[/QUOTE]
It's like it became it's own legend, a Kurt Kobain coaster. The interest, the spirit is still there. I bet others wouldn't mind if a new modern coaster took its place maybe even share the old name/theme.

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
My Draft 10 in '10: El Toro, Afterburn, Phoenix

This ride is definitly legendary now. Perhaps the steel Crystal Beach Cyclone. I wish I couldhave ridden it. No coaster has been too rough for me yet except for one BAD ride out of like 7 on Villain.

__________________
I like the Zingo a lot.

[QUOTE=bgwfreak]
The glow-in-the-dark trains were awesome. Why didn't they do that on Magnum?!?[/QUOTE]

They had glow in the dark trains? I did not know that. I wonder why more coasters have not used them. I would think that would enhance the overall effect of the coaster.

^ Yeah, they had like an orange strip on the side of the trains that glowed at night. It was a cool site seeing the train from a distance.

__________________

Intimidator Racing in to Carowinds 3/27/2010!

[QUOTE=CoasterDJ]They had glow in the dark trains? I did not know that. I wonder why more coasters have not used them. I would think that would enhance the overall effect of the coaster.[/QUOTE]
I remember seeing the train going through the boomerang with the glowing trains at night in the distance through the trees and thinking it was one of the coolest looking things on any coaster. Very sweet.

__________________
"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."

I was one of the lucky ones to ride it. In 1997,when Alpengeist came on the scene,my friend and I got in line for Drachen Fire. There was no one in the station. So we got on,and they let us stay on for a second go-around. AND,mind you,it was raining very heavy that day,but it was decent.Take care ShannonS.