Why was Drachen Fire closed? (I don't want OPINIONS, I want FACTS)

"Why Drachen Fire Close?" - Thread title

It received for years complaints of being rough. This was a very popular ride to discuss years ago, so popular I'm sure people want to bury mention of it and its controversy. Putting "Drachen Fire" in "Search" may help even.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

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.

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).

Then DF sat there for a few years and was scrapped.

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^Adding on the terrible transitions part. Arrow kind of tried some elements that they just were not capable of making correctly, including the cutback and cobra roll ( which can't be found on any other Arrow coasters) I think this was because they tried to do the design that B & M orriginaley came up for the ride.

I never went on it, so I don't know how rough it was, ect., but I want to know if it could have been saved by adding better trains and lapbars.

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GO MAGIC

Drachen Fire wasn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. And didn't you hear on In the Loop about Drachen Fire? S&S is taking it back and re-doing the transitions with lap bars only. (Yeah it's a rumor)

Low ridership (yes) you could get many re-rides through out the day on this. It was kind of hidden, but I am sorry it is gone. It's one of my near and dears to my heart.

With BGW putting it on the sale block for 5 times the amount it was built for was outrageous, but no one even made a bid on it not even lower. It is BGW's fault that a classic arrow is now gone from exsistance. They could have easily brought Arrow back in and said we now have far better technology now, let us re-do the transitions and inversions.

But, no, BGW took something that was wonderful and threw it away to a scrap yard.

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What scrap yard? Maybe i can scavenge it and sell it to Cedar Point for about $1 million.

^you're joking right?
The steel was most likely melted down and recycled

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

The steel was melted down and recycled.

B&M was not involved with DF, we established this by sending a letter to B&M asking if they did any consulting with BGW or Drachen Fire. They replied saying that their first involvement with BGW was Alpengeist.

Arrow was not capable of any elements except vertical loops. Their corkscrews had to be entered when the train was banked, their transitions looked as if they were designed by chimps (a stupid chimp I might add). The coobra roll was do-able with the trains on DF, so was the diving corkscrew, and also the cutback. The worst part of the ride was the corkscrew immediately following the MCBR (the one that was removed) and the turn into the cutback. If you watch off-ride videos of the ride, you can see that in these 2 elements, the riders' heads are flung around incredibly painfully. If they had simply done a better transition into the corkscrew and into the turn, the ride would still be here today. That one stretch of track is what made the ride a notorious headbanger.

EDIT: An Arrow with lapbars?!? You would break a hip with the terrible transitions.

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I guess I needed to be a bit more specific...

Did the ride not operate properly? Was it a maintenece nightmare? Did someone get injured on it? Was it some kind of prototype that Arrow put in at a special price just to see if it would work out (or just plain work)?

It seems so silly to just get rid of a coaster because people thought it was a rough ride. Especially since there are many other coasters out there now that are probably a lot worse.

And why would they try to sell it for so much money when they only paid "pocket change" for it to begin with? Some kind of tax write-off?

^A lot of people complained of neck and back injuries, and BGW didn't want to have to deal with that anymore. The transitions were horrible, and they tried some never before seen elements.

I dunno why they wanted so much for it. It was a shame to see it come down when it could have been improved with new trains and re-doing the transitions. With the transitions redone, maybe they could have even added lapbars to prevent excess headbanging on the loops. Then again, I never rode it so I might be saying a lot of bs here.

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GO MAGIC

I've been on Drachen Fire about 15 times, and I don't remember getting too much headbanging on the inversions. I specifically remember the bottom of the first drop being very rough (shaky, not from a bad transition) the turn before the entrance to the cutback (I only rode after the first cork was removed, and the helix/final turns were pretty brutal. The inversions were fine for the most part, and the last cork was one of the smoothest parts of the entire ride. The transition out of the cobra and into the turn before the MCBR also was pretty bad.

I think that money figure from earlier in this thread was incorrect... probably backwards. I know almost for a fact that it was being sold for 4 million dollars... I read it in the newspaper, so unless they were misstaken, then that was the actual figure. Not sure of the initial cost, but I doubt it was 20 million. I'd guess closer to 11-14 million.

I liked the ride a lot, and the only thing I really didn't like was the headbanging in parts. There was insane hangtime in almost all loops, especially the wraparound cork and the cobra, and I think the cutback too. The layout of the ride was really cool too, and though I don't specifically remember the camelback like I do a lot of the other elements and sections, I assume it was one of the more fun parts.

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It's listed on RCDB as having cost the park $4 million.

Also, in 1999-2000, one of the companies that sells used rides had listed: Arrow Megalooper-20,000,000 USD-Call 1-555-555-5555 for further information.

So yeah.

And the turn into the cutback was brutal in addition to the first cork, so they removed the cork and put in a downhill brake run, but forgot to fix the turn into the cutback (durrr), so it still was brutal.

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That was not the first cork that was off the lift hill I think. That was the first cork after the MCBR that the peeps called brutal. In pictures the entrance out of it looked terrible. I've never ridden Drachen Fire - would I have loved to still have that removed corkscrew but the exit out it looked like some sudden right turn I believe. I could imagine how uncomfortable that would have felt. The ride seems so tainted after I knew a corkscrew was taken out. I really wish an Arrow train could pull off a comfortable zero g-roll and better design was there in the first place. .

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Yep, that's what I meant, sorry for the confusion. The first cork off the MCBR and the turn following it were horrific. The entire train jerked and shuddered going into that turn.

The first part of the ride actually looked fun, what with the wraparound corkscrew actually being properly shpaed (nice work with the wires Mr. Toomer).

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^Would the ride have been a top 25 coaster had it been smooth with no headbanging? It did have a pretty good layout and some great elements.

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GO MAGIC

If only B&M were as big then as they are today... Just think, it would of kicked Kumba's you know what...

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#18930487654322 fan of the BGT Dive Machine

Edit: SheiKra

[QUOTE=willski2002]Yep, that's what I meant, sorry for the confusion. The first cork off the MCBR and the turn following it were horrific. The entire train jerked and shuddered going into that turn.
[/QUOTE]
That turn must have been too tight for even the articulation of those long (compared to B&M) Arrow trains.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

^^B&M wasn't involved with DF............

And Kumba absolutely owned every other looping coaster in the world at the time, it was so much more than anything the world had seen beofre. Smoother, longer, more elements, it had everything. Now it's just one of many loop, dive loop, 0-g, Cobra roll, and Interlocking Flatspin B&Ms.



Yeah, Chiller, it had no lead-in and the radius was maybe 7.5 meters, if that.

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That was to respond to Sheikra I bet I was not trying to imply B&M.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

[quote=willski2002]

And Kumba absolutely owned every other looping coaster in the world at the time, it was so much more than anything the world had seen beofre. Smoother, longer, more elements, it had everything. Now it's just one of many loop, dive loop, 0-g, Cobra roll, and Interlocking Flatspin B&Ms.



[/quote]
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.

^^^ I understand that they had nothing to do with DF, I was just saying, "Imagine what it would be like if B&M build the piece of crap" thats all.

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#18930487654322 fan of the BGT Dive Machine

Edit: SheiKra

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?

DF was one of my all time favorites, and I miss it.....

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Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of (400’) Make that 500' !!!

I wish I could understand Drachen Fire's allure, it's as if asking someone about how the ride was is one of those core things that makes you an enthusiast. Time and time again we see this topic come up, and every time we have to agree and say yeah it must have been awesome and even if it wasn't, I'd ride it and just say it is. I hope the rumors of its reincarnation are true, I'm as wrapped up in this coaster as the rest of you all. I watch that old episode of Nova all the time just for the DF segment, and if I hadn't lost my copy of America's Greatest Rollercoaster Thrills Vol. 1, I'd still watch the DF segment on that all the time and to hear that sweet music they played with it, too. But in reality, if we all had our choice between Kumba and Drachen Fire, and not DF the way you'd wish it be, just the way it was, I'm sure the vast majority would choose Kumba.

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Thank you for riding Reaper! Drop Ride to Doom, and remember to desecrate a sanctuary today.

Even if DF was built with B&M smoothness, I think that Kumba would still own it.

I think this may answer your questions [URL="http://history.amusement-parks.com/drachenfire.htm"]http://history.amusement-parks.com/drachenfire.htm[/URL]
and yes B&M was involved in the designing of DF

[quote=Emann]I think this may answer your questions [URL="http://history.amusement-parks.com/drachenfire.htm"]http://history.amusement-parks.com/drachenfire.htm[/URL]
and yes B&M was involved in the designing of DF[/quote]That's a cool site, but that B&M part is still wrong. Seriously, someone sent an e-mail to B&M sometime ago and asked if they had anything to do with Drachen Fire. They replied, saying they had no involvement. This rumor's almost as old as the sinking Magnum rumor!

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ThrillNetwork editor emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
Raptor ride count - 1,146.

hey i cant remember what show it was i think it was like a nova special or scientific american frontiers but they did a coaster special and they showed the building and opening day of DF and ron ____ cant remember his last name that designed some of the elements for DF and BTW B&M did nothing with DF if they had it wouldnt have been so rough when you rode it

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CYPRESS GARDENS ROCKS!!!!!
SHEIKRA KICKS BUTT:FIRST TIME 01/25/06

Toomer. Ron Toomer. He was the head of Arrow when they were tops in the industry.

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ThrillNetwork editor emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
Raptor ride count - 1,146.

Ron Toomer designed DF using bent wires (:rolleyes: ). B&M was not invlolved, as I was the person who sent them the email asking if they were involved. So yeah.


Drachen Fire is the main feature of an old Nova show called Roller Coasters, which is mostly about non-roller coasters (wtf?).

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