What should BGW do with Draken Fire?

It's lain dormant for years. What would you do with this coaster?

Sell it to PKD and put the horsecollar restraints from the new 4D coaster on it.


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Veni, vidi, coasteri!
(2000 - PKD, Dollywood, SFA, BGW)

Lay it to rest with Steel Phantom. Build a CCI woodie in the spot at BGW. They need a woodie, BAD!

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"X" marks the spot in 2001!

I'd like to seem them fix it up or have another park buy it. Somthing should be done with it its a big pile of money just sitting there rusting away.

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

AOL & MSN IM Name: coasterpunk

If BGW doesnt do something with it ie. redo trains etc. id like to see another park preferably east coast buy it! I thought the ride was awsome I never really understood what the problem was. It was no rougher than the Annaconda at PKD IMO. New restraints might do the trick,thats the only thing I noticed,some head banging, still nothing compared to OLFF,Jokers Jinx.

I'm going to buy it....I'm saving my pennies

Open it, if they can get inssurence, or sell it quickly. I would really love to ride it again.
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Everybody calm down, the coasters do not open for another fifteen minutes.

I heard that there insurance company will not cover the ride for some reason.im sure that they just cant go out and get another insurance company just to cover drakon fire,it would probably be an outrages amount.i have never been to bgw,but i am planning on it soon.i too hope this ride opens soon.i would love to ride it.

Someone call Loyds (Lords?) of London don't they insure anything. I heard Gene Simmions from KISS has his tounge insured for a few million with them. ;)
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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

AOL & MSN IM Name: coasterpunk

Well, it's been on the market for a long period of time now.

I got to ride it in 1994. I can't recall whether or not that was before or after the removal of the one corkscrew. Evan after my first ride I thought it was too intense for a novice coaster rider. It deserves a black diamond by the entrance.

I can also see BGW not wanting to sell it to a nearby park, who could restore it, retheme it, and use it against them. If it gets resold I would assume that there will be a significant amount of miles between it and BGW. (I wonder if its the type of ride Jack Falfas would like in his park?) Unfortunately I either see it being stealthfully removed and discarded, or sold off to the Coaster Waste Disposal known as South America. 9the land where unwanted coasters seem to go)

I would think it waould be an embarasement to the park to have an abandoned coaster rotting away in your park.


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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

South America seems like the Island of Misfit Toys on the old Rudolph Christmas shows for coasters. ;)

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

AOL & MSN IM Name: coasterpunk

SBNO in a operating park usually indicates litigation. From what I have gleaned from past postings nobody seems to know the reasons for it being idle. Was there an accident? Did their insurance underwriter pull the plug on it? Were there design problems,structural or mechanical? Busch isn't talking,and neither is Arrow.

I've heard everything from lack of ridership due it's location to it being to rough, intense, garbage, crappy, junky, headbanging,__________, (fill in the blank) etc. Wasn't it just closed in mid 99? If it was I only missed riding it by like two months. :(

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

AOL & MSN IM Name: coasterpunk

From what I have been able to gleen out of conversations and posting, the ride was closed due to low ridersahip, for which BGW takes responsobility for because they put the entrence it a lousy place(I know because I got to talk with one of the general manegers at the MACC Screamfest in October), complaints about roughness as they did have to remove on corckscrew, though that was not the the rough part, and the inability to get their inssurence carrier to cover a new maintenece contract of the steel after the original company, be they Arrow or whomever, went bankrupt. Sad story, but here's hoping it has a happy ending as it is a great ride.:)
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Everybody calm down, the coasters do not open for another fifteen minutes.

I dunno... finding Alpengeist was pretty hard coming from the area around Loch Ness Monster, which is particularly frustrating when it's taunting you from all angles. It wasn't immediately obvious to us that you had to pass under that building across from the carousel. Still, people find it and ride it. I don't think the hidden entrance caused the ride's downfall.

A rough ride gets a reputation and people don't ride. Steel Phantom was in the middle of Kennywood, and not popular at all. I suspect that perhaps Drachen Fire had the same reputation. You know it's bad news when you reprofile it and people still aren't crazy about it.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I think it is obvious that BGW does not want it. Personally, I would re-construct the second half of the ride with a new layout and open it again. But, I think it will be torn down and sold at a bargain price. With the bad reputation, who is going to pay big bucks for it? Honestly, if BGW was going to keep it, they would have done something with it by now.

Also, I agree with Jeff. I don't think the location hurt it. When you are in the Germany section by The Big Bad Wolf, it's obvious were to go to ride it. But it was an unsual location at the time since the park had plenty of land.

The park wants $4.5 mill for it. Thats how much it was bought for... if they knocked the price down to $2 mill, and had it taken down for the potential buyer, you can bet your lucky stars it would get sold quickly. Its so much a hassel, because ARROW weld their coasters, instead or bolting them. So, once the ride is bought, carefully taken down, repainted, shipped and reinstalled, you are talking an amount of $8+ mill. for a 6 year old ride with a bad rep. Thats a bad investment

I would redesign the train as well.

There you go BGW.

Drachen Fire was welded? I thought (apparently incorrectly) that it was one of the first Arrows to be bolted together. Top Gun at PKI was bolted the very next year.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Don't look at me; I don't know whether Drachen Fire is welded or bolted :). I do know that Arrow has several different styles of bolt-together track, none of which uses the Vekoma rail-bolts.

Another issue with the location of Drachen Fire, besides its off-the-beaten-track entrance, is that prior to the installation of Apollo's Chariot (which has some great views across the park from the lift hill), Drachen Fire is really only visible from BBW and from the train. It's not like Alpengeist or Loch Ness Monster where, even if you have no idea where the entrance is, you can at least see the ride and go looking for it. You could easily spend the day at BGW and never even notice that big blue-and-silver roller coaster so long as you're inside the park...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Of course, I may be wrong.

"I once thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken"