It seems like Busch Gardens Williamsburg hasn't had very good luck with it's coasters. It was rumored that Drachen Fire was supposed to be built by B&M, instead of Arrow, which eventually led to its demise. Today, we can put that rumor to rest, as false.
However, I have heard here and there that Big Bad Wolf was originally designed by Schwarzkopf. From what I understand, about half of the ride had been designed, when Arrow had to take over for some reason. Is this true?
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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
True. Have a look; http://www.coasterglobe.com/features/history-suspended/index.cfm
I'm waiting patiently to see what their next coaster will be like. Alpengeist & Apollo's Chariot look amazing & the next one could be the same or better.
That's wierd. Especially since I heard BBW was the next to go. I don't think that Schwarkopf had anything to do with it. I may be wrong.
I heard the same thing about DF. They wanted a B&M where the first loop would go around the lift hill. However, B&M had not yet perfected this so Arrow built the new coaster.
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Yep, like I said before, that rumor has been put to rest. Apparently, someone has a document signed by B&M saying that they had nothing to do with Drachen Fire.
It really makes me wonder what Big Bad Wolf would have been life if it had been built by Schwarzkopf. It's actually kind of sad to think that the best Arrow suspeded wasn't even designed by Arrow at all. I guess they just weren't very creative back then. It would have been nice if the Schwarzkopf suspended coasters were built. If they would have been like BBW, they would obviously be alot better than today's Arrow suspended coasters. Imagine if XLR-8 or Iron Dragon had been desgined by Schwarzkopf. I'd be willing to bet that the complaints those rides get about being boring wouldn't exist.
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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
*** This post was edited by CoasterKrazy on 12/24/2002. ***
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« adix@nedesigns.com »
Elitch Gardens for Busch Gardens...
Think it over...
I'd trade the entire park(SFEG) just to have Alpe as a parking lot coaster!!!
There is only one minor part that B&M comes into play with Drachen Fire. Anheuser-Busch had requested for B&M to install a mega looper at BGW just as they were doing at BGT with Kumba. B&M, however, was not prepared to take on this task with all of their current projects.
Which I can understand since the company was just starting to branch off on its own and had around half-dozen projects at the time(including the first inverted coaster)
Anheuser-Busch turned to Arrow Dynamics to build BGW a megalooper instead. The problem here was that Anheuser-Busch wanted Arrow to recreate many of the same elements that B&M had to offer. Arrow faced the challenge of (re)creating the unique elements that B&Ms featured with the limitations of their track.
The Diving corkscrew is one of many "failed" attempts on Drachen Fire. It was meant to make up for the sensation of the zero-g-roll. Though a unique and distorting inversion, it did not give the same effect as B&M's zero-g-roll.
Another one was the boomerang, or as Arrow Dynamics called the batwing. A rough but thrilling element. The stress one the track is something that was not taking into account as should during plans, and after short operation the Arrow batwing had to be restructured.
Arrow's modest attempts at adding the wild transitions and fast paced inversions did not fare well either. After the 97' season, the "whiplash" corkscrew was removed.
Now, since Drachen Fire is gone, why not call up B&M and build the sit down looper that BGW should have gotten in the first place?
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