SAD & FAILED Coaster Closed FOREVER, but Why? | Meet Busch Garden’s Williamsburg’s Drachen Fire!
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- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2024
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What’s going on guys and welcome back to the channel! For today’s start question I wanted to ask you what the best Arrow coaster you’ve ridden is? For me it’s an easy answer X2 - but for any of you enthusiasts who enjoy history, you’ll know Arrow had many other innovative and cool designs, often forgotten or lost to time. And of these comes one today that, though not forgotten, certainly left it’s mark in the amusement world and remains one of the most infamous coasters to date. With 6 inversions, later 5, today’s coaster was notorious for being the design of its time, but failed to provide a good ride experience, and ended up closing after less than a decade of operation. Furthermore, it went through multiple design changes, many of which did little to improve its condition, and it is now stuck as a block in history. So what is it? What happened? And where did it come from? This is the story, of Busch Garden’s Williamsburg’s, Drachen Fire! 🔥🎢
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• Drachen Fire At Busch ... (CoasterNick3157)
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I LOVED Drachenfire. I remember being able to walk on over and over in the mid-90s. I loved the creative inversions and that the first drop was unique because it went right into an inversion. I went on it so much that I can still remember the station master droning on in a monotone voice, all the words running together before each train left the station. “Keep your arms and hands inside the ride at all times and enjoy your ride on the seething flames of the Drachenfire.” 😂
I loved this coaster. 20 times in one day I think was my record. This is the ride that triggered the enthusiast in me. I would love to see Mack Rides, or Intamin rebuild this ride with transition changes but keep the layout. A high capacity looper is the missing link in BGW.
Interesting opinion I have, this is the coaster that changed coaster technology. This was a colossal failure for Arrow and the old guard. leading to Alan Shilke taking over, giving us X2. Tennessee Tornado, and the rise of RMC designs. If DF is a hit with the GP because of design, smoothness, innovation (hypothetically), then the coaster landscape would have changed forever. Maybe no Wildfire, or Hulk, maybe the floorless trains never get developed. The ultimate failure of Drachen Fire is a pivotal moment in coaster history. IMHO!
I loved it was so sad when it left.
I rode Drachen Fire opening season one day and got a day and night ride on it, my family and I loved it! I also loved how the trains lite up at night with the red christmas lights they used on it.
I rode it when it first opened and it was great. The hang-time at the top of the first hill-roll-combo was amazing. The open design of the cars was really revolutionary at the time. I think we rode it at least ten times that day. I don't remember it being excessively rough, just the transitions being intense. Have fond memories of this coaster.
I was a teenager when Drachenfire opened and I got well over 100 rides on it. To me, it wasn’t as bad as everyone tries to make it seem... I actually enjoyed it. It had an interesting layout, the inversion on the drop was unique, the airtime hill was great and had good g-forces, overall it was an intense ride... I think it was similar to I305, where it was just too intense for most people.
100% agree.
I didn’t find it to be rough
@@bmoremetal I rode it with friends 14 times in a row one day. The park was slow and getting close to closing, the operator just let us stay on.
I rode it back in the day, and I loved the layout. Shame it wasn't as smooth as it could have been.
Drachen fire is definitely my most sought after defunct credit. I love the unique layout, design, and elements that it had and the story behind it is just as if not more interesting.
It was one of my favorite rides there! I use to go there for 2 days every August. The last year it was there I got on it eight times the first day. Nine times the last day. There was very rarely a line. The guy in the loading area; finally just said are you planning on riding it again. If no one was there just stay in the seat. It was great!
Sounds great!!!
Great video! I've ridden Adventure Express, Vortex, and The Bat which are Arrows as well. And each at least 3 times a piece.
I was a teenager when I rode. I loved it. Little rough but handle it.
I rode it when I was very young on a road trip and it was indeed VERY rough. the scale of it was awe inspiring for me at the time because I had never been up close to a big ride like that. I thought Vekoma boomerangs were a big deal at that age. It was definitely a cool ride but I had an excruciating headache for the rest of the day. big bad wolf was my favorite ride of the day.
Best Arrow Dynamics coaster still in existence is unquestionably Magnum 200XL at Cedar Point. Rode in again on Wednesday, and wow.
For honorable mention, Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood. It’s not fully Arrow, but that second drop through Thunderbolt is flat out insane. This would be number one, unquestionably, had Arrow done the redesign and removed the loops, which were painful to many. World Class Coaster.
Also an honorable mention is Desperado in Primm Nevada. We rode it new, so maybe the
roughness came later.
The Bat at Kings Island is a good second place: A truly great family coaster.
And I’d give third to Magic Mountain’s Ninja. For a terrain coaster, the suspended element backs for many near misses. This one is FUN!
I'm lucky to have drachen fire credits before and after loop removal. I was just bigbenough to ride it as a kid so I didn't get beaten up badly. I miss it.
B&M did NOT design Drachen Fire. It was all Arrow. It was documented in a VHS tape called “Roller Coaster!” produced by Nova. You can find it on youtube.
Proud to say I have this credit! And the original version of the ride too
I rode it many times over the years it was open. Yes, it was a little rough on places, but not much more than some other Arrow rides so I think that fact might be overblown. I loved it.
Also, if I'm remembering right, the trains had lights on the sides of the cars, which made for a great effect at night.
This was my favorite coaster for years!! It was rough though. This coaster thought me how to hold my head perfectly after a few ear stinging rides! There was never a line!
I am way too young to have ridden it, but Drachen Fire was my dad's favorite roller coaster. He said that he never thought it was rough either.
Road it in 94’. I was 8 years old. It was my 3rd roller coaster ever (Loch Ness was my first followed by Big Bad Wolf as my second).
Standing in line I was simultaneously awestruck and terrified. Prior to that day the most intense ride I’d ever been on was the Tilt-a-Whirl at the county fair. But I had already conquered the other 2 roller coasters at the park and I was ready to take on this monstrosity. My hazy memory was that it was super fun, super rough (didn’t know any better… I assumed roller coasters were supposed to beat the crap out of you), and that I could now ride anything since nothing on Earth could possibly be wilder than that.
It was a very special and fond memory. I remember being sad going to the park a few years later to see it closed down. Although the additions of Alpengeist and Apollo’s Chariot helped me get over the loss.
I’ll add that the following year I went to Kings Dominion and rode Anaconda thinking I’d get a similar experience. Drachen Fire was so much better despite the roughness.
There was nothing like Drachen Fire. It was so far ahead of its time. The first break hill was so epic. The near miss at the end was unreal. Just the look of it was amazing. It was an engineering spectacle. I rode it 13 times one day. It wasn't rough if you knew how to ride it. You just had to keep your head back.
Was definitely one of my favorites back in 1993.
I was lucky enough to ride this. I remember the station having no wait and being able to ride this 4xs in a row without getting out of my seat. Miss it so much.
Yes I know it's my fav. Little ones of 90sbirth will not ride it. Sad.
My wife and I rode it 16 times in a row ❤ that coaster!!!!
Was a great ride! But it was very painful! It was the first time I saw headache medicines being sold near a ride exit. I did not get to ride it before the removal of corkscrew though. I also love the trains and glad they were used on Canyon Blaster at Circus Circus since it is still operating.
I rode Drachen Fire back in the 90's. It's one coaster I always remember neat layout. I rode it many times that day at the park.
I was one of the first 50 people to get on. I used to have my receipt from the gift shop, because it was receipt number 5
My favorite Arrow Dynamics coaster is X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Yeah.. the problem with it was that B&M designed it, but Arrow forced the ride to fit their ride design parameters, and I think the style changes shrank the elements from their B&M size to the Arrow size, resulting in the beater it was. If B&M had built it as they were supposed to in their style, I really believe that Drachen Fire would be still standing and running today!
And I still believe BGW should have given B&M another shot at redoing Drachen Fire in their style "Return of the Drachen" or something like that.. ha ha ha
1. I rode it when it had the corkscrew after the MCBR.
2. I also recall that DF had a "no earrings" policy.
3. This was when Arrow lost it ....
rode this 12 times in a row without getting out... loved every minute of it.. granted I was still in my teens and could endure the beating.. funny thing is, I alsways thought they would take out the corkscrew further on facing into the station.. the transition was rough and would actually hear a knocking noise going into it... definately a roughride that was just to much for the general public
I remember riding it many times. Used to do mini marathons on it due to the lack of lines
Over 2 dozen rides that 1 day when we visited. There was a storm warning, and this was before some parks would go with the lightning within so many miles of the park, they shut down rules. Heading up the lift hill with my dad and we could see the lightning in the distance. Come back in the station and it was empty. They announced if no one was in your row you can just stay in seat. Never left those seats for many circuits. Really would like to see MACK tackle this recreation and some one needs to bring back the big bad wolf. BGW can just bring these 2 back and that would be fine.
I rode it when I was 10. I feel like if I was an adult it would have been better. Because I was so small my poor head knocked against the restraints while riding. The ride was pretty rough. But it was still cool! No regrets!
My favorite arrow is magnum at 15th, unless you wanna count phantoms revenge since they designed part of it, it’s at #4
That was a cool ride. It was rough but most Arrows were. Sad to see it go in 1998.
Oh,, one more thing.. words CAN NOT describe the uniqueness a AWE/ majestic scale... if a ride could describe how you would fly on the back of a drachen' / dragon 🐉.... thats what us human being can imagine, " it came to life".. the gravity of it all.. if you watch some of the videos of people on the batman loop of no gravity etc just for a millisecond * they scream but when hitting those back to back insane half loops they feel weightlessness, you CAN HEAR IT in their voice change they become immediately quite, you can hear their minds wonder what just happened, then they finally snap out of it an start remembering to scream! 🤣, yes, loved it, and I'll say this too.... even the most creative rides at Busch gardens live in the shadows of the , , ,drachen fire 🔥......
Thank you for making this video available for all us children who grew up witnessing the drachen fire and the big bad wolf 🐺,, those 2 rides are phenomenal and timeless.. ✌🏼
I rode it! 🙋🏻♀️ Many times!! I was just a kid, and I would ride it with my mom.
The thing I remember so vividly about it was the CRAZY signage for it!
We rode it toward the end of its life, after many people had complained. So, they had SEVERAL signs posted in bold letters warning about how rough the coaster was, and how you had to take your earrings out to ride it. Yes- your earrings. And the ride ops actually checked to make sure you weren’t wearing earrings! It was bizarre to me, and it’s the only coaster I’ve ever ridden where they did that.
Of course, I also remember vividly how much neck and ear pain I had when I got off of it. So, the earring thing makes sense. But I’d never seen that before or since.
This would've been my rarest credit as a child. I got all the way to the station from the que and had a family member come get to tell that we were leaving for the day smh.
I enjoyed this ride. It was interesting for its time. And, it could be disorienting and very intense. The trains were amazing as they felt very open and were comfortable. The only downside to this ride was the transition issues. I never did understand why they got rid of the second loop. Reprofiling the entrances to the loop and other elements would have solved most of the problems.
Could you break it down for me what you mean by ‘transition issues’? I’ve heard multiple say this about the ride but I’m curious what that means? Are there certain parts of the ride that are considered transitions? Thanks!
Sure! Transitions are the areas of track in between elements such as vertical loops, corkscrews, cut backs, etc. This also includes entry into and exit track from elements. Arrow roller coasters are infamous for horrible entrances into loops causing head banging into over the shoulder restraints. I'm also under the impression that Arrow coaster track was hand bent rather than created only by machine.
@@scottscharmann5214 Omg thank you so much for that info! 🙏🏾 And hand bent!? No way! That’s crazy! How’d they manage do that?
I am a huge Arrow fan but I sadly never got to experience two of their largest looping coasters---Drachen Fire and Orient Express---I have a hard time believing Drachen Fire was as bad as many people say. I'm sure it was rough but was it intolerably rough? To answer the question at the start of the video, "What is the best Arrow coaster you have ridden?" Shockwave was certainly the best of all the Arrow Loopers that I rode and then overall Magnum is their best coaster. Shockwave was rough but I loved it and could deal with the wildly intense ride so I feel like I would have really liked Drachen Fire. I can't say for sure of course but after reading many of the comments for this video I bet it would have been similar to the intensity of Shockwave. They were comparable in size and speed (Shockwave: 170ft, 65 mph, 7 inversions. Drachen Fire: 150ft, 60mph, 6 inversions). However, whether I would have enjoyed it or not, it is always sad to see a unique, ambitious coaster with such a short life span.
That layout is incredible though. Still think it was better than Kumba based on the layout though. They wanted a b&m but they were too busy working on Kumba and other coasters like Vortex, so I believe B&M designed it and Arrow built it, resulting in Drachen Fire.
I rode Drachen Fire several times in succession on one memorable day and it was (1) really exciting and fun, and (2) very painful and left me sore after. And there was this period when I actually called it my favorite coaster, because the layout was so fun. But I didn't have a lot of experience with big modern loopers at the time, and I thought they were just all like that now, which meant I was reluctant to ride them for years, because I thought I'd have to be in a mood to stand having my head banged around like that.
It was only years later that I realized Drachen Fire had been considered a notorious failure and was not typical at all. But reading about its history and fate, over a decade after actually riding it, was one of the things that got me into online coaster fandom and by extension got me riding coasters again.
I'm sure B&M could have done fine with it. It would have resembled their other big multi-loopers.
I love the dragonfire even though my home park is Hershey park I only got to ride this ride twice and both times I heard it it was on the same day and I had food poisoning I actually missed this coaster even though it was a little rough but I loved it
Very unique fun layout but rough. Same bruising and banging like Corkscrew at CP today...
There are documentaries and interviews with Ron Toomer about the design of Drachen Fire.Check out Defunctland's channel. Defunctland produces the best theme park documentaries.
I rode it. I loved it. The transition out of the block brake into the corkscrew was rough though.
I don't remember it being a bad ride. I do remember riding multiple times as their was no line. I don't think the location helped though. I seem to recall the coaster being tucked away in the back and there was nothing else around it. Once you were done with it, there was nothing to bring you back to that part of the park.
I remember marathoning this ride on a slow spring day with my brother. It coulda been the best, but man did it become a rough ride quick. I don't think I'll ever get over them taking this down 😫
When i was little, Drachen Fire was a dream coaster of mine, i had met a woman who had ridden it and she got severe whiplash from it!
I rode this one time as a kid. I’m pretty sure I was only 6 years old. I was an unseasoned roller coaster rider, so I didn’t know how to ride defensively and it ended up beating the shit out of me. Luckily it didn’t traumatize me to the point of me not living roller coasters.
I rode it when it first opened and I just recall the cars being very odd and slightly uncomfortable, I left thinking that was an odd ride overall. Didn't really every make me want to ride more than a few times.
I don't miss this ride at all. I rode it once back in 1997 and that was enough. I will, however, forever miss BBW and rode that many times over that visit. Yes, Alpengeist had just opened and it is a good ride but the nostalgia of BBW was too much of a draw. X2 is my favorite Arrow coaster and can't get enough of it when I'm in California. This ride had great potential if only Arrow used the riders' heart instead of the trains as the center of gravity. I imagine that had B&M constructed it that it would be on par with Kumba in terms of smoothness and ride quality. Nearly 30 years on and I still enjoy that ride.
I rode it. It was very shaky. My neck beat back and forth between the harness. Maybe the supports were loose. Other than that it was cool coaster. Lots of loops.
Never rode it but it looked more intense than Busch Gardens Tampa's Python
Drachen Fire is simply just an example of why you should never try to act like someone who is better than you.
Clearly Arrow tried too hard to mimic B&M with this coaster, and they failed miserably. The sad part is, the land where Drachen Fire sat on is still empty to this day, and it’s unknown as to whether or not BGW plans to build a coaster there.
Perhaps a MACK Xtreme Spinner can take Drachen Fire’s place?
As a kid,,, walking up to the fire, ,
Seeing that massive double loop type deal,, ws extremely scary intimidating man.. even now knowing the rides out here now,,, shit!!! The as we called. It as kids the DRAGON FIRE 🔥,, still was one of the greatest rides I believe ever existed for a sit down in cart ride.. EVER!!.
ABSOLUTELY 💯 💯 💯 POSITIVELY INSANITY AND AMAZINGLY GREAT!.
SIDE NOTE: YES,, IT DID BEAT THE HELL OUTTA YA! 🤣
Magnum!!!
There’s no coaster pain like drachen fire pain. Rode it anyways though lolol
I rode this ride quite a bit as a kid when I was was really young I could lock my legs against the see in front of me and it would hold my head still as the ride got older and I did too I could not do that I had one ear pierced and the one time I went on it push the earring through my ear it was so rough
I rode it opening year. It was amazing, until you rode Kumba,lol
If this was made by B&M this would definitely still be standing and one of the best B&M loopers with that layout.
This coaster was notorious for receiving negative reviews from critics!
What’s up with those trains tho, are they vekoma? Compared to arrow’s other 90s loopers, they really stick out.
This does look like a b&m design. I always thought it looked a little different for an arrow coaster
In the words of theme park crazy “should have gotten a b&m” which was the plan looking back the parks should have waited the ride would have still been open today
I rode it and it was snapping my neck once and done
This coaster was such a let down. It needed a drop really bad. There was no airtime, and the so-called airtime hill was a dud. It should have been steeper. Too many slow inversions. I rode it numerous times because there was never a line for it. It was nice and tall, but it was just not good. It was slow like Anaconda, but in fairness, it was a little faster than that. I’m loving the research that I’m reading about, because it mysteriously disappeared. So sad.
This coaster caused vision blackouts in two separate areas,
Download "G's" were tremendous,, several family members agreed and we all tried over and over...🤗
If only B&M wasnt busy
Dude I know. If B&M had built it it would still be there like Kumba.
Have you done a vid about Alpengeist?
Built by Ron toomer
I don't care about the hate I'm about to get...Arrow has no excuse for their terrible track work and transitions. Other companies like Schwarzkopf operated without computers and were able to get it right. Arrow themselves did great track work on their suspended rides. You can visibly see the jank and bumps in the track here. And that's after they've been doing the exact same types of rides and elements for three decades?!
Hi, could you explain to me what the transitions are on this ride? I’ve heard several people talk about this on the drachen fire but it hasn’t made sense to me. Would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
@@joshuamwamlima sure thing! The transitions are just those moments in between elements. So if the ride goes straight and then makes a turn, Arrow rides will abruptly, aggressively and forcefully throw you into the turn. It can even be painful. On several of their rides it will be very painful on the way into a corkscrew, but then when you're in the corkscrew, even if you're doing three in a row, it might be quite comfortable because there are no transitions, you're just rolling in a smooth continuous motion. Then at the end of the corkscrew you're thrown painfully into a hill that's banked to the right for some reason even though the turn doesn't start until you're all the way at the top.
Schwartzkopf is really the perfect comparison. They're from the same time frame, but their turns are (sort-of) as elegant and smooth as modern rides.
@@mithramusic5909 Omg thank you so much for that insight! My love for drachen fire, even tho I never got to ride it, is opening a door for me to learn so much about roller coasters in general and see that there’s a community out there just as enthusiastic about this stuff as I am! Appreciate the feedback
I didn’t find it to be rough
The real reason why the ride failed was due to it's location within the park. It was in an odd area and not very easy to find even with the aid of a park map.
Also B&M were never involved in the development for this particular project as it was strictly an arrow dynamics design from initial concept to finished product. B&M had yet to exist as an independent design company at the time that this coaster was designed as back in the late 80s and early 90s it still took several years to design a major coaster like this one was.
I thought it was a fun coaster.
Demon at six flags great America Chicago
Ooof! My neck just stiffened just reading the name of the coaster in this upcoming video! I rode Drachenfire, had to be the WORST coaster I’ve ever rode😑
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