Added: 4 years ago
From: Gshoven
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  • i wish i could've rode this :(

  • Hmm my dad used to tell me it was rough ride but i still wanna ride it

  • I rode on this ride in '94. It was a rough ride. I still loved it though. It was a very fun Unique roller coaster. It is a shame when one is taken down.

  • Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present to you... THE most original Arrow designed coaster EVERRRR!!

  • I rode this not too long before it was closed forever and didn't think it was that rough, It was exciting! Of course at that time BGW was only the second park I had ever been too (after Carowinds), so of course it was exciting....lol

    

  • I went on this ride in 1992

  • Comment removed

  • I remember seeing this from the train when i was like 8 years old. It looked awesome but it wasnt open. Maybe that's when it closed :/

  • i have been on rougher arrows than this ... i wish they would have kept it

  • @hoopsnyoyo15 i havent lol

  • I remember talking a friend into getting on the ride and they warned not to have post earings on but who really listens to that. She didn't take her earrings out so the back posts dug into behind her ears and started bleeding.

  • very rough ride

  • The roughest areas seems to be right out of the corkscrews where there are bent turns. I can imagine that would have really banged your head

  • yeahh i can see how it would have been to jerky for the average person to ride. Ive seen this taken out, wild maus taken out, alpengeist, apollo's chariot, and griffon put in, the big bad wolf and the lamons cars taken out and now mach tower is going in. Williamsburg native!!

  • i dont see how this was rough at all .....i have been on rougher coasters than this and they are still standing

  • Gotta love gravity.

  • Same layout but w/ B&M Track & Trains, this ride would rock

  • @skibum101184 You read my mind. Make it a floorless too.

  • Me want to ride NOW!!! 

  • Ron "It's Not A" Toomer - coat hanger roller coaster engineer.

    Extreme Thrills on VHS - I remember them.

  • Drachen was somewhat original - Busch ordered 2 B&M's at the same time (discount) - Kumba for Tampa & Drachen Fire for Williamsburg. B&M was a fledgling company and couldn't complete both in the same timeframe - so Busch took DF's blueprints to Arrow and "sub-contracted" Drachen out. Needless to say, both coasters were done with one being superior and still standing (Kumba) - the other, while very intense, is sadly no more. The thing about DF - if U knew how to ride it you were ok. I miss it

  • @thepillkillz agreed. It was only really rough if you rode in the middle.  I rode anaconda at Kings dominion not to long ago and it was as rough if not worse than I remember DF but it's still standing.

  • B&M should remake this coaster. The coaster's track is far too twisted for Arrow and Ron Toomer. I know B&M made the blueprint.

  • Drachen Fire was the first large rollercoaster I liked.

    Loch Ness Monster and Big Bad Wolf scared me though and turned me off to them until I went on Millenium Force 3 years ago.

    Then I kinda broke, and since then I haven't been afraid of rollercoasters, although I have preferences that define whether I'll do so much as go near them or not.

    I like inverting coasters, I'm not a big fan of freefall, and Kingda Ka is nowhere near as bad as you'd think for 456 ft.

  • @Hoshimaru57 You were scared of Big Bad Wolf and Loch Ness, but then jumped all the way up to Millennium Force? That is a big jump lol

  • @Picklesthedrummer7 Yeah, it was also a tme gap of about 10 years between them, in which I thought rollercoasters were awesome, but wouldn't go on them.

    Enough RCT, 2, and 3, and specials and I was fired up with legends of the rollercoaster mecca Cedar Point, so I didn't care how scared I'd be, I went when the chance came.

    Now my favorite rides are: Mantis, Bizzaro (NJ), and Nitro.

  • cutbacks are my favorite inversions :D

  • No it wasnt. The metal for the supports was supplied in Switzerland where it was actually manufactured. They didnt ship scrap metal all the way there to put it in the supports.

  • Whats a drachen?

  • worst coaster ever! it beat the daylights out of you you couldn't even try to hold your head still guess they finally got the picture after enough complaints still amazing how much bigger and better things get over the years though...

  • Actually, unfortunately drachen fire was turned into scrap metal. Griffon has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this ride. Completely different manufacturer, completely different type of ride, completely different area. The only thing somewhat the same is the color of paint they painted griffon.

  • @CPmillenia94 Drachen fire was melted into supporta for griffon

  • So somehow, Griffon has a little bit of Drachen Fire in it.. Hehe.. Drachen Fire lives on... :((((

  • they melted this into supports for griffoonnn

  • Sad they took this down

  • This bastard is where it's supposed to be now. Doing it's job supporting Griffon!

  • @FortisBong Correct.

  • They really should have kept this ride, but maybe have invested in a better seat.. or given everyone helmets and neck supports. Lol.

  • it was indeed melted down and is part of the griffon today.

  • I loved the DF and would ride it at least twice every time I'd visit BGW. When peeps complained about the slamming of heads and ears dealt by this thrill ride I used to say, "Whatever! Drachen Fire makes your neck stronger."

  • People are wussies...i rode this I don't know how many times...no headaches, no nothing. Sad that they demolished this coaster b/c idiots can't handle an aggressive thrill ride.

  • Drachen Fire was a rough ride dude, lol! Almost snapped my friend Brandy's head clean off her shoulders, haha.

  • Did anyone notice that color for griffon is the same? :D

  • @bandman232 thats cause they melted down the drachen fire and made it into the griffon

  • @bandman232 uh no griffon is a darker shade of blue :P

  • @WarPig120 Umm yeah they mixed colors to give it a new AWESOME blueish color just because its a different color then the griffon doesnt mean they didnt melt down the Drachen Fire to build the Griffon

  • @ZombiePlatypus1 i doubt that they would use that old crap metal, but then again ur right u could melt it down and make it better and build it into the griffon i suppose

  • I liked this ride. Except for the fact that you could not ride it a bunch of times in one day. We used to take a bottle of aspirin with us to the park, because after we rode this once we had to take a couple.

  • I do remember this ride being rather jerky. And the seats were definitely uncomfortable. From what I remember, you legs were kinda locked in place, leaving you with very limited mobility. Having to sit in that locked position with your knees closer to your chest than normal made for an uncomfortable ride.

  • This was the crappy version of Kumba

  • @Hieagandaus This is nothing compared to Kumba.

  • i never got to go on becuz it was taken out be4 the first time i went due to many severe injuries that were caused by this coaster. seemed harmless 2 me, but i guess not.

  • SNAPE KILL DUMBLEDORE

  • this seemed like an awesum ride

  • Hey I own this on VHS.

  • why why did they take you away from us?!

  • i wanna say aplelegentist replaced that ride......

  • @scenicBMX Nope.  They were both there at the same time. I should know....I rode them both the year Alpengeist opened.

  • I remember riding this back when it had first come out, and I road it about three times - I swear I felt like I needed spinal surgery afterward. Loved this ride, but the twists in it were rough!

  • @CopyboyVideo Thats why it was removed. The coaster was originally a B&M design. Sort of a Sister to Kumba, but B&M was busy working on the first Batman the Ride, so they gave their design to Arrow, and Arrow's coasters aren't as good with Twisted designs, hence the pain, and quick removal from the park.

  • This ride looked like so much fun. I saw it SBNO when I went to Busch in 2001. I wish they could get another company, (cough) B&M to rebuild the ride with the same layout. They make the smoothest coasters.

  • ha, i used to own the vhs tape this clip is from. It came with 3d glasses that didn't work at all.

  • Very unique ride! Its a pain how they didn't keep it up and try to modify it! They could have got bigger trains so people had more free moving space in the seats!

  • too bad the ride was closed when i was only 2 years old

  • haha i have this video. i watched it like, daily as a kid. (yes i had a very wierd childhood)

  • @eblekj Looool, dont worry, you are not the only one XD

  • The title of this video says Drachen Fire, Busch Gradens Europe. Am I remembering things differently from when I was young, as I thought I rode this coaster at Busch Gardens in Virginia. Is there a Drachen Fire in Europe as well?

  • busch gardens europe is the name of the one in virginia it is themed to europe

  • Ahh, I see. When I was there it was simply called Busch Gardens: The Old Country, and the one in Florida was called Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent.

  • This was one of my favorite rides before I was tall enough to ride Alpengeist. It'd be really cool if B&M or Intamin were to resurrect it, keeping the original design while allowing for a smoother ride experience.

  • Funny enough, this ride was originally supposed to be built by B&M!

  • that would be so cool if it was built by them. if it had been, it'd probably still be open.

  • Indeed, they contracted B&M to build two coasters for them, unfortuantely since they were a relatively new company, they said they could only build one (Kumba at the other Busch Gardens park) and the other ride was given to Arrow to build...

  • ouch...not the best choice, but i guess they were the only ones who could do it. i suppose vekoma could've, but...oh, i don't even wanna go there... *shudders*

  • It would have lasted an even shorter time if Vekoma had built it.... LOL

  • i wonder how many people would've died if vekoma did

  • At least 20, and everyone else would live but sustain severe head injuries.

  • hah, i remember a guy in a video that was on tv that rode this and when the ride pulled into the station and stopped, he said something along the lines of it being scary and how he was waiting for someone to come get him because he broke his some of his vertebrae. he seemed serious about it, or the video just cut off too early. anyway, the point is vekoma = veCOMA!

  • That's from E's Theme Parks A-Go-Go, he wasn't serious, you see him walking around and stuff after that clip.

  • dang it, i knew it! that dirty rotten liar! anyway, the point is, riders would probably still be in a coma if vekoma had built it.

  • Indeed, I said they'd be alive. I never said anything about them being concious. XD

  • in that case, no one should be complaining about pain. that first drop would've knocked them out cold, and the rest of the ride would be smooth sailing.

  • @MinkyBoodle44 this is an Arrow Coaster.

  • @jamesthemaniac i know, we were just joking about what would've happened if another company had built it

  • Drachen Fire was one ride I will never forget. It was a ride that turned you every which way and never let up. I will miss it always but was glad to have enjoyed it for the years it was open. Nice video too of it.

  • Poor Arrow.............

  • @thrill124 what do you mean?

  • can someone tell me why they closed this down?

  • probably because it was too rough and less people were riding it

  • Drachen Fire was behind the Festhaus from a path attached to what is called the special events area I believe. You can see where it stood and the path people took to it on Google Earth. The path has a train crossing, and you can still see the loading and leaving building for the coaster (I think). It was close neighbors with The Big bad Wolf.

  • @mattmrss yeah its station is still standing i think, they use it as a storage building though.

  • what "country" was this in like apollo's chariot is italy i never got to ride this :(

  • As an employee of Busch Gardens, the real reson they took Drachen Fire down was because the jerkness of the train back and forth on the track resulting in your head hitting the harness back and forth. a person had a head injury cause of this and after that the ride was permanatly shut down.

  • Nope. They use the open plot of land for hallow-scream now. Griffon is located in France where Le Mans Raceway used to be.

  • Ah okay. I thought I saw some stuff that looked like some of the shops near Griffon, and even this ride's que station looks kinda like Griffon's.

  • wow you are retarded

  • Comment removed

  • Griffon replaced the le manns raceway. the spot were drachen fire set is empty. the have Halloscream activities there now.

  • i wish that was still there why did they take it out

  • According to the wiki on the ride, it was demolished due to poor construction. Apparently the trains were poorly designed and the center of gravity wasn't where it should have been, which caused people to get whiplash and also created intense G-forces on peoples' hearts. Supposedly it got a lot of complaints about how shaky and unstable the ride was.

  • It was too rough. And people had bad exposure of the gravity on there hearts. First of all.. They changed the seating. Then they Took it off. Because the carts werent designed right and it was just plain out too rough. I've personally never been on it but i belive Alpengeist took its place. And alpengeist is the best rollercoaster in this world. i've been on over a dozen times! Its so smooth. and so thrilling. If you haven't trued it.. and love thrill and smoothness..go for it! :)

  • No, Alpengeist didn't take it's place, but did come after. This ride was at Busch Gardens one year I went in the last 90s, but was not operating. It wasn't even on the park map. I've read on forums that the park tried to sell it, but no one showed interest and it was scrapped for the metal. You scan see the open land still during the Halloween fest where it used to sit. They do haunted houses back there.

  • My mistake. Sorry. But thats just what i Have been told.

  • No actually. People have there own oppions. And i personally think that this one is the best. So please keep your own oppion to yourself. If it is somewhat rude.

    Have a good day.

  • looks smooth, but rough...byebye drachen fire byebye

  • Someonece, UR A COMPLETE IDOT. DO U REALLY THINK U KNOW MORE ABOUT THE COASTER THAN THE ACTUAL DESIGNER? MAN U NEED TO GO TO KUMON OR SOMETHING. MANN UR DUMB

  • and he said the corkscrew was 150 ft above the ground

    no its not

  • this guy dosnt have a brain dosnt know a thing about coasters

    he said the 1st inversion was haf a corkscrew uh thats a full corkscrew!

    dumbass

  • Thats Ron Toomer, the designer of this coaster.

  • The 150 ft. figure may have been a slight exaggeration (the coaster is 150 ft. tall, so the corkscrew in the air is slightly lower), but he considered a "corkscrew" to be the standard Arrow TWO inversion corkscrew found on most of their rides. In fact I think this is the ONLY Arrow ride to contain a 1-inversion corkscrew, called by Toomer a "half corkscrew". In fact it had 3 of these when the ride opened.

  • i agree it was a full corkscrew

  • OMG! I had this video as a kid! I remember that weird intro and the old guy talking!

  • I would also like to add that "Golden Ticket" consistently seem to basically forget Europe.

  • Comment removed

  • Sad I never got to ride it. My sis did. She goes to all the amusement parx. Stop saying that Kings Doninion is better than BG VA. I'm sure they both have great rides and coasters. I went to BG Orlando before Sheikra was built. So now that place has 3 good coasters. Python and Scorpion are lame don't waste your time in line. Wish they had Drachen Fire there. At least I got to watch this video. Thanks for upload, and memories for the ones that rode it.

  • What replaced this?

  • why did they take it down?

  • it was dangerous

  • One of the best coasters I've been on. The inversion at the top of the first drop was great. Got on this thing 18 times in one day, in a row. Sometimes just passing through the station because noone was in line. Traffic at the park that day was very low.

  • 90's.

  • There is something in it`s spot,but only decorations for their annual Halloween-showcase.

  • fuck you

  • definately

  • Comment removed

  • I never said it was going to be destroyed moron. I said the new owners are not wanting the park and they have talked about destroying it. Never said that there going through with it but it has been talked about. And mother fucker you ain't shit so get over your lame ass self fagot. And take your broke back mountain bitch with you, you two rednecks belong together. So go rot in that trailer park of yours you toothless inbred crack head white trash bastards.

  • And try telling your wiki story to the original owners of BG an they will laugh at your aboo ass. Pluss BG is no longer owned by its original people and the new owners of Anheuser Busch want to destroy the park. Cause all they want is the brewing and not the theme park. So Trust me I know all about what is real and waht is fake at least I don't get my shit from wiki and try and pretend its truth. Unlike you I know that Drachen fire was In VA Not Tampa So fuck off aboo.

  • whyd they remove it?

  • Drachen Fire was taken down because of the fact riders were getting hurt. The dimentions of the ride made for a rough ride your head was slamed in to the hard backs of the seats and it would hurt the hell out of your neck. A few people even suffered whiplash. It was a kool ride that just needed to be fixed and that was it. But BG just didn't want to deal with fixing it so the moved on and sold the parts.

  • because it was so bumpy, people started to get injured on it

  • and like annaconda is any better

  • Anaconda did not have to get removed for being unsafe

  • @KingsDominionLvr But Anaconda NEEDS to be removed.

  • @sexybj89 Really? What would they put in its place? Its over a lake! It just needs sa new paint-job and some new trains and it would be a pretty good ride.

  • @KingsDominionLvr I dont know, it seems like Drachen fire and Anaconda are very similar rides, extremely bumpy and rough, matter fact, I went to KD on Halloween...got on anaconda...and couldnt wait to get off the ride. LOL I just think it needs to be modifed.

  • @sexybj89 Yup, thats why Drachen Fire was closed for having dangerous amount of g's more than a decade ago and Anaconda is still standing thrilling thousands of riders every year. It would cost more money to modify the coaster then it is worth itself. Kings Dominion has much less popular coasters then Anaconda, and Anaconda is the only coaster holding the whole Congo theme together.

  • get out of these videos. no one wants to hear your negative shit. bg is cleaner, nicer people, better food, and better quality rides than the toilet bowl kd is

  • Okay, so calling KD a toilet bowl is not negative? How do they have more "quality rides"? They have absolutely no good flat rides! If you like gross, burnt German meats, then I guess that is why you like thier cowshit food. Kings Dominion is very clean, tell me why you disagree. Also, at KD the ride operators actually talk to you and it is very much like a family environment, BGE's doushe people are like robots!

  • You obviously know what you're talking about. Busch Gardens has consistently been rated one of the best theme parks in the country. King's Dominion has never even placed in any category, and neither have its rides. When I visited King's Dominion, I was greeted by hot open pavement covered in trash, as well as game operators yelling at me to play. I have also never come across such slow ride operators. Anyone who thinks Kings Dominion is better than Busch Gardens needs a reality check.

  • This is my alternate account. BGE has NOT been rated the best amusement park in the world. That honor normally goes to either Disneyworld or Cedar Point. KD's rides such has Dominator and Volcano have been rated with in the top 50 in the world. ALso, KD was voted best amusement park in VA by "Virginia is for Lovers". KD has as much pavement as Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens has inaccurate theming (France is consisted of Griffon and concrete).

  • Here's the difference; King's Dominion has open black pavement. In science you learn that black attracts heat and white repels it. Well that's why Busch Gardens used its brains and made the pavement earthy brown. Not only does this control temperature, it feels more like a nice garden to walk through than rides ploped down in a black parking lot.

  • As for slow ride ops, look at BGE. Their ride ops are too busy texting to pay any attention to people. KD's workers are very kind and answer any question you have. Now go back to your rubber room, your computer time is up.

  • Why don't you go back to school, because you obviously don't know how to read. I said one of the best, which I stand by. The most prestigious amusement industry awards chose Busch Gardens as the second best park with 16% of the vote, behind Cedar Point's 26%. It was voted the second cleanest park behind Holiday World. 5th place in Food and Shows. Oh did I mention Best Landscaping of any park with 38%? Kings Dominion placed once with a tie in 4th place for Best Kids area. Great Park Huh?

  • And about the coasters. Hmmm. Apollo's Chariot as the 4th best steel coaster in the world. Griffon at 20 and Alpengiest at 22. Big Bad Wolf at 34. 4 out of Busch Garden's 5 coaster placed in the best of the best. 2 out of King's Dominion's 10 coasters placed. With Volcano at 33 and Dominator at 43. Don't even get me started on how Busch Garden's ride ops are 10 times more efficient and excited to be working than King's Dominion's who drag along like they don't want to be there.

  • The only reason Appolo is well-known is the Fabio incident Griffon is has two drops and two inversions, another great example of the faulty awards you claim to be a good source Alpie is the most bumpy and unreliable B&M ever. BBW is just two drops. Like I said, the golden tickets are extremely opinionated and inaccurate KD's ride ops do a great job, it is just most of their coasters are low capacity, but KD has more variety of coasters and more thrilling ones too.

  • Apollo is well known because it has great airtime and a 4.1G helix. And because it was the first B&M Hyper Coaster. Griffon may be short and niot have a lot of elements, but they are all really awesome. I would rather ride a short awesome ride than 5 trash rides at King's Dominion. I will give you that KD has a larger variety. But it is a large variety of crap. If you call thrilling rough and lacking airtime, than whatever floats your boat, but for me and many others, it's not what makes a ride.

  • Most people would consider Nitro, Behemoth, and Diamondback much better than Appolo. The only reason Appolo is up in the top 5 in a bias poll is because of the Fabio incident. KD has wooden coasters, launched coasters, etc. Busch Gardens has five steel coasters with lift hills. KD has a variety of thrilling coasters. BGE has 2 decent coasters and 3 boring ones. Shockwave, Rebel Yell, Grizzly etc. all have airtime, and some of KD's coasters are mildly rough, but that is all.