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Drachen Fire was a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public in 1992. Drachen Fire featured a lift hill, six inversions, and a zero-gravity camelback element. One of the inversions was removed after the 1994 season to improve ride comfort. The track was light blue with silver supports, and it was located in the Oktoberfest portion of the park behind Big Bad Wolf and Das Festhaus. It was originally configured with three trains, each consisting of red cars with grey seats, and featured red trim lights that illuminated the trains at night. Drachen Fire was closed in the middle of the 1998 season following a history of low ridership and complaints of roughness. It remained standing until its demolition in 2002.
Construction of Drachen Fire began in the fall of 1991, which was filmed for its upcoming marketing campaign. Footage of the design, construction, and testing process of Drachen Fire was later documented in a 1993 PBS special of their NOVA program, titled "Roller Coaster". Construction of the new coaster was completed in early 1992, placing it on schedule to open the same year on April 4. Busch Gardens heavily marketed the new ride in what was identified as the park's biggest promotional campaign in over a decade dating back to Loch Ness Monster in 1978. The tagline marketed for the ride was "Feel the Heat".
The park hired comedian Dana Carvey to meet and greet visitors, as well as cut the ribbon at a special preview opening ceremony on April 3, 1992. After six or seven successful runs during the preview event, a train stalled on the lift hill forcing passengers to evacuate. During the downtime, Carvey offered an impromptu stand-up comedy routine to entertain the crowd and keep guests occupied. When the ride resumed operation, another train stalled on the lift hill again forcing the park to close the ride for the remainder of the evening. For its official opening to the public the following day, Drachen Fire remained closed all morning and eventually opened midday.
Riders were routinely advised by announcers to remove any clip-on earrings before riding and keep their heads pressed against headrests during the ride. This resulted in ride operators in the station not only checking the train's restraints, but also checking riders' ears for earrings. The train would not dispatch unless these instructions were followed. After increasing complaints, the corkscrew directly after the mid-course brake run was replaced with a straight section for the 1995 season.
The Daily Press reported in January 1999 that the park planned to further modify the coaster. However, by that August, the coaster had been listed for sale for several months. The park had several offers but failed to reach agreements with prospective buyers. It remained standing in an idle state until 2002, when the decision was made to dismantle the ride and recycle the steel. Director of public relations Cindy Sarko stated, "There had been a steady erosion of ridership ... That, combined with the high operating expenses of the ride, helped park officials make the decision to shut it down." In June 2019, local network affiliate WAVY-TV reported that a plan was approved by local officials to construct a new ride in the former Drachen Fire location that would be approximately in height. However, in September 2024, the park announced plans to build a Bolliger & Mabillard family inverted coaster on this plot instead. The new ride is named , in homage to the former Big Bad Wolf suspended coaster that once operated next to Drachen Fire.
After leaving the station, the ride made a small dip and turned 180 degrees to the left, where it entered the lift hill. At the top of the 150 foot lift, the ride made a shallow dive of around 50 feet, then entered a wraparound corkscrew which had an apex of 120 feet, before descending the remainder of a curving drop, ending up facing the opposite direction of the lift hill, and achieving a speed of 60 miles per hour. The ride then entered a camel back hump hill, which was designed to balance the riders between positive and negative g-forces, giving a feeling of weightlessness. The ride then entered the Batwing element (cobra roll), which featured two inversions in one element. The ride then turned up an ascending hill to the left, and engaged in a set of block brakes. Next, the ride dove down into a corkscrew, then a slight left turn over the park midway into a cutback. The ride then traversed back over the midway, under the first corkscrew and entered a second corkscrew. It then quickly entered a counter-clockwise helix. Exiting the helix, the ride made a right hand turn onto a final brake run, which would then lead straight into the ride station.
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