Dragon Challenge Accidentally Dueling

[UK-Trigg]

I only ever got to duel once, and that was 2 days before the incident. I can remember seeing the guy on the news, poor guy was a mess and I fully understand the decision to stop the duelling. Such a shame that one idiots foolishness (thats being polite) ruined a great experience for 10s of 1000s. I still love the ride(s) but it just aint the same.

I seem to recall the incident happening on 2 seperate occasions, is this correct?

 

[Hockeyman55]

There was no other feeling that can match the first time I rode Dueling Dragons in the front row and seeing the other train plowing full steam heading right for us. Such a great feeling

 

[Hulk912]

Sometimes I really hate people....

 

[Capacity]

Safety is always first in theme parks and most have no inhibitions about E-Stopping their rides. Especially when there is a potential safety hazard. Universal more than many others. Step in the wrong area of a platform and they will E Stop. Im sure their operators know to stop the ride if the ride doesnt already do it itself.

 

[canobie#1]

I really think this is dumb. People can get hit with just about anything on an average rollercoaster. They should just have people remove loose items like flips flops, cameras and sun glasses. It could happen anywhere!

 

[Capacity]

I really think this is dumb. People can get hit with just about anything on an average rollercoaster. They should just have people remove loose items like flips flops, cameras and sun glasses. It could happen anywhere!

It does happen everywhere! People get hit by things on a regular basis. Someone just needed a story to try and sue Universal.

 

[TomTheRiddle]

It does happen everywhere! People get hit by things on a regular basis. Someone just needed a story to try and sue Universal.

To be fair.....he lost his eye....

The reason they stopped dueling was because they couldn't prove if it was the ride or someone from the exit area. So UO settled. It was the smart business decision and the most cost effective.

If they ever ended up dueling again, UO would have to pay up a LOT as part of a settlement and they most likely would have the ride turned into scrap metal.

 

[BamaToTheBone]

Agree, people get hit with stuff all the time. But this was different. Judging by the damage done to the two individuals it could only have either been a part that came loose from the coaster, which is unlikely to have happened in the exact same spot days apart, or some jerk off had something in their hand and intentionally let it go. And they make people leave behind flip flops, cameras and sunglasses as it is. This was very obviously a premeditated act by someone that either thought it was funny to hurt someone else, or thought it was funny to hit someone else but didn't realize the damage they would cause. I'd like to believe it was the latter, but something tells me it wasn't.

I really think this is dumb. People can get hit with just about anything on an average rollercoaster. They should just have people remove loose items like flips flops, cameras and sun glasses. It could happen anywhere!

 

[Skubersky]

To be fair.....he lost his eye....

Not only that, but the poor guy was already blind in the other eye to begin with...

 

[Nitro_230]

Hey I was on a VIP tour of Universal and asked the tour guide what he thought about the dragons not dueling anymore, and he said that some times they accidentally duel. Is this true? I think it would be impossible because of the computer programming.

They lied (certain VIP tour guides unfortunately tend to make up "facts"). You are correct when the decision was made to stop dueling the programming was changed to specifically not allow it.

I've seen them duel a few times since they officially stopped the dueling feature. whether it is accidental or on purpose remains to be seen...

You may have seen two dragons on the track, but not dueling. see above.

From my sources, this is definitely false. The system they used to make the trains duel has been reverse engineered so that they never duel. I mean it's possible that it could have a glitch and accidentally misfire, but I think the attendants would then enable an E-Stop to prevent that

The system doesn't e-stop, it just doesn't allow the duel.

Inside tip. The trains will never duel EVER again. It's near impossible for it to happen for one because they took out the weighing and dueling functions from the control panel.

IF the dragons were to ever duel....let's just say that thanks to the settlement in that injury case, it would be a VERY costly mistake and the ride would most likely be closed for investigation.

The system is still in place to weight the trains, it just uses that info to keep the dispatches separated instead of together.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

No, I saw them dueling and my brother was on it...

 

[aheying7]

I wish they would just close the ride and figure out a way to make them duel again safely.

 

[Brian G.]

As much as it would be great to see them dueling again; it's not a neccessity for the ride to run, and doesn't have a great impact in overall enjoyment of the coaster.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Bottom line for me is, DC is 2 fantastic B&M inverts. People are upset they don't duel whilst the reason is that another guy can no longer see. Argument over really.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Bottom line for me is, DC is 2 fantastic B&M inverts. People are upset they don't duel whilst the reason is that another guy can no longer see. Argument over really.

And unique inverts at that. Where else can you find an invert with airtime like red's bunny hill!

 

[Nitro_230]

No, I saw them dueling and my brother was on it...

Again, the system will not let them duel. If for some reason the software were to fail and they were to duel the control booth operators are supposed to stop the ride before they leave the lift, at that point the ride would be cleared and the engineering department would take over until the issue was resolved.

 

[TomTheRiddle]

The system is still in place to weight the trains, it just uses that info to keep the dispatches separated instead of together.

More of what I meant. The combined function of weigh, calculate > duel.

No, I saw them dueling and my brother was on it...

You need to understand that for that to happen it would have been created by a massive glitch in the system that probably would have resulted in closing the ride for the rest of the day.

I wish they would just close the ride and figure out a way to make them duel again safely.

Here's the thing. They can never prove that they dueled safely in the first place; they also can't prove that the injury was caused by someone on the ride, or whether it was a bystander. The settlement they made with the injured guy was to never let them duel again to ensure that that the same situation never occurred by the trains dueling. So making them duel "safely" is not an option

 

[Milla4Prez66]

I'm no expert on ride mechanics or anything, but I went on DC yesterday and thought there was no way for them to accidentally duel. They seem to go pretty far out of their way to make sure it doesn't happen.

 

[Enbee]

I saw two trains go out of the station at the same time today, but from my vantage point in line I was unable to see what happened on the lift to separate the two.

 

[boomerthom]

I saw two trains go out of the station at the same time today, but from my vantage point in line I was unable to see what happened on the lift to separate the two.

I've seen this happen and one train was simply held at the top of the lift for a few seconds after the other took off.