Dragons Not Dueling?

[Captain Tragedy]

That stinks. The best parts of that ride were the near misses. Oh well.

 

[tiredoldspook]

Well it now makes it just another suspend coaster. Sorry without the duel the ride is fun but not the same. To see the look on the other riders face in the front car was awesome. But I guess now with Forbidden Journey they don't need another great ride in that section..RIP my favorite front seat coaster.

 

[JungleSkip]

To say this isn't a great coaster anymore is such an overreaction. I barely noticed not having the near misses two weeks ago when I was there.

 

[jtsalien]

I think no queue and no dueling downgrades it from great to very good IMO.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Wait....Dueling is gone FOREVER???!!!!...........HEAD EXPLODES

I'm sorry, but I don't know if I'll go on this again. Sure, maybe once in a while but NOWHERE NEAR as much I used to. I gotta show my disapproval of this decision somehow!

Anyways, with the Dueling gone, It's JUST NOT THE SAME. With Potter 2.0 fast approaching they should just do a TOTAL re-Theming for the ride (re-paint the tracks, re-theme the queue, make it more elaborate theming with a better story) or just get rid of the ride and put something new and exciting in it's place.

I do enjoy Dueling Dragons (used to love it), but with the wait time always consistantly low, and now with the new minimal theming and minus the thrilling dueling concept, I don't see the coaster lasting much longer. Just put the poor thing out of it's misery (It is indeed dying a slow, painful death) or beef it up with a complete and total re-theme. PLEASE. I hate to see what used to be one of my favorites suffer like this.

 

[TombraiderTy]

...but with the wait time always consistantly low, and now with the new minimal theming and minus the thrilling dueling concept, I don't see the coaster lasting much longer.

The queue time for a ride is not a good way to tell how popular or successful it is. I mean, following that logic, Pteranodon Flyers would constantly be the most popular ride in the park


Regarding the no-more-dueling, I am extremely disappointed by this. I adored the dueling aspect when I first rode in 2004. It was my favorite coaster at the time, strictly thanks to the unique sensation of flying head-on towards another speeding train, only to dodge out of the way at the seemingly last possible moment. When I rode again in 2010, I was severely disappointed when we didn't duel three of my four rides (due to inconsistent operations and miscellaneous delays). It's unfortunate that, at least in the foreseeable future, I won't get to duel again

 

[Cwoolboy]

I am grateful I got to experience the dueling version of the coaster various times before it went the way of the dragons.

 

[YETI PINTRADER]

When I was in line for front row red last night (around 7:55 with the park closing at 8:00) and I saw red go and it couldn't have been seconds later that blue went. I don't know if they actually dueled because of the control booth wall being in the way, but I know they couldn't have been far from one another. On my ride however, we went up first and blue was behind by about 10 seconds. This could have been because they didn't want us to duel or because the team members just really wanted to go home and get the trains through as quickly as possible, which could be why we went up the hill at a really high speed. So if anyone is going to be at the parks around closing there may be dueling, but I can't promise anything.

 

[DragonSlayer]

Another piece of IOA history wiped from the map...

Genuinely sad about this. My favourite coasters in the world - not the highest, most intense, or any other technical record - just a wonderfully themed experience with a fantastic extra element, reduced to a shadow. I kinda saw it coming when the temporary change took effect, but I still can't believe it'll never be the same again. Once the rest of LC goes as it inevitably will, one of the best theme park areas in the world will be gone without a trace.

 

[ChiefBrody]

Another piece of IOA history wiped from the map...

Genuinely sad about this. My favourite coasters in the world - not the highest, most intense, or any other technical record - just a wonderfully themed experience with a fantastic extra element, reduced to a shadow. I kinda saw it coming when the temporary change took effect, but I still can't believe it'll never be the same again. Once the rest of LC goes as it inevitably will, one of the best theme park areas in the world will be gone without a trace.

It will be a sad day indeed. It really is a shame that there will be no dueling any longer, along with the half-assed retheme the ride is pretty much a shadow of itself. No doubt it is still a great coaster but the unique appeal it had is all but gone now.

 

[White Rabbit]

When I was in line for front row red last night (around 7:55 with the park closing at 8:00) and I saw red go and it couldn't have been seconds later that blue went. I don't know if they actually dueled because of the control booth wall being in the way, but I know they couldn't have been far from one another. On my ride however, we went up first and blue was behind by about 10 seconds. This could have been because they didn't want us to duel or because the team members just really wanted to go home and get the trains through as quickly as possible, which could be why we went up the hill at a really high speed. So if anyone is going to be at the parks around closing there may be dueling, but I can't promise anything.

No, they didn't duel. I had the same thing happen to me, except I was on the train that got dispatched 10 seconds after the other train. Our train slowed way down on the lift (click, click, click) like it used to do, and the other train sped up faster. Once the other train cleared the lift, then our train sped up to the normal speed. The lift computer now does opposite of what it's been programmed to do for years. It doesn't match the trains together anymore, it makes sure that neither go over at the same time by slowing one down and speeding the other one up. The ride ops don't have control of the lift speed, unless they hit a Lift Stop for a safety reason.

 

[Exotic Ego]

Well good thing they built potter and changed the name... Or The "Dueling" Part would be pointless.

So im guessing any picture involving this

In universal advertisement wont be used? lol

 

[BamaToTheBone]

This just makes me want to find the guy or girl who was throwing stuff on the ride, slap the living hell out of them and say, "Hey, thanks for ruining it for everyone a-hole"

 

[orlandobuff901]

Ya riding it for the first time not dueling was sad. I was just hoping every time I rode it that they would just start dueling.

 

[Octobers Fade]

CFNews 13 reporting that the coaster will officially "duel no more."

The terrorists have won....

 

[TombraiderTy]

I'm curious if, now that a major feature of the ride has been removed, Universal will perhaps take the opportunity to add something (like extra themeing) in its place? Before the coaster underwent its transformation for Potter, there were rumors of supports themed like trees, tunnels added to the track, fire and water effects, etc.

I think the tree feature would be extremely unique and add to the experience:

 

[Rock'nRoller]

*looks at news*

*looks at old photos of Dueling Dragons*

R.I.P Dueling Dragons for good. :'(

 

[jh32488]

I'm curious if, now that a major feature of the ride has been removed, Universal will perhaps take the opportunity to add something (like extra themeing) in its place? Before the coaster underwent its transformation for Potter, there were rumors of supports themed like trees, tunnels added to the track, fire and water effects, etc.

I think the tree feature would be extremely unique and add to the experience:

they should add something but they probably wont. racing through tunnels would be awesome though.

 

[tiredoldspook]

Don't look for them to add anything to the ride, To much work to re engineer the ride to fit new dimensions. It is now just Dragon Challenge Suspended Coaster.

 

[grizzlybarely]

As far as Central Florida coasters are concerned, the news makes DC drop several notches. You know they won't enhance it after this news; we saw what they did to it for WWOHP. DC is now just a shade of what it once was. They butchered the queue for WWOHP, neglected to repaint it, and now they won't duel.

I love UOR but man, this is horrible news. Definitely think they should keep it; I don't know how people can say they should be removed. They're unique coasters on their own (Fire's wraparound immelmann is soooo gooood). I guess it'd be a waste of time and effort to send them letters...