2nd Rider Hurt On Dragon Challenge

[k5jm]

Ouch!

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/28887591/detail.html

2nd Rider Hurt On Harry Potter Coaster
Universal Studios Makes Changes In Wake Of New Injury
POSTED: Tuesday, August 16, 2011
UPDATED: 7:56 am EDT August 17, 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Universal Orlando is making a big change to one of the key attractions at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter after a second incident on the ride in two weeks left another park patron injured.
The injuries happened on the Dragon Challenge dual roller coaster. In both cases, riders say something struck them on a portion of the ride where the two coaster trains come close together at a high rate of speed.
In the latest incident, 19-year-old Jon Wilson, of Ohio, says something struck him in his foot, arm and face on Thursday.
"My sister was sitting next to me at the time, and when I said I was hit she thought it was a bug or something, but then she looked over and I had blood on my hands, so it was obviously something more," Wilson said.
In a major change for the attraction, the two trains of the dual coaster will now be staggered so they do not pass within feet of one another.
"As we continue to study these incidents, we will operate both coasters as separate experiences without their usual intersect points, Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said in a written statement.
Thursday's incident came just more than two weeks after another rider said he was injured on the same section of the ride. Carlos Montalvo said something struck him as the coaster he was riding passed the other coaster. Montavlo said the injury blinded his right eye.
Schroder said Universal Orlando officials believe "the ride itself did not play a role in these incidents."
"The safety of our guests is our highest priority and we are taking this very seriously," Schroder said, noting that more than 50 million people have "safely experienced" the Dragon Challenge, formerly called Dueling Dragons, since it opened.
Schroder said the park would not "speculate on what caused these incidents" but would continue its "long-standing policy of advising guests to safely secure personal items before riding."
Wilson said he's upset that Universal didn't change the ride after the incident that injured Montalvo.
"If this kind of thing is happening more than once in two weeks it could be a problem of some kind and I feel I just want to make sure other people aren't getting hurt on it," he said.

 

[mikelan6]

I won't be riding on this in December.

 

[newmouse2008]

I heard on the radio this morning that they are going to stagger the coasters so they don't pass by each other to help prevent this from happening again.. isn't that the entire premise of the ride? I have not or will not ride this.

 

[DeaverTex]

If I had to venture a guess -- I know, I don't, but I will anyhow -- somebody on the car going the other way was hanging something out of the coaster. There's no good way to keep something like a purse strap or such from whipping around.

Heck, it could be something as odd as a pair of sunglasses coming off at a bad time due to the turbulence of the two cars passing each other.

 

[kaligal]

I've always loved DD and will be disappointed if they don't cross each other.

Of course Uni has to do whatever they have to do. I don't see how a ride that's been safe for a gazillion years is suddenly unsafe, but what do I know?

 

[PeterPan09]

I heard on the radio this morning that they are going to stagger the coasters so they don't pass by each other to help prevent this from happening again.. isn't that the entire premise of the ride? I have not or will not ride this.

I've ridden it tons of times and if they stagger the coasters it won't be as much fun.

I still can't figure out how people got hurt on the thing.

 

[Metro West]

I've ridden it tons of times and if they stagger the coasters it won't be as much fun.

I still can't figure out how people got hurt on the thing.

Me neither. I've ridden it more times than I can count and never had an issue and I wore my sunglasses each time. It certainly is a strange series of events.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

This is scary. I would hate to be on a coaster and have this happen to me. I am hoping that whatever issue exists is corrected without compromising the experience of the attraction itself.

 

[Metro West]

This is scary. I would hate to be on a coaster and have this happen to me. I am hoping that whatever issues exists is corrected without compromising the experience of the attraction itself.

The main experience on the coaster was the dueling trains and not they are not going to duel any longer. That ruins it for me. I mean the coaster is still fun but it really loses a lot when the trains aren't running together. I enjoyed being on the lift hill and having one train slow down to let the other catch up...it was all based on the weight of the trains and you'd laugh with the people in the opposite train going to the crest of the hill. Ah the good ole days.

 

[mytripsandraces]

I've ridden it a couple of times and loved it when the trains looped away from each other. Two incidents in two weeks is odd, but hasn't that ride been running, in some form or other, for years? I hope they figure out what happened so they can run the ride as designed.

 

[ADP]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought you were forced to put all your belongings in a locker before entering the queue? BTW - the queue maybe the longest queue I've ever walked.

Of course, I'm sure even if you are required to put all your belongings in a locker some guests still can get their belongings on the ride.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I've ridden it a couple of times and loved it when the trains looped away from each other. Two incidents in two weeks is odd, but hasn't that ride been running, in some form or other, for years? I hope they figure out what happened so they can run the ride as designed.

Yes it has it was just "rethemed" for the WWoHP. So this coaster is not new. I find it curious that suddenly now there have been issues. My DS rode it several times with out issue last summer. Of course that means nothing reallly but it seems like this problem was not an issue until two weeks ago. Hope they can figure out what is happening...