Does the Gringott's Dragon breathe fire on a schedule?

[natebenma]

I'm sorry if this has been asked and answered- not sure how I would phrase the search for this.

We were at US/IoA for 5 days in February, and although we were in Diagon Alley many times, we only saw the dragon breathe fire a few times. It was unusually cold and the effect was not working frequently although I don't know if that is related.

This was the one time we caught it:






Does the dragon have a schedule? Every 10 minutes? On the half hour? Something else? Or is it random?

Unrelated question: I can't remember from the Deathly Hallows book or movies- does the dragon have a name? It's a she, right?

Thanks!

 

[kbelle8995]

That's a good question. Anyone? I've never figured that out either. It seems random to me But I could be very wrong.

 

[Bluer101]

It's normally every 10 to 15 minutes.

 

[snoopboop]

I second Bluer101 - it happens every 10 to 15 minutes. There definitely is a lead-up to it... sort of a rumbling sound that gets gradually louder. It's a nice heads-up either just to look in that direction or to get out the camera, LOL!

 

[crazywig]

When we were there about a week and a half ago it was going off every ten minutes. My husband timed it and as a result I got some good night shots.

 

[elaine amj]

We were there in May for 3 days and never got a chance to see it I kept trying but never timed it right. One time it did it when we were putting stuff in the lockers at Gringotts!

Hopefully I have better luck on our next 3 day trip for Labor Day weekend!

 

[Bluer101]

When DA first opened it seemed like every 5 minutes, lol.

We were there for the grand opening and it was a zoo.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We were there in May for 3 days and never got a chance to see it I kept trying but never timed it right. One time it did it when we were putting stuff in the lockers at Gringotts!

Hopefully I have better luck on our next 3 day trip for Labor Day weekend!

We got to see it several times, but never when I had my camera out and ready . I won't make that mistake in October.....I vow to get a photo of that dragon breathing fire if I have to stand there all day!!

What surprised me was how HOT it was.....I mean, I know its fire ......but I didn't expect to be able to feel the heat so intensely when just standing on the walkway.

 

[elaine amj]

LOL! It is going to be my mission too for our next trip (my poor DH!)

 

[two-plus-twins]

We were there last week and just waited for a while with our cameras out. We overheard a man ask one of the workers when it would go off again and she said "she's not angry right now."

 

[natebenma]

Thank you for all of your responses. I forgot to mention that a lot of times during our trip in February, we would hear the rumbling that would build up and get louder and then... Nothing!

We will be back again at the end of August and I hope she is a little angrier than she was this winter!

Closest icon to dragon breathing fire:

 

[natebenma]

When we were there about a week and a half ago it was going off every ten minutes. My husband timed it and as a result I got some good night shots.

Thanks!

I was really disappointed that we never saw it after dark, even though we were there several times at night.

 

[Bluer101]

From opening week.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

We saw it a few times and it seemed obvious when it would happen. The lead-up rumbling and noise were easy to hear even with large crowds there. You can also get a good idea by looking at the crowd around you. If they're looking up with cameras poised, there's a good chance that it's coming soon. We saw it at night once and there is a distinct pilot light in the dragon's mouth which is also a good tip off that it's coming soon.

 

[bumbershoot]

We got to see it several times, but never when I had my camera out and ready . I won't make that mistake in October.....I vow to get a photo of that dragon breathing fire if I have to stand there all day!!

What surprised me was how HOT it was.....I mean, I know its fire ......but I didn't expect to be able to feel the heat so intensely when just standing on the walkway.

There are likely plenty of pictures online; no need to get your own. It'll look just the same as what everyone else has gotten.

http://blog.universalorlando.com/extras/diagon-alley-fun-facts/

The fire is over 3000 degrees.


We were once staying concierge at Disneyland Hotel before the huge refurbishment. Not sure about now, but then the windows opened up in the concierge lounge. They had the windows open for people to see the fireworks. I think it was the Halloweentime fireworks, and those have fire bursts. Not sure how far the middle of Disneyland is from the Disneyland Hotel, but you could feel the fire just after you saw it, during the fireworks. Now THAT is amazing.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

There are likely plenty of pictures online; no need to get your own. It'll look just the same as what everyone else has gotten.

Absolutely true. But somehow the photos that come from my camera have more.....meaning.

Yes, I'm a bit of a sap that way.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sap is fine. But I find that others often take better pictures than I do.

Taking little pictures of little things that no one else notices is my sappy thing. (Using camera with miniature filter on flowers in Disneyland yesterday for instance...too bad the bird flew away before I could get the camera ready) Taking pictures of the thing everyone else is taking pictures of isn't. (Watching everyone taking the pic of the dragon made me feel like a bit of a sheep for thinking of snapping it...and I just watched/felt instead)

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Sap is fine. But I find that others often take better pictures than I do.

Taking little pictures of little things that no one else notices is my sappy thing. (Using camera with miniature filter on flowers in Disneyland yesterday for instance...too bad the bird flew away before I could get the camera ready) Taking pictures of the thing everyone else is taking pictures of isn't. (Watching everyone taking the pic of the dragon made me feel like a bit of a sheep for thinking of snapping it...and I just watched/felt instead)

Different strokes for different folks . Regardless of how many stock photos are available online, its still important for me to have my own!

 

[lmf70]

We were there in June and it went off on the 10's like clockwork plus like everyone else has already stated there's a very obvious growling right before it actually goes off

 

[schumigirl]

Different strokes for different folks . Regardless of how many stock photos are available online, its still important for me to have my own!

I agree.

You know I'm sure someone posted a few months back they didn't understand why folk took thousands of pictures of anything when you can get any pic online........

I said the same thing.......photographs are a personal memento of a moment in time in a family trip.......so they're a very precious to me. We love looking at our pictures of family vacations and do so regularly