Dueling Dragons Not Changing?

[TIGGERGUY]

A rider on Dueling Dragons near me on Wednesday asked one of the ride operators about what a shame it was that Dueling Dragons was going to be rethemed for Harry Potter. The cast member said "Don't count on it. They might not change the ride". The outside has already been repainted and the vine plants are busy growing. Could they be stopping at that? I can't imagine US changing their mind at the last minute, but anything is possible.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

There are so many rumors flying around nobody knows what's legit anymore. The coaster will stay, but the story of the coaster might change.

 

[Metro West]

There are so many rumors flying around nobody knows what's legit anymore. The coaster will stay, but the story of the coaster might change.

Exactly...who knows what's going to happen?

 

[patster734]

Seeing that dragons and castles exist in the Harry Potter world, I could see keeping the same theme but with slight modification. Possibly adding the Harry Potter kids as mannequins throughout the queue line. The story could be that Harry and friends were exploring a castle when they came upon 2 dragons dueling. It would be very similar to how Disney changed Universe of Energy to include Ellen Degeneres.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Any retheme would probably relate to the Triwizard Tournament from Goblet of Fire. In that book, all four wizards had a challenge where they had to challenge a dragon.

On the Universal Harry Potter site, http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/ , there are polls listed. Poll #5 asked what kind of dragon would you like to ride. The results of that poll may or may not affect DD.

 

[DOOM1001]

Well they already took out the Fire and Ice dragon statues out front so it's already been changed and I couldn't imagine them taking something out and not doing anything else to retheme it for Potter.

 

[TIGGERGUY]

Universal has been changing the outside of DD, but has yet to touch the inside. The impression I got from the cast member was that they might not change the inside or the actual ride itself much. Redoing all of the interiors would take a long time and take down a major attraction. We will likely know by the fall when crowd levels fall off.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

You came across a few big-mouth team members on your recent trip, TiggerGuy. But thanks for sharing what they said with us!

I hope they do make changes in order to make it fit Harry Potter World. I don't want Universal to cheap out on any aspect just because so many eyes are on them for this project. Disney cheaps out all the time and everyone just kinda sweeps it under the rug. Universal does it and they're Six Flags.

 

[phamton]

I can assure you that the team members at DD don't know anything more than we do about any changes (or lack thereof) to get ready for Harry Potter.

 

[donaldduck352]

I'm sure what happens to DD is a well kept secret that only the upper managment and designers know,not no TM!!

 

[ChrisFL]

The TM may have simply meant that the coasters themselves aren't changing, which is true, the actual track layouts aren't changing at all, however I don't think it would be very difficult to change the theming of the trains and some of the queue (but not all of it)

 

[TIGGERGUY]

You came across a few big-mouth team members on your recent trip, TiggerGuy. But thanks for sharing what they said with us!

These days I try to take more time to talk to park staff. The conversations are enjoyable and informative. Back when WDW was seeing that big unexpected surge in traffic in the early spring one cast member told me that the previous day (Monday) they saw 10,000 more people than expected.

Much as I love Six Flags over Georgia, the staff there are not nearly as interesting as the ones in the Orlando parks. However, they are getting a little better each year. The new management has been making a lot of good moves.