Dueling Dragons

[stacyp9]

Just out of curiosity, which "dragon" is scarier; the blue or the red? Also, I've heard that this ride is one of the scariest in the park, is this true? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Metro West]

Just out of curiosity, which "dragon" is scarier; the blue or the red? Also, I've heard that this ride is one of the scariest in the park, is this true? Any help would be much appreciated!

Well...the name has changed to Dragon Challenge and Fire and Ice are known by new names now. I don't know what they are as they sound ridiculous.

Anyway...I liked Fire (orange) better because of the flyover but some liked Ice (blue) better because of climbing the castle wall. I never thought it was scary so you'll have to judge that for yourself. If you like coasters, it shouldn't be very scary at all and make sure you do both sides.

 

[carlos.del002]

Chinese Fireball (Fire):
Height: 125 feet
Drop: 115 feet
Top Speed: 60 mph
Length: 3,200 feet
Inversions: 5
Trains: 6 - 32 passenger
Ride Time: 2 minutes, 25 seconds

Hungarian Horntail (Ice):
Height: 125 feet
Drop: 95 feet
Top Speed: 55 mph
Length: 3,200 feet
Inversions: 5
Trains: 6 - 32 passenger
Ride Time: 2 minutes, 25 seconds

I don't find either scary, but I love rollercoasters. Perhaps they find it scarier because you go up slowly and it builds your anticipation of the drop (If you fear the drop) or maybe because your feet dangle. They're both very fun though!

 

[schumigirl]

I wouldn`t describe them as scary, more thrilling is what I would say. If you are a coaster person.

Myself, DH and DS all prefer the red side, Like Metro I don`t know what they are called now.

My son last year, as we went off on our own went on red side 23 times in a row, using EP. I wouldn`t make it that many times but I can go 4-5 times without feeling the head rattle. But it is very smooth.

My son thinks for thrills wise it`s on a par with Hulk if not slightly better

 

[Harry Potter]

Chinese Fireball is my favourite because of the airtime you get on the flyover, as Metro West mentioned. I found Hungarian Horntail to be more aggressive and slightly faster, certainly it jerks you around more.

However, I think Dragon Challenge is a missed opportunity for Universal.

When you consider that they even got the stars of HP movies to record special footage and dialogue for the FJ ride, as well as building a fantastic replica of Hogwarts with the stunning interior and queue lines, it is quite sad to see the lack of theming and cheap attempt at re-theming they did with Dragon Challenge.

For a start, the queue line is too long. The entrance to the queue should have been where the "entertainment" section is with Tri Wizard Rally and the Hogwarts Choir. This "entertainment" should then have been moved to where the entrance to Dragon Challenge currently is in Hogsmeade in between the Owlery and the Hogwarts Express. Universal got this wrong, IMO.

And then we walk through castle ruins to get to Dragon Challenge, with only a Flying Car, The Goblet of Fire, and a few bits of movie dialogue from HP4 to entertain us. Once we get to the actual loading station, there is no representation of Harry Potter franchise at all, apart from the cheap canvas screen in the roofing to replicate a dragin flying overhead, and of course the TMs "are you ready, Champions? Fly well!" before they release the trains.

It's just not good enough, IMO. There is a reason people still keep calling it Dueling Dragons - and that's because hardly anything has changed since 1999!

Why not include video screens in the queue area of Harry's escapades in HP4 where he tries to retrieve the Golden Egg? Or have a new video screen of Crouch Snr (specially recorded) informing everybody of which dragons are available to ride and their characteristics. Get Michael Gambon to record something else for the queue.

It all just seems so lazy the way it is now.

Another thing that annoys me with Dragon Challenge is that there is no TM at the point in the queue when standby and Express lines meet just before we choose our dragons. This bottlenecks things way too much on crowded periods. Hulk has such a TM at the join point of their queue, so why not DC?

And once we have chosen our dragon, we then join the proper queue and are left to work out for ourselves which row we want to sit in. Where is the TM that asks for our number in our parties? Almost every time I rode DC last week, there was no organisation in the station queue area, and it was often left to little kids in front of me to actually shout back down the queue "hey we need a party of 2!". Cue mayhem and getting shoved from side to side as people barge past.

 

[Metro West]

The old queue for Dueling Dragons was the most elaborate and best themed roller coaster queue I had ever seen in person. From Merlin telling you the story when you entered the castle to the story being spelled out in the bones throughout the queue to when you finally got to "choose try fate". It was absolutely great during HHN in 2005 since it was dark inside and outside and the coaster trains flew through the tracks faster than I ever remembered.

Those of you who didn't get the opportunity to see the queue for Dueling Dragons really missed something special...IMHO. I haven't seen the new queue but hear its pretty bad compared to what used to be there.

 

[Bluer101]

The old queue for Dueling Dragons was the most elaborate and best themed roller coaster queue I had ever seen in person. From Merlin telling you the story when you entered the castle to the story being spelled out in the bones throughout the queue to when you finally got to "choose try fate". It was absolutely great during HHN in 2005 since it was dark inside and outside and the coaster trains flew through the tracks faster than I ever remembered.

Those of you who didn't get the opportunity to see the queue for Dueling Dragons really missed something special...IMHO. I haven't seen the new queue but hear its pretty bad compared to what used to be there.

The old queue was great. The new one is disappointing.


I love fire also, the best is the flyover and the end of the coaster is better than ice's end which is boring.

 

[Hunter182]

For a start, the queue line is too long. The entrance to the queue should have been where the "entertainment" section is with Tri Wizard Rally and the Hogwarts Choir. This "entertainment" should then have been moved to where the entrance to Dragon Challenge currently is in Hogsmeade in between the Owlery and the Hogwarts Express. Universal got this wrong, IMO

The queue is EXCEEDINGLY long, with not much to look at. After you enter the little fortress and see the Triwizard Cup, (after the Goblet of Fire, and a few other things) it's just a dark cavern. Dueling Dragons has one of the best queues on the entire world. This is sad.

This bottlenecks things way too much on crowded periods. Hulk has such a TM at the join point of their queue, so why not DC?

Last five times I've been, (Ann. Passholder) there has always been a TM there directing traffic and scanning the passes.

 

[gschmerl]

The two sides will always be fire and ice to me.
I like the first car of ice and the last car of fire for the air time.

 

[nytimez]

As others have said, thrilling -- not scary. They're both great. I lean towards Ice because I love the "climbing the wall" the part.

 

[stacyp9]

Thank you all for your helpful information! I just needed to know so I could decide what was best for my family since we're visiting WWOHP soon.

 

[nytimez]

Thank you all for your helpful information! I just needed to know so I could decide what was best for my family since we're visiting WWOHP soon.

Whatever you do, I suggest putting in the extra wait for the front row. It's well worth it.

 

[DOOM1001]

This is the one ride that the Harry Potter re-theme knocked down a peg,the ride itself is still the same and still great but the queue and entrance are now just not the same.The ride is very fun and thrilling,you should just do both dragons to compare as they both have different elements.

 

[Harry Potter]

Another thing that annoyed me with DC was the TM at the Express entrance, who always seemed surprised when he saw me again for the second time in about 10 minutes.

He gave me a look like "omg, you're here AGAIN?"

Erm, I am now trying the other dragon, if that's ok with you!

Surely they must realise that it is quite folly for a coaster enthusiast to ride just one dragon and then go elsewhere in IOA?

 

[Hunter182]

Another thing that annoyed me with DC was the TM at the Express entrance, who always seemed surprised when he saw me again for the second time in about 10 minutes.

He gave me a look like "omg, you're here AGAIN?"

Erm, I am now trying the other dragon, if that's ok with you!

Surely they must realise that it is quite folly for a coaster enthusiast to ride just one dragon and then go elsewhere in IOA?

Hahaha, that's pretty awesome.