Man Inured On Dragon Challenge

[Timmy Boy]

On August 1st

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Universal theme park in Orlando shut down the "Dragon Challenge" roller coaster on Sunday after a man was injured and possibly blinded.

Carlos Montalvo told Local 6 he and his wife were on vacation from Puerto Rico but said by phone from his hospital bed, "This is not a vacation. This is a nightmare."

Montalvo said they were in the front row of the ride inside the Harry Potter attraction when he says something hit him in his right eye. He still does not know what hit him, but said it happened just as the two coasters veered near each other. He remembers the pain he felt as he rode the rest of the ride screaming and wounded.

Universal reopened "Dragon Challenge" around 1:30 on Monday after determining the ride is safe.

A statement from Universal spokesman Tom Schroder went on to say, "We have also spent the hours since then thoroughly inspecting and re-inspecting the ride, the ride vehicles, the tracks and the area underneath the tracks. We have found absolutely nothing that could have contributed to this incident."

As Montalvo remains in the hospital, his brother told Local 6 he's a nurse back home, already had one bad eye, and whatever hit him may have taken his remaining good eye.

Montalvo said nobody else knew what happened, but his wife sitting next to him was in shock.

Universal said it will do what it can to help this family and said nothing like this has ever happened on this ride since it opened under another name in 1999.

Looks like they'll have to blame it on nature, like the Fabio incident.

 

[Moon Child]

Oh, that's not good, hope he's ok

 

[Bluer101]

That stinks.

I know I have been hit by bugs multiple times on roller coasters, but luckily not in the eye.

 

[nytimez]

Holy crap, that's horrible.

 

[proud_canadian]

Is it possible someone threw something from the other train and hit his train?

I've never been on this ride, but that came to my mind.

 

[mesaboy2]

I wonder if a rider on the other coaster let go of something inadvertantly. I know you're not supposed to have anything loose, but....

Ah, you and I think alike p_c.

 

[CampbellScot]

Poor guy...that must have been so scary! I hope he's okay. I think that this situation is one of those possible "things" that can happen when riding high speed coasters.

 

[damo]

Yikes! That is awful! Eye injuries are terrifying.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

Poor guy! I was thinking the same thing as a couple others, I bet someone lost something and it hit him or it was a bug. I've heard of people getting really hurt by bugs on motorcycles before. (shudders)

 

[ducky_love]

It could have been something like an earring from the other car. That is so scary!!

 

[macraven]

oh my, that poor man.......
what a miserable thing to have happen.
hope he will be okay.



4 years back, part of the lanyards on the couple ahead of me flew off them.
it was the clip on end piece that held their cards.

it glazed me on the shoulder but no pain nothing.

so i am aware of items can come loose on the ride.


i always tuck my lanyard inside my top.

 

[nytimez]

I'm not going to lie. This is going to be on my mind every time I ride a coaster now. I can't un-forget this, even through I know the risk must be way small.

 

[macraven]

I'm not going to lie. This is going to be on my mind every time I ride a coaster now. I can't un-forget this, even through I know the risk must be way small.

i hear you.

i avoided going on dueling dragons for a year after that happened to me.
and when i did return doing it, i made sure to look at the homies that sat in front of me to see if they had anything dangling.
and, i wore sunglassed with the croakies.


but, i interpret that the man in the first row was hit by something with the origin unknown at this point.


maybe when the two coasters are at 'near miss', something flew off another rider?

 

[damo]

i hear you.

i avoided going on dueling dragons for a year after that happened to me.
and when i did return doing it, i made sure to look at the homies that sat in front of me to see if they had anything dangling.
and, i wore sunglassed with the croakies.


but, i interpret that the man in the first row was hit by something with the origin unknown at this point.


maybe when the two coasters are at 'near miss', something flew off another rider?

I guess we need more details to determine that. Depending on where the trains were in relation to each other when it happened, it could be physically impossible; especially since he was in the front row. I'd think it was more likely a bug of some sort.

 

[flightdave82]

I guess we need more details to determine that. Depending on where the trains were in relation to each other when it happened, it could be physically impossible; especially since he was in the front row. I'd think it was more likely a bug of some sort.

Agreed. Just becuase of the speed and directions the train travel in, I just can't see how a rider could possibly throw something. At the speeds roller coasters go, if you were to throw something in front of you, the wind would just take the object back plus the fact that your going forward. Since he was in the front row, I just have to believe it was something else.

Either way I feel bad for the man.

 

[skylock]

I can imagine mandatory eye shield use coming.

To be perfectly honest, ever time I see someone trying to figure ways around the rules such as not bringing loose items on board it tics me off for this very possible reason.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm not going to lie. This is going to be on my mind every time I ride a coaster now. I can't un-forget this, even through I know the risk must be way small.

Same here. Poor man.

I can imagine mandatory eye shield use coming.

And I'm not seeing much wrong with that.

 

[mesaboy2]

Agreed. Just becuase of the speed and directions the train travel in, I just can't see how a rider could possibly throw something. At the speeds roller coasters go, if you were to throw something in front of you, the wind would just take the object back plus the fact that your going forward. Since he was in the front row, I just have to believe it was something else.

Either way I feel bad for the man.

The physics of something going from one car to the other are very possible. Objects in motion (including loose articles) tend to stay in motion. There is no wind to speak of, you are feeling "wind" because you are moving, not the air. The object that is lost is still going forward, it only starts going slower than you who is still in the vehicle--making it appear to you that it is going backwards.

Take the first point on DC where the two vehicles pass. Both vehicles are going--in opposite directions--along a short, low, flat straight section of track before they both go straight up into a loop, where riders' feet on the separate vehicles are just a few feet apart. I bet Tom Cruise could probably jump vehicles at this point. Since I'm not him, just give me 3 or 4 tries at it and I bet I can let go of something so that it at least hits the other car. Fortunately I use my powers for good.

And I regret what happened, too.

 

[damo]

Fabio had a one inch cut on his nose on Apollo's Chariot when he got hit by a bird.

I'm surprised we haven't heard about more injuries like this on rides like Dragster at Cedar Point.

 

[Timmy Boy]

The more I think about it, the more that it angers me. The article says that it happened when the trains neared each other. The first near miss is probably kind of hard for something to come off one train and hit another, the second near miss is more probable. What about the third one, with the interlocking corkscrews? The queue line for the ride goes right next to those, you think someone in line could have thrown an object (a coin, rock) into the trains. It doesn't specify which train he was on, but both sides are right there too.

It also said that his attorney will be visiting him tomorrow. If it's found out that something from the ride fell and hit him, then Universal will clearly be at fault, however their inspections on the ride tend to disprove that. What if it was some stupid person trying to be cool while walking up the queue, and decided to throw something at the trains? How does Universal defend against that? What's next, a giant wall surrounding the ride? Ugh, I hate how stupid people ruin it for everyone.

Then again, it could have been a bug...