Universal Orlando Resort (USF, IOA, Epic) Discussion Thread

[TJ27]

I feel sorry for that guy who lost his eye. I would be so pissed if that happened to me. For some reason I feel like someone tried to ruin this awesome ride by being stupid but I guess we'll never know who did it.

[dragonskeep]

I can't imagine being permanently injured on a coaster, really feel bad for the guy who lost his eye. Perhaps one person partially took a man's sight and an experience that has thrilled millions with one stupid move. I hope it was at least a dumb accident.

[SoCalCoasters]

I know this would ruin the dueling aspect from a rider's standpoint, but couldn't they put nets up between the dueling sections to prevent articles from hitting the other train?

[johnychen]

I am glad I got to ride them last year while they were dueling. It was my first time at IOA and they were great.

[WFChris]

I believe video surveillance should be the ultimate answer in this situation instead of changing the ride dynamic so drastically. With so much technology in the world and even built into these rides, its surprising to me that these lawsuits can't be turned back onto the guest themselves. The person who threw/lost the object that took the dudes eye out should be the one footing the medical bills, not IOA.

I also think these parks need to look into a more user friendly way of securing loose items on-board, ala Disney. The pay-storage-devices and cubby holes are just not secure enough to encourage people to part with items in their pockets, bringing them on-board will create a scenario where people are more likely to enjoy the attraction safely, with their pockets empty.

[CoasterLover]

The pay-storage-devices and cubby holes are just not secure enough to encourage people to part with items in their pockets, bringing them on-board will create a scenario where people are more likely to enjoy the attraction safely, with their pockets empty.

 

I'm not sure what you mean. IOA offers FREE finger-print controlled lock-ers which are free for the duration of the estimated ride queue length (plus some buffer time). Generally, I will keep my wallet, camera, and phone in my pockets (to avoid buying a lock-er), but at IOA, I found myself regularly using the free lock-er program to avoid the risk of losing anything in my pockets.

[ioa geek]

I just went to IOA today and I went on the Chinese Fireball side today so I could see all the action. Both cars from the station at the same time and they were going through the tire drives as usual to start the climb up the lift. I was thinking are they going to duel by mistake? But the ride operators caught this and slowed down the Chinese Fireballs lift and let the Hungarian Horntail train take a lead and do it by themselves. I was depressed and new that his rumor was true about this ride after all.

[MrSum1_55]

Remember people: this is what happens when you don't follow loose article policies.

[KBrylczyk]

Aw, that really sucks. All it takes is one bad apple to ruin the bunch. Well, looking on the bright side, at least one train won't sit in the station for five minutes because a guest on the opposing train is having problems. I witnessed that all too often whenever I was in IOA.

[milndog]

This is really sad.

[DiSab]

It's official - the ride has been completely neutered.

[WFChris]

The pay-storage-devices and cubby holes are just not secure enough to encourage people to part with items in their pockets, bringing them on-board will create a scenario where people are more likely to enjoy the attraction safely, with their pockets empty.

 

I'm not sure what you mean. IOA offers FREE finger-print controlled lock-ers which are free for the duration of the estimated ride queue length (plus some buffer time). Generally, I will keep my wallet, camera, and phone in my pockets (to avoid buying a lock-er), but at IOA, I found myself regularly using the free lock-er program to avoid the risk of losing anything in my pockets.

 

Well, the problem with the free storage-devices is, that while appreciated, asking people these days to part from their cell phone to wait in line, even for a half an hour, is like asking them for their first born. Have you looked around in queues lately? Unless there is a way to secure the items immediately before boarding or on the actual ride, I don't see people willingly parting with their items, particularly their cell phones.

[robbalvey]

At least the two coasters are still "good" on their own.

They are "good", but I'd argue that the dueling aspect actually added to the ride enough for me to consider them "great" when they dueled, and only "good" when they do not.

 

Sure, they are some of the better B&M inverts, but on their own, I'd put them on par with a Batman clone. Dueling really added to the experience. Sucks that this had to happen, but then again, "Dueling Dragons" was dead to me when Potterland was built anyway, so I guess I'm kind of indifferent to it....

[alpengeist04]

What Universal has done to the once great Dueling Dragons is really sad. First the dragon statues and awesome queue, and now one of the most unique coaster experiences in the world is permanently gone. ...This whole thing is just lame.

 

 

 

 

 

"That's all I have to say about that."

[Moose]

I wonder if universal singapore will stop sending battlestar trains out together.

[coasterfreak101]

At least the two coasters are still "good" on their own.

They are "good", but I'd argue that the dueling aspect actually added to the ride enough for me to consider them "great" when they dueled, and only "good" when they do not.

 

Sure, they are some of the better B&M inverts, but on their own, I'd put them on par with a Batman clone. Dueling really added to the experience. Sucks that this had to happen, but then again, "Dueling Dragons" was dead to me when Potterland was built anyway, so I guess I'm kind of indifferent to it....

 

Agreed. They're B&Ms without the dueling, but with it they're some of the best out there. The entire point of these rides is the dueling experience. They were particularly designed for it. So when you take that out...what's the point? They're good, but nothing special.

 

^I wouldn't think so - this is Lawsuit Nation, that's why this stuff happens here. And the general population is stupid and arrogant and pulls this sort of crap to begin with.

[gisco]

What a bummer!

[iTomzXD]

I blame the riders who hurt the others !

[koasterfreek]

The ride has now officially gone from GREAT to lame

[robbalvey]

I blame the riders who hurt the others !

To be fair though, you don't know if the "other riders" were doing anything malicious. I once had a pair of keys fly out of my velcroed cargo shorts pocket, which I would have assumed would be "secure."

 

It was a freak accident, not something you can really "blame" on someone else without knowing for sure that another rider actually threw something on purpose.

[MrSum1_55]

This is easily one of the biggest dissapointments in all of coaster history. If Batman hadn't been cloned a million times over, the design would probably be on par with Non-Dueling Dragons. Now that dueling is gone, I believe Universal should paint both of them the same colors, to create a disorienting sense of having track all around you and not knowing where you are going. Or, even better, they should merge both tracks into one mobious track, creating one, long, superinvert.

 

Meh, both of these, especially the latter, are highly unlikely to happen. Either of these would be sure to dissapoint Hairy Potter fans, considering there must be a way to distinguish between dragons, and the dragons must duel. Not to mention that the second option would be expensive, and reduce capacity. It will probably remain how it is.

 

MrSum1"Would almost rather have the old theming back than have the coaster duel"_55

[robbalvey]

Hairy Potter fans

LOL!!!

 

[Ace Of Spades]

^LMAO!

 

I love when people make that mistake, but the fact that someone made a drawing out of it is just awesome!

[PriestofSyrinx]

Accidents do happen. And sometimes there is an over reaction to things like this.

 

This reminds me of when Mission:Space at Epcot had those two incidents, and they toned down the centrifuge, and created a simulator/ centrifuge-free side. It was a complete accident, and IMO Disney was not a fault. I believe that Universal is not at fault here either, yet its unfortunate that they are over reacting here.

 

Just my two cents.

[Philrad71]

I know this would ruin the dueling aspect from a rider's standpoint, but couldn't they put nets up between the dueling sections to prevent articles from hitting the other train?

 

^That is exactly what I was thinking. They did it for hockey when someone got hit in the face with a puck that went over the glass. I didn't like it at first, but you got used to it. Kinda like the mesh they also use at the driving ranges.

 

I wonder if that was thought of before they just decided to stop dueling the trains? Sure doesn't seem like it would be all that expensive to do.

 

Maybe they could even change the name to 'Fish Net Frolics'!