Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[manakin]

I think that the unique big change is the castle....the other changes will be only details (I think...)

 

for me is very sad see this photos...I'll never see the original dueling dragons

[robbalvey]

That does look pretty cool but I still can't remember it! You are probably right Robb, I always stay on property there so have not really waited in many lines.

Yeah, if you stayed on property you probably always had the express pass which means you would have entered right before the "Choose Thy Fate" section missng the rest of the queue.

 

It's like being at Disneyland and having them put you in the Indy queue right where you board the vehicles skipping the rest of it.

 

To be fair, and as much as I hate to say this, I'm betting that most people missed the awesome looking queue because the ride just never got the lines that they thought it would to warrant having such a long and elaborate queue.

 

Ironically enough...I bet it will now...

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[DJeXeL]

^That would be the smart way to do it. Busch parks purchase 4 trains for their B&Ms that can only run 3 that way they can have a train in rehab and still run at full capacity. Very smart.

[nursemelis374]

It's like being at Disneyland and having them put you in the Indy queue right where you board the vehicles skipping the rest of it.

 

Thanks for putting it in my language. That makes sense and I see what you are saying!

 

That is one thing I hate about Express Lines or FastPasses, whatever. As much as I love not waiting in line, you miss out on the buildup associated with the queue. I bet that if a kid had to slowly walk or wait through the entire DD queue they would be much more scared than simply walking past and jumping on.

[jmicha]

^Even just walking through it without a line being there was a much better experience than using the Express Pass entrance. Last time I was in Orlando I stayed at the Royal Pacific hotel and decided against using the Express Pass entrance for Dueling Dragons for that exact reason. Granted there was no line so it didn't really change much but even so the line is an attraction in and of itself. Hopefully whatever it ends up being turned into isn't a disappointment in terms of quality of theming and uniqueness. This really was the only time (along with Revenge of the Mummy) that I felt a queue set up the ride perfectly. I wish a little more of this theming continued beyond the station, but that was never really a big deal. Hopefully I will be able to get back next winter and get to try out all of the attractions I've missed since the last time I was there.

[Erik Johnson]

Here are a few more pictures from the past.

Old Dueling Dragons entrance.

This is all in the dumpster now.

Totally a collector's item!

Old Logo.

F.U.

The ultimate in roller coaster mechandise.

Sigh.

[OldJJman]

^ I still have that T-Shirt!!!

[Meteornotes]

I'm not sure what makes me sadder, the lost of all the cool Dragons stuff, or the current dumbed-down Mythos menu...

 

dt

[diverguy59]

Is it sad that I may cry a little bit because all of this amazing theming is now gone? I had such good times at IOA especially in The Lost Continent! I'm a little upset that Harry Potter of all things has now taken over it. I just feel they could do so much better with the theming for the Dragons. Maybe we'll see more in the future and maybe we won't but hands down Lost Continent will forever be one of the best themed areas of a park I have EVER been too. But I do have to say while I am upset about a lot of the change, I am also really excited to see how this whole Harry Potter thing turns out.

[kidcoaster 2]

Has it even been said they are removing all of the theming?

Edited April 10, 2010 by kidcoaster 2

[SharkTums]

This should never have been touched, let alone thrown in a dumpster.

 

This should never have been created in the first place and should be forced to be burned!!!! And people that wear them (cough Jeff Johnson cough) should be in them while burned!!!!!!!!!!

[alpengeist04]

You're killing me, Erik!!!

 

I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but the new Harry Potter land should never have included Dueling Dragons.

Edited April 10, 2010 by alpengeist04

[DenDen]

Wow, how sad. The one visit I had at IOA, and just about everything I found impressive is now gone! 5 years from now, the whole Harry Potter thing with be tired, and we'll all be saying "Ew, that's so 2010". LOL

[Director_Guy]

I'm really looking forward to WWoHP, but this whole Dragon Challenge thing is ridiculous. It's definitely a step in the wrong direction.

[robbalvey]

Has it even been said they are removing all of the theming?

Yes. Have you been reading this thread? The part of the Dueling Dragons queue that is now open has all the skulls, skeletons, etc, part completely scrapped.

 

THIS...

 

Now looks like this...

 

These areas...

Are reported to be completely gutted and gone.

 

They are currently working on the other parts of the queue and no telling how those sections will be changed, but if what is open to the public already is any indication it would appear that most of the current theming will be replaced or removed.

 

--Robb

[testtrack321]

Major UO fail.

 

I know you can't keep the same theming, but guys, you have to replace it with SOMETHING as good. Sure bones and skulls scare kids, but man, give us something HP themed that's just as good or better in the same area!

[MagicMountainMan]

Heck they could have kept the whole theme and name and just tied it into HP for that matter. I never really did get why they felt the need to change Dueling Dragons, the whole Dragon Challenge idea doesn't really tie into the theme of the land any better. Yeah I know about the First Task you darn HP nuts but really other than that, I never saw why a retheme was even necessary.

 

Other than that, the rest of the area looks great! Although it does intrude on the JP area by the looks of it.

Edited April 12, 2010 by MagicMountainMan

[freekeee]

Yeah I know about the Second Task you darn HP nuts

 

Thats First Task to you, better luck next time

 

Yeah so the dueling dragons theme was cool, and I wish I could of seen it for myself, but the way some people moan about these things is making me not care about it at all.

 

You think that they should of just gone: 'so, we want to create a totally immersive harry potter world costing millions of dollars. But, do you see that part over there? Yeah thats it, the part with Merlin and stuff. well hes a wizard right? So can we just leave that part as it is and screw the fans?'

[Leekak]

Wow I cant belive all the attention being focused on the theming and queue lines,lets face it we have all riding DD many times and admired the attention to detail, but things move on. At the end of the day we are only in the line wating to ride the coaster, has that changed? have they taken out any eliments,is it now just a kiddie coaster? NO its still the same ride. Dont get me wrong I do prefer a build up to a ride rather then something layed down in a car park but surely we are not going to be put off just because they have changed the theming. If there is nobody waiting in line and you had to do the complete walkthrough,you do it as quick as you can even looking for short cuts to avoid going up and down the fixed barriers. If your standing around for to long admiring the theming your holding up the line. Just let me on the ride.

No offence intended here.

[coasterfreak101]

Mann, I've only ever been through the full DD queue twice, I think, but those were without a doubt the coolest rides I ever got on those coasters. The maze of line through all of that theming is an experience that I don't think this ride should go without. And I still can't believe that those dragons at the entrance are gone. You know, considering that the ride is still dragon-themed, you'd think they could have fit still. Lame.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love HP and all, but there's no reason why Hogsmeade/Hogwarts couldn't have been the HP Island, and DD couldn't have been left in The Lost Continent. At this point, The Lost Continent just has a talking, squirting fountain, Posiedon, and a restaurant. Why not just ditch the whole area for a HP retheme at this point? That'd just be awesome.

[sam06pr]

Seeing all this makes me want to cry. All this is going to be missed

[kidcoaster 2]

Has it even been said they are removing all of the theming?

Yes. Have you been reading this thread? The part of the Dueling Dragons queue that is now open has all the skulls, skeletons, etc, part completely scrapped.

 

--Robb

 

Thanks must of missed the confirmation of the removal of everything somewhere

[PAL]

^Yes, the portion of the queue that is open and in use as the temporary entrance / exit was scraped clean of any theming. It looked sadly barren during our spring break trip, dare I say Cedar Fairian? That open wound of a construction site was very bad show for, what? Nearly two years? I hope it proves worthwhile for the park and future guests.

[kidcoaster 2]

^Yes, the portion of the queue that is open and in use as the temporary entrance / exit was scraped clean of any theming. It looked sadly barren during our spring break trip, dare I say Cedar Fairian? That open wound of a construction site was very bad show for, what? Nearly two years? I hope it proves worthwhile for the park and future guests.

 

Yeah I have read the discussions on that. Will be interesting to see if they replace anything they take out, and if so what they put in.

 

Hopefully they theme the Queue like your are getting ready for the first task.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTb8KLXTzC4