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

P. 625: Harry Potter Ministry of Magic revealed!

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I've been been in complete disbelief for days now, that Dueling Dragons will no longer exist.

 

When I first went to IoA, it had to have been 2000, and This was no doubt my favorite ride there, it probably still was the last time I went in 2010 (which holy crap I can't believe that was 7 years ago). Obviously I share the same sentiments as everyone else.

 

Inverts were my favorite type of coaster for the longest time, and while DD was not the best invert, it had my favorite element. The second helix into the helix was just awesome.

 

In my earlier visits to IoA, I also remember the re-ride door, which was great for short cutting the unnecessarily long queue line. I remember on my last trip after it turned into Dragon Challenge the re-ride door was no longer available, but you could still see where the sign hung from the ceiling and obviously the actual door was still there. If there was one (affordable) aspect of the ride I could have taken home, it would have been that sign.

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Interesting...

 

Lance over on Screamscape just posted a video of some of the first sections of DD being taken apart. It appears that they are being quite careful with the removal (not a rip it down destruction type of thing). Could it be headed to another park? One can dream...

Edited by robbalvey
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Take another look at the video. The bolts were cut, you can see heat damage to the paint and a chunk of the plate is missing next to where one of the bolts was located. Pretty sure they are just doing it this way so that it is easier to transport to the metal recycler.

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Take another look at the video. The bolts were cut, you can see heat damage to the paint and a chunk of the plate is missing next to where one of the bolts was located. Pretty sure they are just doing it this way so that it is easier to transport to the metal recycler.

 

Good observations... I didn't pick up on all that. Bummer

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I will never go to florida over this why the hell are they getting ride of this great ride! Universal Orlando will be boring to me without this!

 

That sounds like an appropriate reaction.

 

If you like B&M inverts so much that you're willing to boycott an entire state over the removal of Dragon Challenge then that's all the more reason to go to Florida since the best B&M invert in America is right up the road in Tampa.

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I will never go to florida over this why the hell are they getting ride of this great ride! Universal Orlando will be boring to me without this!

There is still Busch Gardens Tampa and SeaWorld Orlando that have far superior coasters anyway...

 

In other news: The guy on FB who seems to think that at least half of Dragon Challenge will end up at Kentucky Kingdom (or elsewhere) bay be coming around after I tagged him in MM's post showing it being torched. Now he has messaged B&M...some people...lol

845437226_wmuniversalBampM.JPG.4ec4fb7501c80a53a6c6777ff820608b.JPG

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Please guys don't post anything from Midway Mayhem. Those guys are such assholes and have treated us like complete crap over the years. Even up until very recently when I sent a guy to record a POV of Mine Blower while we were out of town and the Midway Mayhem dude happened to also be at Fun Spot and sat there in front of the park management talking about how we are such a terrible site and we shouldn't be allowed to film. Real professional. I do not want to support that guy in any way at all. Thank you.

 

Side note: Fun Spot ended up using all our footage in their web content and TV commercials so I guess his warnings fell on deaf ears!

Edited by robbalvey
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And no. The ride is not being carefully taken apart and it is not going to another park. It is being thrown away. I have actually been saying this for QUITE SOME TIME and I'm not sure why people didn't believe me. I'm not known to post random stupid crap that's not true. Please, just take my word for it. You don't need photos & video from some insecure douchebag to confirm it for you.

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So glad that I went with a group of coworkers to marathon on Dragons to see how many times we could ride it in two hours a few years back. I would've never guessed then that this wonderfully unique ride would be gone in just a few short years! Maybe the fact that we could marathon the ride to begin with should've been a clue.

 

At 95% of parks worldwide this coaster would have been one of the premier attractions. However at Universal the ride seemed to fade more and more into the background, especially after Potterverse came along.

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^Make that 100% of all parks. This WAS one of the premier attractions at USO. Every B&M invert in existence is more or less one of the top attractions at its respective park. For example, Raptor is still one of the more iconic attractions at Cedar Point. And overall Raptor is not as famous with the GP as Dragons ever was. The only invert more iconic than Dragons is possibly Nemesis, and even that is comparing apples to oranges, as the two coasters are on different continents.

 

The only silver lining to this is that it makes me want to spend less time at Universal. This is good because the park experience did seem to be on the decline anyway. (I hate those ride metal detectors with a burning passion). Now this resort might be best as a one-day visit, while spending the rest of my time in Orlando/Tampa at a better park.

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Please guys don't post anything from Midway Mayhem. Those guys are such assholes and have treated us like complete crap over the years.

 

Whoops, sorry about that. I'm usually conscious of that stuff and I know of plenty of sites you guys don't want shared here but I never knew Midway Mayhem was one of them. That's a shame to hear. I don't know why people feel the need to act like assholes when covering an industry that's completely, 100% about letting loose, having fun and not taking yourself too seriously.

 

I have actually been saying this for QUITE SOME TIME and I'm not sure why people didn't believe me. I'm not known to post random stupid crap that's not true. Please, just take my word for it. You don't need photos & video from some insecure douchebag to confirm it for you.

 

I know this isn't directed at me and I know you've been hinting at this for a long time but now that you mention the fact that you've known about this for such a long time there is something about this Dragons Challenge thing that I find really confusing. I'm wondering if you can shed some light on it (or maybe even speculate on it because I can't figure it out).

 

Based on when you started hinting about it on here, it seems like the rumors about Dragon Challenge started to surface not long after Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express opened. That sort of implies that this is something Universal has been thinking about for quite some time, probably even before Diagon Alley opened.

 

If that's the case then I can't for the life of me understand why they would go so far out of their way to shoehorn the Hogsmeade Station of the Hogwarts Express into such an asinine location. As of now, it seems like the only reason they would choose that location is to accommodate a ride that was on the chopping block anyway. The train station is located nowhere near the midway, wedged between helixes on fire and ice with an overflow queue up against that stupid Sinbad building. The logical part of me thinks that this must have been something Universal was considering for a long time, but the placement of the train station is so ridiculous that it almost seems like removing Dragon Challenge was never a serious consideration until after they green lit the Hogwarts Express (but that seems sort of crazy since the projects really weren't that far apart).

 

I can't be the only one that finds that really weird, right?

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I know this isn't directed at me and I know you've been hinting at this for a long time but now that you mention the fact that you've known about this for such a long time there is something about this Dragons Challenge thing that I find really confusing. I'm wondering if you can shed some light on it (or maybe even speculate on it because I can't figure it out).

The first time I ever heard about Dragons going was BEFORE Hogsmeade even opened. JK didn't like it and I had heard that each side would go to different Universal parks that were in the planning stages at that time. Those didn't happen. Dragons stayed. JK hated it. Rumors got stronger after Diagon opened and Dragons was flagged as the next expansion area. I'd heard everything from new ride to a hotel. Who knows, maybe BOTH can still happen, it's a huge area.

 

I think a lot of us just were hoping that none of those rumors were true because, as I've said many times already, it's rare that you see a park get rid of an actual good ride, no GREAT ride that is still ranking high on guest satisfaction and is one of the flagship rides of the park.

 

All I know is that parks like Universal Japan have shown how rides like Jaws and Potter can co-exist while at the same time building a brand new totally kick-ass B&M coaster. Maybe Orlando should take some cues from our Japanese friends.

 

although I'm not expecting Jaws to still be in Japan in five years either...

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Please guys don't post anything from Midway Mayhem. Those guys are such assholes and have treated us like complete crap over the years. Even up until very recently when I sent a guy to record a POV of Mine Blower while we were out of town and the Midway Mayhem dude happened to also be at Fun Spot and sat there in front of the park management talking about how we are such a terrible site and we shouldn't be allowed to film. Real professional. I do not want to support that guy in any way at all. Thank you.

 

Side note: Fun Spot ended up using all our footage in their web content and TV commercials so I guess his warnings fell on deaf ears!

 

Not going to post the links or anything, but heads up; this post apparently started some controversy. This dude is spamming Instagram and Facebook to further beef with TPR because he clearly "hates drama"

 

All I know is that parks like Universal Japan have shown how rides like Jaws and Potter can co-exist while at the same time building a brand new totally kick-ass B&M coaster. Maybe Orlando should take some cues from our Japanese friends.

 

Ugh, Flying Dino is seriously SO GOOD. It really bums me out when I see the differences in directions these two parks have taken in the past few years

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Not going to post the links or anything, but heads up; this post apparently started some controversy. This dude is spamming Instagram and Facebook to further beef with TPR because he clearly "hates drama"

Of course he is... He'll probably get more attention out of a post mentioning TPR than most of his videos. So, to RollerManDan...

giphy.gif

 

EDIT: lol Yes I see he's posted to just about every social media channel mentioning us trying to stir up drama (and page views.) "kids these days..."

Edited by robbalvey
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If true that JK Rowling was responsible for this, then I'm incredibly disappointed with her at best. I come from a family that really likes Harry Potter. But it is maddening to see someone ruin something other people love just because she doesn't like the way it looks. If I ever actually wrote a series of books (which I am trying to do right now, funnily enough) I would not care what people did with it in most cases. Then again, I feel like having something of yours remain popular for so long can cause someone to develop a sense of entitlement.

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If true that JK Rowling was responsible for this, then I'm incredibly disappointed with her at best.

Again, I can only speak to RUMORS that I've heard but I know I'm not the only one who has heard them and I've seen other sources post about it as well. Take it for what it's worth, which could be nothing.

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