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Universal Orlando (Studios/IOA/Epic Universe) : General Discussion

I think it looks like one of the best family coasters in the world. Absolutely no doubt about that. Going to have to wait 3 and bit years to ride it which sucks. However I suppose the queues will be better by then.

Florida really is pushing on right now with new coasters. This and Jurassic Coaster at Universal, Guardians and Tron over at Disney and the RMC at Busch Gardens.

I do envy people who live there at times.
 
Just watched the Hagrid thing POV and it looks crap.

To think they got rid of Dueling Dragons for this...
 
I will say as a replacement for Duelling Dragons it does look inferior. But as Slaphead says, as a family ride and a ride in its own right, it does fantastic! Hopefully the JP coaster will fill the thrill blank that DD left.
 
Really bizarre they'd get rid of Duelling Dragons for this just to make it fit. I guess money speaks and it destroyed one of the world's best themed coasters in the meantime.

Saying that the ride looks really good fun as a family ride. Apart from Hagrid constantly muttering in your ear ("immersive!!!"), its just a straightforward really fun themed coaster, lots of different moments and effects
 
Dragon Challenge was pretty pants compared to the amazing original Duelling Dragons, although the retheme only happened because of Harry Potter of course, too many attempts to fit something that didnt really need fitting. But I suppose that's all been said before
 
Lots of kids who love Potter aren't tall enough to ride a B&M invert. My 5 year old is obsessed. He lives for Potter.

I think people need to get this into their heads. Universal and Disney aren't thrill parks. They are for the whole family. That's the big draw about these places.

I think it looks amazing. Of course a thrill seeker is going to enjoy the B&M's more but that's not really what the Potterverse is about is it?

Interestingly Dragons are the only B&M's ever built that are no longer in operation. They didn't even relocate one of them or even as a pair. Maybe they weren't aging well.
 
@Benjsh raises a very good point. Harry Potter is loved by many younger children, and Universal needs to cater for everyone, so I think Hagrid's was a fantastic decision, especially considering that IOA lacked a mid-ground family coaster before it was built. Well, unless you count Hippogriff, but I'd say that's leaning more towards the junior end of the spectrum.

Also, I think Hagrid's will be a much better fit for the Potter area than DC was. WWoHP is all about immersion and staying true to the franchise; Hagrid's motorbike and the forbidden forest does stay true to the franchise and is immersive, whereas two massive B&M inverts were not something you'd typically have seen in Hogsmeade.
 
Given that Universal completely retracted Hulk a year before Dragon Challenge closed I think it's fairly obvious that Dragon Challenged was also closed due to old age.

However Hulk had good fortune on its side. It needed to stay (and be updated) for Marvel licencing reasons. Also from a marketing perspective it's an IOA Icon.

Dragon Challenge was the complete opposite. It didn't properly fit with the Harry Potter area and took up a lot of potential expansion space. The ride also had no room for improvement given that it had already been stripped of its signiture feature. Let's remember that Dragon Challenge did duel after it's HP makeover, it was safety concerns that stopped that.

So unfortunately it made sense to save Hulk but not the former Dueling Dragons. No matter what you think of its replacement Dragon Challenges time was up.
 
I think people need to get this into their heads. Universal and Disney aren't thrill parks. They are for the whole family. That's the big draw about these places.

I think it looks amazing. Of course a thrill seeker is going to enjoy the B&M's more but that's not really what the Potterverse is about is it?
Huh, I went to Islands of Adventure twice with my family when my sisters were still pretty young, there was plenty to do. Family parks need to include big coasters, that's been a winning formula for a long time. This isn't about losing a thrill ride, it's about losing what was already a great ride for the sake of expanding HP.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to pin it on poor maintenance (without some kind of solid info) or family appeal, but maybe it played a part. I think the main reason it left was by far the insanely lucrative IP

The new ride is great, but it could have been anywhere in the park with a different theme. It's pretty significant that theyd remove one of the best themed rides in the world to replace it with this.

I guess it was inevitable really until the day HP dies off

No matter what you think of its replacement Dragon Challenges time was up.
Ok but can you imagine any other park binning a ride like that? It's quite representative of where the park wants to go whichever way you cut it
 
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People are getting so carried away with this "Dueling Dragons was one of the best themed coasters in the world" nonsense. Sure the entrance, surrounding area and queue line was brilliantly themed (and still was to a big extent after the Potter makeover)... but the coaster itself always took place on a bare patch of concrete. It was not brilliantly themed.

What's more they were a pair of extremely average B&M inverts and the main feature / appeal was the dueling aspect which, as mentioned by others, was not removed because of Potter. Without that, the ride experience itself was altogether meh.

By all means mourn the loss of the Lost Continent area and that surrounding the original Dueling Dragons, but the coaster itself was iffy and fairly old. The new ride looks better.
 
People are getting so carried away with this "Dueling Dragons was one of the best themed coasters in the world" nonsense. Sure the entrance, surrounding area and queue line was brilliantly themed (and still was to a big extent after the Potter makeover)... but the coaster itself always took place on a bare patch of concrete. It was not brilliantly themed.
I meant as a whole attraction, wasnt singling out the coaster landscaping, which was pretty average but not massively noticeable. It didnt matter as much as this new coaster where its a more varied pace and as much about the scenes as the ride (which is quite cool)

Think you're being bit disingenuous, Duelling Dragons was far better before the pointless makeover (where much more was removed than added) and was a brilliant attraction from start to finish. So yeah, one of the best themed coasters in da world!

I dont have any problem with the new coaster, think it's great as Ive said. I just dont buy the 'it had to go because___' line. The reason is obviously money.

But it's inevitable. The only way this could have been avoided was if they built HP in its own park, rather than cut the park's best area for an IP

Maybe Id be going too far to compare this to binning Nemesis to make a Doctor Who area (if thats the tacky British equivalent??) and saying "Oh well the foundations were dodge and the new one is more family" ..but its not too far off
 
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Maybe Id be going too far to compare this to binning Nemesis to make a Doctor Who area (if thats the tacky British equivalent??) and saying "Oh well the foundations were dodge and the new one is more family" ..but its not too far off
I'd argue there is a big difference because Nemesis is the parks standout ride. Dueling Dragons had a lot more competition. When I visited I don't think it even made my top 10 of universal attractions.
And I know you'll hate me saying this but the Harry Potter rides were all in the top 5.

Out of interest I never experienced Dueling Dragons in its original form. I'm curious to know what made it so much better? Obviously the Dueling but what else? I know the queue was different but unless I'm missing something I don't think the Dragon Challenge queue was any less themed?
Either way I doubt it would have made me enjoy the ride any more than I did.
 
Intamin track is now on site for the new Jurassic Park/World coaster:

img_7761-825x619.jpg


Source: https://themeparkuniversity.com/uni...assic-world-coaster-track-arrives-in-orlando/
 
Although it was expected to be for 2021, recent rumours online point to Universal looking to have it open for fall 2020. Given that the new Harry Potter coaster inc removing duelling dragons construction time was 20 Months, a fall 2020 opening isn't out of the question as by October 2020 the Jurassic coaster will have also had a 20 month construction period. This coaster isn't expected to have as much theming either as the Potter coaster, so there is a possibility of a fall 2020 opening.
 
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