The Legacy of Dueling Dragons - Two One of a Kind Dueling Roller Coasters
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- čas přidán 24. 07. 2024
- Dueling Dragons was one of the most legendary attractions of all times. The two dueling roller coasters truly made the attraction one of the most unique out there and it's a shame that the attractions are now gone. In this video, I discuss my thoughts on the coasters and also dig into the technical side of them.
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Intro & Outro music by Tennessee @tennesseemontana
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Video Sections:
Intro - 0:00
Universal Orlando Resort Background - 01:17
Dueling Dragons Background - 03:27
Review of Theming - 06:12
Ice Dragon Review - 08:48
Fire Dragon Review - 12:10
Which Dragon Was Better? - 14:34
What Made the Dragons Work? - 17:04
Why Was Dueling Removed - 21:38
Dragons Through Time - 22:57
We're the Dragons at the End of their Lifespan? - 25:16
Conclusion - 26:32
Video Credits:
CoasterNick3157 - • Dueling Dragons At Isl...
Florida Phlash Backs - • Universal Islands of A...
zach_clarke - • Dragon Challenge | 2014
2ombieboy's VHS Vault - • Universal studios Isla...
Coaster Jeff - • Original Dueling Drago...
Coaster Jeff - • Dueling Dragons / Drag...
Listen to Theme Parks - • Islands of Adventure -...
Zrowny - • 1999 - Total Immersion...
Zrowny - • 1990 Universal Studios...
Cow Missing - • Islands of Adventure U...
Cow Missing - • VINTAGE Universal Stud...
Sean Flaharty - • Islands Of Adventure M...
Coaster Clips - • Dragon Challenge - Uni...
Norman Snook - • Dragon Challenge On-Ri...
John Schroter - • Steve Jobs introduces ...
#DuelingDragons #Legendary #RollerCoaster - Zábava
Ladies; find yourself a man who loves you as much as Ryan loves block sections.
Bahahaha! 👏🏼👏🏼
Ladies, find yourself a man who duels as well as Dueling Dragons.
You said huge truth there ;-)
& If only haha! ;/)
Ha
Block zones :-) haha!
There is a tribute to the fallen dragons in Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. On one of the walls in the queue (I think it’s in the standby queue), there’s some graffiti that says “Dueling Club” with the heads of blue and red dragons.
Good!, should be be a tribute stand next to it, reminding us of the dueling dragons, with a reading plate and pictures, fun fact apart from red dragon in aventura spain, and even the vekoma slc prototype el condor in holland, this was my favorite (b&m coaster, as ice felt like a dance and id ride it for hours, fire was intenser with positive g forces, i wish it had a zero g- rolled by an inverted coaster overbank turn into a dive loop, onto the straights, i loved them, i also though the theming and colors on ice, especially on the trains looks better, and that zero g roll. i never managed to get on them dualing, but they could'v put nets and screens, even if difficult, because of tight tolerances they needn't be thick, the structures to hold transparent screens could be themed with dragon art or 3d holgram fire effects+sounds lights, during the rides, statues and more / better dragon artwork woul've come across that the dragons were infact wyrms winged sleek long tailed serpentine Dragons.
the way they danced around each other reminded me of aang learning fire weilding in the animation series avatar legend of aang book fire, by exactly such wyrms. and their dueling was a dance between fire and ice.
It is in the stand by queue
At least they paid the beasts tribute. Just got back from there last weekend. By the time we made it to Islands of Adventure, the storm clouds were hanging over and had most of the rides shut down for weather (and my brother was being pissy.) Had no idea they closed my coaster as we naturally didn't stick around to long at that point.
So bummed as I was definitely looking forward to that ride the entire trip 😫🙏
I will look for it next spring! Thank you!
I saw those! I sadly never got to ride the dragons, but I know it’s possibly the most sorely missed coaster around
I remember my favorite part of the ride being the climb up three lift hill. The two trains would always trash talk or yell at each other before we battled. It felt personal haha
My high school band class went to Islands of Adventure in 2003, and pretty much the entire class would be on the two tracks at once, trash-talking all the way up like you say. And when we happened to be there, there was hardly any line, so it felt like you could just walk right up and get on again and again, trying out both of the rides multiple times. Great times!
Yes! I was just thinking about this when seeing the two coasters climb
@@Comradez our band did the same thing! 😂
Never clicked so fast. I really miss Dueling Dragons. One of the best rides at Universal.
Yes, Dueling Dragons were great coasters, but they get replaced by Hagrids Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the Velocicoaster!
The Dragons were still better rides than Hagrid's Motorbike.
Me too I remember riding it for the first time like it was yesterday. I was really bummed out when I heard they were removing it
It was my favorite roller coaster, and it still is
I’m hoping the Velocicoaster tops it
Damn, I went there once and only now I learned it’s no longer here
I rode this back in the dueling days, right after it had been raining so there were no lines. We just kept getting on and switching tracks. Great memory.
I have a very similar memory, from back in summer 2000. My dad and I rode over 20 times, switching between Fire and Ice. Not a single person in the queue besides a few other people who had the same idea.
If the "child swap" door was open, you could cut through there as a shortcut. If it was a really slow day, most staff didn't care.
Rainy days were the best. Made you go faster it seemed!
Dueling Dragons should be in the conversation for best Invert and while I think the dragons fall short of Montu, Afterburn and Raptor, when they dueled they gave an unmatched experience.
Big big facts
I visited Islands of Adventure in summer 2000 when I was 11. I don't remember what the circumstances were that made the park so empty, but there were no lines for any rides- perhaps it had been raining. My dad and I alternated between the two dragons for a total of I can't remember how many rides...at least 20. I can't be certain anymore, but I think Ice was my favorite. I remember running through the seemingly 10 mile long queue admiring the theming and thinking about how much it would suck if I had to wait in a full queue line. That's one of my fondest memories involving theme parks growing up. Dueling Dragons were indeed an unmatched experience.
Agree
Fire Dragon’s 2nd inversion followed by the helix descent remains one of my favorite moments on an invert.
Having worked with people in Universal Orlando who were there, I can say for sure that the major reasons it closed were as follows from the executive office view.
1. The ground the ride was on was slowly growing unstable from poor grading. They would have had to demolish everything just to fix all of that in the first place.
2. Because of the previously mentioned issue, the ride was at risk of literally shaking iself apart if both coasters ran at once, thus causing huge liability and lawsuit concerns.
3. The Universal execs straight up wanted a new shiny Harry Potter ride to attract people into the park, and with the Dragon coaster being handicapped, they had the perfect excuse once riders per hour dropped.
That's terrible... the ground itself slayed the dragons and the money aspect just confirmed the decision but at least it will be beloved for a long time since so many people miss it
@bigevilworldwide1 you have a great point! Its expensive but considering how much rides are used they need to be expensive to run well so im just glad they were replaced with someone good
Why didn't they just relocate the ride? I mean, some other amusement park could have bought it. This is the part I do not understand. I remember X-Flight migrated to Kings Island after Geauga lake closed. So why didn't they do something like that? Where are the tracks right now? What did they do with all the track parts?
Only for Hagrid's to have so many issues and is constantly breaking down
6:21 from this angle the tracks looks like the dragons’ breaths firing at each other. This ride was so good, I remember having the express pass and riding each one back and forth.
If every attraction at Universal has to wow guests, what is Fast and Furious Supercharged doing there?
@Trump4Prison2021 Bingo! The only Fast themed attraction I could see working is some adult Go-Karts dressed up as Skylines and Civics.
And that jimmy fallon shit
Please, don't remind me about the time I wasted on that fucking thing
Somehow with covid rules supercharged had the longest wait times my last time in universal. I hadn’t watched any videos and completely wasted my time in line for that attraction. I place that attraction below the old fear factor interactive
the sorry excuse for a ride was one of the worst experiences I've had at a theme park. The wait was excruciating because only one or two busses were in rotation and the poor attendants had to sanitize every bench every round. After what felt like all day waiting, the "ride" was cheap, visually ugly, and as thrilling as a week old tuna sandwich. Will never ride it again, and I feel bad for everyone who worked hard on it.
This coaster was awesome, all the memories, there really wad nothing cooler than a set of duling B&M Inverts. Don't get me wrong, Hagrids was a good replacement but God I miss this thing.
The Dragons were and are still the better ride.
@@LordMalice6d9 DD should have been relocated to Canada's Wonderland instead of being scrapped
For whatever reason, after the Harry Potter expansion opened, there was also almost no wait for it.
@@bradyryan5105 Canada’s Wonderland seems kinda odd. They’re not even owned by the same company, but anything would have been better than scrapping it
@@logo115 Agreed. Canada doesn't have the amusement culture that the USA has, and Canada's Wonderland, being the biggest amusement park in Canada, would have really drew in the crowds, similar to the crowds Behemoth and Leviathan brought in
I’ll never forget riding Fire in the front once and not getting my harness in as much as I’d like. However at the bottom of the drop the high positive G’s snapped the harness into place where I had wanted it. Fire wins for me!
Exact same thing happened to me! I remember how cool it was going up the lift and looking to the side to see the people in the other train.
On the opposite side of that coin, I hate when the restraint gets pulled in uncomfortably tight, the ride starts and it's too late to do anything about it.
No surprise the dragons got removed, J.K. Rowling is contractually required to change her mind on something every year.
her name is J.K. she's always kidding
@@JayckobHernandez She's kind of a hack. There's no way anyone can convince me either that all of the ideas for Harry Potter were exclusively her's on her own.
She's got enough money to have this rebuilt in her back garden
I felt that.
@@LordMalice6d9 Even though i love the books, lot of elements were "inspired" by Tolkien
ElToroRyan is back for explaining Block sections yay!
the most grueling hours are block section hours
Nobody:
ElToroRyan: making everyone’s day better
Also ElToroRyan: Let me tell you about things called block sections for a minute
Dueling Dragons was sooo good 😭 As soon as they removed the dueling aspect I knew its days were numbered. Both Ice and Fire were great coasters, but the dueling was the wow factor. Very fond memories of this ride!
I've never felt more alone then right now scrolling for a single comment mentioning the relation of the dueling dragon to Bring It On: In It To Win It. That was my immediate association with the roller coaster
I know !!!
I got to ride the red track when they were themed as Dragon Challenge and I had no clue what I was in for. The floater airtime on the first encounter happens at the exact moment that you're startled by the blue train on the zero G roll right underneath you and the combination is unlike anything I've experienced. The whole ride was thrilling and intense but smooth beyond belief. My mom will gush about it every time we have a conversation about coasters.
Hi from IOE 🤗 Awesome video! It made Brian's day that you mentioned him! Thanks. ☺ Dragons were "his girls" and will always be his favorite project ever. Its dueling code lives on in our retrofit of Racer 75. 💖
I’m so happy you both saw this! Brian seriously did such a great job! And that’s amazing the code continues on!
@@ElToroRyan Honestly, that means the world to him to hear that. That was a life-changing project for him that has always been and always will be close to his heart. He's closing in on a resume of having programmed almost 75 coasters and DD remains at the top. So glad he can keep the spirit alive when we work on racing coasters. ☺ You did a great job on the video!
@@ElToroRyanI've been on the Red one it was great
I feel old now... I miss this ride. I kept telling someone about dueling dragons and they told me that ride never existed.
People dumb anymore. They’ll believe whatever
I still have one of the red/blue t shirts so I'm sure it existed. Loved the ride, but like all inverted coasters, you really needed to be on the front row to get the full experience. I preferred Ice, but I know lots of people loved Fire
I never heard of it.
B&M should do another pear of dueling inverts in another park
they should do more inverts in general
Haha who's gonna pay over $30 million for a dueling B&M?? No one needs that high of a capacity besides the universal parks. Just can't see anyone other park wanting them. If you want a dueling coaster you'll need a cheaper manufactuer imo
Yes I'm sure they love to duel pears
As Ryan mentioned, the reason it stopped dueling was because of safety. Even with metal detectors, lockers, and all the warnings, loose items will always sneak through and all it takes is one incident to stop dueling forever. Sadly coasters like this would never even be built today because of loose article safety concerns. Why build something when it’s biggest point of appeal is very likely to be shut down?
@@kiera_rdh6697 elaborate more please. How was it a safety risk ?
I’m so sad to hear it closed. I went to universal as a kid and this and the hulk were the only rides I was to short to go on. It was my bucket list to go back and ride the dragons one day😭
Me too. I went when I was 8 years old and I was about 2-4 inches too short to go on most of the bigger rides (Hulk, Dueling Dragons, etc.) So my brother and father went along and I remember being upset that day I couldn't enjoy all the big fun rides.
Well my family never went back to Universal after that. By the time I was able to get there on my own (with my now husband) it had already been closed. I'm so sad I'll never get to ride it. I remember the entrance being so fucking cool.
@@Rishro29 yeah the entrance was awesome. I had these big shoes with wheels in them that boosted me up like 2 inches and I was still to short.
My brother got a shirt from the gift store that he still has to this day.
I grew up in Orlando so I rode these a lot. Hulk had that nasty shimmy that would shake your ears (they got rid of it but now it's slower and just kind of hurts). This was my favorite ride (I haven't been in a few years so I haven't ridden Hagrid or Velocicoaster)
Love how universal just put the steel phantom in their ad and just thought no one would notice
I KNEW that was steel phantom, the second i saw the commercial i was like ?!?!??!?! THAT is definitely not a universal ride........
I did the same thing with a puzzled look.
Alright I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who noticed that. I saw it for a brief second and was like “...Huh?” but I shook it off as something else.
Can confirm.
whats the timestamp on that?
When I was a little kid, I wanted Duelling Dragons to be the first coaster I ever rode. I was absolutely crushed when they removed duelling. I remember building a trashy little replica in Rollercoaster Tycoon as tribute to the fallen dragons.
Dueling Dragons was my first ever upside down coaster really it was my first Real coaster
When they added the metal detectors I thought for sure that was with the plan to let the dragons duel again 😔. Didn't make sense to me why a coaster that didn't interact with any guests off-ride got the no loose articles treatment
They probably _hoped_ to, but there turned out to be another problem with the dragons dueling: halfassed grading during the original earthworks for the ride was finally coming back to bite Universal. The ground beneath the supports had gotten saturated enough to start sinking and destabilizing, making the combined vibrations of the two tracks running at once dangerous; even running only one side at a time was problematic.
Bro...you don't just "skip ahead" during an El Toro Ryan video....even when talking about block zones....👌
The block zone section should be played in slo-mo so as to enjoy its full majesty
When is the block zones merch coming? Stickers that say "a block zone is a section of track only one train may occupy"?
I’ve been bingeing ur vids all day while playing Planet Coaster...then this vid is uploaded...thank you 🥺
Universal should have just added metal detectors and lockers because then they could've kept the dueling
They had metal detectors later, a year or two before the ride was dismantled to make Hagrid's.
Jessi Stephens But with metal detectors they could have kept the dueling
I understand that
I remember going through the metal detector the first time, thinking cedar point needs to get on this after the raptor incident a few years back.
Yep like Velosicoaster
As such a technically minded guy myself, and being on a coaster kick recently. This is BY FAR the best coaster breakdown/review/history content I've seen.. Keep up the good work man, you're killing it!
I always felt that Ice/Hungarian Horntail was the more exciting track.
Also, part of why DD lost its dueling privileges (along with the already mentioned loose articles problem) was how the track foundations were slowly sinking. Eventually, those near-misses would have become collisions.
Back when I got to ride them around 2003 I always wondered what would happen if someone who was like 8ft. tall with super long legs got onto one of the tracks. Would their feet graze the other side when the two come together for the loop? It always seemed so close!
At 8ft tall you'd likely be too big to fit in the seat in the first place.
just wondering where did you get that information from?
Or the rides would shake themselves apart from the combined vibrations destabilizing them.
I wear my tie die Dueling Dragons shirt literally every time I go to the parks, and I feet multiple comments from TMs and sometimes guests. It's amazing how people go nuts when they see a DD shirt, that's the legacy it left that makes it a legendary set of coasters that will be beloved and remembered for many years to come.
This coaster is why I'm an enthusiast, and I never even rode it. Its closure is what set me down this path. I missed my chance to ride, and I will never stop wishing I could get to ride it. However, it brought me to the community of theme parks, which introduced me to coasters I never even thought possible. It was then I realized how much I was missing out by being scared of these things.
However, just this year, I was able to ride its cousin across the lake. It felt... poetic in a way. While I've been on coasters I'd consider superior in intensity, I conquered that which I never thought I would. Rest in peace, Dueling Dragons.
Even though I've never ridden it when it was duelling, I still considered it a great ride! And I agree, that drop of the camelback in the red side was just nuts! Best part of the coasters!
just discovered your channel and have been binge watching for over two hours! great content and I love your insight and take on Dueling Dragons. I have great memories riding both sides with family when IOA was still a new park, and then the spring break trip we took in college riding them back to back with no lines. I was not a believer in Hagrid's and told my brother who is also a roller coaster lover that "this better be good." I agree, it was a solid replacement and outside of Velocicoaster (my new IOA fav) is now my second fav at the park. Keep up the great work!
Gah I'll never forget riding Fire over and over again with my buddies from Youth Group in 2007. Felt like my legs were gonna get torn off every ride from the positive G's - and I loved it. Rode Ice First and never turned back to it after my ride on Fire - it just felt so much more intense. That slanted immelman with the wrap around helix was so dope - I'm surprised it didn't make me grey out.
Had tons of fun in line in the beautiful castle, me and my bros laughing cause of the constant comments from a British family about "all the nooks and crannies" lol. Only visited IoA once but Dueling Dragons was easily the best part of that trip.
And yes I'm finna flex as well - I every ride that day was a duel ;)
I was there February 2007, only rode Ice...
I rode Dueling Dragon/Dragon Challenge in June 2017. I honestly preferred red
I was way too young and scared of coasters to ride the dueling dragons when we first went to universal in the early 2000s, but my dad seemed to really like it and i got a plush fire dragon from the giftstore, so it has a special place in my heart.
Later ended up riding the dragon challenge version several years later, I had a pretty good time, but i wish they had kept the dueling aspect😭
Dragons was a great coaster. It went downhill after the dueling was eliminated
I remember that line queue freaking me out as a kid too, but this was one of the coolest roller coasters I've ever rode including The Incredible Hulk which were both at Island Adventures.
Was just watching the el toro and Superman el ultimate escape vids. Glad your back!
Just had a thought... they could've themed it so that two dragons that were supposed to guard eggs had escaped their enclosures before the task could begin and were now fighting one another and of course the rider is whichever dragon they chose.... changed the color a bit, maybe tweaked the inside, banned all items in pockets so they could actually duel again and that would've been a hit. But nope.
There’s info saying the ground was in a bad state and if they duel the roller coaster could fall so they took it out, fixed the ground and decided to make a Harry Potter themed one because it would make more money
YES!! Another great vid from my current favorite CZcamsr!!!
I am very lucky. I got to ride both when it dueled in 2006. It was phenomenal and if they were around and dueled today I think they may still be in my top 15 coasters.
I remember I marathoned this coaster one night and was able to get a front row duel with my brother on the other train. Probably some of the greatest interactions on a coaster ever! Amazing coverage of both ride experiences by the way. It felt like I was back on them lmao
I really love Hagrid’s. But I will never forget how awesome these inverts were.
Thank you so much for this video, I agree with everything you said about it's removal. I was sad watching this - I do miss those coasters. At least Hagrid's is amazing. I still remember going on Dueling Dragons for the first time in 2001; the experience was unparalleled. I can vividly remember the entrance and queue line, and the excitement of going on it for the first time. I rode Ice the first time, and went on fire in later visits; both were fantastic.
3:04 ah yes phantoms revenge my favorite islands of adventure ride
Lol
actually steel phantom
I remember that footage way back in the day when all the coaster nerds were excited about IOA - it was Steel Phantom back then and I found it amusing that they used a green filter
Oh man, I remember riding Duelling Dragons back in 2001 or so. Our biggest family vacation, it was definitely one of the highlights. What a great coaster, what a great concept. Sorry to hear it's gone the way of the dodo.
Congrats again on the Marriage!!! So happy for you Ryan!
Not sure if it’s just me, but Ryan is gonna be making hella cash from this vid, I got 9 ads lmao
He’s just doing his job mang
Edward Isom mang, I’m pretty sure he has a real job, he’s like an engineer or something
Got to make that quarantine side hustle
Gotta pay interest on the loan Ryan took out for his Japan trip
That was a lot of ads, lol
very happy to have gotten to ride this, this coaster was my intro to the inverts and my first B&M, and increased my love for roller coasters,
I was terrified of going upside down and not having control of the situation, but thought about it. you've got more of a chance to get hurt on the way too the park than inside of it, so I rode both tracks and loved it, really good ride, sad to see it go. wish I could rode when it was dueling
Awesome to see you back and awesome video! Dueling Dragons were certainly a great duo of inverts and it’s too bad I never rode them before they closed.
Glad to hear from you as well as others that Hagrids is a worthy successor and for those who are still wanting a new, more thrilling experience, I think what Universal has planned for next year will more than satisfy them.
The ride also got EXTREAMELY bumpy and was definitely at the end of its life span :( I was hoping for a refurb but instead it got removed :( Can't wait to ride hagrid's though!
I was lucky enough once to ride the fire dragon in the front row back when they did still duel and that was the coolest experience, especially the two vertical loops..roller coastering directly into another coaster until you both pull up at the last second
They were fun. It was nice in the off season when u could ride both time after time with no wait. LOL. Great channel. I am glad that I found u. Keep up the good work !!!
Dueling Dragons had such an initial impact on me the only other coaster that had a bigger one was El Toro! Incredible coaster that I will always remember fondly!
Dang I'm so happy that you're back! Also congrats on the marriage :)
I really liked the ice side! I feel like the fire side is when I decided the ride was probably what Quidditch felt like, but the ice side was smoother and FELT longer. I only rode it once while it was still Dueling Dragons, but Dragon Challenge was still dueling the first time I rode the HP re-skin. (2010, 6 months after Hogsmeade opened).
That being said, while I miss this glorious B&M monstrosity, I LOVE Hagrid's, like, a lot.
Another Great vid! seeing the loop duel never gets old.
🔥🐉 ❄️🐉
my favorite ride as a kid! i remember when my dad would tell me we were travelling to florida and i would get so excited to ride this ride again. i miss it so much.
When it was announced this coaster was being torn down and scrapped I was so upset but I’m happy I rode it. I got on it my one and only time before the dueling was removed
Why did Florida have the best inverts? Also congrats man.
Best sit downs too!
Yes, kumba or montu?
Declan c Kumba all the way. And that’s not just because of my account name. Kumba is very forceful and in my opinion (apparently everybody else thinks otherwise) very smooth.
Kumba from BGT as much as I LOVE ❤️ kumba, I get a bit of head banging each time I ride it. I feel like if they fixed that issue kumba would be tied with montu as my number 1. Montu also has certain elements that I love more like the batwing and the imomen going over that pathway
Declan c where do you feel the headbanging? Maybe because I’m short I don’t get it
Incredible video. Brings so much nostalgia back.
Thanks for making this video. I was really sad to hear that this ride had been removed. This is a tough call for me, but if you consider it one ride, it's the best coaster I've ever been on. Inverted, B&M, five inversions and three encounters with the other train. It was a masterpiece, and I can't believe it's gone. I still can't decide if I liked fire or ice more. You make some good points about fire, but the close encounter with the castle wall and cobra roll on ice were pretty exciting too. I'll never forget being in the front row, coming down low, heading straight for the other train and then looping away.
my day was just made twice as good now that ryan uploaded! PRAISE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!
Ryan: Comment down below what your favorite side was.
Me: Crying in my corner
Glad to see you working on videos again man! Hope all is well
By far my favorite invert I have ever ridden. Rode it when it was still dueling and man was it an awesome ride.
Even though we may have lost this beast, atleast they are trying to right the wrong with w.e it is that they are building in Jurassic Park
Velosicoaster 🙌🎢😍
It’s been a while since I’ve commented for the algorithm... anyway have a good one
This was my first roller coaster! What great memories, thank you!
As a kid i had a paper copy of the Islands of Adventure map and would always pore over it, hoping i could visit one day. The most intriguing ride was Dueling Dragons-an intense, dueling pair of modern (at the time) inverted coasters was something out of my dreams! I finally visited as a teen in 2011 and ever since, the blue track has been my favorite steel coaster ever. RIP to the dragons but they had a good life. Excellent video!
I remember reading about these when they opened and at the time the reviews I read preferred the Ice side because of "the wall", seeing the cobra roll as a couple of extra near-miss elements. But then when I was actually fortunate enough to go in 1999, my friends and I all preferred to hit up the Fire side. It didn't hurt that the fire side was basically a walk-on, but even before I could have recognized any of the elements, the Fire side was clearly the better of the two.
I'm with you on the removal--I'd be more mad if they still had dueled, or if their replacement wasn't a really great ride/experience. But Hagrid's slaps, fits the theming better, and I can't feel too bad about it.
(I am really curious how Hagrid's block zones/capacity works if you'd be game to explain that more someday)
I'd be down to see how Hagrid's zones/capacity works, as well...
I compare the capacity and general zones to Disney’s space mountain except a lot more elements involved. The reason it sucked for a while is because so many elements had to be perfect or the computer would stop everything and cascades were so common in waves
@@ggen3934 Later, ElToroRyan actually did a Hagrid video and it's fantastic! Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.
@@ryanvanasse I’ll be sure to try it! If it’s anything like space mountain, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. I love the technicalities and machinery of these things.
Doesn’t Patriot at Worlds Of Fun have an airtime hill?
Very true, it does. I honestly forget that coaster exists 😂
ElToroRyan Me too tbh I forgot about that whole park a lot when my Homepark as El Toro And Nitro
Thank You!! DD is one of my favorite roller coasters!
0:50 the original Fire and Ice entrance one of the most badass attraction entrances!
Loved Dueling Dragons thought it was definitely a one of a kind hands down. Sadly the only B&M coaster to close and be ripped out too.
I think Hulk is better than Hagrids but it’s no denying Hagrids is a show stealer (well when it works)
It's a shame these coasters couldn't find a second life elsewhere. But it probably wouldn't have been worth the trouble for another park to try to take them. I never got to ride either side (never been to FL before).
This video was amazing. It put me back at US.IOA, easily my favorite park to visit. Thanks for the nostalgia!
This was a great history flashback for me! well done! This was one of the coasters that got me into coasters, man i miss it, fire was my favorite also, but for me personally i actually preffered being on the camelback over the ices corkscrew, it was neat seeing the train below go through the corkscrew, also while fire had more straight track, from memory it felt fast and you got that "tunnel" feeling because of all the supports around you which made it feel even faster. cant remember if it was fire or ice, but on one ride there was a block section fault and got us stuck before the break run, memorable experience.
Also, btw Ryan, Patriot is another invert with a camelback
When you're going to Magic Mountain
i had no idea what blockzones was until i watched your videos... now i use them every time i make rides in planet coaster :)
I'm so lucky to have these credits. These were incredible when they dueled. Individually, they were top 10 inverts in the world, but when they ran together, there was nothing like them and there still hasn't been anything like them since.
I was so fortunate to get this credit! I almost only rode Ice but fortunately I was able to convince my dad to let me do the fire side and wow the fire was a step up from the ice! It’s sad to see these gone, but very fortunate to have this credit. Of my 56 credits, I got a lot of defunct ones (vortex, firehawk, dragon challenge fire, ice, Colossus(SFMM))
I only rode Ice. Blizzrock was the Dragon's name. Anything to turn back time...
I only know this roller coaster because of "Bring It On" 😂
dueling dragons was the first major rollercoaster i’d ever ridden on and i have it to thank for helping me conquer my fear of rollercoasters! so grateful i got to experience it multiple times while it was still dueling.💖
Ryan, you are really killin it with the documentary style videos like this and the Problematic Coaster series. 👍👍
Couldn't they have just brought back the dueling once they introduced the new locker policy tho...?
I was wondering this as well...
Presumably couldn't take the risk of someone not putting something in the locker and it injuring another rider. Never underestimate how selfish people can be.
Knowing what we now know about Rowling and how she's willing to hurt people for her ajenda I wouldn't put it past her to have sabataged Dueling Dragons. I'm 100% serious.
honestly, she is a monster.
Man I could almost feel myself riding it just watching this! I'm glad I got to experience it.
Rode the ride while it still dueled during spring break on my first trip to Florida. I don’t remember much but I remember it was awesome and my favorite ride on the whole trip. Also that one side seemed to be closer to colliding than the other. I’m glad it got to ride it in it’s heyday
I miss this ride. So many good memories with my family and on school(marching band) field trips after our states competitions
I've only been to Florida once in August 2000 and the Dragons were one of my favourite rides despite riding them before 9am and feeling quite queasy.
Happy memories....
I worked on Dueling Dragons in 2003/2004. It was always such a thrill, when opening in the mornings and doing mandatory test runs, to ride solo in the front! Such fond memories. Fire was my favorite, thanks to the camel back, but I also very-much loved Ice. It was an epic coaster.
Thanks for calling attention to the programming, Ryan! This one had to have been really tricky, especially back in 1999!
i loved this roller coaster. my brother and i rode this coaster over and over in 2002. It was so awesome!!!
I got to ride the red dragon back in the early 2000s on a marching band trip and I LOOOOOVED IT SO MUCH! I cried when we got off because it just.....it was so good, I just couldn’t contain myself.
I need to hear the block explanation. Every. Single. Video. By far my favorite part of the video is you explaining the technical components of the ride lol
Fire was always my favorite. So graceful with lovely air time. Dueling dragons was such an incredible pair of coasters. The queue was an absolutely stunning experience.
like he said there was basically no wait I've ridden this ride and kumba an epic amount of times.