Dragon Challenge
| Dragon Challenge | |
|---|---|
The third previous near missing in the corkscrew |
|
| Data | |
| Location |
Universal's Islands of Adventure ( Orlando , Florida , USA ) |
| Type | Steel - inverted |
| model | Inverted Coaster |
| category | Dueling roller coaster |
| Drive type | Chain lift hill |
| Manufacturer | Bolliger & Mabillard |
| Designer | Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH |
| opening | May 28, 1999 |
| closure | 4th September 2017 |
| length | each 975 m |
| height | 38 m |
| Departure | Chinese Fireball: 35 m Hungarian Horntail: 29 m |
| Max. speed | Chinese Fireball: 97 km / h. Hungarian Horntail: 89 km / h |
| Travel time | each 2:25 min |
| elements | Chinese Fireball: 2 × Immelmann looping 2 × corkscrew Hungarian Horntail: |
| Inversions | each 5 |
| Subject area | The Wizarding World of Harry Potter |
Dragon Challenge (to May 2010 Dueling Dragons ) in the Islands of Adventure ( Orlando , Florida , USA ) were two steel roller coasters on the model inverted coaster the manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard , which opened on May 28, 1999th The lanes were closed for renovation on May 5, 2010 and reopened on June 18, 2010 along with the new theme area The Wizarding World of Harry Potter . The attraction was finally closed on September 4th, 2017.
history
Dragon Challenge was opened as Dueling Dragons on May 28, 1999 along with the whole park and was part of The Lost Continent . The theme of the course was two dragons dueling each other: Fire and Ice. The Fire Dragon and Ice Dragon routes had two parallel lift hills , but had different routes. Here the two trains came close three times to within 50 cm of each other. This effect is also referred to as near missing or near collision point . This gave the passengers the impression that they were about to collide with the other train. To ensure this effect, the train was weighed with the passengers at the beginning of the trip and according to a time delay on the lift hill sent. This ensured that the trains ran all three places at the same time.
In September 2008, the actual entrance to the train was placed in the themed area of Jurassic Park so as not to hinder the construction work on the Wizarding World . On May 5, 2010, the railway was then temporarily closed. Together with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter , the track was reopened on June 18, 2010 under the name "Dragon Challenge", with Fire Dragon being renamed Chinese Fireball and Ice Dragon into Hungarian Horntail .
In October 2011 it was announced that the two roller coasters will no longer run in parallel, but rather staggered. The reason for this is an incident with a 52-year-old visitor to the park who was injured in the head by a loose object while driving and lost an eye. The actual reason for the conception of the railway was therefore no longer taken into account, as there are no longer any near-missing effects.
journey
Chinese Fireball
When Chinese Fire Ball (red bar) followed after 38 m high lift hill and 35 m high left inclined exit a Immelmann . This was followed by an airtime hill over the Zero-G-Roll by Hungarian Horntail (formerly near-miss element), which ends in another Immelmann . After another 360 ° right-hand bend, the train entered the next earlier near-miss area: a loop with a corkscrew that followed after a 180 ° left-hand bend . The train went through another corkscrew before it hit the final brake.
Hungarian Horntail
At the Hungarian Horntail (blue rail), after its 29 m high right-sloping descent, there followed a 270 ° left-hand bend, which is atypical for Bolliger & Mabillard Inverted Coaster , as before - with the exception of Great Bear - there was always an inversion after the first descent . After the curve, the train did a zero-g-roll under the airtime hill of Chinese Fireball (formerly near-miss element) and then a cobra roll . Here, too, the former near-miss area followed: a looping with a corkscrew following a 180 ° right-hand bend . The train made several turns before it hit the final brake.
Trains
The Dragon Challenge trains each had eight cars. Four people (one row) could sit in each car. The passengers had to be at least 1.37 m tall to be allowed to ride. Shoulder straps were used as a restraint system.
construction
Safety bar
The safety stirrups of the Chinese Fireball were yellow and those of the Hungarian Horntail were blue. However, the safety bars in the first row of both lanes are pink because they represented the dragon's tongue. Each train had two seats (rows three and six) for people of certain heights .
rails
Chinese Fireball was the only inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard that was not equipped with a Zero-G-Roll . Hungarian Horntail was the first inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard that did not have an inversion immediately after the first drop .
Noise level
The rails were filled with gravel and plastic rods to reduce noise due to the proximity to the Dr. Phillips High School . Shortly after the park opened, large walls were erected behind the attraction as local residents complained about the screaming.
Web links
- Commercial site of the park (English)
- Data and pictures on RCDB
- Dragon Challenge - Inverted Coaster Duo of a special kind . Detailed article about the train from Coastersandmore.de
Coordinates: 28 ° 28 ′ 25.1 ″ N , 81 ° 28 ′ 24.1 ″ W.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dragon Challenge is Closing Forever . Article from themeparktourist.com, accessed December 25, 2017
- ↑ Island of Adventure - Dragon Challenge never duel again . Article from Airtimers.com, accessed October 2, 2012