Dueling Dragons Statues gone

[bigb7965]

I'm kind of surprised that this hasn't been posted yet

This past week the iconic red and blue (fire and ice) dragon statues at the entrance to Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure were removed.

As we well know half of the Lost Continent section of the park is being removed for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, due to open in early 2010. The coasters are still open, but a temporary entrance has been created from the Jurassic Park side of the area.


http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2008/ ... agons.html

[cycamps]

That really sucks. It's not really going to change how much I enjoy the ride, as it's the only invert that I've actually liked, but it's a little disappointing to see that a neat part of the line is gone. Hopefully they don't change much more about it.

[monsterfan99]

Very sad to see them go. It really sucks they are tearing up the best part of the park for Harry Potter. But, it will make them a ton of money and help front the coast of the new coaster at Universal Studios.

[cycamps]

Universal makes approximately 15.5 billion in revenues each year, so you'd think that they'd be able to afford a new coaster anyways. I'm not sure how they allocate money to the park though...

[rb1]

Sad they had to go. I wouldnt be suprised if they got rid of the Sinbad show or Poseidon.

[SFaddiction84]

I really do not think they would actually GET RID of Dueling Dragons, they would probably change the theme and integrate it into the new Harry Potter Theme Section. Those are amazing coasters, maybe they will convert them into "Dueling Wizards" or something.

[Jackluver18]

Why did they get rid of the statues, are they tearing down DD???

[Jerrykoala2112]

ATleat I got a chance to ride it before they take it down (if they are)

[Danhockey04]

The ride is going no where. This has happened a few weeks ago, all they did is relocate the entrance of the ride. The entrance is now in Jurassic Park with lockers there too. This was done for the construction of Harry Potter Land.

[LAFFfan4lyfe]

I don't think it's going anywhere either. They could totally retheme it well to HP. In the fourth movie, the goblet of fire, the first task of the tri-wizard tournament is where they fight dragons. Rethemed...boom!

[cycamps]

I don't see it going anywhere either, but I don't see it getting re-themed. They spent 17 million dollars themeing it, and I don't think they would want to spend any additional money, seeing that people already rush through the line and don't pay attention to the themeing anyways.

[JordanSDMF]

Universal makes approximately 15.5 billion in revenues each year, so you'd think that they'd be able to afford a new coaster anyways. I'm not sure how they allocate money to the park though...

Yeah, the whole disney and universal parks are HUGE. I see why they don't add that many roller coasters though. 1, they probably spend SO much money on Universal Studios for the effects on the rides and everything. 2, they want to keep the theming aspect of the park, and not plop 5 new roller coasters around the park. In my eyes, The Hulk, and DD are the best B&Ms I have ever ridden. And their rides are so amazing, that some are even better than roller coasters. Like the Spiderman ride. That probably cost somewhere in the 20 million area even though it is not a roller coaster.

That's so lame though. Screw Harry Potter. Unless they make a huge Hogwarts building, I am going to be disappointed. The theming in that area was amazing.

[BP317]

Like the Spiderman ride. That probably cost somewhere in the 20 million area even though it is not a roller coaster.

Spiderman cost more like $100 million.

[FParker185]

I think spidermans final cost was in the neighborhood of 200 million, though that includes all the R&D.

[Jackluver18]

The statues were one of the best parts of DD, I liked those

[MForce4ever]

The new queue is so long...makes the old one seem short...