Information.

Here you'll find a little about the coaster when it used to duel and before it was re-themed and re-named.

The original queue line.

The queue castle seen today is essentially the same layout as before, but a much more sinister place. Many, including myself at first, regarded this as an attraction in its own right. On entering, you were greeted with a large room and a stained-glass window at one end. Many people didn’t stop here unless the park was busy and the queue reached back this far, which is a real shame. If you had stopped for a short while, a story was told where you could see silhouettes of the dragons flying “outside” through the window then, as the story unfolded, the glass pieces themselves rearranged to reflect the story content. As you walked further into the castle, the walls became embedded with bones suggesting this was not a good place to hang around. Turning every corner revealed more tunnels to walk through and the anticipation of the ride grew. Finally, you were greeted with the sign “Choose Thy Fate”, left to ride Fire Dragon and Right to ride Ice Dragon. Stand around here for a while and the common question coming from other guests would be “Dad, shall we go red or blue?”

The Dueling Dragons

Once seated and checked, the ride was despatched. The other dragon would either be ahead of you or behind you but it didn’t matter as they both met up before you reached the top of the lift hill.

Fire – A left hand swoop down and into the first inversion, followed by a large hill over Ice. As you reached the crest, Ice comes from nowhere and turns over directly below your feet. Down and into the second inversion and towards the ride’s signature – a near head-on collision with Ice. Just as you think you’re going to crash you’re whipped up and over a loop. You then make your way around and towards the ride entrance where each dragon corkscrews in unison as a show of strength to the onlookers. You think it’s all over but Fire has one more inversion to throw at you before returning to the lair.

Ice – A right hand swoop followed by a large turn. With fire nowhere in sight you make you way skywards and there’s Fire approaching from the left. To show your strength you do an inline twist, showing Fire the power of your claws, but this had put you on a head-on course with the castle. Disorientated, you just manage to pull up in time, followed by a decision to go back to get Fire. On towards the ride’s signature – a near head-on collision with Fire. Just as you think you’re going to crash you’re whipped up and over a loop. You then make your way around and towards the ride entrance where each dragon corkscrews in unison as a show of strength to the onlookers before returning to the lair.

Operations

Were you a ride operator on Dueling Dragons? If you’ve got a tale to tell, let us know and we’ll add it here.

 

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Did you know?

Dueling Dragons was designed to align each train on the lift hills irrespective of when the ride operator despatched them, removing the need for simaltanous despatch. This insured Fire and Ice interacted with each other as originally designed. The first train despatched was slowed on the lift hill to allow the second to catch up. Once side by side, both trains would complete the climb together.

Got any other amazing facts, then let us know!