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Dragon Challenge was a pair of dueling inverted roller coasters located at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. The ride was the only dueling inverted roller coaster in the world. The ride was themed as two dragons and was originally named "Dueling Dragons". It featured a layout with two completely unique courses and three near misses between the two trains, which brought riders' feet within several inches of riders on the other train. The ride was constructed by Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland. Both sides were two minutes and twenty-five seconds long. The ride originally opened in 1999 with the name, "Dueling Dragons", but was renamed "Dragon Challenge" in 2010 after being re-themed for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In July 2017, Universal announced that Dragon Challenge would close to make way for a new Harry Potter attraction.[1][2] The ride closed on September 4, 2017, and demolition started soon after.
Incident[]
In 2012, Universal Studios decided to make the two coasters stop dueling. While riding, three riders exclaimed that they were hit by something, injuring them. After examining the coaster, the park stated that it could not be the coaster. They believe instead, riders on the other train threw their shoes or rocks at the other train while they were at the coasters signature, "Dueling loops" element.
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