Date Ridden: 1 time in the front car of both sides in January of 2007 and multiple times in other cars in January of 2008. Times Ridden: 10 total (5 for Fire and 5 for Ice)
This past January was one of the most amazing weekends of coaster riding in my life. Guy and myself rode the famous Montu 10 consecutive times, spent about 45 minutes straight on the the Starliner at Cypress Gardens and then....well it is tough to explain. I'll just say that it is a blessing to have friends ready to attend these parks with and to enjoy all of the fellowship that goes along with it. And did we ever have something to talk about on our 8 hour journey back to GA.....without a doubt the most intense and scary coaster ride of our lives. If I have you hooked please read on...
Most everyone knows the concept of the Dueling Dragons at IOA. This unique attraction consists of 2 superb B and M inverts which duel at various stages through their rides. The two coasters combine to make my favorite attraction in Florida but each coaster is in itself a unique experience. I am going to try to review each coaster separately in order to focus on what each side.....fire and ice.......has to offer. With all of that said lets check out Fire first.
After driving all night and visiting Kraken at Sea World first (see Kraken review) we grabbed some lunch and headed out to IOA for about 5 hours of coaster riding. We were looking for a lengthy wait on Hulk (which is normally the most popular attraction at the park) and the capability to ride the Dragons numerous times since the line is normally short. Amazingly we were able to get 2 quick rides on Hulk and them moved to the back of the park where the line for the DDs was approaching 40 minutes.
Since this is a capacity machine with 4 total trains running, our wait was only about 30 as we wound our way through the lengthy que (wait times varied as I think they had some issues with the ride......we had 30 minute waits sometimes and would run around to get back in line and get straight on during others......it was really weird..we got in 8 total rides) and jumped on the fire dragon first. We rotated our rides back and forth on the two coasters but the ride I wish to focus on was our final ride of the night on Ice. I will get to that ride later.
After multiple rides, I think I prefer Fire slightly even though I will give both the same rating. With Fire you have a little more intensity and a little more speed without really losing anything in the dueling aspect. You get two superb duels with Fire (as opposed to 3 that are noticeable on Ice) and they are both excellent as you can see the riders below you on the zero g roll and the double loops sneak up on you a little more on this side. However, as the park was about to close, we were running around the line to get back in for hopefully one more ride. They had closed off the short cut, so we simply leaped the barricade so as not to have to run all the way around. We sprinted through the castle and into the loading area as the gates were popping open. We ran straight through and got on the last car. There were only 4 people on the front and the two of us in the back when a phone call came down to the operators and everything was delayed.
It had been raining off and on all day and we knew that storms were in the forecast but we had no idea that a huge thunderhead had blown up. Suddenly one of the ops stated that management said to go ahead and send the trains as the last ones of the day. We were pumped as they sent us out to the lift hill...and into an unbelievable experience.
For anyone who is reading this, I kid you not, it seemed we had entered a freaking hurricane! It was pitch black, the wind was gusting at unbelievable speeds, and it was absolutely pouring rain. I am still amazed that they sent us out into that. As we dropped down the lift hill, I had to pull my hoody over my face and keep my hands in front of my eyes because the rain was hurting so bad. If there was ever an actual battle between dragons, it could not have been more intense than that ride we received. The thunder was crashing, the lightening was flashing every few seconds, and the rain was a torrential downpour. I was simply trying to survive and praying that we would make it back to the station. It would not surprise me if someone lost their job for sending that train out. I doubt that I will ever have a ride that intense ever again. We left the park once this ride was over, walked to the car, and then drove into Orlando to grab a bite to eat. When we got to the restaurant, I actually took off my shoe and literally dumped the water out of it. It was totally insane.
When comparing the two coasters, Ice offers a different layout with one extra duel (easier to see that is) plus a superb near miss with the castle wall as the coaster enters the cobra roll. I always pull my feet in much like I do on Montu with its near miss of the temple ruins. Ice is a little better at dueling as it has a longer run up at the double loops. It is much easier to see this inversion/duel on this side of the coaster.
Ice is still an intense ride, but it does slow down a little toward the end. There is one final duel in the last part of the ride that is much more visually noticeable on Ice since you are going slower (but by no means slow....Ice is still very quick all the way to the end).
Once again, while the front row offers the best visuals, you still get the dueling aspect in all seats as we rode in virtually every seat on the train. I really like the back seat on Ice as you get some great visuals of the other train going through inversions at numerous points throughout the ride. I would recommend on your first time through each side, go ahead and wait the extra time on the front car. After that, simply ride the first available row and try to get a wide variety of seats. That way one can get everything that this compact little ride has to offer.
Also take some time to hang out at some of the lookout points. This ride is almost as much fun to watch and appreciate from the viewpoint of a coaster enthusiast as it is to ride. It is amazing at some of the things this coaster does.
Whew, that took some time. I welcome comments or suggestions and highly recommend this attraction for anyone no matter how far you have to drive. Fire and Ice offer an experience that is impossible to get on any other ride in the world to the best of my knowledge. The attention to details is superb and all-immersive. I am a huge fan of fantasy literature as well (we high school English teachers tend to like that kind of stuff) and this ride gives the feeling that you are stepping back into the middle ages. I only hope and pray that they do not change ANYTHING about this ride when Harry Potter land comes. I enjoyed the books, but hope that IOA does not mess up the best themed ride on earth by trying to change it. I am somehow afraid they will though.
Ice and Fire get a solid 9 from me. Ride the front for a perfect 10 but good seats are located throughout the entire train. Go to Florida and ride this beauty. Now. Hurry!!
1 comment:
I got to ride the dragons for the first time in July. I absolutely LOVED both of them. However, I must say reading this after September 2017, it is sad to see "hopefully they don't change anything with it", when they built a stupid wall to replace the awesome dragons out front, removed nearly all of the theming, removed the dueling, installed metal detectors (while not returning the dueling), kept this setup for several years (while continuing to not duel them), and then sent 2 coasters any other park would be greatful to have as a flagship attraction to the scrapyard. I've said it before and I will say it here. It should have been Marvel, not the Lost Continent, that would be lost to Harry Potter. Dr. Doom-relocate to Universal Studios Florida, Spiderman-keep the concept, but replace the graphics (ie Forbidden Journey), and Hulk-enclose the coaster and make it the Greengots roller coaster from the movies. I love escape from Greengotts for what it has, but they could have built a real roller coaster instead of more screen based stuff with a short coaster section that just has a good "Gravity Max" style drop. Hulk enclosed with lots of theaming to Greengotts would be incredible (no pun intended). Hogwarts Express could just loop around the park on the outside to get to that area. But no, we have to get the dragons removed for more screen based garbage.
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