Re-Experiencing Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure

This article is a continuation of the history of Dueling Dragons at Universal Islands of Adventure. READ PART I

A Virtual Tour on IOA’s Defunct Twin Coasters

Dueling Dragons debuted alongside the grand opening of Universal Islands of Adventure on May 28, 1999.

To ride Dueling Dragons, guests trekked to the back of the park by passing the towering Pharos Lighthouse, through the welcoming Port of Entry village, and toward The Lost Continent. This island was a distant retreat from civilization—a place where guests could discover magical stories of awe and wonder.

The Lost Continent was split up into three subsections. The first was The Lost City, a crumbling Grecian galleria, featuring the Poseidon’s Fury walkthrough attraction. Next door was Sindbad’s Bazaar, a desert village lost in the sands of time, presenting The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stunt show. And, around the bend was the medieval town of Merlinwood.

Watch on YouTube

This article is available in video form with added visuals. Click here to watch it.

Merlinwood

The pathways of Merlinwood were cloaked with a Celtic soundtrack, which the park-wide audio media producer, John Rust, described as “happy, but on a bed of uneasiness.”

“We wanted the music to be as important as the art direction.”
John Rust, IOA audio media producer, Entertainment Design, 1999

The timeless town branched toward a hollowed tree sprawling with tangled roots and a trunk covered in rough bark, which was splintering in the shape of a mysterious face. According to legend, that wrinkled face was that of the once-great wizard, Merlin; he was enchanted and betrayed by the Lady of the Lake, Nimue, who entrapped him in the tree.

Inside the trunk, guests could grab a drink or a bite to eat at The Enchanted Oak Tavern and Alchemy Bar.

A Merlin walk-around character could be spotted around Merlinwood, with a robe covered in leaves and vines as a connection to The Enchanted Oak.

Riding Dueling Dragons

Entrance

Across the way, guests would discover two dragon statues in a heated battle frozen in time. This was the grand entrance for Dueling Dragons. The statues were spectacular in scale and detail as the snarling dragons wrapped around two collapsing columns: one topped with a glowing ice crystal and the other capped with a flame.

At a marked spot on Merlinwood’s main midway, guests could look in between the dragon statues for a perfect view of the dueling coasters’ signature near-miss elements lined up in one vantage point.

Outdoor Queue

Guests entered the queue for Dueling Dragons by stepping up a small stairway, between the dragon statues, and into the forest. The soundtrack shifted from bouncy to dramatic through the woods, with sporadic signposts to warn travelers about dragons. The exterior queue passed by the coaster area where dragons raced by.

The pathway led past an outdoor extended queue area, across a bridge, and toward a dilapidated castle. Once through the portcullis and through a burst in the wall, guests entered the crumbling castle.

Pre-Show

The attraction’s story unfolded in the foyer where the pre-show played across three animated stained-glass windows.

The voice of Merlin told a tale about the rundown fortress and its cherished past. Merlin retreated to the beautiful castle to nobly live out the winter of his life—that was until two violent dragons burning with hatred for each other dueled across the land, destroying the kingdom and its army. The twin beasts and their opposing powers of fire and ice joined forces only when challengers tried to fight back; those foolishly brave enough to face the dragons were either mauled or scared far away.

The kingdom was powerless against the beasts—known as Pyrock and Blizzrock—and its only remaining hope was the once-powerful sorcerer, Merlin. That was where the story left off. Merlin’s withering magic was no match against the vicious dragons. All he had left to offer were grim warnings about the dangers ahead.

However, as merciless as the dragons were, they spared anyone brave enough to take flight along their wings; the only escape and way to save the kingdom was to fly with dueling dragons.

“Queues are an opportunity for storytelling. We didn’t just build rides; we crafted legends, which is what separates Islands of Adventure from other theme parks.”
Phil Hettema, SVP of attraction development, via a Universal Orlando press release, 1999

WATCH MORE

JOIN TODAY

Indoor Queue

The pre-show was only the beginning of the attraction’s creative storytelling and design. This indoor queue was considered among the best in the park with its eerie scenes and storytelling. Some newspaper columnists actually recommended guests tour the queue even if they had no interest in riding—the theming was that spectacular.

“Quick advice: Even if you don’t like roller coasters, wait in like at Dueling Dragons anyway. The winding passageway is almost an attraction by itself. You can bail out at an exit door at the end of the line.”
Mike Thomas, columnist, The Orlando Sentinel, 1999

The queue continued into the ruined castle—the one from the tale told in the pre-show. The next room was a small rotunda tower; Merlin’s spell book was on display in the center, open to a page of his past sorcery in attempt to defeat the dragons.

The tower gave way to a cracked and dilapidated chamber lined with the charred remains of Pyrock’s victims pinned to the fractured walls. Clever warning messages were etched in stone as guests wandered closer to the dragons’ hideaway in the catacombs.

The corridor rounded into a chilling room known as the Hall of the Dead; the icicle-covered armor of frozen knights hung in the decaying rafters as dim candles led the way. Tapestries on the wall added to the story of the dragons and castle. The environment grew more ominous with every step; ambient details such as distant dragon growls caused the collection of candles to flicker.

Guests passed through a small sitting parlor reduced to rubble by the tails of the dragons; the smashed opening gave way to hidden passageways toward the castle’s catacombs.

The queue narrowed into a series of cavernous halls textured with bones and grim messages. This dungeon-like area was just as spine-chilling as a haunted house with its claustrophobic spaces, low lighting, terrifying sets, and hauntingly atmospheric sound design—such as rumbling winds as if the walls were breathing. The attraction’s creative director, Catherynne Jean, described the darker parts of the queue were, “Sculpted to feel like you had touched the skin of the dragon.”

Along the passageways, sets of wooden doors made it seem as if the dragons were just on the other side, eager to barge through. Torches and lanterns led guests down the gloomy tunnels that routed to the basement where the dragons burrowed.

A brief break in the caverns opened up to a frightful chamber where the voice of Merlin called out words of warning once again as the room funneled back into one more catacomb. The final stretch was all the more mangled as guests neared the dragons’ lair.

The caverns emptied to a point of no return where guests were faced with a choice. A sign reading “Choose Thy Fate” pointed riders either left or right down the split path. Guests could choose left to ride the Fire dragon or right for Ice.

Each side led to a slight hallway and into the attraction’s dual loading station where the coaster tracks were positioned at a 90-degree angle. Above the room’s archways, guests could see silhouettes of dragons soaring—projected onto a decorative cloth drop ceiling. Before guests could load, empty ride vehicles pulled into the station.

The attraction had a total of six trains, three per track, holding 32 passengers each with four riders to a row. The lead trains were stylized as ferocious dragon faces with pink over-the-shoulder restraints across the front rows to look like open mouths and tongues. The other rows had claws gripping the seats with tan or blue harnesses that matched either dragon.

Guests boarded, and the two coaster sides dispatched at the same time for an airborne battle.

The Coaster Experience

The two tracks paired side-by-side on the pre-lift straightaway, which was the system used to measure the trains’ individual weights and expected momentum. The coasters then ascended the 125-foot shared variable-speed lift hill that released the trains at calculated times to ensure the near-miss elements would line up.

The coaster area was not as heavily themed as the queue but had some greenery, the castle’s exterior, and a body of water; the pond was originally intended to be in the shape of a dragon but was altered for logistical reasons.

Atop the lift, the dragons plunged into action, splitting off into their banked drops. The Fire side curved into a 115-foot drop, reaching nearly 60 mph as Ice had a slightly shallower drop of 95 feet for a speed of 55 mph.

Fire then raced into an Immelmann inversion while Ice flew into a turnaround. The two tracks crossed paths for their first of three near-misses; Ice snapped into a zero-G roll as Fire leaped over with an airtime hill, which was a rare element for an inverted coaster.

The dragons dashed away from each other; Fire blazed into another Immelmann, which wrapped around into a forceful downward helix, while Ice scraped just inches away from the scuffed castle wall through a forceful cobra roll inversion.

Fire and Ice zoomed toward each other on a collision course across straight tracks until rising into the ride’s second near-miss element—and arguably its most prominent—dual vertical loops. Riders went toe-to-toe with the other train as these two vertical loops swooped against each other.

Scattering their separate ways, the dragons turned around to face each other, barreling into the coasters’ final interactive element: two interlocking corkscrews.

Fire drifted into one more corkscrew as Ice breezed through a few turns. After more than 6,000 feet of combined track, the coasters hit their brake runs and re-entered the castle. Guests got off at a dedicated unload platform and headed down an exit path, which had a shortcut back into the main queue for anyone who wanted to re-ride.

Guests could take home some Dueling Dragons souvenirs at a gift shop called The Dragon’s Keep.

Unicorns Fly into The Lost Continent

Dueling Dragons was a novelty but stood out as a highlight at Islands of Adventure. The attraction received high praise, consistently earning a top 25 spot in the Golden Ticket Awards’ best steel coasters category. Dewayne Bevil of The Orlando Sentinel commented on the coasters’ creative dual design, writing, “‘Intertwined’ is an understatement.” The twin coasters were among the park’s more popular attractions upon opening.

Because Universal expected large crowds and high wait times, the line for Dueling Dragons was well over half a mile long long—which was the world’s longest queue, according to the park.

Operationally, Dueling Dragons had an extraordinarily high theoretical capacity of just under 3,000 riders per hour—but usually could accommodate up to about 2,000 riders in an hour. Still, the attraction essentially had one queue for two separate coasters—double the capacity, but not necessarily double the demand.

On top of this, attendance at Islands of Adventure fell short in its opening year due to poor marketing. Combining that with the efficient throughput of Dueling Dragons, its wait times were lower than anticipated, making the lengthy queue excessive despite the ride’s popularity.

Meanwhile, early guest feedback about Islands of Adventure suggested the park could benefit from more family-friendly attractions. As such, Universal Orlando invested in two small family attractions to add to its new park—one for Marvel Superhero Island and the other in The Lost Continent.

“Now each island has a very distinct attraction for young children.”
Jim Canfield, Universal Orlando spokesperson, The Orlando Sentinel, 2000

A portion of the outdoor extended queue for Dueling Dragons was repurposed to give The Lost Continent a family-friendly ride: a new junior roller coaster called Flying Unicorn. This coaster opened in 2000, one year after the park opened, and had a storyline based around Merlin and a magical unicorn horn.

HHN Takes Over Merlinwood

The lore around Merlinwood and Dueling Dragons had potential, making it a strong concept for Universal Orlando’s annual haunt event, Halloween Horror Nights.

During the event in 2003, a loose extension of Dueling Dragons took over the pathways of Merlinwood. The scarezone, called Immortal Island, featured the Ice Queen, Fire King, as well as their armies of ice and fire demons.

Changes on the Horizon

During the early era of Islands of Adventure, Dueling Dragons soared as a flagship thrill ride. The coasters were a hit with guests and had occasional light pop culture cameos—such as being in the smash hit, blockbuster, modern-day classic, everyone’s favorite: Bring It On: In It to Win It.

However, Universal Orlando had an opportunity to transform its parks forever by trading one wizard, Merlin, for another: Harry Potter.

CONTINUE TO PART III