- Oct 14, 2011
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...but with the wait time always consistantly low, and now with the new minimal theming and minus the thrilling dueling concept, I don't see the coaster lasting much longer.
It will be a sad day indeed. It really is a shame that there will be no dueling any longer, along with the half-assed retheme the ride is pretty much a shadow of itself. No doubt it is still a great coaster but the unique appeal it had is all but gone now.Another piece of IOA history wiped from the map...
Genuinely sad about this. My favourite coasters in the world - not the highest, most intense, or any other technical record - just a wonderfully themed experience with a fantastic extra element, reduced to a shadow. I kinda saw it coming when the temporary change took effect, but I still can't believe it'll never be the same again. Once the rest of LC goes as it inevitably will, one of the best theme park areas in the world will be gone without a trace.
No, they didn't duel. I had the same thing happen to me, except I was on the train that got dispatched 10 seconds after the other train. Our train slowed way down on the lift (click, click, click) like it used to do, and the other train sped up faster. Once the other train cleared the lift, then our train sped up to the normal speed. The lift computer now does opposite of what it's been programmed to do for years. It doesn't match the trains together anymore, it makes sure that neither go over at the same time by slowing one down and speeding the other one up. The ride ops don't have control of the lift speed, unless they hit a Lift Stop for a safety reason.When I was in line for front row red last night (around 7:55 with the park closing at 8:00) and I saw red go and it couldn't have been seconds later that blue went. I don't know if they actually dueled because of the control booth wall being in the way, but I know they couldn't have been far from one another. On my ride however, we went up first and blue was behind by about 10 seconds. This could have been because they didn't want us to duel or because the team members just really wanted to go home and get the trains through as quickly as possible, which could be why we went up the hill at a really high speed. So if anyone is going to be at the parks around closing there may be dueling, but I can't promise anything.
CFNews 13 reporting that the coaster will officially "duel no more."
I'm curious if, now that a major feature of the ride has been removed, Universal will perhaps take the opportunity to add something (like extra themeing) in its place? Before the coaster underwent its transformation for Potter, there were rumors of supports themed like trees, tunnels added to the track, fire and water effects, etc.
I think the tree feature would be extremely unique and add to the experience: