Dragon Challenge - Chinese Fireball

Dragon Challenge (originally Dueling Dragons) was a pair of intertwined Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coasters at Universal Islands of Adventure that operated from May 28, 1999, to September 4, 2017. The attraction featured two distinct tracks, Chinese Fireball (red) and Hungarian Horntail (blue), each standing 125 feet tall and reaching speeds of 60 mph and 55 mph, respectively. For the first twelve years of operation, the trains were dispatched simultaneously to perform three “near-miss” maneuvers where they passed within 18 inches of each other, but this dueling feature was permanently discontinued in 2011 following two separate incidents involving loose objects striking riders. Each track featured five inversions, including vertical loops, corkscrews, and Immelmann loops, though the layouts were completely unique from one another. The ride was demolished in late 2017 to clear 13 acres of land for the construction of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which now occupies the site.