Raptor Jos Dragon Challenge IOA & US 9-9-11

I arrived at US a little later than I usually go and noticed the massive amount of cars at the toll booths. I also noticed most of these cars were rental cars. I dreaded my day already but decided to stick it out. Parked in Cat in the Hat 260 and off to park.
I always go to US 1st but decided to hit up IOA 1st today. Considering all the cars in the garage the park didnt seem that crowded! Hit up Spiderman (5 min wait) and headed to Hogsmeade.

I didn't realize how few people were riding Dragon Challenge til I got into the station. I was in HEAVEN! I ended up getting a total of 15 rides on Ice and 15 on Fire. I also made a bunch of new friends on the crews. The best thing ever was I was on Ice 1-3 and one of the crew pointed to someone in the controls and said "she worked on Raptor too" I looked and she said "hi Raptor Jo" over the speaker. It was a fellow CPer who I havent seen for years! :)

Here is what I concluded after all my rides. Fire is way more intense than Ice. It has way more elements, my favorite is the invert free dive before the turn before the "meeting" helix. Airtime galore you stay out of the seat pretty much the whole time. Ice seems faster but that may only be an illusion because there is less flips and more turns. LOVE them both, they are both incredible rides. Better than Raptor? Heck yes-no question! I felt that way from the very 1st time I rode them in '03. Both those rides are longer, smoother, bigger then Raptor with less head banging. Of course many B&M inverts have blossomed out of Raptor. Dragons are incredible and the only other 2 that I could say are better then them is Montu and Silver Bullet.
Having Dragons and Montu in my backyard is a Florida benefit I adore :)

Oh...back to trip...sorry

Lesson learned from power riding Dragons. Flip flops are a law in Florida so naturally I had mine on. I did so much walking in the station barefoot (why put flip flops back on since they were coming off anyway?) the bottom of my feet were killing me and they got disgusting dirty.
I also learned today that the Dragons crews are GREAT and so fun!(Cant say the same for Montu's crew they SUCK! Constant stacking and nasty attitudes-drives me crazy. They need to work at CP to learn how to do their job)
oops....back to trip again..sorry

Dragons wer still duel less. If the trains were on the lift together one would speed up and the other would lag behind. There were NO close calls. I must say though being able to watch Fire run its course while you were on the lift was kinda cool. Not dueling doesnt take away from the ride too much although I knew where and when to look to see the other train and did miss hearing their screams.
I hope they catch the (*&^%$# who threw something and forced IOA to stop the dueling. I have since learned that the man who got hit ended up losing his sight in one of his eyes. I hope the person who did it knows what his joke cost the victim.

I would like to know why IOA has NO Dragon merchandise. The only thing they have is a pin for each. No shirts, no cups, nadda. So unfair to such great rides! I almost was going to pay to have a shirt one airbrushed but decided against it. I know I have a Dueling Dragons t-shirt in Ohio.

I hit Hulk on way to lunch (Moes) and then headed for US. RRR was a walk on. Mummy, walk on, Simpsons 10 mins, MIB walk on, ET walk on. Literally I had everything done on that side in less than 2 hours.

I couldnt go back to IOA cause I had stuff I had to take care of but I must admit that if my future visits are going to be as much fun and guest-less I cant wait til my next visit! :)
Had a BLAST!!! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 3050 :)

So what did you think of the Harry Potter Ride?