Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The storyline here is that you're preparing to compete in the Triwizard Tournament
from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . As you wind through the long, long queue,
you pass through tournament tents and dark passages that are supposed to be under
the stadium. You'll see the Goblet of Fire on display and hear the distant roar of the
crowd in the supposed stadium above you.
Riders board one of two coasters—Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail—that
are launched moments apart on tracks that are closely intertwined. The tracks are con-
figured so that you get a different experience on each. The trains are dispatched se-
quentially instead of simultaneously, so it looks as if one train is chasing another.
Because this is an inverted coaster, your view of the action is limited unless
you're sitting in the front row. Dragon Challenge is the highest coaster in the park and
also claims the longest drop at 115 feet, plus five inversions. As on the Hulk, it's a
smooth ride all the way.
Coaster fans argue about which seat on which train provides the wildest ride. We
prefer the front row on either train, but coaster loonies hype the front row of Fireball
and the last row of Horntail.
Waits for Dragon Challenge, one of the best coasters in the country, rarely exceed
30 minutes before 11 a.m. Ride after experiencing Harry Potter and the Forbidden
Journey. If lines are short, park employees will open special doors marked REENTRY
TO CHINESE FIREBALL or REENTRY TO H UNGARIAN HORNTAIL (depending on which
coaster you just rode) that allow you to get right back to the head of the queue and
ride again. Finally, if you don't have time to ride both coasters, the Unofficial crew
unanimously prefers Chinese Fireball.
By now everybody knows that yours truly hates roller coasters, but the dec-
orations along the queuing line were well worth 60 seconds of near-death
experience. Next time I'll grab that Goblet of Fire!
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