Local 6 News reports that Jon Wilson, a 19 year old from Ohio, said that something had hit him in the foot, arm, and face. He recollects saying that his sister was sitting next to him and when he told her he got hit she at first thought it might be a bug until she looked over to see his hands covered in blood.
In response, Universal Orlando has now changed the ride by having the trains run staggered so they won't pass near one another at the intersecting dueling points of the coaster. Universal Spokesman Tom Schroder told Local 6, "as we continue to study these incidents, we will operate both coasters as separate experiences without their usual intersect points."
This was the second incident in just over two weeks following another guest, Carlos Montalvo, being struck in the right eye leaving him blind in that eye.
It is not unheard of guests loosing personal belongings on an attraction. In the case of coasters in particular dueling coasters these items can become dangerous projectiles. I would speculate that both of these incidents were caused by lost items. I myself am guilty of having lost my glasses on the wooden coaster Gwazi before. They were in my pocket and got rattled loose during the ride and were lost. Thankfully though I have never been hit by any loose items. Have you ever lost something on a ride or been hit by another guests lost personal belongings during a ride?
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That ride has video, which didn't catch the strike, but you can tell by his facial expressions and looking at his lap where in the ride it happened.
Last week, I rode Griffon a few times, and kept seeing the same red sandal in one of the nets on one of the Immelmanns. If that net was not there, that shoe would have gone flying off and, possibly, struck someone.
It's a shame that these coasters will not be dueling, and I hope they rectify this issue so that these rides are dueling once more.
I agree with the previous poster I hope they arrange it so they duel again.
How many other incidents at this spot on the track are there?
When I was at KI in June, some idiot had his camera out and we got stopped on the second life on the Beast. Unfortunately, they didn't toss is arse out of the park like they should have.
Regarding the pigeon strike, don't forget Fabio at BGW!
That being said... now while at ride lockers, I automatically pat my sleeves down just to double check that I didn't leave a pack in there.
I have to agree with one of the other posters about this possibly being a deliberate act. An unfortunate, but typical aspect of the society we now live in.
Also guests like to take a coin and put it on there knee or hand and watch that go up and down but sometimes that backfires. They either move at the wrong moment so that the coin hits them in the face! Or that they move there hand or knee and not catch the coin. The elevators have grates for floors and so the coins fall in-between and into the elevator and sometimes this brings down the ride! On occasion a penny will get stuck in a door which will not close and the Tower will go down!
Loose articles flying in the air are more of a danger for those standing below a roller coaster than those on the same train. Have you ever caught something (like the Cigarette pack story)? The article when lost has momentum in the direction the train is traveling. I've caught hats, glasses and even a digital camera with ease and in each case it just floated into my hands.
While I can see where there is potential for an object to fly out on Dragons I have my doubts. I also think you need to look at the number of incidents in relation to the number of rides given. Sometime tells me that Universal is overreacting.
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