Fire Dragon
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| Location: South Midway |
| Height of Ride: 89 Feet |
| Length of Track: 2,850 Feet |
| Speed: 55 Miles Per Hour |
| Cost of Ride: 2.5 Million |
| Built: 1981 |
| Year Installed: 1983 |
| Duration: 1 Minute 45 Seconds |
| Capacity: 1600 Passengers per Hour |
| Amount of Lights: 12,000 + |
| Manufacturer: Anton Schwarzkopf Company |
| Height Requirements: Riders under 46" in height may not ride. Riders between 46" and 50" in height must be accompanied by a responsible person. |
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Fire Dragon (sometimes called Colossus The Fire Dragon or Colossus) is a steel double-looping roller coaster.
Ride details
Fire Dragon is a classic steel looping roller coaster built by Anton Scwarzkopf. Since it was moved to Lagoon in 1983 it has been one of the more popular rides at Lagoon. In 1984 it was selected by People magazine as one of the top 10 roller coasters in the country. The ride is actually a mobile roller coaster, and initially toured with German traveling fairs after its manufacture in 1981. It is designed to be set up or taken down in a 24 hour period.
The ride features two loops one after another. When upside-down in the loops 75% of youra rider's body weight is pressed against the seat making it impossible for a person to fall out. Properly seated riders would not fall out of the train even if they did not have a lapbar. The lapbar is used to prevent people from standing up, and would hold riders in place in the extremely unlikely event that the train stalled while upside-down (this has never happened).
On busy days there are normally find two trains running. Lagoon used to operate up to three trains at one time, but park management felt it was safer to limit maximum operation to two trains. But on rare occasions when the park is at capacity, you may find Lagoon operating three trains, but do not count on it. If you only find two running don't worry, the line moves quickly.
Seating
Fire Dragon does not allow riders to choose their own seats. Riders will be place in the first available seat starting from the front of the train. Single riders are not allowed to ride in the very front or back seats. They will be asked to move to a different seat.
Name
Fire Dragon was originally named "Colossus" during its days traveling with German fairs. Lagoon changed the ride's name to Fire Dragon so that it would not be confused with the wooden roller coaster of the same name at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Lagoon added the word "Fire" to an existing Zamperla "Dragon" sign and placed it at the ride's entrance. This sign has since been replaced. Since Lagoon did not remove the original logos from the trains or the large Colossus sign from the top of the ride's first loop, many people still refer to Fire Dragon as Colossus.
Gallery
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Train descending the first drop -
Ride with the old Fire Dragon sign -
New sign shortly after being manufactured
Video
Click "Expand" to see an on-ride video. Possible spoilers.
See Also
Double Looping with additional trackway curve at schwarzkopf.coaster.net
Fire Dragon at schwarzkopf.coaster.net