How to Train your Tank
Dragon Racer’s Rally was a divisive ride concept from the moment it was announced for Epic Universe. It is considered a spinning ride or, according to Google, a "Spinning Pendulum Ride." Don’t know what that means? That’s fine, the name can be a bit hard to understand.
Imagine a traditional ride like Dumbo the Flying Elephant or The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, but more thrilling. Here, your vehicle moves faster, and you have a joystick on each arm that lets you control the movements of your seat, which is made to resemble a dragon. In theory, you can move the wings of your vehicle to try loops and barrel rolls, or just leave the joysticks alone and fly around in chill mode.
This is a ride that lets guests choose how intense they want their experience to be, which is a nice touch. But with low ride capacity and some minor issues with the controls, is it worth a try? Let’s check it out.
What we like about Dragon Racer’s Rally
The idea of having a ride where you control how thrilling it is sounds awesome. If you want to just chill around and let your dragon do your thing, you can do just that. If you don’t even touch your controls, your vehicle will move up and down, guided by the giant pendulum. You soar up to 67 feet into the air, and the ride vehicle is faster than what you’d find at a traditional spinning ride like the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Universel, after all, markets this one as a thrill ride, which explains the high height requirement of 48 inches.
Even though it’s considered a thrill ride, I think this one is great for families. Want to try spinning around? Then you’re going to enjoy it. Prefer something more relaxing as you just soar around? Guests can simply leave their joysticks alone and soak in the atmosphere. The ride vehicles are really pretty, and the colorful attraction fits well with the Nordic appearance of the Isle of Berk.
What we don’t like about Dragon Racer’s Rally
The main question you have is… do the controls actually work?
The answer is… kind of. This style of ride is very common at carnivals and smaller theme parks. If you search the name on YouTube, you’ll see guests doing all sorts of crazy stunts and spinning around nonstop. Dragon Racer’s Rally is less intense than that. Doing a barrel roll actually requires patience and skill, and you need to align your weight and the joysticks with the movement of the ride.
That’s probably one of the main issues with the ride: it’s actually hard to pull off some tricks. Your ride feels less like a dragon and more like a tank, or like your dragon just ate a full barbecue on a Saturday afternoon. A lot of guests online report that they can’t do a full flip, and that it’s really difficult to pull off anything impressive. I think Universal designed it this way so guests don’t accidentally yank the joysticks, start spinning uncontrollably, and panic.
The other issue is the short ride time. This attraction lasts only about 70 seconds, which isn’t long enough for guests to get used to the controls. Many guests report that they had just figured out how to do a trick when the ride ended, while others weren’t able to get anything fun out of their dragon at all. This ride could really benefit from at least one more full minute.
Ride capacity is another problem. We’re talking about a giant arm that moves you around, and guests have to wait for the entire ride cycle to finish before new riders can board. This type of ride isn’t like a roller coaster, where you can press a button and send out multiple vehicles on the same track. No, it doesn’t matter if the park has 5 or 50,000 guests, there’s still just one “vehicle” to handle the crowd.
Conclusion
This is a ride that can be fun for families, and being in control of your own vehicle is a nice feature. However, the ride really needs at least one more full minute of runtime, and the controls should be a bit easier and lighter to help you pull off some neat tricks. As it stands, we can only recommend this one if the wait time is under 10 minutes.
Dragon Racer's Rally FAQ
Where is Dragon Racer's Rally located?
Dragon Racer's Rally is located in the Isle of Berk at Epic Universe. If you need help planning your next trip to Epic, or a hand hunting down dragons, click that Request a Quote button and let’s talk!
What is the height requirement for Dragon Racer's Rally?
You must be at least 48 inches tall to ride Dragon Racer's Rally.
Is Dragon Racer's Rally scary for children?
No, it isn’t, since you can control the intensity of the ride. That said, it’s a bit more intense than your average spinning ride.
Do we recommend Dragon Racer's Rally?
We recommend trying this one out of curiosity, and only if the wait time is under 10 minutes.
