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| Dragon Challenge in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Manufacturer | Pinfari | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Product | Super Dragon MD31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Steel - Kiddie | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Inversions | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dragon Challenge is a steel kiddie roller coaster located at Barry Island Pleasure Park in Wales. It was formerly located at Alton Towers in Alton, Staffordshire, England, UK and travelled from 2013 to 2017.
History
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Beastie originally opened in 1983 as Mini Dragon in the Festival Park (now Dark Forest) area of Alton Towers.[1] It allowed younger children to experience the thrill of a full-size roller coaster.
In 1987, the ride was renamed to just Dragon.
In 1993, the ride was moved to the Thunder Valley section of the park. This was when it assumed it's current name, Beastie, due to the Beast opening at the park.
In 1998, the ride was moved to its final position, in the Adventure Land area of the park.
In 2009, the Beastie became the oldest roller coaster operating at the park, after the Corkscrew closed in 2008.
In 2011, it was revealed that the Beastie would leave the park. It was left standing but not operating and was removed just before the 2013 season kicked off. The area where Beastie was located is now used for the Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure, forming part of CBeebies Land.[2]
The ride was then purchased by travelling showman Walter Murphy, who travelled with the ride as Dragon Challenge.[3] It operated at the Global Village in Dubai from late 2013 to early 2014.
Dragon Challenge operated at the Hoppings in 2015. In April 2017, Dragon Challenge was operating at Barry Island Pleasure Park in Wales, UK, where it remains today.
Design
This ride features a standard layout. It has many head-chopper elements and a compact footprint.
Colour scheme
Purple track and green supports, used to have red track and green supports when at Alton Towers.
Trains
Single train with 6 cars. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 24 riders per train.
References
External links
| The categories Dragon Challenge (Walt Murphy) and Beastie (Alton Towers) contain additional media. |
- Dragon Challenge on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
| Articles on Alton Towers | |||||||||
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