Does a 2 tier cake that is going to be transported need a center dowel? Is it hard to remove the top layer with a center dowel so that the cake can be cut? how exactly do you lift off the top tier?

Hope these questions make sense. Thank you for your help.

Is best to have the support than to have an accident waiting to happen.
You need to insert the spatula and lif the cake straight up until the cake is out of the dowel, after certain height you can put your hand underneath for support.
Edna

Using a center dowel is always a good idea if your transporting a cake already constructed (and for piece of mind). It isn't hard to remove the top layer with the center dowel. Just slide a spatula or cake server under the cake support of the top layer and lift straight up. The tier should come off without any issues and the center dowel can then be removed from the rest of the cake.

My personal preference, though, is using SPS (single plate support), which does not use dowel supports but does create a very sturdy cake construction - just FYI. I won't use dowels anymore if I can help it. HTH

I use dowels and never had a problem. I can easily life the cake with hands.

Thank you so much for the answers!

I will look into SPS for future cakes.