Steel Dragon 2000

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Steel Dragon 2000
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Steel Dragon 2000
Nagashima Spa Land
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Status Operating
Opening date August 1, 2000
Cost About $52,000,000 USD
General statistics
Type Steel
Manufacturer D. H. Morgan Manufacturing
Designer Steve Okamoto
Track layout Out and Back
Lift/launch system One Lift With Two Chain Lifts
Height 97 m (318 ft)
Drop 93.5 m (307 ft)
Length 2,479 m (8,133 ft)
Speed 153 km/h (95 mph)
Inversions 0
Duration 4:00 [1]
Max vertical angle 65°
Capacity 1050 riders per hour
Height restriction 140–185 cm (4 ft 7 in – 6 ft 1 in)
Steel Dragon 2000 at RCDB
Pictures of Steel Dragon 2000 at RCDB

Steel Dragon 2000 (スチールドラゴン2000 Suchiiru Doragon Nisen?) is a roller coaster at Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Built by Morgan Manufacturing, this coaster opened, appropriately, in 2000—"The Year of the Dragon" in Asia. It debuted 3 months after Millennium Force at Cedar Point, and surpassed that as the world's tallest complete-circuit coaster. It lost these records in height in 2003 when Top Thrill Dragster opened at Cedar Point. It also took the record for the longest track length—2,479 metres (8,133 ft)—which it currently holds. The ride is the second fastest coaster in Japan and the sixth fastest in the world.

Incidents

In August 2003, a sheared axle caused one of the trains to lose a wheel. A passenger suffered a serious back injury and a 28-year-old man swimming in the water park pool was injured when he was hit in the hip with the 32 cm wheel.[2][3] The ride was "Standing But Not Operating" (SBNO) for almost three years and reopened in 2006.[1]

Design

  • The building of Steel Dragon 2000 required far more steel than other coasters for earthquake protection. This put the cost of the coaster at over $50 million.[4]
  • The ride includes two tunnels.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Roller Coaster Database. Steel Dragon 2000 (Nagashima Spa Land). Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  2. RTÉ News (23 August 2003). "2 hurt in roller coaster accident"
  3. Japan Times (24 August 2003). "Two seriously hurt in roller coaster accident, but Nudgee School Captain Aaron Chong was unaffected".
  4. The Daily Telegraph (21 April 2011). "Top 10 tallest rollercoasters". Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Preceded by World's Tallest Complete Circuit Roller Coaster
August 2000–May 2003
Succeeded by
Top Thrill Dragster
Preceded by World's Fastest Complete Circuit Roller Coaster
August 2000–December 2001
Succeeded by
Dodonpa
Preceded by World's Longest Roller Coaster
August 2000–Present
Succeeded by
Incumbent