is a steel roller coaster located at Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Mie Prefecture, Japan.
Built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Steel Dragon 2000 opened to the public on 1 August 2000. Its name derives from Chinese astrology and zodiac calendars in which the year 2000 represented the dragon. It broke several world records upon its debut, becoming the longest roller coaster in the world with a track length of , as well as the tallest and fastest complete-circuit coaster. Although its height and speed records were broken relatively quickly after its debut, it remained the longest coaster in the world until that record was broken in 2025 by Falcons Flight. With a maximum speed of , it is tied with Fury 325 for being the fastest coaster featuring a lift hill.
History In November 1999, Nagashima Spa Land announced that they would be building Steel Dragon 2000. It would be the second giga coaster to be built, following Millennium Force at Cedar Point. Steel Dragon 2000 officially opened to the general public on 1 August 2000.
The ride originally featured trains built by D. H. Morgan. In 2013, Steel Dragon 2000 received new trains from Bolliger & Mabillard.
Layout Out of the station, the track makes a right hand turn onto the lift hill. Due to the length of the lift hill, it utilizes two chains with separate motors. At the crest of the lift hill, the track plummets down a drop to the ground, before passing over a tall airtime hill. After this hill, the track rises over a tall hill before dropping to the right into a pair of helixes, the first one being clockwise and the second being counterclockwise. Following the second helix, the track maneuvers through the supports of the first helix and third hill and makes a left turn into the midcourse brakes, which start the return trip. The return trip consists of a series of airtime hills, running parallel to the outbound track, before hitting the final brake run next to the base of the lift hill. From the brake run, trains pass through the transfer track and storage area before making a sweeping left turn to return to the station.
Design Much more steel was used to build Steel Dragon 2000 than most other roller coasters. This was to ensure the coaster was protected from earthquakes. The extra steel was a large part of the reason the coaster cost over JP¥7 billion to build (around $61,550,000 in 2000 US dollars).The Daily Telegraph (21 April 2011). "Top 10 tallest rollercoasters". Retrieved 19 February 2013. The ride also includes two tunnels.
Records Fifth tallest steel roller coaster in the world at tall. It is behind Falcons Flight, Top Thrill 2, Red Force, and Fury 325. Sixth longest roller coaster drop at . Second longest roller coaster at .
2003 incident
On 23 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 wheel.RTÉ News (23 August 2003). "2 hurt in roller coaster accident"Japan Times (24 August 2003). "Two seriously hurt in roller coaster accident, but Nudgee School Captain Aaron Chong was unaffected" . The ride was closed for over three years and reopened on 3 September 2006.Steel Dragon 2000 (Nagashima Spa Land). Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
Awards
References