is a roller coaster

Roller coaster

The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...

 at Nagashima Spa Land

Nagashima Spa Land

is a major amusement park in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan. It features several roller coasters, a giant Ferris wheel, and a water park.-Roller coasters:*Children Coaster*Corkscrew*Jet Coaster*Looping Star*Shuttle Loop*Steel Dragon 2000*Ultra Twister...

 amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

 in Mie Prefecture

Mie Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan which is part of the Kansai regions on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Tsu.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, Mie prefecture was known as Ise Province and Iga Province....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Built by Morgan Manufacturing, this gigacoaster opened, appropriately, in 2000—"The Year of the Dragon" in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. It debuted only months after Millennium Force

Millennium Force

Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster built by Intamin located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It is the fourteenth roller coaster built at the park since the Blue Streak opened in 1964. Standing 310 feet tall at its highest point, the coaster overlooks Lake Erie.On a clear...

 at Cedar Point

Cedar Point

Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...

, and surpassed that as the world's tallest complete-circuit coaster. It lost these records in height in 2003 when Top Thrill Dragster

Top Thrill Dragster

Top Thrill Dragster is a steel, Hydraulic-launched roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It was the first "Strata Coaster", loosely defined as a complete circuit coaster that is over tall. It was built by Intamin and debuted to the public on May 4, 2003...

 opened at Cedar Point. It also took the record for the longest track length—8133 in 2 in (2,478.99 m)—which it currently holds. It is the only gigacoaster which has been manufactured by Chance Morgan.

Incidents

On October 19, 2003, one of the trains lost a wheel, resulting in a guest in the water park suffering a broken hip. The ride was "Standing But Not Operating" (SBNO) until sturdier wheels were installed and the ride reopened in 2006.

Coaster facts

• Steel Dragon 2000 is the tallest coaster to use a traditional chain lift. Because of the length of the lift hill
  Lift hill
  A lift hill, or chain hill, is often the initial upward-sloping section of track on a typical roller coaster that initially transports the roller coaster train to an elevated point or peak in the roller coaster ride...
  
  , two chains are used—one for the bottom half and one for the top half. A single chain would have been excessively long, heavy and very slow, at least twice the weight of a single train. As a result, the block brakes are set up to allow two trains safely occupy the lift simultaneously.

• The building of Steel Dragon 2000 required far more steel than other coasters for earthquake
  Earthquake
  An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
  
   protection. This put the cost of the coaster at over $50 million. Unfortunately, the multi-million dollar price increase to manufacture the ride, due to the large amount of steel required to build the ride effectively put Morgan out of business and they were later sold to Chance Manufacturing.

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