Steel Dragon 2000

Steel Dragon 2000 (スチールドラゴン2000) 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 2479 m, as well as the tallest and fastest complete-circuit coaster. Although its height and speed records have been broken since its debut, it remains the longest coaster in the world. With a maximum speed of nearly 153 km/h, it is among the fastest coasters featuring a traditional 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 94 m drop to the ground, before passing over a 77 m tall airtime hill. After this hill, the track rises over a 64 m 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. The ride also includes two tunnels.

Records

 * Fifth tallest steel roller coaster in the world at 97 m tall. It is behind Kingda Ka, Top Thrill 2, Red Force, and Fury 325.
 * Fifth longest roller coaster drop at 93.5 m.
 * World's longest roller coaster at 2479 m.

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 32. cm wheel. The ride was closed for over three years and reopened on September 3, 2006.