Steel Dragon (Formerly known as Steel Dragon 2000) at Nagashima Spa Land in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture Japan is a legendary coaster. Built by D.H. Morgan Manufacturing (today Chance Rides), this massive 318ft (97m) tall coaster stole the World’s tallest coaster record from Cedar Point’s Millenium Force just three months later when it opened.
In 2003 the coaster closed due to an incident where one of the wheels from the train detatched from the vehicle. This caused the coaster to remain closed for 3 years until it reopened in 2006.
In 2013, Nagashima Spa Land reached out to Bolliger & Mabillard to purchase a new set of trains for the coaster. Along with the new trains came a new set of height requirements for this coaster where riders have to be between 140 and 185 cm (55in and 72in) to ride.
In February 2023 I will be returning to Japan to do a new theme park and general trip to visit some new parks below Osaka such as Himeji Central Park to check out the return of the Venus GP coaster. I also plan to revisit some places to check out the new attractions added such as Universal Studios Japan’s Nintendo World, and do some hiking and visit some cultural places.
My goal on this trip is to grow my content even more to help those who plan to visit by providing tips and ideas to those who want to do their own trip to Japan and their parks!