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Well the SEA DRAGON coaster in Japan has released its officail stats as p[osted on Thrillride.com Looks Like it will Taller and faster and way longer then MF. Well I guess when you ar eon top everyone is gunnign for you so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Sea Dragon opens in Aug so it will be a little bit later. It will be neat to see what other Coaster develope out of this new Giga coaster race.

Please proofread before you submit, OK?

I really don't think 8 feet makes much of a difference. The Dragon is more of a Magnum-ish ride than a speed ride.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23

I am not even going to get fired up about this ride because it is the same as Magnum. Magnum isn't the tallest but it held out as the best roller coaster for 10 years. No other coaster could top it. If Millennium Force is better than Magnum (And I know because I have asked and people say they would rather ride the force than Magnum) then there is no competition. But anything could happen with that coaster. It could be rough or it could be like SOB.

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Millennium Force Ride Count:0

Yeah, it's just gonna be a big, ugly, Magnum. Ya know why it's ugly? Because it made a real cop-out of breaking MF and CP's record (eight feet my colon!), and those crazy Japanese built it!

8ft is absoluley nothing in the coaster industry...plus going 95 mph isn't exactly the right speed you want to start your airtime on..

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Brian Z.
Hometown parks: Kennywood, Cedar Point!
Feel the Force NOW!!

I think its going to be one great coaster. I just wish I could get on it! We'll see plenty of on-ride videos though in the coming few months.

Who's complaining when you got the tallest (as of now) coaster in the world? Not to mention the longest drop and 80 degree drop.

I thought that 8 feet couldn't add 3 mor mph onto a ride.

Why is everyone down on this ride? I wish it was here in Ohio so I could ride it every day! Who cares if it's bigger than MF. If it were here, or even at (gasp!) another Ohio park, I'd go ride it every chance I got!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23

Heck, why can't we just stick a few cranks under MF and raise it 9 feet or so? ;) Oh wait, it's sinking so we might need 13-14 feet to compensate for lost height since opening.

Bigger and better will almost always happen. And without having the benefit of riding this new creation I can't say what it will be like. But at 318 feet, it's got to rock. Why not let the Japanese have some fun too. With quality and quantity on the rise it could only be better for all of us coaster freaks.
BTW I would like to try it out too, if I had the chance.

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You can fool others, but nothing you do is hidden from God.
JESUS rules :) :)

Is it true this ride did make some changes due to Millennium Force. A park did that for Mean Streak one time. They ended up having to scale it down anyway.

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Dispatch Master, This is Transport one! I'm losing control, I'm losing control!

The reason I am downing the roller coaster is because it doesn't grab me personally. The decent isn't that steep at 68 degrees. There are hyper coasters steeper than that. Half of the time on the ride you will be going up a lift hill, because they are using a chain lift. Also I don't think these claims on the speed are acruate. Only being 8 feet taller will not make it faster, plus compare the speeds of the lift. How will it be faster than Millennium Force. I don't by it

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Millennium Force Ride Count:0

Not to argue (OK, a little bit), but it will use a pair of chain lifts, one for each half. If you've ever been on, say Superman at SFDL, you know that chain lifts can be quite speedy.

If it's taller, it will be faster. That's just physics. The layout is very cool and it'll be an airtime junkie's paradise.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23

I tend to disagree with all the hype. Its overgrown Magnum and yes I would love to ride it. I think that now the 300 foot barrier is broke it stole some of the luster from it. 8 feet ain't much to notice a difference. Plus Morgan is notorious for that straightaway like on Wild Thing, with brakes I might add. Steel Dragon has a straightaway to and I'll bet it's loaded with brakes to slow down the pace. This ride will never be ranked high because of the location and I think it can't be better than MF so keep trying CP and Intamin are declared winners by my opinion.

You people simply amaze me. I never thought it was possible to come up with so many excuses as to why SD wont be as good as MF. The ride is going to be taller and faster. Just deal with it. Its a rollercoaster!!!!!!!!! Take it for what it is. Stop whining and crying and moaning and pouting about it!!!!!!!

It's certainly going to be different. SD has a very out'n'back style to it, although that convoluted turnaround looks interesting. I will say, by looking at elements, it's basically a 150% Magnum-clone, almost everywhere. =)

IE:
Height:
Magnum - 205' * 1.5 = 307.5 ft
SD - 318.2'

Drop:
Magnum - 194.67' * 1.5 = 292 ft
SD - 307.5 ft

Speed: - not really a linear value...

Length:
Magnum - 5106' * 1.5 = 7659 ft
SD - 8151.7 ft

Big Hills:
Magnum - 2 majors out, turn on #2
SD - 3 majors out, turn on #3

Turnaround:
Magnum - 2 curves
SD - 3 curves

Bunny Hills:
Magnum - I want to say 8
SD - I want to say 9

Tunnels:
Magnum - 4 hops worth
SD - Also looks like 4 hops worth, although possibly 5.

Interesting, no?


One nagging worry I have is the forces and smoothness on this. Morgan isn't Arrow, but they haven't proven themselves to be Intamin, either.

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Info on SD taken here: http://www.dhmorgan.com/spaland.html

and here:
http://x74.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=627387296&CONTEXT=959465157.1814822912&hitnum=9

*** This post was edited by Bill on 5/27/2000. ***

The only thing I have against this ride is that it's not at CP, but at least it's far enough away that it probably won't steel to much of MF's glory.

I think the layout looks interesting. It looks like Magnum with the Island turn around on MF combined! True it doesn't have 122 banked curves, or an 8o degree drop, but it'll still be a good coaster.

Regarding speed:
307.25' drop gives a max speed of 95.8661mph

MF's max, at 300ft, is 94.7121mph

Max w/ lift boost [22ft/s sled] is 97.0587

So... if the Steel Dragon loses the same 5mph [iffy, as Intamin cars aren't the most... momentous...], they need an extra oomph of 1.1926mph, which is a lift speed of 11.0285mph or 16.1752 ft/s or 4.93 m/s.

So... a 11mph lift hill would give about the same results, assuming same frictional and wind-resistance losses.

By comparison, Magnum's lift hill is around 8 ft/s.

This reminds me of the book 'A Phule and His Money', with all the coaster height wars.

Doesn't the steepness of the hill have anything to do with speed?

Don't fret guys! Millennium Force will still hold several records. It still is the Steepest giga, steepest 122 deg., and the first to use a lift cable.

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Dispatch Master, This is Transport one! I'm losing control, I'm losing control!