Steel Force is a

steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel Railway track, track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely ...

located at

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an Amusement park, amusement and water park located in Dorneyville, Pennsylvania, outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, Allentown, in the United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags, Six Flags Entertainment Corpor ...

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

. At in length, Steel Force is the eighth-longest steel coaster in the world as of 2024. Built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing and designed by Steve Okamoto, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 30, 1997, and was billed as "the tallest and longest roller coaster on the east coast", featuring a drop, of track, and a maximum speed of .

History

On September 16, 1996, Dorney Park announced that Steel Force would be added to the park. The ride opened on May 30, 1997. Steel Force has been ranked among the top steel coasters in the world several times. Its logo was originally intended to be used for the stand-up coaster

Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate a ...

(now Rougarou), which opened at

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounc ...

a year earlier. Mantis was originally going to be named "Banshee," but the name and logo were changed prior to its debut. Dorney Park adopted it for its Steel Force coaster a year later.

Ride experience

The train departs the station entering a slight decline into the lift hill. After reaching the top, the train enters the first drop of , reaching a maximum vertical angle of 61 degrees. At the bottom of the first drop, riders pass through a tunnel and into a camelback hill. The train then ascends a third hill, which doubles as the entrance to the downward helix turnaround. After the helix, the train enters a mid-course

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...

, before entering the ride's finale – a series of three back-to-back airtime hills and a double-up. The first airtime hill in this series features a tunnel, and an on-ride camera snaps photos at the bottom of the second. Following the double-up element, the train passes over the entrance plaza and enters the final brake run before returning to the station.

Awards

Construction data

The following materials are included: *2,000 tons of steel * of concrete footers *2,742 anchor bolts

Ride elements

*Two tunnels *510-degree downward helix *Mid-course brake run *4 airtime hills, including a double-up hill *On-ride photo camera between the last two airtime hills

Gallery

Image:Steel Force (Drop).jpg, Steel Force's first drop File:Steel Force (Full Drop).JPG, Steel Force's first drop File:Steel Force (Airtime).JPG, Steel Force's first airtime hill Image:Steel Force (Return).jpg, Steel Force's final airtime hills

References

External links

Official ''Steel Force'' page
{{DP Coasters Steel roller coasters Roller coasters introduced in 1997 Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters in Pennsylvania