Ed Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Attempting to read some Japanese sites I came across this: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/come_back_steel_dragon Telephoning to ナガシマスパーランド, it tried inquiring about the thing of スチドラ. It was length about of 3 minutes, but, you received unexpectedly politely. When you telephoned to the representation telephone of the Nagashima hot spring, in the person in charge of the recreational area transmitting, it received, like below received comment. If it is quick, you think that we would like to return スチドラ to also 5 - June. Large-sized amusement it meaning that approval of the country is necessary in installation management of the thing, presently, it approaches for approving in the national traffic ministry. Really 7 - August before the summer vacation we would like to reopen in aim. But, the incident which such as earthquake-proof disguise problem of the apartment becomes the head wind and illegality remodelling of the hotel store of east side in being many fact. Negative image for the administrative side that the standard which people decide the country has not been satisfied, is strong. You have reflected that very it was accident, but, somehow we would like to operate the steel dragon hot spring even altogether Nagashima. As for document committing of the other day starting as considering of end, new we would like to aim toward the first step. Being enthusiastic, talking the person in charge very strongly. After, don't you think? it is judgement circumstance of the national traffic ministry. Very, it may be able to expect, is! I'm not sure who is speaking in which line but someone phoned up Nagashima Spa Land to ask about the ride. And the park where it talks about August makes me think that they might be trying to get the ride re-opened. It would explain the talk about the "National Traffic Ministry", who presumably are the people who will decide. There's also something about the approval of the country. Now I doubt there will be a vote in all of Japan as to whether the ride opens, but it's probably saying it needs the approval from someone. It's very wierd. It all comes down to the "National Traffic Ministry" (Got to be a bad translation that). After going through a few more thing it appears that "someone" wants something added to the wheels as a safeguard to future derailments.. Then again it's all messy these translations. On a strange little forum there appears to be talk of a petition going around Japanese Coaster Enthusiasts to re-open Steel Dragon 2000 after this 2 1/2 year inactivity. A really do hope this ride opens again. It looks so much fun, and is probably quite nerve racking after being pulled up the chain lifts for so long! (On a side note, on this Japanese forum they were talking about Six Flags Magic Mountain and Tatsu... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I personally think Steel Dragon 2000 looks like crap. 1... it looked boring as far as a layout goes, and 2, seeing as how the hills aren't really parabolic at all, I can't see it have that much air. And 3... MOrgan trains suck... all of them. Anyways... if it re-opens... good for it, but its just one roller coaster I could care less about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okinawaboy11 Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I personally think Steel Dragon 2000 looks like crap. 1... it looked boring as far as a layout goes, and 2, seeing as how the hills aren't really parabolic at all, I can't see it have that much air. And 3... MOrgan trains suck... all of them. Anyways... if it re-opens... good for it, but its just one roller coaster I could care less about. You've got it all wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Very, very wrong. I hope it opens soon. It's a shame such a fun ride is essentially going to waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bk1870 Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Glad to here some news on this coaster. All the time and money spent for this project and it comes down to this? It MUST re-open! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I have to be honest that I agree with Gnome. I've never been much of a Morgan fan, and Steel Dragon to me didn't look much better than a bigger Steel Force. What I find funny is that I remember when it opened the people who rode it basically said it was "meh" and that Millennium Force was better (which IMO, that's not that great either) and now that it's closed I've had people tell me it's the best ride ever "too bad you missed out." So I really wonder - was it that great, or did it magically get better once it closed and not many people got on it? --Robb "If it ever re-opens, I'll find out for sure!" Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Well, I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I though it was a really good ride, and my opinion has not changed since the ride closed (as in any neener neener you missed out lameness). It all depends on what you like, but with SD2K you get a lot of height, speed, length, and airtime. Those are usually good things, right? While it's not my favorite ride, it certainly isn't crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollermonkey Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I've had to fight my way through more than a few awful babelfish or google translations, let me take a crack at what I see in that: The person who called says that even though the call (to Nagashima Spaland) was unexpected, they were polite in the response given. This is actually somewhat of an important change in itself. I've sat in on three or four conversations where as soon as the status of SD2K is brought up, the park immediately shifts to a defensive mode, bringing up all the other rides and attractions at the complex. The earliest the coaster could be returned to operation is 5 June. Large rides require approval of the government in all aspects of managing the ride. The "National Traffic Ministry" is responsible for managing these attractions. (Think of them as the Department of Transportation, and SD2K as a train, and then it should make more sense.) The desired target date for reopening the ride is 7 August, to coincide with the nation wide school summer vacation period. (The school year begins in the early Spring, and Summer vacation is more like a break between semesters or quarters. It is also not nearly as long as in the US.) The next paragraph seems to indicate that some of the buildings on site may not be up to Japanese earthquake code, (Possibly including the coaster, I'm not sure there.) and they are holding back approval of reopening the ride at least partly because of this. It seems they did some illegal remodelling, too! (Shame, shame! ) Whatever investigation into the SD2K mishap determined that there was apparently no blame to be assigned, and designated an accident. (If you don't know what happened, a wheel / wheel assembly came off the train as it was transiting the circuit. This flew clear of the ride structure and landed in the waterpark that is alongside SD2K's structure, hitting a man and killing him. The riders on the train itself were unhurt. I believe the coaster completed it's circuit safely, but I'm not 100% on that bit.) The document referred to is likely the accident investigation report, which seems to have just recently finally been released! (That's either a long investigation or it took NSL a long time to put together a large enough bribe!) This seems to indicate that the 'period of reflection and mourning' may now end. (I learned about these periods when a Sailor killed a Japanese lady off base on 3Jan06, and no one was allowed to go home for three days, drink alcohol for a week, and we still have some restrictions on us!) That allows them to begin moving along the steps necessary to reopen the coaster. The last paragraph, like the first two, is the person posting. (All the rest is the statements of the Nagashima Spaland representative.) He states that the person he talked to was enthusiastic about the coaster reopening. The last bit (in English) would be: "After hearing about the Dept. of Transportation report, it makes me believe in the possibilities." I thought it was a very impressive LOOKING coaster on my visit last year. If it does in fact reopen before October, I'll have to make a special trip down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekoma Fan Boy Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I think they should replace the Morgan cars with Intamin Cars and profile the dang transitions! Intamin has trains ripping at 120+ and wheel aren't a'chukin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCoasterny Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I think they should replace the Morgan cars with Intamin Cars and profile the dang transitions! Intamin has trains ripping at 120+ and wheel aren't a'chukin'! Yes, but those Intamin trains are known to chuck people. Which is better, a $200 wheel or a $20000000 lawsuit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I think they should replace the Morgan cars with Intamin Cars and profile the dang transitions! Intamin has trains ripping at 120+ and wheel aren't a'chukin'! Yes, but those Intamin trains are known to chuck people. Which is better, a $200 wheel or a $20000000 lawsuit? Known to chuck people who shouldn't have been riding in the first place per the manufacturer's guidelines. Why is the finger always pointed at Intamin when it should be pointed at park operations? --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 one thing about Morgan hyper coasters that stand out are their helix elements. I remember Steel Forces' helix being a blast for what it was and Steel Dragon's look to be mighty fine as well. Anybody who took a ride on SD like the helix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darien Laker Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Intamin trains may be a good idea if they fit. Intamins always have the wheels on the outside of the track, with no wheel chucking problems. Morgan is used to putting their wheels on the inside like Arrow and Vekoma (I don't know why), and the one time they tried putting them on the outside, well, one flew off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Whatever investigation into the SD2K mishap determined that there was apparently no blame to be assigned, and designated an accident. (If you don't know what happened, a wheel / wheel assembly came off the train as it was transiting the circuit. This flew clear of the ride structure and landed in the waterpark that is alongside SD2K's structure, hitting a man and killing him. The riders on the train itself were unhurt. I believe the coaster completed it's circuit safely, but I'm not 100% on that bit.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I beleive the victim was not killed, only suffered serious injuries. And the train itself stalled after the accident. I think I can remember seeing a picture of the train stalled on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darien Laker Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 The train did stall on the track. That's what caused most of the minor injuries to the riders on the train, as the train came to a sudden halt. I don't think the guy in the water park got killed either, but i'm not sure on that one. We've seen worse coaster accidents than this one, but since there's really nothing to blame, they have no reason to believe it couldn't happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyGirl Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Thanks Ed and Rollermonkey for providing that info.......Personally I've been waiting for them to reopen that ride. I've been waiting to add SD2K to my list of conquests. I agree Morgan isn't the best Manufacturer; however, I wouldn't purposely chose not to ride a coaster because it happens to be one of theirs. Therefore, I hope as the summer gets closer we will hear more regarding their decision to resume operation of SD2K; so those that are not that a hop, skip or jump away from Nagashima Spa Land are able to include the park in their summer plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verticalzero Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Shame this coster may not open again, I hope it does as it is a waste of Steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 It would be great to see this ride reopen, but as superstitious as the Japanese are, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. Of course, Nagashima Spa Land paid a lot of money for that coaster and didn't get much return, so it is quite possible they'll attempt to reopen it when they feel the time is right. I won't put too much hope into this blog though, its really no different from some 13 year old calling Great Adventure and asking when El Toro will open, and then reply "I told them I was coming next week and wanted to know if El Toro would be opened and they told me it will open really soon and that I'll really enjoy it. I think it may open next week! I'm so going with all my friends and hope to be the first one on the ride!!! LOL ROFL OMG!!!" I'll wait until Spa Land either has a press release, someone actually sees surveyors, a report is filed, or the ride is actually running again before I get all excited and book my flight to Japan. Of course, if it did reopen, I know one happy couple that would be hitting Nagashima on their next trip to Japan (and I'd hope to accompany them!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V2-dude Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 About the whole wheel incident, didn't TTD chuck one of those dragster wheels when it still had them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 ^ Yes, it did. But that was very different incident. TTD had a peice of themeing come off the train. Though granted a very large peice at high speed. But it didn't impace the ride at all, and no one was hurt. It's quite a bit worse when a train loses an actual wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V2-dude Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I would rather have a coaster wheel hit me than one of those big dragster wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustkill22 Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 ^^^What A Good Point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas2 Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Steel Dragon 2000 is definetely one of my favourite coasters. I'll cry for months if it gets scrapped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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