A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheels, the steel roller coasters can provide a taller, smoother, and faster ride with more inversions than a traditional wooden roller coaster.
Dragon Khan is a steel sit-down roller coaster in the PortAventura Park theme park in Salou and Vilaseca (Tarragona), Catalonia, Spain. It has eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversion Colossus in Thorpe Park, United Kingdom in 2002.
Kumba is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened in 1993. It stands 143 feet (44 m) tall and has a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Kumba features a total of seven inversions across the 3-minute ride.
Superman: Krypton Coaster is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Floorless Coaster model opened to the public in 2000 as one of the first of its kind in the world. The well-received ride held the title for the world's tallest vertical loop from its opening until 2013. Superman: Krypton Coaster stands 168 feet (51 m) tall and reaches a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).
Colossus is a steel roller coaster at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, and the park's first major attraction. It was built by Lichtenstein-based manufacturers Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel as an adaptation of Monte Makaya in Brazil. Colossus was the world's first roller coaster with ten inversions; an exact replica, called the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, was later built at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, China. It retained its title of having the most inversions on any other roller coaster in the world until The Smiler at Alton Towers took the record in 2013.
Scream is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Floorless Coaster model was the park's sixteenth roller coaster and is located in the Screampunk District area of the park. The 150-foot-tall (46 m) ride consists of a series of roller coaster elements including seven inversions ranging from a zero-g roll to interlocking corkscrews. The ride is a mirror image of Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure.
Batwing is a steel flying roller coaster built by Vekoma at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. This is nearly identical to Nighthawk at Carowinds, however that ride has a slightly different ending, and different paint scheme. The ride is also a clone of the now-defunct Firehawk at Kings Island.
Katun is a steel inverted roller coaster at the Mirabilandia amusement park, Savio, outside Ravenna, Italy. It is the longest inverted roller coaster in Europe. The coaster stands 164 feet (50 m) tall, has a track length of 3,937 feet (1,200 m), a top speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) and six inversions:
Zoomerang is a steel shuttle roller coaster located at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut. A Boomerang model manufactured by Vekoma, it contains a cobra roll and a vertical loop. Zoomerang was the first boomerang coaster to receive a Vekoma-designed train. Early models used trains designed by Arrow Dynamics. In September 2007, due to paint deterioration, the ride was repainted with a new color scheme with purple tracks and teal supports.
Wildfire is a steel roller coaster located at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the $14-million ride opened to the public on April 4, 2001. It is themed as a flying machine developed by a fictional 1880s Ozark inventor.
Monte Makaya was a steel, looping roller coaster manufactured by Intamin and located at Terra Encantada in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When it opened in 1998, Monte Makaya's eight inversions tied the world record previously set by Dragon Khan. It was located in the Terra Africana section near the rear of Terra Encantada in the northwest corner prior to the park's closure. Its location is now in the newly relocated Mirabilandia amusement park under construction in Paulista, Pernambuco, Brazil as of 2017.
Silver Bullet is a western-themed steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard located at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, California. The $16 million roller coaster was announced on December 1, 2003 and opened on December 7, 2004. A first rider auction was also held where people would bid on seats to be the first riders. The track is approximately 3,125 feet (952 m) long and the lift hill is about 146 feet (45 m) tall. The ride lasts two minutes and thirty seconds and features six inversions including a vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, and two corkscrews.
Fahrenheit is a steel roller coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park, the roller coaster was manufactured by Intamin and opened on May 24, 2008. It features six inversions and became the steepest roller coaster in the world when it opened with its first drop of 97 degrees. Fahrenheit briefly held the record until Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach, which featured a 111-degree drop, opened several weeks later on July 5. Fahrenheit is also one of the only coasters in the world to feature a Norwegian Loop.
Dragon's Run is a steel roller coaster manufactured by Swiss engineers Bolliger & Mabillard and located at Dragon Park Ha Long in Vietnam. The coaster was relocated from Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it last operated as Time Machine. The ride originally opened to the public on April 15, 2008, under the name Led Zeppelin: The Ride as one of the main attractions at Hard Rock Park. As a result of financial difficulties, Hard Rock Park closed after five months of operation. The park re-opened in 2009 with new owners and a new name, but closed at the end of the season. All of the rides and attractions were removed from the grounds, and Dragon's Run was disassembled and shipped to Dragon Park Ha Long in Vietnam, where it reopened in 2017.
Wicked is a Zierer steel launched roller coaster located at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. Designed by Werner Stengel, the ride was manufactured by Zierer at a cost of $10 million and opened to the public in 2007. It features a zero-g roll inversion and two linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches, reaching a maximum speed of 55 mph (89 km/h).
Sky Scrapper is a flying roller coaster at World Joyland in Wujin, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. Sky Scrapper was one of World Joyland's opening day attractions, officially opening on April 30, 2011. The 2,805.1-foot-long (855.0 m) ride stands 131.3 feet (40.0 m) tall, and features a top speed of 54.7 mph (88.0 km/h). Designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard, Sky Scrapper restrains riders in the prone position and features five inversions.
The Flying Dinosaur is a steel flying roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan. Designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard, Flying Dinosaur restrains riders in the prone position. This attraction opened on March 18, 2016, and is currently the world's second longest flying roller coaster, as the track length has been surpassed by F.L.Y. in Phantasialand, which opened in September 17, 2020.
HangTime is a steel roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. The Infinity Coaster was manufactured by Gerstlauer on the former site of Boomerang and Riptide. On opening, it had the steepest drop on a rollercoaster in California, at 96°. HangTime was also marketed by the park as the first Dive Coaster in California. It opened on May 18, 2018.
Batman: The Ride is a steel inverted coaster at Six Flags Mexico that has been operating since 2000. It is a standard Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster model themed to the famed Batman franchise, and was part of Premier Park's massive renovation in 2000.
