Original Steel Force Press Kit

Continuing with those 3 Cedar Fair Morgan press kits, (if you missed Wild Thing, click here) here is the next ride to have been built, Steel Force. What follows is the unedited press release with associated images.

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom To Build The Tallest Roller Coaster In The East

Allentown, PA., September 13th, 1996 - Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom announces plans to build STEEL FORCE, the tallest free-standing roller coaster on the East Coast, for its 1997 season. The 200-foot-high mega-coaster will take passengers on a three-minute journey over 5,600 feet of track at speeds topping 75 m.p.h.

STEEL FORCE will be a state-of-the-art scream machine that will have features like no other roller coaster. Passengers will be lifted 200 feet in the air, hurled 205 feet to the ground, through a 120-foot-long tunnel, then raced up 161 feet. STEEL FORCE will continue to thrill its passengers as it takes them on a wild ride of more than one mile through a maze of hills, drops, camelbacks, twists and turns.

According to John Albino, the park's Vice President and General Manager, "By adding a world-class coaster such as STEEL FORCE, Dorney Park will provide its guests with a thrill they cannot experience anywhere else on the East Coast."

Some of the most exciting design elements of STEEL FORCE include two coaster tracks running through the underground tunnel in opposite directions; passenger trains shooting four times though the coaster's steel support structure at speeds reaching 60 m.p.h.; and two points during the ride where passengers will feel the weightless effect of near-zero gravity. Passenger trains will also wrap around the queue area, involving guests who are waiting to board the immense structure.

Jan Kiser, president of America Coaster Enthusiasts, a national organization dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of coasters, expects STEEL FORCE to have a major impact on the coaster world in 1997. "STEEL FORCE definitely has the exciting design features to make it a world-class coaster. In fact, STEEL FORCE may be the only coaster in the U.S. with an opposite-direction, double-track tunnel. That feature alone should make Dorney Park a destination site for many coaster enthusiasts."

At 200 feet tall, STEEL FORCE could fit either of two well-known national landmarks under its highest point with plenty of room to spare, the Space Shuttle Columbia at 120 feet or the Statue of Liberty at 151 feet.

STEEL FORCE will extend the length of the lower end of Dorney Park -- from Laser, the Park's double looping coaster, to Hercules, one of the world's tallest wooden roller coasters. The 36-passenger trains will allow for a capacity of approximately 1,700 daring riders an hour. STEEL FORCE is scheduled to make its debut in May of 1997.

Designed by Morgan Manufacturing, La Selva Beach, Calif., STEEL FORCE will be a spectacular ride. "All of us at Morgan are excited about the opportunity to provide Dorney Park with its biggest and fastest coaster. Personally, I can hardly wait to try the 205-foot drop into a dark tunnel," said Dana Morgan, President of Morgan Manufacturing.

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, a 200-acre amusement/water park located near Allentown, PA., is one of the most diverse amusement and entertainment experiences in the Northeastern United States. The park is easily accessible from Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Central Pennsylvania and Delaware. Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is owned and operated by Cedar Fair, L.P., a limited partnership that also owns and operates Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio; Valleyfair, Shakopee, Minn.; and World of Fun/Oceans of Fun, Kansas City, MO.