World's largest roller coaster opens in Japan

Nagashima Spaland, an amusement park in western Japan, has opened the world's tallest, deepest, fastest and longest roller coaster

TOKYO (AP) -- There were some big dips in Japan Tuesday -- and not on the stock market.

An amusement park in western Japan opened what's billed as the world's tallest, deepest, fastest and longest roller coaster.

After a ribbon-cutting, Nagashima Spaland's Steel Dragon 2000 took thrill-seekers on a 1 1/2-mile (2.4-kilometer) course that scales a 320-foot (97-meter) hill, then races down a 68-degree slope, the park said.

The ride on the $55 million attraction, which was designed by California-based D.H. Morgan Manufacturing, lasts nearly 4 minutes.

A ride on Steel Dragon 2000 lasts nearly 4 minutes

Up until now, Millennium Force in Cedar Point, Ohio, had the world's biggest roller coaster.

Nagashima Spaland is in the Mie Prefecture, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) west of Tokyo.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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