Comments on: Steel Force @ Dorney Park | Coaster Reviews

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:46:17 +0000

Front is where it's at on Steel Force. Lots of airtime in the front. Really enjoyed this coaster more than I thought I would.

By: CoasterCritic

CoasterCritic — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:32:13 +0000

It's been a long time since I've ridden either, but I'm not surprised to see you say that. I do remember the airtime on hills on Magnum being pretty rough. They could be even worse now.

And, as for Steel Force, I think it's rating suffered because I had already been spoiled by Apollo's Chariot and Nitro at that point. So, I may have been a little hard on it.

By: DRU

DRU — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:01:43 +0000

I just rode Steel Force and Magnum XL200 for the first time this August. I agree with you about rank, and the pain.
I would describe the air on both of them as Jerky or "Clunky" If they had better padding it might be more enjoyable.

By: Mike M.

Mike M. — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:45:47 +0000

Now having ridden Magnum XL-200 and seeing a comparison of the two in the comments, I’d have to say that I enjoyed Steel Force FAR more than Magnum XL-200. Maybe I have better memories of Steel Force since it was my first traditional hyper coaster (I don’t think much of Goliath SFMM). But it was a great ride, AND I got nice, unexpected air time out of the bunny hops on the return trip. I agree that there wasn’t much airtime on the first hill, but I wasn’t expecting any since I hadn’t ridden a B&M Hyper yet. But I’d easily rate Steel Force over Magnum XL-200. The latter was absolutely painful for me.

By: DRU

DRU — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:18:18 +0000

I got some air in the front, none in the back. So weird??? I love the way the helix dives down the hill! The best part of the ride for sure. I also love the way Hydra uses that same hilly area.

By: Linaskye

Linaskye — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:33:39 +0000

This coaster is definitely one where it matters where you sit and when you ride, temperature outside, etc. I went to Dorney about two weeks ago, and SF was riding better than it had in years. Third seat from the front, left side, sunny, and about 83 degrees outside, and that coaster was cooking! So much better than Cedar Point's way overrated Maggie (although the scenery/layout of Maggie tops SF).

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:27:40 +0000

This is my favortie coaster at my home park, dorney. I have to disagree with there not being much airtime on the way back. I got quite alot, even in the front seat, I felt like I was almost standing. Now, if you sit in the back you will get alot more, but when you come back down into your seat it hurts your rear a bit. Front is my favorite for this, its smoother there. And i dont see why magnum is rated so much higher than this. I like magnum better, but i think it only beats this by a little. Magnum has longer tunnels, one extra hill, and a cool pretzel turn around. Those are the only things that are different. I would rate Steel Force an 8. And by the way coaster critic do you have or can you put up a talon review?

By: eric

eric — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:03:58 +0000

Hahaha, my first experience with Steel Force almost matches this review of it.

I loved the speed, the helix, the smoothness, and the massiveness of it. The one thing that disappointed me was the lack airtime.

By: Surya

Surya — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:19:00 +0000

I too was disappointed by Steel Force. The drop was, as you said, not very steep, the airtime wasn't very strong, but what bothered me most was the straight pieces of track between the tops and bottoms of the hill. On B&M or Intamin hypers you never have these straight pieces, and the transition from straight to curved is a bit annoying. The second thing I didn't like was the banking, or lack thereof in the helix. Yes, the view is nice, but other than that.

By: Andre

Andre — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:43:14 +0000

I was just at Dorney yesterday, and rode the Steel Force twice. We sat towards the middle the first time, and towards the back the second. I felt a little air time on the first drop, and on a couple other occasions.

Are there better coasters out there? Sure there are! But I still think this one is pretty darn good. I love the helix, and how it looks like the support columns are going to come closer to you than they really do…I pull my hands down every time!

This is going to sound silly, but to me, the scariest part is the ride up the lift hill! If you sit on the left side, there's no railing over there, and you can look right down into the employee parking lot, which is tiered into a hill. The cars themselves are pretty open, with just a lap bar and lap belts that look like they might have come out of a late 1960's GM product. And I'm sure it's just an optical illusion, but it feels to me like the train is leaning to the left a bit as it goes up the hill! So, with it being so open, and not having a lot of restraint, it adds to the thrill a bit, for me at least. Especially as you get higher and higher up that hill, and look down and see just how tiny and far away those cars in the employee parking lot really look!

I actually like the fact that it takes you up the lift hill slowly. It gives you time to savor the scenery, and see just how high you're going up. Some of those newer coasters, like the Millenium Force at Cedar Point or Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion, take you up so fast that you really don't get a chance to check out all the scenery, and once you get up that high, it's almost like looking down on a model railroad set or something. And the Top Thrill Dragster? That thing is over with so fast you almost don't have time to puke!