Review contributed by Jake Garbelotti

Steel Eel is the long lost Morgan Hyper Coaster that is rarely talked about among enthusiasts. Luckily for me, it can be found in my home town of San Antonio. Steel Eel is located in the back corner of Sea World Texas and while only 150 feet tall, it towers over the park’s midway and travels in and out of the park’s main area. After walking through the lush landscaping, riders find themselves at a beautiful open air station where they will board the coaster. Due to the long trains, it’s not long before your journey on the Eel begins. The ride begins with a small dip out of the station and a turnaround to the intimidating lift hill. The chain grabs a hold of the cars and up you go.

From the back seat (seat of choice) the top of the lift hill comes as a surprise, as you can’t see the track ahead of you. As the front car slowly moves over the apex, it creates a tremendous pull on the back car, and you are literally flung from your seat as the car navigates a small straight into the 150’ drop. A few mediocre positive forces and a left hand turn later, you prepare to feel the same sensation as the train climbs the 2^nd hill. At first it appears that you’re just going to float over the entire hill, but as the train gets closer to the small valley you are once again sent into the restraint from your seat as the hill concludes. The following 3^rd hill is a little more of the same, but with a little more force as the drop is much longer. The valley once again takes a left hand turn and brings you up to the MCBR, where the train nearly comes to a stop. It’s fortunate that it does, as the hills yet to come are very extreme.

After the MCBR, the ride takes a right hand dive that wraps around to a hill that goes directly under the MCBR. The hill is forceless, but sets up nicely for the four ejector hills that follow. On the next 4 hills you are ejected from your seat every single time the train crests the hills. Other than the first drop, these hills are what make Steel Eel the great coaster that it really is. Unfortunately all good things come to an end, as the train makes a large s-transition after the 4^th hill that leads you into the brakes. All in all Steel Eel is a fun little coaster that provides plenty of airtime, especially in the very back seat (and in the front seat as well.) If you’re ever in the San Antonio area, Steel Eel is a must ride coaster as it provides the most airtime you can find in the city.

The Steel Eel coaster in Sea World Texas is one that deserves to be seen by people from far and wide whether it’s because of international travel jobs or simply due to family travel. With enticing cheap flights and comfortable stays at a travel lodge, how can you resist the temptation to visit Texas? However for people in India, despite travel warnings regarding india train travel, people have not been deterred in avoiding this mode of transportation, so long as they arrive at their final destination.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.