Steel Eel

After building The Great White, a steel inverted roller coaster that opened in 1997, SeaWorld officials saw a great amount of optimistic feedback from guests, leading to the development of Steel Eel.^[1][2] The roller coaster was designed with the park's layout in mind and would interact with several of the park's existing attractions. Steel Eel's design focused on height and speed.^[1] Park officials had sought to increase the frequency of visitors with the opening of the roller coaster.^[3] The addition of the Steel Eel also sought to appeal to a wider-family demographic.^[1] SeaWorld San Antonio announced on August 18, 1998, that it would add a new steel roller coaster, named Steel Eel. The roller coaster was touted as a "hypercoaster", with a planned opening date set for March 1999.^[3]

The construction of Steel Eel was one of the many roller coasters announced by theme parks around the United States in a record high trend.^[4][5] Steel Eel was the most expensive single-season investment the park had made in a 10 year period.^[6] Testing rehearsals were finishing up in early March 1999.^[7] The roller coaster would open with the park on March 6.^[8][9]

The train departs the station making a left U-turn and ascends the 150-foot (46 m) chain lift hill. Cresting the top, the train descends the first 150-foot (46 m) drop reaching its maximum speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). At the bottom of the drop, the train curves slightly to the left, ascending two camelback hills before entering the mid-course brake run. Exiting the brake run, the train descends a 130-foot (40 m) drop at a right banked 44-degree curve before ascending another hill. After dropping and turning slightly to the left, the train enters a series of four camelback hills. The train then traverses an s-curve into the final brake run before returning to the station.^[1][6] One cycle of the roller coaster takes around a minute and forty-seconds to complete.^[10]

Steel Eel is a steel roller coaster designed and manufactured by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing.^[6][10][11] The general contractor of the roller coaster was Browning Construction.^[10] The second roller coaster to open at the park,^[12] Steel Eel was built in the southeast portion of the park near The Great White and three children's attractions.^[1][6] Steel Eel was one of five roller coasters to open at Texas theme parks in 1999.^[5] To differ from the park's other steel roller coaster, The Great White, Steel Eel was designed to feature many points of air time.^[1][3] Steel Eel was the first roller coaster built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing to utilize tubular steel supports as opposed to the manufacturer's earlier use in steel grid frameworks.^[13]

The roller coaster has a total track length of 3,700 feet (1,100 m). The initial drop has a 60 degree vertical angle, with the roller coaster exerting 3.5 g-forces to its riders.^[1][6] Originally sporting a Yellow track and Dark Teal support color scheme, Steel Eel was repainted in 2019 to feature bright Violet supports and a new brighter hue of Yellow on the track.^[10][14] Steel Eel operates with two trains. Each of the two trains can accommodate 36 passengers, including six cars a train. Each car has three rows with two seats to a single row.^[1][10] Each seat features a lap bar restraint.^[13]