D.H. Morgan Manufacturing, Inc., was founded by Dana and Paula Morgan in 1983. 

Dana Morgan grew up in the business; his father, Ed Morgan co-founded Arrow Development Company, a well known amusement park manufacturing company. Dana and Paula were married and both were designers in their new company.  

Before Morgan Manufacturing

Dana H. Morgan was born on August 8, 1944. After graduating from high school, he attended Cal State Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo. Morgan received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology. Once out of college, Morgan got a job working for Disneyland from 1967 to 1969.

Morgan then worked for Arrow Development, with his father, from 1969 to 1971. On May 11, 1971, Arrow sold itself to the Rio Grande Industries (RGI), a division of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company. This allowed Ed Morgan to exit the company. Dana Morgan remained with the company for another three years.

In 1974, Morgan left Arrow and became assistant general manager of Santa Cruz Beach – Boardwalk. This amusement park is considered the oldest amusement park in California, opening in 1907.

He had oversight of the rides operated in the park, among other responsibilities. By 1977, he was promoted General Manager, a role he would remain in for almost 5 years.

In 1975, Paula Rindone, born on Valentine’s Day in 1950, began working in the marketing department for Arrow. She met Dana because he would come by the Arrow office often. They were married in September 1983. 

When Arrow Development was acquired by Claus Huss of HUSS Rides on November 22, 1981, the resulting company was named Arrow-Huss. Dana Morgan became its president and Paula Morgan stayed on with the new company. The Morgan’s left Arrow-Huss to start D.H. Morgan Manufacturing Inc., in early 1983.  

Morgan Manufacturing in Scotts Valley

D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Inc. was incorporated in late December 1982, and the company got its start in early 1983. The new company was based in Victor Square in Scotts Valley, California. They were awarded a contract to build new trains for the Giant Dipper roller coaster on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. They started the business with three employees. 

Morgan’s initial focus was to build carousels and smaller rides, as well as trains for roller coasters, but they quickly realized that producing bigger rides was the more lucrative market. 

In 1986, Morgan built The Grizzly, a 3250 foot long wooden roller coaster that had a height of 91 feet and a speed of 55 mph. The coaster was based on the design of The Wildcat, a roller coaster that operated at Coney Island Amusement Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1911 to 1964. 

They also worked on projects for Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm. They even constructed the boats for Disneyland’s Splash Mountain. 

In 1990, Morgan helped revive the Giant Dipper at Belmont Park in San Diego, California, by manufacturing new, lighter trains for the coaster that had been standing but not operating for 14 years at that point. 

Morgan Manufacturing in La Selva Beach

Around 1991, the company relocated to La Selva Beach, California, about a 20 minute drive south of Scotts Valley. They moved into four buildings on the grounds of Monterey Bay Academy, a co-educational, Christian, college prep high school. It was started by the Seventh-day Adventist Church after the property was vacant for years. It had been a Coast Guard base during the second World War. 

In 1994, Morgan collaborated with 10 students attending the school to design a ride for an amusement park in Manila, Philippines. The ride was a family balloon ride. This was part of a work-study agreement Morgan reached with the school. 

By this time, Morgan rides could be found in such countries as Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Singapore, and Taiwan. They manufactured reproduction carousels of Looff or Dentzel designs, as well as their own carousels. They also manufactured transportation systems for dark rides. 

In 1996, Morgan manufactured Wild Thing for Valleyfair! in Shakopee, Minnesota. The following year, they manufactured Steel Force for Dorney Park, a hypercoaster. Steel Force featured a 205 foot drop and a height of 200 feet. Both coasters were designed by Morgan’s top engineer, Steve Okamoto. 

Brian Fauth, a spokesman for American Coaster Enthusiasts in 1996, noted that roller coaster enthusiasts thought well of Morgan Manufacturing. 

Fire at Morgan

In 1997, a major fire damaged Morgan’s facilities. Ruled an accident by the state of California, the fire was most likely caused by a chemical reaction from cleaning chemicals. The cost of the damage exceeded $750,000. The fire was difficult to put out due to the facility being used for fiberglass production. No one was in the building at the time of the fire; the fire was first reported at 5:25pm, and the factory closed at 5pm. Thankfully no one was injured. Several out buildings were destroyed by fire. 

Projects were set back by half a year while the Morgan facilities were rebuilt. One such project was the Caro-Seuss-el, a Doctor Seuss themed carousel, for Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida which debuted the next year. 

It featured elephant-birds from “Horton Hatches the Egg“, dog-a-lopes and mulligatawnies from “If I Ran the Zoo”, and cowfish from “McElligot’s Pool.” The ride was estimated to cost $9 million and was the centerpiece on a Doctor Seuss themed island. Audrey Geisel, widow of Dr. Seuss, test rode the carousel at Morgan’s facilities before it was dismantled and shipped to Orlando. 

“There are probably only three companies in the world that do this kind of work and Morgan does the best work. After the fire, they just picked up the pieces and ran with it, beating the odds to get it done. It’s amazing. “

– Dale Mason, industry legend, and in 1998, director of creative development for Islands of Adventure. 

Chance acquisition

In June 2001, Chance Industries purchased the Morgan company and created a new company called Chance-Morgan Coasters. Morgan sold to Chance because the company was outgrowing its facility and saw little chance to expand locally. 

“Consolidation is the way things are going. That’s proven to be the case in our business.”

– Dana Morgan

Terms of the deal allowed the Morgan engineering office to remain in La Selva Beach. Trevor Hite, who was a longtime Morgan employee and married to one of Morgan’s children, became the general manager and lead designer for the newly formed Chance-Morgan Coasters. Once their last original orders were completed, manufacturing would shift from California to Kansas, at Chance’s Wichita facilities. 

A number of employees were laid off due to the duplication of jobs between the two companies. Some went to work for Bonfante Gardens Theme Park in Gilroy, California, a park that featured 10 Morgan rides. 

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