Thunderhead is a wooden roller coaster located at Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Manufactured by Great Coasters International, the ride opened on April 3, 2004, as the anchor attraction of a new section added to the park that season called Thunderhead Gap. Thunderhead features 22 turns and 32 crossovers,[1] and utilizes GCI's Millennium Flyer trains, which have been used on all GCI coasters since 1999.
Thunderhead | |
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Thunderhead's logo and two Golden Tickets for the Best Wooden Roller Coaster | |
Dollywood | |
Location | Dollywood |
Park section | Timber Canyon |
Coordinates | 35°47′48″N 83°31′55″W / 35.79667°N 83.53194°W |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | April 3, 2004 |
Cost | $7 million |
General statistics | |
Type | Wood |
Manufacturer | Great Coasters International |
Designer | Mike Boodley |
Track layout | Twister roller coaster |
Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
Height | 100.4 ft (30.6 m) |
Drop | 100 ft (30 m) |
Length | 3,230 ft (980 m) |
Speed | 53.7 mph (86.4 km/h) |
Inversions | 0 |
Duration | 2:30 |
Max vertical angle | 60° |
Height restriction | 48–76 in (122–193 cm) |
Trains | 12 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 24 riders per train. |
TimeSaver Pass available | |
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Thunderhead at RCDB |
History
On June 26, 2003, Dollywood unveiled plans for a third coaster addition to the park called Thunderhead for the 2004 season, following Tennessee Tornado, which opened in 1999.[2] Thunderhead officially opened to the public on April 3, 2004.[3]
The ride was named after Thunderhead Mountain, a peak within the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park that was heavily logged during the early 19th century.[citation needed] Thunderhead is a slang term in the American South for Cumulonimbus clouds.[citation needed]
Ride experience
The train exits the station and turns right. From there, it makes its way through a left turn and climbs the 100.4-foot (30.6 m) chain lift hill. Upon reaching the top, the train drops 100 feet (30 m) to the right at 53.7 miles per hour (86.4 km/h). Riders go through a right-handed banked turn after the drop. This is followed by a left-handed curve. Next, the train approaches a right turn, heading towards an on-ride camera, which takes photos of the riders. After a 180-degree right turn, riders go through a fly-through station element while traveling 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). The train makes a loud noise as it travels 8 feet (2.4 m) above the station. It then goes through a left-handed curve. A smaller airtime hill leads to a 270-degree helix. Riders then go through a right turn and a left turn before hitting the brakes. The train slowly turns 90 degrees to the right, passing by the transfer track. This is followed by a 180-degree left turn that leads back to the station, where riders exit the train.
Construction data
- 700,000 board feet of Southern Yellow Pine
- 3600 yards of concrete
- 250,000 bolts
- 2,000,000 screws
- 185,000 feet of steel rebar[4]
Rankings
Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
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Ranking | 6[5] | 1[6] | 1[7] | 2[8] | 2[9] | 5[10] | 5[11] | 5[12] | 4[13] | 5[14] | 5[15] | 5[16] | 7[17] | 8[18] | 10[19] | 11[20] | 10[21] | 10[22] | 4[23] |
NAPHA Survey: Favorite Wood Roller Coaster[24] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Gallery
- Thunderhead's second drop
- Thunderhead's first airtime hill
- Thunderhead's station fly-through
- Thunderhead's drop after its station fly-through