Holiday World announces Thunderbird, a launched B&M wing roller coaster

Rickrollercoaster said:

I told you! Haha

As soon as I saw the clue, it clicked!

Yeah? Well, I totally guessed it was an orange LSM-launched B&M wing rider with the tallest loop, two overbanks, a zero-g, and keyhole element named Thunderbird after Day 1's clue. I just didn't post it because I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

Pfft. I guessed all of that without any clues! I actually wrote it down and then took a picture of myself with it and that day's newspaper with the date in clear view.

Now, where did I put that picture...

Crap, did I say "after Day 1's clue"? I meant before I even knew Holiday World existed.

I don't think the capacity has to be any higher than it already is. I can't be the only one who has done a great many walk-ons on Voyage.

I have never been to Holiday World but have been impressed with how they are revered by many on this site.

The one thing that I don't think has been mentioned about this new attraction (and a few of the other add-ons in recent years) is that while adding and building things - to my knowledge they haven't removed anything significant.

I believe there was a kiddie ride that was dropped due to age, and the splash boat ride was an experiment that just didn't pan out for some reason, but in terms of major attractions...they have been adding without subtracting.

That again is impressive.

I find high capacity important, and I have no problem with the capacity of this ride. Also, how can anyone think it is a "maintenance nightmare?" B&M is solid, as far as that goes. Also, the technology is solid. I don't see any issues.

AND, about Gonch's last post showing us Rickroll's predictions, has any post EVER received more than 20 Vote ups? That is very amusing. :)

They just removed that dog of an Intamin water ride, Giraffaplunge, or whatever.

Rickrollercoaster said:

I told you! Haha

As soon as I saw the clue, it clicked!

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in while. Seriously, bring it down a notch.

I was pretty excited to see this. Next season should be as much fun as this season. HW is only a 5 hr drive so this will certainly be something I hit in the fall next year.

From Thrillride.com 2009 when Pilgrims Plunge opened:

"Right now, the Thanksgiving section defines the outer edge of Holiday World. In ten years, according to Will K., this will be the middle of the park"

Looks like HW is well on their way with Will's vision.

I'm pretty excited about the ride!

~Rob

Rickrollercoaster said:

I don't regret anything I thought or posted, and if you think I posted too much about it, check some other forums where there was at least 15+ pages daily.

1. There's a reason I don't visit other forums.

2. Just because other people jump off a bridge, doesn't mean I should too.

3. My point wasn't that you posted too much (although it shows you did post too much crappy noise), it was that you threw so many guesses out there that there was really no way you could've been wrong...hardly the accuracy needed to even remotely elicit an "I told you so!" response.

4. I think 27 likes might be the new record...and a pretty good inidcator of what the room thinks.

...that Gonch RULES!

I'm totally with Jeff and Rob, this is both good timing and good long term planning. Capacity and location are both setting up the park for future growth. It may stick out for a few years but in a decade I image the ride will fit much better to the needs of the park and layout than let's say a Premier impulse at a park like Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

It's been so long since I've been that I remember nothing about the layout. Taking a look at Google maps, it is surprising how isolated Hyena Falls is and Thunderbird will be. If that is to be the middle of the park in the next 5 years then they have a lot of work to do! In seriousness though, I love Will's ambitious vision of the park, and this ride will surely be nothing but a crowd-pleaser. Add to that there really isn't anything "cookie-cutter" about it. The layout is unique and tailored to what Holiday World is about.

It does say something that three of the more notable parks in the midwest (CP, KI and HW) have gone with B&M for their last 4 coasters.

It certainly seems like B&M and RMC are the current flavors of choice.

Agreed. The funny thing is though that B&M has been around so much longer by comparison, and yet between those three parks, nothing happened between 1996 and 2009 (granted, HW wasn't really in a position to have a B&M installation at that time). Sour experiences with Intamin probably have something to do with these parks going with B&M for their latest attractions.

LostKause said:

I find high capacity important, and I have no problem with the capacity of this ride. Also, how anyone think it is a "maintenance nightmare?" B&M is solid,as far as that goes. Also, the technology is solid. I don't see any issues.

AND, about Gonch's last post showing us Rickroll's predictions, has any post EVER received more than 20 Vote ups? That is very amusing. :)

Name one launch coaster that isn't a maintenance nightmare!
I can see it now, you'll be the first one on here whining that you spent all this money to go there and the ride was down!

The impulse coasters, California Screamin', Premier spaghetti bowls, Vekoma spaghetti bowls, all seem to be not inducing any nightmares.

^Chiller just about evens out that entire list.... ;~P

edited to add: Joking aside, the ONLY real issue with launches in recent memory was the explosion @ Ring Racer....

Undoubtedly an exciting ride but I still think that it's somewhat out of character with the park. When I visited Holiday World a little over 4 years ago, I found it delightfully quaint. The coaster lineup fit in perfectly with the overall ambience. The addition of Thunderbird strikes me as incongruous as the addition of Impulse to Knoebels, another park I would describe as quaint. Even so, I understand that theme parks have to keep pace with the times and current coaster trends. As to B&M v. Intamin, most of my favorite coasters - El Toro, I-305, Skyrush, MF, Bizarro SFNE et al. - are Intamin products. There a couple of exceptions - Leviathan and Nitro - but I would take an Intamin over a B&M any day. Has B&M ever used a cable lift on any coaster?

Yeah, with the resounding success of the most recent Intamin ride at Holiday World, it's a real head scratcher why they'd go with a B&M.