Is Thunderhead a top GCI coaster?

I found LR's *forces* to be similar to Boulderdash, LOTS of fun, but nothing I would call *intense*. OzCat matched up ALL that fun in twister form, and had surprising intensity for a coaster packed in to such a small area...still, it was "fairly typical" of GCI's twister arsenal (although perhaps somewhat more *refined* than Roar...at least the east coast version that I've ridden).

ThunderHead, seriously, I think probably turned out a bit more intense than Dollywood had *intended*...;)

The trains track PERFECTLY (thanks to c-punk and the crew)...and the coaster *never* seems to slow down.

Never thought of it this way before, but on GCIs before T-head, most of the airtime occurred on or shortly after the CRESTS of the hills, where a nice mix of airtime came, depending on where you sat in the train. On Thunderhead, the airtime POPS occur most in the bottom of the bowl, and the tops of the hills, HIGHLY banked for maximum speed, really don't feature the airtime found on previous GCIs. NOT a complaint at all, more an observation....comments?

And...all that being said, Thunderhead IS my *top* GCI...:)

C-punk was saying that GCI was worried that this coaster was too intense for the park. I have to disagree, I think it's perfect. Powerful coaster and never quits until the brakes. It will be in the top 20 come fall....just a prediction.

Top 20? That offends me personally :D.

Dollywood got what they paid for and much more. We wanted a hair raising experience. Our attendece is already up drastically over the past few months as any local guest will recognize.

Also, remember Dollywood turns 20 in 2006! So watch that year for a big expansion. No Details to be released yet. ;)

Yes Thunderhead is the most perfectly tracking woodie I've ever experienced! Thanks Rollergator for making me realize that. Oh and thanks Cpunk and crew for such a tremendous job on the rolling stock.

Not really too intense but they did push it more than anything else they ever built. Thunderhead may be a bit much for the beginners and the elderly, but the rest of people should love it.

When I was there for testing I saw several Dollywood people get off speechless! :) Dollywood wanted somthing similar in pace as the Ozark Wildcat. Thunderhead is similar but a bit more aggressive. With each new ride GCII pushed the M Flyers a little more to see what they can do. Just look at the banking from Roar and Lightning Racer compared to Thunderhead's and how quick it changes from one direction to another. Going into the now infamous "S" turn the front of the train is tilted to the right while the back is still to the left.

I don't rate coasters... but my ranking of GCI coasters is:

1) Thunderhead, 2) Lightning Racer (Hershey), 3) Wildcat (Hershey), 4) Gwasi, 5) Roar (SFA)

Just came back from Dollywood a few days ago.

It lives up to the hype - plus I was lucky enough to get it with some serious rain slicked track action as well.

One of the finest wood coasters I've ridden in awhile, GCII has really outdone themselves with this one. And Dollywood has really done a great job theming and running it - the ops were nice and were usually getting trains out before the 2nd train hit the brake run.

Check out my TR in the TR section.

Now to figure out how to get some rain slicked/late night rides... Because rain slicked daytime and evening rides are great, I can imagine it going up a few notches.

Have Fun!

George

One of these days, I'm going to have to get to Thunderhead. The way you all fawn over the coaster, you make it seem as though it has better *hills* than Dolly hersellf! ;)

lata, jeremy

Yah know what I'm sayin'. I mean, for Thrillride to bestow upon them "The #1 coaster award" or something another, as if they have ridden every wooden coaster in the world and respresent the majority of us enthusiasts. Gee, I may have to try getting to that town...wherever Dollywood is located.

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. 35 miles Southeast of Knoxville, on I-40, exit 407. ;)

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Mamoosh said:
Blame it on the lawyers...they took longer to come up with contest rules than I'd anticipated. We're targeting Aug 1st

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Oh yeah blame it all on me! ;)

Have Fun!

George

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Tenn Tornado was empty too, 5 years later, it looks like a forest.

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At the beginning of May it's not. :) Except for the top of the lift, being hidden by the hill, I could see almost the entire layout from the park. Even this looks pretty open to me, whether the guests in the park can see it or not:
http://www.coastergallery.com/2002/DW6c.html

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ThunderHead, seriously, I think probably turned out a bit more intense than Dollywood had *intended*...

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You could be right. If so, thankfully it turned out that way. :) My father said a friend of his rode it and said one ride was plenty for him.

From a guest view-point, Tennessee Tornado is mostly hidden amongst the trees at eye-level.

Lift, tunnel, loop & final turn
http://www.coastergallery.com/2002/DW3.html

First turn and butterfly (if there, move to the right and I think you can see both better).
http://rcdb.com/installationgallery534.htm?Picture=9

Except for the first drop, that's basically the whole ride (way too short). :)

This will give an appreciation of just how damn short it is....here's the whole ride: (TT)http://www.coastergallery.com/2002/DW6a.html

I heard a rumor one time that TT was originally going to be longer, but Dollywood wasn't willing to spend over 8 million on it. Arrow shortened it to meet Dollywood's price range.

Evan if it is very short, it is very smooth and has some great Gs.

*** Edited 7/30/2004 10:21:29 PM UTC by Dukeis#1***

Exactly, quality over quantity.

If a coaster is awesome from start to finish, being short does not matter. Raven, Avalanche, Cornball, Cyclops, Volcano, TTD, and TT are all great coasters. I could name tons of long ones that blow, or are great for a while and then get boring or even bad just to increase ride time. If you can keep it good, time is fine, but if you are just going to add some head-banging or over-trimmed boring parts, then just keep it short and sweet. *** Edited 7/31/2004 2:17:47 AM UTC by RavenTTD***