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 Review of Thunderhead @ Dollywood
1 Rating Posted by: ginzo on 8/6/2006 10:12:00 PM
Thunderhead is the most overrated coaster out there right now. Dollywood is a great park, but come on. This thing jackhammers and has very little airtime. Reriding gets painful very quickly as I learned when I did 10 laps in 2 days. Its a good ride, but doesnt deserve the obnoxiously high ratings it has in the Internet Coaster Poll and Amusement Today rankings. Kentucky Rumbler is better. It runs so smoothly, and you can reride that without any pain. Did this thing run better in years past? My first ride was this season (2006).

Update: I rode Thunderhead last month in the front seat, and had a very good ride. The little pops of airtime were much more pronounced than I remember them being last year. I also noticed no jackhammering. Cheers to Dollywood for keeping this complex woodie in good shape. Ive raised this to a 9.
 

Review Comments

BobFunland on 8/6/2006 11:24:28 PM said:
I dont understand how this thing jackhammers yet the Holiday World woodies get better ratings and no complaints of roughness. The airtime thing I can buy but the painful thing is hard to grasp, at least to me. At least you supported your view, even if "out there" IMO.
ginzo on 8/7/2006 1:26:08 AM said:
I rode it 10 times last week. It jackhammered on every single run. Not excessively, but noticibly so. The back pain came in on the second day around the 6th lap, and Im relatively young. I wanted to like it more than I did. Hence the 10 rides, but I think Rumbler is better. Perhaps because its newer. Have you ridden it this season?
nyeboy9 on 8/7/2006 7:20:54 PM said:
I have ridden it this season, and it seemed the same to me. I went on an all day "Thunderheadthon" and never had any pain. I did get dizzy once but that was my fault. Anyway, did you see the misters that they installed at the top of the lifthill?
Scott on 8/7/2006 10:15:54 PM said:
GCIs do tend to age badly. I have not ridden thunderhead, but I can understnad what you are saying.
BobFunland on 8/7/2006 10:56:45 PM said:
^^ No I havent ridden it this season, which is why your review worries me more than anything else. I just cant comprehend something with Flyers going to hell in 3 years.
ginzo on 8/8/2006 12:19:15 AM said:
Ha. It wasnt all that rough, not like SOB rough, but I did notice a touch of the jackhammering. I think a bit of roughness is inevitable with a ride that twists so much. Thunderhead has nearly no straight runs, except maybe the fly through. Another problem was that I had to hold onto the lapbar, keeping my hands up was totally uncomfortable. I liked the ride overall. I just dont agree with it being #1. I thought Kentucky Rumbler ran better, much smoother. Thunderhead does have a much nicer lay out than Kentucky Rumbler, and I loved the station fly through. That startled me almost every time, even though I knew it was coming. Im sure Dollywood wont let their current premier thrill ride go to hell. Theyre a conscientious park.

Scott: Yeah, I noticed the misters. They were most welcome on those absurdly hot days last week.
ginzo on 8/8/2006 11:38:07 AM said:
I just bumped this up from 7 to 8. I think this is more in proportion considering my other ratings. I gave the two crappy Strickers Grove coasters both 6s. Obviously, Thunderhead is a lot more than 1 point better than the Teddy Bear.
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