Thunderbolt
Website: Six Flags New England Homepage
Ride Type: Wooden Coaster
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 3.6667
TPC Overall Rank: #249 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 64
Last Review: 12/14/2015 12:29:00 AM
In User Top 10: 14 times.
User Tracker Count: 167 times.
 


thunderbolt

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3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up CoasterCale on 12/14/2015 12:29:00 AM
It was an average wooden coaster. Some airtime, but more turns.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up coast2COASTER on 4/25/2013 8:45:00 PM
Uses it's small amount of track to its advantage, Good laterals around the last two turns and a few good pops of air time. Very smooth for its age, this ride is in very good contrast to Cyclone, they compliment each other nicely. Wait can get a bit long and the queue is super cramped with Scream, but this is a very small annoyance. I really miss the "buzz bars" though, sad to see these disappearing slowly but surly

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up dalejrfan88 on 8/11/2009 1:01:00 PM
This was my first "big" roller coaster when I rode it a few years ago. It is a great ride for your first coaster but nothing special for experienced riders. For such a small coaster, it packs a punch. There is a section where I got good ejector airtime. It is very smooth too. I recommend this to anyone who wants to try non-kiddie coasters.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up SpeedDemon on 2/21/2008 10:48:00 AM
Nothing incredible. The line was pretty long thanks to running one train and the ride was really tame. The ride had little speed, but there was some decent air, especially the last hill. Still, its pretty dull.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up SFne201004 on 1/23/2008 7:54:00 PM
great little woodie. not as good as Cyclone but still fun. It had some nice little pops of airtime along the course and packed some punch for such a small ride.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up MJack on 10/5/2007 11:21:00 PM - User's Top Ride #6
This is a fun coaster. Its a smooth track with fun drops. Its a fine example of classic woodies.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Canobie Coaster on 7/22/2007 2:28:00 PM
Thunderbolt is the oldest of Six Flags New England’s coasters, and despite this, it’s actually one of their better ones and exponentially better than the much larger and rougher Cyclone. This is a perfect example of how a coaster small on size can be big on fun, as the Thunderbolt simply is a highly enjoyable coaster that has definitely stood the test of time.

First off, I must say that I love the ride's location in the center of the park. There's just something majestic about a classic wooden coaster in the center of a park. Also, I'm in love with the vertical neon sign that is a true gem and a rarity nowadays at amusement parks. However, the coaster itself however looks far from stellar, as it is badly in need of a new paint job in the next few years since most of the paint has rotted away or is in the process of rotting away. If you can give Mind Eraser a fresh coat of paint, there definitely must be money in the budget for some much-needed love for this woodie.

Unfortunately Thunderbolt utilizes a one-train operation. If two trains were run this almost always would be a walk-on. Instead it's usually a 10-20 minute wait, which is certainly worth the wait but the line just would move so much quicker, as with the Cyclone as well. Due to the small station, you can't wait for a particular seat so you just have to get lucky if you get the seat you want, but from my experiences, any seat essentially provides an equally fun ride. Though, I do like the seats towards the front of the train because of the copious air available at the apexes of Thunderbolt’s numerous hills.

Technically Six Flags did give the Thunderbolt some love for the 2009 season. Not only did they give the train a fresh new coat of paint, they unfortunately stripped this classic of its beloved buzz bars and replaced them with the typical individual, ratcheting lap bars, which is truly a shame. Sure Thunderbolt still gives a great ride, but the air isn’t as bountiful and stapling has become a SFNE staple (no pun intended).

The ride may be small, but as I've stated before, it's just a fun ride from start to finish. What it lacks in the thrills category, it makes up for with pure fun. The whole layout is a figure eight scattered a few notable drops such as the first one, which actually gives some decent air in the back, and the rare double down is a really unique and excellent element that I wish more coasters featured. But my favorite element is that last bunny hill. It looked so innocent and weak, but boy that gave some serious ejector hill like a hill on the Phoenix! What a perfect finale! And not to be outdone as well are the numerous other hills scattered throughout that give gentle pops of air throughout the train.

Well, the Thunderbolt is remarkably better than the Cyclone in my opinion thanks to the readability and decent air sprinkled throughout, highlighted by that last bunny hill I mentioned that is heavenly to say the least. Classic woodies are always a treat and this one is no exception. Generally I ride this multiple times each time I visit SFNE and I strongly recommend that wooden coaster fans give this classic a shot since it won’t disappoint you one bit.

4 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up biosciking on 3/4/2007 10:23:00 PM
Thunderbolt is an unassuming little coaster that packs more punch than you might imagine. Its an old-fashioned wooden coaster that is sort of half out-and-back and half figure eight. Despite not being very large, it has some really fun drops (lateral-g-producing first drop, double dip, several bunny hills). And its only rough in the essential classic wooden coaster of ways. Ill be honest, with the half a dozen or so new wooden coasters I rode this past summer on my northeast trip, in my memory Thunderbolt sort of got lost in the shuffle. But reminding myself of its features, I can say that it was very nice and worthwhile.

4 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Got_it on 11/1/2006 11:42:00 PM
Thunder Bolt is the little coaster that you would expect nothing from. It stands a pint sized 70 high with a 65-ish foot drop. Dont be fooled by the chipped paint and the beat up old train, the Thunder Bolt has some of the best laterals I have ever seen on a 66 year old coaster. Plus it is easily one of the smoothest wood coasters I have ever been on. There is a double dip, with no air time, but the bunny hop at the end makes up for it. Over all definitely a classic, that I wouldnt be surprised to see outlive the Cyclone. Do not miss the little coaster that could.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up sowinski on 9/9/2006 11:14:00 PM
This coaster looks like it might be a rough and boring ride from the older appearance of the ride and track, but this is far from the case. The coaster is very smooth, quick, and entertaining. Nothing super memorable but an all around good ride.

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