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Thunderhawk
Website: Geauga Lake Homepage
Ride Type: Inverted Steel Coaster
Ride Status: Defunct
Average Rating: 2.9091
TPC Overall Rank: #425 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 50
Last Review: 2/1/2008 5:42:00 PM
In User Top 10: 3 times.
User Tracker Count: 196 times.
 


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3 Rating
+2 Rating Rate Down Rate Up PhantomNik on 2/1/2008 5:42:00 PM
I guess I am just a coaster enthusiast with weird coaster tastes, plain and simple. I know I am in a sharp minority here, but I actually like SLCs. I feel like I should be sitting in a room, in a circle, raising my hand: "Hi, my name is Nick and I like SLCs". "Hi Nick!" The truth is, inverted coasters are one of my absolute favorite types of coasters, and although my favorites are easily the B&M variety, I have a soft spot as well for these "poor mans inverts" offered up by Vekoma. Their layouts are certainly thrilling, with some great pacing and tightly placed inversions. The biggest knock they get is their roughness. Perhaps Ive been lucky so far, but the 3 Ive been on werent too bad in that department either. There were some bad spots, but not enough to sour the ride experience for me. In fact, Thunderhawk at Geauga Lake was the smoothest of the 3 I have been on.

When it comes to appearances, a lot of these do look the same, as they are clones by nature. I rode this when it was still red and green, which was very ho-hum. The louder color scheme they went with shortly thereafter seemed better to me and at least gave the coaster some character. Thunderhawk did have a nice setting though, on the edge of the lake, which was very nice. Although it does own the lovely distinction of having the most overused name in Cedar Fair history! Cmon guys, can we get at least a little creative? Although the crews working the flats at Geauga left a lot to be desired, their ones on the coasters were quite good, and this line moved fairly quick and ran both trains, so that was a big plus.

As for the ride itself on Thunderhawk, I wont bore you with every minute detail, because "if youve seen one SLC, youve seen em all". Anyway, I thought the curving first drop was very good and pretty smooth, and I love that first heart-shaped double inversion, which is very forceful. The one zero g-roll is also quite good as well. This coaster moved at a good clip, flowing rather nicely from element to element in the rather compact layout. I had a great time on all my rides on Thunderhawk, and had no hesitation at all to reride it later in the day. Look, Im not saying these rides are perfect. They are rather short, and probably start getting repetitive once youve ridden many of them. Also, while not as bone-jarring to me as some people indicate, they truthfully are not "smooth" either like B&Ms masterpieces. Yet, they offer a good ride with plenty of thrills, and I frankly think they deserve a bit more credit than the coaster enthusiast community tends to give them. Thunderhawk, though no B&M, is overall a good coaster with nice speed, a cool layout, and a good first drop. It also gets a half-point bump for being the smoothest SLC that I have ridden. Now, if youll excuse me, I need to get back to my "SLCers anonymous" meeting! Final Rating – 7.5/10

2 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up T-Rex on 12/20/2007 12:16:00 PM
Very rough SLC and slow SLC. The drop was fast, but there was tons of headbanging at the bottom. All of the inversions were rough as well and jerky, especially the double inline twist. After that was a very slow and rough finale that was quite boring. This easily is one of the worst SLCs out there.

2 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up BobFunland on 8/14/2007 1:44:00 PM
This one lives down at the bottom of the SLC list along with its former cousins at SFA and SFDL. Seriously, Premier got at least one of them (Mind Eraser @ SFNE) to be decent, why are these ones just abominations? It was a typical assault on your neck and your soul. Yet another ride at Geauga Lake that I hope to never have to ride again...

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up sowinski on 10/9/2006 4:23:00 PM
This ride looks like it will be a bit better than it is from the lineup. However, the ride is quite tame. It is a little rough, but a decent coaster.

2 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up fergusonat on 8/16/2006 4:38:00 PM
This was my first SLC, and as we climbed the lift, I thought to myself..."I wonder if this will be as bad as everyone-"

My thought process was then broken by a series of the most brutal inversions my body has every experienced. All of it is true about Vekoma SLCs...they suck. "Hang-n-bang" is the perfect title for this horrendous pile of scrap metal, and I personally congratulate whoever came up with that term because you, sir or maam, are a god/goddess.

1 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Predator on 9/7/2005 5:49:00 PM
I tried to like it by going on it multiple times, but it just didnt work out at all.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up mobdick on 8/9/2005 1:53:00 PM
I really dug this ride, it goes by quick, but in that short time it comfortably whips the hell out of you. From the second you drop its driving you all over the place and spinning you and its really a lot of fun. The only thing bad was the brake at the end. Its so hard youd think it wanted your eyes to explode from your skull.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up gyk182 on 7/3/2005 11:24:00 PM
This ride is fun and usually has no line, so you really have nothing to loose. Although I liked all the names better under Six Flags rule, this one particularly stands out. The blue supports and red track and now yellow and orange so that they stick out from across the lake so sorely, its disgusting. The name "Thunderhawk" practically begs for themeing, but Cedar Fair never has themeing, so I didnt expect it. The ride is not too rough, but the coaster is very compact and is kept in a small area that is not all that big, meaning lots of sharp turns and inversions. Its almost over before it begins. As a compact inverted, it has rows of two, so loading can be slow, I suppose, but I went on a holiday weekend and there was litterally no line whatsoever. Do I recommend it? Yes. Theres hardly a wait and what have you got to loose?

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up SLFAKE on 6/25/2005 10:55:00 PM
The more Vekoma SLCs I ride, the more I appreciate them. This was no exception... and not all that rough.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up beastboy on 6/6/2005 8:04:00 AM
Certainly not the best ride, but not nearly as bad as some reviews on this site would indicate. Yes, there is some headbanging, but nothing I havent experienced before on other rides from other designers. With that said, my biggest gripe with the ride is that it just isnt all that exciting. I didnt feel like there was anything special with this ride, not even the cool-looking double inversion right off the first drop. I just dont see the point in waiting to ride a descent Vekoma when a B&M masterpiece is right next door.

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