Our Thoughts on Thunderbird at Holiday World

Last month, five members of the Coaster101 team met (for the first time in person!) at Holiday World for CoasterBuzz’s “Fall Affair” event which gave us extended ride time (ERT) on the park’s new Bolliger & Mabillard launched wing coaster, Thunderbird — as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of the coaster.

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Photo © Holiday World

Below we discuss our thoughts on our expectations, the theme elements, the ride experience, the launch, where to sit, and how it compares to other wing coasters.

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Nick: Before heading to Holiday World, I had heard rave reviews about Thunderbird. What were your expectations?

John: I wasn’t sure what to expect with Thunderbird. I enjoy wing coasters (I’ve ridden Dollywood’s Wild Eagle and Six Flags Great America’s X-Flight), and I also enjoy most launched coasters. So as I sat down in the sleek Thunderbird train awaiting departure, my expectations were high.

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Andrew: I purposely didn’t read any reviews or watch any POV’s of Thunderbird before visiting Holiday World because I wanted to let my experience stand on it’s own. I’m a huge B&M fan, and thoroughly enjoyed my rides on Gatekeeper and Wild Eagle, and wondered how the launch would affect the ride experience. “Wing Coasters are Wing Coasters,” I thought to myself as I approached Thunderbird’s station. “They can’t be that much different.”

Nick: Out of all the wing coasters in the U.S., Thunderbird probably has the best theming.

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John: The ride interacts with the midway, terrain and buildings. It’s rare for a coaster to interact with all three.

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Eric: The experience starts with the beautifully themed station area, which replicates an old Indiana farmhouse.  The queue area is filled with various newspaper clippings and artifacts on the walls that hint at the story of the ride; the idea of a giant bird that soars through the rural landscape during every thunderstorm.

I particularly liked the contrast between the “old” style theming and the ultra modern coaster. This continues up through the sound and lighting effects, and while they weren’t working perfectly, it was still a neat pre-launch.

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Andrew: I loved the attention to detail that the Holiday World team put into the ride. As you fly into the barn, be sure to look above you at the outline of hands that crashed through the barn wall.

Nick: I loved the little touches like the “Will Power” building named after former owner and president, Will Koch. I unfortunately didn’t get my first ride in on Thunderbird until almost 10pm.

During the morning ERT, I made it up to the station and was going to be on the next train out when a power supply issue forced the ride to close for the majority of the day (thanks for breaking the ride, guys!). Luckily, it eventually re-opened and it was worth the wait. What did you guys think of the ride and how about that launch?

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Andrew: There was great pacing throughout the ride, starting with the 0-60 mph launch, all the way through to the zero-G stall/roll at the conclusion of the coaster. And obviously, while the ride is less than a year old, it was remarkable to me how smooth the ride was.

John: The pre-launch sequence is short and sweet. The sound system is…thundering. Unfortunately, the fog effects were not working, but I still appreciated the lighting and sound effects. The launch itself was very forceful.

Eric:  I’d also add that at night the lighting effects were even better, causing the whole interior of the launch area to flash with lightning flashes.  It was also great to look at from outside the ride, and there’s the added touch that during each “lightning flash” all of the other lights around the ride and in the queue flicker.

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Kyle: My favorite seat was the back row, left side of the train. Coming out of the first inversion, you get several seconds of complete weightlessness and this row provides the most head-choppers!

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Eric: As for the ride itself, it is a great experience combining a smooth ride and great airtime and inversions. I have to disagree a little with Kyle though, I’d say the front left is best.  In the front I felt what I can only describe as “stall” effects.  On multiple inversions the front seat seemed slow significantly at the apex of the roll before speeding back up as the coaster exits the element.

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Eric: The change in speeds was a fun sensation that I haven’t felt on a lot rides, and it seemed much more noticeable in the front than the back.  I also think the head chopper effects were even better in the front, though I admit the airtime was better in the back.

Andrew: I only got to experience Thunderbird from the right side, and it was crazy to me how much faster the launch felt in the front row compared to the second row. Though, after reading Eric and Kyle’s reviews, it looks like I need to head back to Holiday World soon and get on the left side of the train.

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Nick: I definitely preferred the front of the trains to the back. The lack of a lift hill really shortens the ride time on Thunderbird. While loads of fun and packed with action, the ride is over in the blink of an eye.

John: I agree. Although I will gladly sacrifice ride length for the launch, I felt it would have had a few more elements included at the end. The train still had some speed to burn.

Eric: I agree that if I had one negative on the ride, it’s that the length is kind of short. Partly that’s being compared to the other Holiday World rides that are very not short, so I think that makes it feel smaller, but I could see being a little disappointed by the length if I had had a particularly long wait. That certainly doesn’t take away from the great experience though!

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Photo © Holiday World

John: So, what’s the verdict? How does Thunderbird compare to the other wing coasters you’ve been on?

Nick: They’re all fun but I think I give the edge to Thunderbird. It’s snappier than Gatekeeper and uses the terrain better than Wild Eagle.

Eric: The only experience I’ve had with wing coasters is one ride on Gatekeeper about a year ago, so I’m not quite as qualified to compare to others as the rest of the team, but I did think Thunderbird was better than my what I remember from Gatekeeper, and it was definitely a fantastic ride.

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Kyle: Having been on Cedar Point’s GateKeeper and Dollywood’s Wild Eagle, I would have to say Thunderbird takes the cake. It combines the best aspects of all of the previous wing coasters into one (plus a launch). It has the airtime and thrill of GateKeeper and the great wooded landscape of Wild Eagle.

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John: Thunderbird definitely takes the top spot on my wing coaster list (beating Wild Eagle and X-Flight). The launch alone was spectacular, but the ride’s elements and frenetic pacing supplemented to make a truly awesome ride experience.

Since the coaster was closed for a majority of the day, we were able to get an enhanced behind-the-scenes tour (as you may have been able to tell by some of our photos). Below are some additional photos from that tour:

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Watch an onride video of Thunderbird below:

See more photos of Thunderbird on our Facebook page.

Have you ridden Thunderbird yet? Share your thoughts about the coaster in the comments section below.

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