Holiday World- Thunderbird Media Day Ride Review

Thunderbird Media Day and Ride Review


 Holiday World recently opened their newest and only steel coaster, Thunderbird. The team here at ISI was lucky enough to be invited for the Media Preview and to do a review of the ride, needless to say, we were all excited!

 While it was cold, it was also a clear and bright day in Indiana when we first laid eyes on the wing coaster the park has been teasing us with for months.

While not a fan of wing coasters in general, I was hoping that the new Thunderbird would change my mind on the matter. In the past I've found this style of coaster nice but rather lacking in the thrill factor, they seem almost too relaxed in my opinion..

...then Thunderbird happened.

Thunderbird Watch: Holiday World Shows Off Thunderbird's Station House and Barn Fly Through

Well, construction of the track may have been completed well ahead of schedule and the trains have started to arrive but there's a lot more finish up with Holiday World's first all steel coaster.

Most notably, the station house and the barn fly through that riders will be sent careening through not once, but twice! They're definitely getting there with things though and with the barn complete, that only leaves the station to be finished off.

So, let's get down what you came for, the pictures. First up, a look at the mostly complete station for this ground breaking new coaster.

Still a good bit to go here, but definitely getting there and can't wait to see when it's done. Next up? A little bit of coaster nirvana as Holiday World has given us some really unique looks at the barn fly through section of the ride!

Thunderbird Construction Continues at Holiday World

It's been a while since we've checked in with Holiday World and the progress of Thunderbird, the world's first launched wing coaster. Now, however, there's been a few new pictures released from the park and they're definitely well under way to get things opened on time for the 2015.

Thunderbird, unveiled earlier this year, is the park's first all steel coaster and features a unique launch system that's definitely going to be interesting to experience.

Anyway, before we get to the pictures, here's the latest Hard Hat Chronicles video from the folks at Holiday World.


And now...here's the pictures of construction so far from Holiday World's Facebook Page!

First Pieces of Thunderbird Track Arrive at Holiday World

The first pieces of track have arrived at Holiday World for their newest addition to the park, Thunderbird. Announced last Thursday night, their newest coaster is not only their first steel coaster in the park's history, but also the first launched wing coaster from B&M in the world. It will take riders through three inversions after shooting from 0-60 in just 3.5 seconds.

The new track segments that have made their way to Holiday World also solve another mystery, where some of the track spotted at the Clermont Steel Fabricator lot in Ohio is headed. Now just for the other colors...

Image from @HolidayWorld on Twitter

Either way, going to be fun to watch this one get built over the course of the next 8 months or so and can't wait to get a chance to ride the madness in the Spring of 2015! For more details about Thunderbird, check out our coverage of the announcement here.

Holiday World Announces Thunderbird Coming in 2015!

It's been 66 Days of traveling with the crew and passengers of The Mayflower. Their journey has been a long and arduous one, filled with many curiosities along the way.

Now that journey is over and we finally have our answer to what Holiday World will be adding to their already impressive collection of world class coasters and rides.

Let us be amongst the first to introduce you to, Thunderbird ,the world's first B&M launched wing coaster! 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and have a total of 4 inversions as it hugs the ground and soars through the forest. This is the first launched coaster from B&M, ever and will be open in Spring of 2015.

Here's the official announcement video from the park:


Thunderbird marks the largest investment in the park's 68 year history at $22 million dollars and definitely is going to be a worthy addition to the park. Now for the animated POV to see just what it'll be like to ride Thunderbird!



The coaster will feature a launch, using LSM technology, an Immelmann loop, 125' Loop, Horseshoe, Elevated Spiral, Zero-G roll, S curve, 2 “headchopper” keyholes, a Carousel, a 360 in-line twist (barrel roll) and 2 Crossovers with The Voyage as it screams over 3,000+ft of track. In a nice touch, the pulley building will be named "Will Power" after Will Koch, who passed away a couple of years back. This was his dream to build and now it's a reality.

For those curious, here's what the layout of this ground breaking ride will look like after the break.