Thunderbird: My Thoughts

On the night of July 24, 2014, Holiday World announced their first major steel coaster Thunderbird for the 2015 season.  I'll give my thoughts about the build up to the announcement, the announcement itself, and then finally the ride.

The Build Up
Holiday World has a tradition of under-promising and over-delivering when it comes their announcements, so when news of the 66 Days At Sea teaser campaign emerged, I knew we were in store for something special.  If a 66 day long journey building up to the big announcement was their idea of under-promising, then I could only imagine what the final outcome would be.

The Announcement
A few technical difficulties at the beginning of the online broadcast had me worried for a second, but all of the issues were worked out just in time.  The host of the broadcast did a great job of working the crowd and keeping everyone entertained until it was time for the big reveal.  President Matt Eckert and the Koch sisters, Leah and Lauren, then took the stage to setup the introduction and give us one last moment of hype before finally revealing the wonderfully produced ride announcement video.  The entire announcement was fantastic, and I especially enjoyed the playful rapport between Leah and her sister.  A lot of parks can learn a thing or two from Holiday World, and how to announce a big time attraction is certainly one of them.

The Ride
Thunderbird looks fantastic.  The launch, the layout, the theme - it all looks like a ton of fun.  You can't go wrong with anything from B&M in my opinion, and the wingriders are a thrilling option without being overtly intimidating.  As long as the vests are "unlocked" like they are on Gatekeeper, Thunderbird will be very re-rideable.  I love the launch straight into the immelmann, followed by the large vertical loop, but I have a hunch that by favorite element will be the barrel roll coming out of the keyhole element towards the end of the ride. The tribute to the late Will Koch is also a wonderful touch with referring to the flywheel technology used for the launch as Will Power.  I'm sure Will would have loved it being the electrical engineer that he was.  Overall, this will be an amazing addition to the park and I can't wait to try it out.