Thunderbird at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana is the only launched Bolliger & Mabillard
wing coaster in operation. It’s also considered by many to be the best B&M wing coaster in existence.
But do I agree with that notion? In this video, I will be reviewing Thunderbird.
Holiday World gained notoriety with a series of wooden roller coasters. The park added Raven in
1995, Legend in 2000, and Voyage in 2006. So not only did they have a large collection of wood
coasters, but they were also highly rated. Raven won the Golden Ticket Award for the World’s Best
Wooden Roller Coaster from 2000 to 2003. Voyage won the Golden Ticket Award for the World’s Best
Wooden Roller Coaster from 2007 to 2011. And Legend, while it has never claimed the top spot,
usually places in the top 25 and is one of the best coasters in the world for laterals.
As awesome as Holiday World’s wood coaster lineup was, they had a steel coaster gap.
As of 2014, the park only had a steel kiddie coaster in Howler. They hadn’t been home to an
adult steel coaster since Firecracker, their former galaxi coaster, was removed in 1997.
But that all changed in 2015. Holiday World opened their most expensive addition ever in Thunderbird,
a B&M wing coaster. And this was an extremely bold move for an
independent family park like Holiday World. Thunderbird cost $22 million. For reference,
this cost more than their previous three most expensive attractions together- even
when adjusting for inflation. Mammoth cost $9 million in 2012. Voyage cost $6.5 million in 2006.
And Wildebeest cost $5.5 million in 2010. Investing $22 million into a single ride
was quite the move for Holiday World, but they wanted to make a splash with their first major
steel coaster and they sure did with Thunderbird. B&M unveiled the wing coaster in 2011 with Raptor
at Gardaland in Italy. All their wing coasters before and after Thunderbird have had chain lifts.
Furius Baco at PortAventura was an Intamin wing coaster with a launch,
but Thunderbird was the first and still is the only B&M
wing coaster with a launch. And this was the first launch B&M designed in-house.
B&M previously built the launched Incredible Hulk Coaster for Universal’s Islands of Adventure in
Orlando, Florida, but the tire driven launch system was supplied by the park.
For Thunderbird, B&M used a linear synchronous motor, or LSM, launch to propel the train to its
top speed. And as of this recording, it is still the only launch they have built themselves for
any coaster type. And that’s pretty surprising to me since Thunderbird’s launch is one of
the highlights to the ride and the ride has remarkably high uptime for a launch coaster.
I’ve never seen Thunderbird go down once in all my visits for mechanical issues. I’ve only seen
it go down for a thunderstorm. The park will even run this coaster in a massive downpour
so long as there is no thunder or lightning. It’s rare to see a park run a launch coaster
in conditions like that, but Holiday World is willing so long as people want to ride.
Thunderbird anchored an expansion to the park’s pre-existing Thanksgiving area.
The ride is located atop the hill that Voyage travels up, so you need to traverse a long, windy,
uphill pathway to reach this coaster. While the coaster’s location is a bit annoying since it’s
located at a dead end, the walk is worth it. This coaster is themed to the Native American
legend of the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird is a powerful supernatural bird that protected
humans from evil spirits. This legend was combined with a midwestern farm.
There are a few things to look at in the queue line and the launch is quite theatrical,
but a majority of the layout is unthemed. But that’s ok since Thunderbird has a great
setting. Outside of the initial launch and Immelmann, the ride takes place in the woods,
crossing over Voyage. The ride is quite hard to photograph unless you’re on the backstage
tour for HoliWood Nights, which I strongly recommend. Thunderbird is such an elegant
coaster with its graceful maneuvers and location. While Thunderbird may not have as many manmade
near-misses as other wing coasters- you only have the barn on the final helix and inline twist-
you are whizzing past trees for most of the ride. And this location results in some amazing night
rides. Voyage and the park’s other two woodies get most of the attention at Holiwood Nights
when it comes to night rides, but Thunderbird’s layout is pitch black after that Immelmann.
Thunderbird usually has the shortest wait of Holiday World’s major coasters from my experience.
Part of it may be the ride’s location in the very back of the park and part of it may be
that the ride often runs two trains, and the park pumps those trains out at a good clip.
The trains are a bit shorter than the other wing riders at just 5 rows though.
Thunderbird has the standard B&M wing coaster vest restraints. These restraints aren’t as
tight on your collarbone as some of the initial wing coasters like Wild Eagle, but they are snug.
I think I’m in the minority, but I prefer the inside seat on Thunderbird.
This is my preferred seat on every B&M wing coaster. I find the outside seats to be a
bit bouncier and I don’t find the elements and visuals less effective on the inside.
In terms of my favorite row, I have a slight preference for the front for the rush of wind,
but I think the back has a bit more whip. Once dispatched, you slowly creep further
into the barn. Here, you hear an ominous rumble and have some lighting and fog effects.
And then with no warning, you blast out of the barn like a rocket. You accelerate from
0 to 60 mph or 97 kph in just 3.5 seconds. While those stats may not seem too flashy,
Thunderbird’s launch is pretty punchy. It really surprised me considering this was B&M’s first
launch. It’s better than any Premier Rides launch and they’ve been at it for almost 2.5 decades.
I also love the placement of the launch. Riders boarding the train have an unobstructed view of
the prior train shooting off right in front of them. And those approaching the area
see the trains gliding down the launch track and maneuvering the subsequent Immelmann.
This inversion is colossal, standing 140 feet or 43 meters in size.
Unfortunately, I don’t quite think this Immelmann rides as good as it looks.
It’s smooth, but I don’t find it particularly forceful.
The back does have some decent whip as you uncork towards the ground though.
You then charge through a decently forceful loop. While it doesn’t have the power of most
loops on B&M inverts, it sneakily sustains some positive Gs throughout the element
since you don’t slow down at the top. This is the one element on the ride that improves
significantly as the coaster warms up. The other ones are consistent throughout the day for me.
After crossing over Voyage, you traverse back-to-back turnarounds.
These elements are ok. The turnarounds themselves aren’t all that forceful; they’re more about
the visuals. But the valley in between does deliver a fairly strong dose of positive Gs.
Thunderbird then glides through a zero-G roll. While the vest restraints hug your
body fairly tightly, you still get some great weightlessness through this element.
And it’s quite disorienting too since you’re surrounded by trees on all sides.
That is followed by this bizarre s-hill. The element isn’t rough, but is sort of feels like
it’s a bit too tight for the wing trains. So the train jerks you through the element, which results
in a faint pop of airtime and laterals. This is definitely a positive, but the element contrasts
with the rest that is graceful almost to a fault. You then charge through a barn and wrap up a
270 degree helix. In terms of forces, this is another element that’s a dud.
The near-misses with the barn are the lone redeeming quality of this element.
You then crawl through an elongated inline twist. This element has an amazing near-miss
with the barn at the start and then delivers some incredible and sustained hangtime.
It’s a great finale. You then hit the brakes, ending this 3035 foot or 925 meter long coaster.
Thunderbird is a smooth ride. I do notice a little bouncing on the outside seats and that can cause
me a headache after repeated rides, but that’s no different than the other wing coasters. I could
ride the inside seats all-day with no trouble. In terms of pacing, Thunderbird is a bit uneven.
I love the initial launch, but I don’t love the elements in the first half.
The Immelmann while picturesque just doesn’t do it for me and the two turnarounds feel like
filler to me. The first half does have a good sense of speed though. But I much prefer this
coaster’s second half when Thunderbird combines floaty inversions and several near-misses.
So what would I rate Thunderbird? I would give this coaster an 8 out of 10.
Thunderbird is a fun coaster. The launch, setting,
and second half are great. While there are a few elements in the first half I don’t love,
they’re ok and perfectly ridable. So they don’t really detract from the experience. They just
don’t add anything. And I did give this coaster a half point bump for amazing night rides.
Thunderbird is my least favorite of the four major coasters at Holiday World since I prefer their
out-of-control wood coasters, but it is a great compliment to the park’s trio of wood coasters.
Thunderbird does many things those coasters don’t- it’s graceful, it has a launch,
and inverts riders four times. And the park is clearly proud of this coaster since it
seems to be the most marketed coaster on billboards and brochures around the park.
Last year I made a video counting down my favorite wing coasters.
At the time, I placed Thunderbird at the top spot. But after my 2020 rides,
I think I’d slide Thunderbird below Fenix and Flug der Damonen. Those two coasters are better paced
start to finish, but they’re all very close to each other in my personal rankings.
I do think Thunderbird is the best B&M wing coaster in the United States though.
So those are my thoughts on Thunderbird, the launched wing coaster at Holiday World.
Have you ridden this coaster? How do you think it compares to the other wing coasters out there?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!