Holiday World | Thunderbird | Launched B&M Wing Coaster

[Gazza]

I like it...reminds me a bit of a smaller version of parrot coaster for some reason.

As for the lack of intensity...I've come to the conclusion if a park is going to build a B&M it might as well be a flyer or a wing rider and just not bother about any notion of forces, just make it a pleasant flight. (Except for inverts, they seem to get them right)

At HW in a bit over a week on this trip, spitespitespitespite

 

[Hyde]

To put the launch in context:

RnR: 0-57 mph, 2.8 seconds
blue fire: 0-62.1 mph, 2.5 seconds
Montezooma's Revenge: 0-55mph, 4.5 seconds
Maverick: 0-70 mph, 3 seconds

So it will be drastically slower than any modern day magnetic launch, but faster than a 35 year old Schwarzkopf flywheel launch. :razz:

The Premier spaghetti bowl LIM launch coasters only post a 55 or 60 mph launch, but not the launch time. However, these are long, slow launches (Cedar Fair's Flight of Fears were afterall the first magnetic launches ever), and I would anticipate Thunderbird to feel around the same.

 

[Ethan]

I'm amazed how something cool like this is announced, and some of you are already passing judgement saying it will be the 3rd best or 4th best coaster in the park. ^

What's cool? It has a subpar launch as Gavin mentioned above.. and its a Wing Rider? Neither of those are impressive and from my experience with Voyage, Raven, and Legend along with bigger and crazier Wing Riders, I'd say it will be about on par with Legend on a good day, but definitely not better then Raven.

I'm not going to bend over and take it like some enthusiasts because it has a damn launch and its B&M. This coaster has meh written all over it.

That's you're opinion, which isn't fact in case you didn't know.

I like the look of this coaster, because I love coasters that aren't too intense that you can ride over and over...

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

This looks amazing! Was completely beyond my expectations! Now I'm exited. EDIT: excited*

 

[Hyde]

Now I'm exited.

What, you're leaving? :lol:

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

Now I'm exited.

What, you're leaving? :lol:

excited* :lol:

 

[tomahawk]

Considering every coaster at Holiday World is fantastic (except Legend in the back) I feel that gives the park a little more give in instantly declaring it suck. Do I wish there was a little more ground hugging to the layout as I think that will produce the beat wing coaster? Yes. Is the launch slow? Yes.

I've never been on a B&M I didn't thoroughly enjoy, and I feel this will be in same category. Will it be a top ten? Probably not. The locals will eat this **** up and flock. Most people go to Holiday World for the water park anyways. My one visit, Voyage had an hour queue first ride, then an hour later every coaster was a walk on because everyone did the rides so they went to the water park.

My wife saw it, said she would ride it, and that's good enough for me at this point. Every extra park I can convince her to go to is a win for me.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

My opinion of winged coasters is that they're pretty tame and somewhat blegh, but if they can be pulled off they can be great coasters. Raptor at Gardaland is a good example of this, and I feel like Thunderbird, depending on how well it flows with the terrain, could be somewhere in that league. Holiday World doesn't tend to screw up, apart from Pilgrim's Plunge obviously, but even that was an interesting ride.

 

[Intricks]

I think it will be better than Gatekeeper, but then again, I only rode GK back on its media day and havent been back to The Point since.

The FoF launch has a good bit of kick in it. Nothing to make your head snap back, but enough to give you a nice jolt and to become better friends with your seat.

While it does go right into the 140ft Immelmann, most launchers tend to go right into a high up element and then work from there. Im sure that little S-Curve will give us a nice bit of good floater, if not something a bit more forceful.

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[Martyn B]

I agree with Marc. I think it looks neat but Wing riders ride slow, so putting a launch on it seems a little pointless to me. Launch coasters are usually all about the frantic speed.

But don't get me wrong, it looks nice.

 

[Hyde]

At the end of the day - would anyone not ride this?

 

[marc]

Holiday World | Thunderbird | Launched B&M Wing Coaster

People ride apple coasters so of course they would ride this

Don't get me wrong it looks ok, I just don't think it looks fantastic like some.

It just does not offer anything new, after the launch it's just a normal wingrider and anyone that rides this and Baco will say the launch is not great.

Raptor works so well due to the near missis and the tight layout, I don't get why another park has not tried to repeat that.

 

[Intricks]

They most likely dont feel like putting in the effort on the themeing. Stateside, Keeper has the most amount of "themed" near misses at 3.

If we want something themed to even a Swarm standard, it would more than likely appear at a non-corporate owned park.

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[NAPayne31]

Also, did they claim that Holiday World was the oldest theme park? I was under the impression that Lake Compounce was oldest in the US, with Bakken being the oldest in the world.

A THEME park, meaning that it was the first park to have a unified theme all throughout the park.

And the trees to the sides of The Voyage are rather tall so if they preserve as many as they can the ride can travel alongside the trees.

How old is the park then? I can't see it being over 60.

Also, Eww. B&M wing coasters are a bit awful, worst of the B&M range by far. Making it launched doesn't change that for me at all.

The park is 68 years old

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

Going back at the whole speculation discussion, impressive that Jarrett was spot on with the name, make, and company. Great Job Jarrett!

 

[Jarrett]

Going back at the whole speculation discussion, impressive that Jarrett was spot on with the name, make, and company. Great Job Jarrett!

Thanks! Think that just earned me massive goon points.

One thing I'd like to point out is I think that there is a trend where smaller trains typically equal more intense rides. I'm sure the cute little trains were done to relieve stress on the LSMs and save Holiday World some on operating costs, but it should also allow for a bit more versatility. If I'm correct this is why Maurer's X-Car concept works. Wild Eagle has a shorter train than GateKeeper and I think it's far more intense, so layout has a lot to do with it, yes, but I think having a lighter train might help get some force in there. Sure it could turn into another Flug der Daemonen and be really tame, but it might not! I think this could allow for something like Banshee!

I'm a total sucker for launches and it doesn't take a very strong one to please me, but in regards to the Flight of Fear bit from a few pages back, I think those are 0-55 in 4 or 5 seconds. This is 0-60 in 3, so probably a bit more intense than those. I like the launches on both FoF clones I've ridden, so I bet I'll like this launch.

 

[nadroJ]

Re: Holiday World | Thunderbird | Launched B&M Wing Coaster

From my experience of Holiday World the place was a total all American fun family theme park. Family theme park. Meaning I doubt they would ever install anything actually ball bustingly intense/thrilling. They want something the whole family can enjoy together. Yes, The Boyage is a beast of a ride and the lift hill is gargantuan, but I would argue that it's wooden material makes it less intimidating than something of the same scale in steel. I'd bet you would be much more likely to get Grandma and Grandpa on The Voyage than, say, Mamba at Worlds of Fun. I feel like the Wing a Coaster is a good choice because, as hard as Merlin try to dress them up, they are not intimidating looking coasters. They're actually kind of cumbersome and slow looking to watch. I think Thunderbird will be a great addition to Holiday Park for this reason. Y'all can stop bitching, I don't know what you were expecting from somewhere like Holiday World.

 

[therick311]

Re: Holiday World | Thunderbird | Launched B&M Wing Coaster

^This.

This is a big deal for both Holiday World and B&M, and should fit in nicely. I'm even willing to bet it will be a fun ride, but I'm not going out of my way for it.

Overall: Meh.

 

[CookieCoasters]

Personally, while I don't think it is going to break my top 10 or 20 or 30 etc, it should be really fun and graceful like the other wing coasters I've been on. They could of got something a hell of a lot worse.

 

[tomahawk]

The park is worth going out of your way just for Voyage. I mean this place is in the middle of **** nowhere. Nobody in their right mind should go solely for this.