Holiday World | Thunderbird | Launched B&M Wing Coaster

[ThomVD]

I understand Peep's point. The launch and immelman look really good, but the middle part seems rather pointless. And the near misses towards the end seem quite weak as well. Theming wise, Raptor still looks the best to me. This could've been a B&M floorless too, it just doesn't seem to make use of the advantages of a wing coaster. Should still be a fun coaster though.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

It's such a shame that only Gardaland understood the concept of a winged B&M.

This. Obviously I will try not to judge too much before I ride it, but Raptor really did well with this type of coaster and Thunderbird just looks very "meh" to me. The reason I say this is because, besides Raptor, the drop is usually the best part on these things, with the rest being very mediocre. This doesn't even have a drop. It has a launch that looks pretty weak.

I'll see for myself in just over a month, though

 

[andrus]

This doesn't even have a drop. It has a launch that looks pretty weak.

At least the launch will be more powerful than Helix, plus the winged seating position will probably enhance the experience somewhat

 

[CookieCoasters]

I'm a little confused on the whole Raptor argument. It does have better near misses, mist effects etc. than Swarm and seemingly the other ones which I haven't ridden, but I personally don't see this as a necessity to make a 'great' wing coaster. To me, a wing coaster is about providing a smooth, graceful experience (with preferably a little more force than most seem to have). Similar to I suppose what you'd expect from a flying coaster.

To be honest, near misses don't do much for me, but I know I'm in the minority there. From just watching it, I think this is probably my favourite looking wing coaster yet because it looks (and I've read that it's supposedly) a bit more forceful than most others.

 

[Intricks]

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

Unfortunately, that is the main aspect of the Wing Coasters - near misses. I really dont fully agree Peeps argument. While the larger variants have deviated from a themed near miss perspective, they instead use either the supports to cause the near misses, or the natural setting the ride is in.

Gardalands is obviously the most visually stunning use of near misses, but I dont think the rest of the ones built have deviated from the use of near misses either simply because they arent constantly using a tree, broken cage or a watch tower to interact constantly with the guests.

To me, Raptors was built with near misses being the sole focus of the ride, whereas the others built a substantial ride as the focus, with near misses popping up throughout.

Still remaining true to the concept, but evolving the track work.

 

[peep]

Let me flesh out my comment a bit more...

It's not just about the near misses which the others have got wrong it's the whole "has to be bigger, faster and more forceful" aspect. The winged coaster trains don't deal with forces that well and tend to create a bumpyness to the ride experience (this does vary in many ways but I'm generalising). This (sometimes unpleasant - NOT rough) can detract from the whole smooth gentle glideness (making words up now, Yay) which is arguably the whole point of these rides, to glide around smoothly while creating a fun ride experience with external interaction either from theming or the rides own supports.

Another issue with these greater forces is it causes the restraint system to tighten and create further uncomfortableness during the ride. This does seem to vary too but I feel those that don't feel it are either so skinny they need to eat something, body build means they can't feel the difference or they're just not noticing it.

I mention Gardaland's Raptor because not only does it have the near misses the excellent location but it never tries to do anything too forceful, it just flows and that results in a comfortable - yet fun - experience. I think the worst one I've ridden so far is Gatekeeper which is the opposite where it's huge which causes crazy vibrations due to higher forces.

Now Thunderbird's launch looks great but the rest of the ride looks like it never learnt from Port Aventura's dreaded Intamin wing rider (of which the name currently escapes me) where the launch is brilliant but then the forces become so great that the ride becomes uncomfortable to ride, it's not rough but the seating arrangement just can't handle the forces thrust upon them. The fact I could see the same thing happening in a bloomin' pov for thunderbird is obscene.

Obviously I'm not judging the actual ride experience as I haven't ridden it, but experience has taught me that this wasn't the best option when opting for this ride type.

Typed on phone so apologies if stuff gets jumbled etc.

 

[Intricks]

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

Furius Baco doesnt really travel to great heights after that launch, right? From what I remember from POVs is that its a lot of low to ground action while generally making its way upward to a high point before lowering back towards the station. It doesnt have the swooping hills that Thunderbird has, nor does it follow a mildly hilly terrain. If memory serves me right, it is doing the same thing as Voyage - travelling uphill throughout its course. So you really cant judge it via POV because I figured the S Curve Hill would have been taken at a pretty intense speed, but even watching the POV, without even a trace of trims in sight (were there trims even?), the train glides over that segment.

I can understand Gatekeeper and Parrot Coaster not really sticking to the more calm approach of Raptor, Swarm and X-Flight take a more intensely manouvered ride experience, and both Wild Eagle and Thunderbird seem to be the right in the middle of a manouver heavy ride with the gentle calmess you describe from Raptor.

 

[Ben]

Oh Peep, go ride a Boomerang.

I think this looks really fun, I'm well excited for June <3

 

[ECG]

Re: BGW | Tempesto | Premier Rides Launch Coaster

I'm finally home after a 2500 mile road trip to the three coaster media/opening days and I haven't been able to post anything until today.
Holiday World held their media event last Thursday and it was the best I've attended since Outlaw Run's. The park also had the Crow's Nest (small Star Flyer next to Thunderbird) and The Voyage open all day as well as Raven and Legend open for an hour. Needless to say, I filmed lot and will be posting videos in a couple of days. For now photos will have to do.

The new area is nice and it will be interesting to see what they do with the old Pilgrim's Plunge site, which you pass on the way to Thunderbird and is currently an eyesore. The coaster however is anything but and my favorite looking B&M wing coaster.

As for the ride itself, I'm not too keen on B&M wingers due to many of the reasons discussed above but this one peeked my interest mostly for the launch rather than the layout.

TBH I wasn't expecting much from the launch due to the forces needed to move those heavy trains, but it wasn't bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was pretty good - not up there with an Intamin but definitely more forceful than a tire launch. Kind of like the rolling launches on Gerstlauers.

Wonder how long before we see one of these?

I'm also in the peep camp and Raptor remains my favorite B&M wing coaster, with this one slightly ahead of Flug and Swarm in second spot. The launch beats the crap out of a lift hill, it's layout is better than X-Flight's plus it has many terrain elements and soars like Wild Eagle. However, even though they spared many trees from the hatchet, it doesn't have the near misses with said trees like the one in Tennessee - just the shack.

Speaking of which, the inline twist coming out of the shack is my favorite element. Kinda reminds me of Banshee's and feels just a good going through it.

As you can tell from the photos above and below, the park gave us access to the area between Thunderbird and The Voyage. Too bad there's not a public path up there because it's my favorite spot in the park.

As for bumpiness, Thunderbird suffers only slightly from it. In other words - it's better than Gatekeeper, but aren't they all? :wink:

All these photos are from our Facebook and Twitter, but I have more that I'll be posting along with the videos.

And yes Ian, I filmed all the coasters in 3D so you'll be able to enjoy them later in the week...

...however the right camera disk had a bad sector and Raven's video was corrupted so that one didn't work. The regular POV from the left camera will have to do since this was supposedly a one time thing and I don't think the park will be letting any of us film on their coasters again.

For now I'll finish up with my B&M winger rankings:
1. Raptor
2. Thunderbird
3. Flug der Dämonen
4. Swarm
5. X-Flight
6. Wild Eagle
7. Gatekeeper

 

[JJLehto]

But until you have ridden, can't really judge the "bumpyness" of the ride. You have sound insight, but it's just a theory.
All the reports I've seen so far, not one has mentioned bumpiness, and most have said it is the best of the Wingriders. Even if there's some disagreement about that, which there will be of course, seems a bit unfair to bash on this one.

Considering how all wingriders get flak from the enthusiast community, I'm excited TB has been lauded so far. And for those who have enjoyed other wingriders, their words carry even more weight for me when saying this is the best/up there near the top.

It also seems really odd to me you compare it to Furious Baco, they seem totally different. Baco flew around a few turns and a roll. There's barely even height change throughout. This has an actual layout.
Just being a bit of an over enthusiast I think ; ) I can't wait to finally get to HW and I'm glad my first wingrider will be this one.

 

[IntaminToWin]

Those two bizarre turn elements after the vertical loop seem awkward and I'm doubtful they pull many G's. I really don't understand why that's the elements they went with.

 

[Intricks]

Since I didnt see any trims during the POVs I have watched, maybe they are there to bleed some speed?

 

[IntaminToWin]

Since I didnt see any trims during the POVs I have watched, maybe they are there to bleed some speed?

Why not "bleed speed" with a series of bunny hops or a sea serpent roll? Even more pressing, why not utilize the speed you have instead of deliberately wasting it? That can't possibly be why.

 

[ECG]

Time to post some more photos and the videos.

Not a lot to say about these other than to state the obvious - the coaster is damn photogenic.

Even though I was there from 6:30am until 7pm, I didn't have enough time to take all the photos I wanted to and only ended up with this one of the queue.

Now for the videos. They're all self explanatory.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2awPsI_2F4c[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9aDZzFZ6p4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-awO7iZv2as[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuAmavf4sFo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFe3Icd1j54[/youtube]

Ian - I posted 3D versions of everything but the off-ride, of course.

 

[Smithy]

Rider cam especially makes this look like a brilliantly fun ride tbh.

 

[ECG]

It's definitely a fun ride. Probably the most fun of all the wing coasters, which is why I rank it second in my B&M wing coaster list.

 

[Intricks]

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

What are the big boy seats on this? Im used to seeing Red to indicate the belt for myself and fellow fatties thanks to Gatekeeper....so Im a bit confused

 

[Jarrett]

Charging my phone at Holiwood Nights waiting for ERT to start!

I loved it! The launch is pretty aggressive and the layout as a whole is way more intense than other wing coasters! It's easily the best of them and easily in my top ten! The forces are comparable to Banshee's but not quite as intense (but close!) and the landscape is wonderful! The near miss is really awesome but way better on the left. I really hope to see B&M learn from this success and make some more wing coasters like it, because I could easily see enthusiasts receiving it very well. I've not heard a bad thing about it yet this evening.

 

[davidm]

Well I thought that the outside right seats were really rough/rattle-ey, the near-miss is non existant on the right and the zero-g bit was also bad on the right - left side was much better all round.

So theres a few bad words to say about it. Its ok though, just not great - I MUCH prefered Gatekeeper over it, perhaps I got good rides in on that a couple of years ago and bad rides on this this week then.