Thunderhead • Dollywood

Lap Bar Fun Layout

This ride has become seriously underrated! Easily the second best ride in the park, and one of the best rides I’ve ever been on. The retrack over the 2022-2023 off season made it run as smooth as the day it first opened. From the start of the drop to the final brakes it just feels out of control in the best way possible. It isn’t some one trick pony it’s got a little bit of everything, decent positives (for a woodie), strong laterals, and quick pops of airtime that keep you engaged all the way through.

Airtimes Layout Duration Rattle

Rode it in the front, middle and back. The airtime in the back was great. My wife, who gets motion sick was able to open her eyes in the front so it was smoother than the back as she is usually unable to keep them open. There wasn’t anything unique, but it was consistently interesting and had great pace.

Airtimes Pace Layout

Best ride at Dollywood. Yes, I enjoyed it more than Lightning Rod, which was an amazing ride too. I am a sucker for GCI and Gravity Group wooden coasters. Those manufacturers make such fun rides.

Airtimes Intensity Ejectors Rattle

This is a great woodie. One of Dollywood’s best, similar to Apocalypse at Magic Mountain. It’s fast, filled with ejectors, and jackhammers you throughout the duration of the ride, which is its biggest downfall. But, being a woodie, it’s expected and easy to look past. Great ride.

Airtimes Pace Intensity Rattle

What rough but intense ride. It jackhammers. I cannot deny that, but it has some very strong ejector airtime

Pace Intensity Layout Rattle

This is definitely one of the best GCIs in America, it may be the best along with Mystic Timbers. The pacing is unreal and the ride feels long. The only issue is that the first half has some rough spots. But other than that it is a near-perfect wooden coaster. Definitely be sure to get a night ride on this, it feels like a whole different beast. Absolutely insane.

Fun

Last ride of the day. It was fun.

Airtimes Layout Ejectors Rattle Reliability

its really fun and just a blast but it can be a little rough and both times I've been its been closed for the first 4 hours idk why but it weird.

Airtimes Pace Intensity Rattle

This ride has a really intense drop and delivers great pacing, insane lateral forces, some strong pops of ejector airtime, and it pulls some strong G-forces through the twists & turns.

Airtimes Pace Layout

This is an absolute masterpiece of a GCI and for sure my favorite one. Just an amazing mix of awesome ejector pops and lateral filled banked turns constantly changing and throwing you every direction possible. The station flyby is a really cool addition and it's just a super long, smooth and relentless coaster with a bit of terrain interaction. I'm not the biggest fans of millenium flyers but at least the older ones have those great couch like seats to absorb any blow you might get.

Pace Fun Duration

This coaster is non stop the entire ride, very rapid fire and just amazing pacing overall. The airtime really isn’t that strong but there is plenty of it, with those 2 sustained hills standing out in particular. The ride also feels very long and isn’t even that rough. Overall the ride is relentless and a topi tier woodie.

Airtimes Pace Layout

Rode all over, including front and back. I think it’s better than Mystic Timbers. It was that good. Fantastic pacing, good pops of airtime in many places, including several moments of sustained ejector. Laterals and transitions all really popped. Pure fun the entire time.

Pace

I don't really remember riding this but all I remember is this ride is fast and maintains its speed.

One of my top wood coasters! Pacing and speed are incredible, you feel every bit of the force of the ride. Station fly by is awesome, great laterals, quick operations.

Layout Rattle Discomfort

Good layout, but my first ride near the front was pretty shaky. I did a second ride near the back, and it was worse. Very uncomfortable. I have no desire to get on this coaster again.

Pace Intensity Layout Rattle

Somehow, Thunderhead is drastically better in the front than any other row. It's so much smoother and more enjoyable up there. Thunderhead has laterals and pacing galore as well as a nice sustained bit of sideways floater air plus some quick pops throughout the layout, and the station flyby is fun during the ride - but quite loud for those waiting in the station.

Airtimes Pace Fun

This is a great GCI woodie. It's very long and provides some good airitme throughout a very fast paced layout

Nice surprise! Pace Masterpiece

when i first went to dollywood in 2020 i was planning on making the infamous lightning rod my 100th roller coaster. that was the day it went down for what we would soon find out was a hybrid re-track. i was worried i would regret my visit, and i meandered over to thunderhead thinking it could be fun but had heard nothing about it. it not only became my 100th coaster, but one of my favorite coasters of all time. i adore this coaster beyond words. it’s fun, intense, full of amazing laterals followed by rapid air time pops and i soon realized this kind of ride was exactly my cup of tea! i now have some of china’s GCIs on the top of my bucket list and purchased a dollywood season pass so that i could return to that beautiful park with this wonderful attraction i’m in love with. oh yeah, i might even personally prefer it over lightning rod now that i’ve finally ridden both in 2021! don’t sleep on this ride, especially if you love GCIs and fast paced wooden twister layouts

Airtimes Comfort Fun

thunderhead my beloved

Pace Fun Ejectors

My favorite woodie to date. GCIs finest ride. Amazing turns and elements. The speed it carries is endless and I loved this ride

Pace Intensity

This ride is absolutely amazing, it has relentless laterals throughout the whole layout and some decent ejector moments, it may be slightly rough however if anything it adds to the experience. Other than that I can not find a flaw in this ride at all.

Intensity Layout Duration

Brilliant wooden coaster. Keeps its speed throughout and has multiple intense moments shifting you side to side and has nice moments of ejector air surprisingly. Front row and back are both great. Very solid wooden coaster and the amount of laterals is bonkerz. Solid number 2 in the park and not far off from number 1.

Pace Intensity Duration Rattle Discomfort

Thunderhead is an outstanding wooden coaster. It maintains absurd intensity all the way to the final brake run. There isn't much airtime on Thunderhead, but there are a lot of laterals. It does laterals amazingly. Thunderhead is extremely long too. The station fly-by is really fun. Thunderhead in general is just fun.

Airtimes Fun Too short Dead spots

60mくらいあれば良かった

Airtimes Fun Rattle

すごく長く浮きます。体感２分くらい浮きます。一度浮くとしばらく降りてくることができません。

Airtimes Pace Layout

Best GCI I know. At least in the rain in 2014.

First Drop Intensity Layout Rattle

A great GCI. Currently my second favorite. Some very intense lateral G-Forces and a great layout. The banked first drop is a lot of fun and the station fly through is great. The ride is a little rough but the layout and g forces completely make up for it.

Pace Intensity

8.5 of 10! It is in all of the turns, ride pretty smoothly to be than what I thought it would be. Very enjoyable wood coaster, to take a break from riding the Rod. To many to count but was told there are over 25 turns and right ones too. I felt like a downhill skier.

Pace Intensity

GCI coasters don't get better than this. A wild 'out-of-control' ride from the beginning to the end. Has the first station fly-through ever built.

Airtimes Fun Intensity Rattle

Airtimes Rattle

Airtimes Intensity Rattle Disappointing! Discomfort

Airtimes Smoothness Layout

Airtimes First Drop Rattle

Pace Intensity Rattle

Airtimes Pace Rattle

Airtimes Pace Layout Rattle

Airtimes Pace Ejectors Discomfort

First Drop Pace Fun Rattle

Pace Intensity Duration

Lap Bar Pace Intensity Rattle

Airtimes Discomfort

Pace Layout Duration

Airtimes Location Fun

Airtimes Fun Rattle

Pace Rattle Disappointing! Dead spots

Fun Disappointing!