Holiday World is Getting a New Coaster

It always seems that whenever my attention turns towards something, other things concerning that thing invariably pop up.  Case in point: our Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014.  Both before and ever since that trip, I've been coming across a lot of things that have to do with Kentucky, Nashville and the parks we visited.  Now, just a few short days after I review the wooden roller coasters at Holiday World, the park makes a huge announcement.

coaster.net

On Thursday evening, Holiday World held a press conference to announce a brand new roller coaster set to open in the spring of 2015.  Thunderbird will be the park's first steel coaster and will more than double the amount of money they've ever spent on a ride, with a price tag coming in at around $22 million.  It's very cool that they'll be adding a steel ride to their slow, but steady growing arsenal.

indystar

Thunderbird will be the world's first launched wing-design coaster and it will be located in the park's Thanksgiving section, crossing through The Voyage not once, but twice.  The ride will go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds as it immediately goes into the first of its four inversions.  Thunderbird features 3,035 feet of track and includes a 140 foot Immelmann loop, a 125 foot standard loop, a Horseshoe, an elevated spiral, a zero-G roll, and other cool features.  Wing coasters are great, and with this announcement, I may just have to visit this park sometime again in the near future to give Thunderbird a whirl.  Check out an animation of the new ride below...