| Thunderhead | |
| Location: | Dollywood |
| Section: | Timber Canyon |
| Type: | Wood |
| Status: | Operating |
| Manufacturer: | Great Coasters International |
| Designer: | Mike Boodley |
| Track: | Twister roller coaster |
| Lift: | Chain lift hill |
| Height Ft: | 100.4 |
| Drop Ft: | 100 |
| Length Ft: | 3230 |
| Speed Mph: | 53.7 |
| Inversions: | 0 |
| Duration: | 2:30 |
| Angle: | 60 |
| Cost: | $7 million |
| Restriction In: | 48-76 |
| Carspertrain: | 12 |
| Rowspercar: | 1 |
| Ridersperrow: | 2 |
| Transfer Accessible: | available |
| Virtual Queue Name: | TimeSaver Pass |
| Virtual Queue Status: | available |
| Rcdb Number: | 2451 |
| Coordinates: | 35.7967°N -83.5319°W |
Thunderhead is a wooden roller coaster located at Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Manufactured by Great Coasters International, the ride opened on April 3, 2004, as the anchor attraction of a new section added to the park that season called Thunderhead Gap. Thunderhead features 22 turns and 32 crossovers,[1] and utilizes GCI's Millennium Flyer trains, which have been used on all GCI coasters since 1999.
On June 26, 2003, Dollywood unveiled plans for a third coaster addition to the park called Thunderhead for the 2004 season, following Tennessee Tornado, which opened in 1999.[2] Thunderhead officially opened to the public on April 3, 2004.[3]
The ride was named after Thunderhead Mountain, a peak within the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park that was heavily logged during the early 19th century. Thunderhead is a slang term in the American South for Cumulonimbus clouds.
The train exits the station and turns right. From there, it makes its way through a left turn and climbs the 100.4feet chain lift hill. Upon reaching the top, the train drops 100feet to the right at . Riders go through a right-handed banked turn after the drop. This is followed by a left-handed curve. Next, the train approaches a right turn, heading towards an on-ride camera, which takes photos of the riders. After a 180-degree right turn, riders go through a fly-through station element while traveling . The train makes a loud noise as it travels 8feet above the station. It then goes through a left-handed curve. A smaller airtime hill leads to a 270-degree helix. Riders then go through a right turn and a left turn before hitting the brakes. The train slowly turns 90 degrees to the right, passing by the transfer track. This is followed by a 180-degree left turn that leads back to the station, where riders exit the train.