The Experience
Introduction
Thundercoaster is a 2001 Vekoma Wooden Coaster at TusenFryd. For many years, TusenFryd only had Loopen to satisfy thrill seekers so when they opened Norway's first - and still only - wooden coaster, it forever changed the landscape of thrillcoasters, not just at TusenFryd but in the entire country. Today Thundercoaster has quite a polarizing reputation, being neither the most exciting coaster (Storm) or the biggest crowd-pleaser (Speed Monster) but there's just something about that feeling of riding a big wooden coaster, and for that, Thundercoaster certainly still plays an important role at the park.
Bigger and Meaner
Vekoma ever only built three wooden coasters, all in Europe, and while Robin Hood at Walibi Holland got converted to Untamed, Loup-Garou and Thundercoaster lives on to show everyone what a Vekoma woodie is all about.While Loup-Garou at Walibi Belgium is fun but rough, Thundercoaster is very fun but very rough and though it might not be bigger in terms of actual track length, when it comes to speed and the ride experience, Thundercoaster has a lot more to say...and not all of it is pretty.
A Blessing and a Curse
There are two groups of people who will quickly find themselves either loving or hating Thundercoaster. If you like big thrills and wooden coasters and you don't really care about roughness, you will most likely love Thundercoaster but if you are in any way sensitive to roughness, you will almost certainly hate Thundercoaster because oh boy is it rough. However, for a lot of people - us included - riding Thundercoaster is a real ambivalent experience as the roughness is definitely a lot to handle, and in this case also enough to hurt the ride, but we can't help but to also enjoy the coasters genuinely good layout and the forces it brings.Thundercoaster is a fast-paced twister with several drops and small humps, delivering both good laterals and some solid airtime as well. Meanwhile the setting is also very good and it really is a rush, just one that you won't leave unscathed.
Conclusion
Thundercoaster is a wildly fun but very rough wooden coaster, and compared to its brother coaster (and yes, it's a boy okay?), it has a much better setting, better forces and even stronger pace, perhaps thanks to the timberliners, but it's also even rougher, delivering consistent jackhammering throughout most of the ride. Overall, Thundercoaster is genuinely fun but actually painful as well.
Gallery
ThunderCoaster Gallery
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Strengths & Weaknesses
| Well Paced | |
| Good laterals | |
| Great location | |
| Some good drops with airtime | |
| Super Rough |
Information
Technical Specs
Specifications
Sit DownMegaTwisterCustom
TypeWood
Length3116,8 ft
Height128,0 ft
Drop105,0 ft
Speed57,8 mph
Inversions0
Vert Angle57,3 °
Duration120 sec
Notes
Got new Timberliner trains from Gravitykraft in 2015