Yes folks, we went to Dollywood today. It was such a beautiful day in east Tennessee. Perfect 70 degree weather. I tried the new roller coaster at Dollywood called the Thunderhead . It is a wooden roller coaster with speeds of 55 mph. It was okay. My other half pooped out on me and I had to ride by myself (says he was pooped out more like scaird). Anyway, I must be getting old. I didn’t care for it, it jerked me around quite a bit now my back is hurting. I did however ride the Tennessee Tornado ( by myself again) and enjoyed that roller coaster much better. It takes you through 3 loops with a speed of 70 mph down a 128 foot drop. It was a much more smoother ride and very enjoyable. Anyone know why the wooden roller coasters are so rough? I had this same problem with a roller coaster down in Georgia at Six Flags I think the name was the Cyclone? That one was very rough. My neck hurt for a week.
Wow. I consider anyone who rides a rollarcoster that goes faster then 30 MPH brave. I cannot ride rollarcosters. I have a weak stomach and a fear of heights. One time my brother rode this one really loopy one, I was terrified and queasy for him. shudders 70 MPH and 125 ft. drop? NO THANK YOU.
Ooooh, I loves me some roller coasters! IANA Roller Coaster Engineer, but my understanding is that the steel ones can go faster and smoother than the wooden ones, and make tighter turns and such. So a lot of the fun of wooden roller coasters (for me at least), is that feeling of being pushed and pulled and feeling that more intensely. It’s also the noise that a wooden roller coaster makes, making you feel that your very life is in danger! Woo, baby! I gotta get to Playland before my head explodes. (Not so much for the roller coasters, although the Dragon Coaster is a classic, but becasue my Girl Scout troop just voted to go there on their summer trip. Molding them in my own image, I swear!)
Wooden rollercoasters are not automatically rough per se. They are not quite as smooth as steel coasters, but they don’t have to be rough - I think sometimes they are constructed that way on purpose, don’t ask me why. There was a new wooden coaster installed at Dorney Park in Allentown PA about ten or fifteen years ago that I rode the first season when it was new. It was such a rough ride that it gave me a headache and I never rode it again. I understand that this past winter it was taken down to make way for a new coaster. Similarly, there was a steel coaster at Busch Gardens-Williamsburg, Drachen Fire, that was a shade too rough or intense for the average rider - it too has been dismantled to make way for something else. A good wooden coaster is a joy to ride, the Phoenix at Knoebels Grove in PA is a great example. As smooth as steel coasters are, a great wooden coaster can beat a steel coaster any day in my humble coaster opinion. Hey, thanks for the post - I’d ride with you if I could.
I love riding coasters. Unfortunately, the european coasters don’t match up to much in the states. I used to love going to Six Flags Illinois (since I lived about 1.5hrs away in WI). A good wooden coaster beats a steel one any day. There’s a new semi-decent wooden coaster in Gothenburg at our amusement park Liseberg. Last summer I drove through OH on my way to TN with my gf at the time and begged her that we go to Cedar Park (IIRC), but she said we didn’t have time. (Apparantly she had to enroll for classes or something ridiculous like that 
). Some day, when I get time/money I want to do a Rollercoaster tour of the US…
You should have came with us. Hubby needed someone to sit on the sidelines with him. 
I know the noise your talking about. I hate that tick,tick,tick,tick as you go up the hill. Gives you time to think about what is ahead and also realize that you ain’t getting off the ride anyway else.
Awww. How sweet. I managed pretty good by myself. Until I seen the photos that you get to see of yourself as you are exiting the ride. You know the one they flash and take at the most inappropriate time. I had my eyes closed, mouth open screaming. Yeah, I looked like a possum caught in the headlights of an on coming car. My other half was harrassing me saying he had found a online sight of women that pull there tops up and flash something else to the camera at the oh so appropriate time. Had he went, he wouldn’t have been grabbing nothing but the bar that holds you in place.
Cedar Park is suppose to have one mean arse roller coaster. Don’t know the name of it, but I am not so sure I would have even went on it. Been to Six Flags Illinois your talking about as I am from Illinois originally. Also been to Kings Island in Ohio, Six Flags Georgia, Six Flags St. Louis. Those are some fun places. Dollywood doesn’t match any of those, but it’s getting better.