Out of Kennywood's 3 wooden coasters, I've already reviewed 2 of them. Now, it is time to finish the trilogy. Today, I want to review Thunderbolt.
Part 1: Appearance
Thunderbolt looks really good. It is well maintained when it comes to appearance. It looks intimidating and it is very photogenic. It has a good color scheme. I would give it a 10/10 in appearance.
Part 2: Trains
I love the Century Flyers. These trains are very comfortable. They feel like PTC trains, except they look much better. I would give the trains a 10/10.
Part 3: Forces
There is barely any airtime on the ride. The only airtime on the ride is just some mild floater towards the back row.
The main focus on the ride are lateral g-forces. When the ride opened in 1968, the laterals were so strong that they threw a kid out. This led to a policy requiring all people to ride with a buddy.
Because of the lateral G forces, I would give the forces a 7/10. It only gets that because it has laterals, though.
Part 4: Smoothness
The ride is rough. During the 2019-2020 off-season, they retracked some parts of the ride. This has done nothing to improve the ride. In fact, in my experiences, it has seemed ever ROUGHER! I'm giving it a 3/10 in the smoothness category.
Part 5: Operations
They always run one train. I once read something from the comments in a video by Xscream Thrills. It was a comment from one of Thunderbolt's operators. They said that they are told to run one train, even when they NEED 2 trains.
The operations are also often very slow. I would give Operations a 3/10.
Final: In the end, the ride gets a 6.6/10. I would give it a 5/10. This ride is fun, but it is overrated.