Thunderbolt Review, Kennywood Classic Wooden Coaster | Modified Into a Bigger & Better Coaster

Thunderbolt is the classic wooden roller coaster at Kennywood. And it's a unique ride. It started as the Pippen, which was a larger version of Jack Rabbit. There were 4 drops down the ravine. But in the 1960s, the the helix section was added in between the drops. This ride has some fun airtime and incredibly intense laterals.
Video Credits
Phantom's Revenge POV (Kennywood)- • Phantom’s Revenge Offi...
Steel Phantom Off-Ride (psyclonesteve)- • Steel Phantom, Kennywo...
Steel Phantom POV (Sean Flaharty)- • Steel Phantom - The Fi...
Thunderbolt Off-Ride (Airtime Thrills)- • Thunderbolt at Kennywo...
Thunderbolt Off-RIde (David Hahner)- • Kennywood from the Gre...
Thunderbolt Off-Ride (The Coaster Spot)- • Thunderbolt | Off Ride...
Thunderbolt Oiling (Kennywood Memories)
Thunderbolt POV (Kennywood)- • Thunderbolt Official 4...
Background Music
SUNNY AFTERNOON
royalty free Music by Giorgio Di Campo for @FreeSound Music
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original video:
• Sunny Afternoon - roya...

[@eclipz4129]

My #1 favorite woodie of all time, nothing will change my mind! This coaster is just simply a masterpiece!

[@CanobieCoaster]

Such a classic.

[@1abrebel]

The front seat ejector into the chain lift might be my favorite part of the ride. . So glad I was able to get that front row ride.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I love that moment.

[@lukedeinzer8416]

When I went under phantom on the 2nd headchopper on my one ride. Phantom was going down that drop as the exact same time. That was the highlight of the ride for me and probably a rare occurrence. Best visual I've had on any coaster to this point.

[@CanobieCoaster]

That's incredibly lucky.

[@eclipz4129]

@@lukedeinzer8416 OMG SAME! I had that same experience lol you’re the first person I heard say they also had that happen.

[@noahkessler5500]

I love how you gave a shoutout to Kennywood memories my dad was on the film crew for the documentary and he used to ride the rides backwards for it and to film commercials for the parks, he did that at cedar point too he said the best one was magnum because of how significant of a coaster it was bc it kickstarted all the giant coasters we love today.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I love that documentary.

[@harrychest4303]

I love the way you research the history of the rides you review. I haven’t ridden 1/99th of the coasters you review, but you make want to tour the country for these rides. Thanks!

[@CanobieCoaster]

You're welcome!

[@thomasxl200]

Its a legitimately great ride. One of my favorite classic woodies.

[@CanobieCoaster]

It is great.

[@SkyrushFanboy]

Can't wait to ride this tomorrow! Such a classic, fun ride!

[@InsaneCoasterJunkie]

Will be back next Saturday for more Yinz magic!!

[@CanobieCoaster]

Have fun!

[@jmanx360]

Row 3 is the magic seat on this coaster. Underrated.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I like the back car best.

[@johnroman6511]

Also, capacity is normally pretty good because before they added pinch brakes, they had to always fill each train because the brakes above the turtle were manually adjusted. If the train had less guests, the brakes would have to be re-adjusted. Now with the new PLC, the brakes don’t have to be adjusted anymore as the ride does it itself but it’s still common practice to fill the train, especially with a line.

[@CanobieCoaster]

That's a good upgrade.

[@Alexgreat-mz2dj]

dang this park loves this ride, it gets taken care of pretty good def gotta ride this in the future

[@CanobieCoaster]

They do a good job caring for it.

[@alexgeorge501]

Where would modern coasters be today without your invention John Miller?

[@Adrians_films]

Probably would get invented another time

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'm thankful.

[@alexgeorge501]

@@CanobieCoaster So am I

[@RorylikesPRT]

Airtime thrills would die

[@alexgeorge501]

@@RorylikesPRT So would all the other great coaster channels on KZbin

[@bobbylindsey]

Love that "T³" easter egg.

[@CanobieCoaster]

It's a funny joke for enthusiasts.

[@Duffster115]

T-Bolt is the parks Newest Woodie and my favorite wooden coaster in the park!

[@CanobieCoaster]

It's a great ride.

[@JBG1968]

Parts of it are the oldest woodie in the park

[@guyt6244]

The ravine portion is officially one century old (c. 1924 Pippin)

[@CanobieCoaster]

Happy birthday to the ride.

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

Ah yes, the rare "Geno" credit on Thunderbolt. Its a 2 part credit, you have to ride front row standing up, then slip down the stair into the ravine.

[@CanobieCoaster]

It looked like he rode the whole thing in the documentary.

[@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od]

Probably my second favorite at Kennywood tbh

[@CanobieCoaster]

I prefer their big steel coasters.

[@OklahomaCoasterFan]

I guess I'll need to give this another try next time. In regards to forces, I was very underwhelmed on my only ride. As a single rider, I had no choice but to ride in the middle, since that's where the open spot was, with a group of 5. The laterals were much weaker than I thought they'd be, and I got no airtime. The terrain usage and interactions with Phantoms Revenge was cool, and it was smooth.

[@CanobieCoaster]

You definitely need to be on the ends for the airtime.

[@ScottyMania313]

Great Video! I am sorry about that bad experience with the rowdys, puberty testosterone brings out the worst. I'm glad they kept you out of their shenanigans. The ravine drops on this ride are some of my favorites, the front portion is my least favorite because I am not fond of being pushed into and onto other dudes sitting next to me, however, it is the ultimate date coaster. Have you seen the two sequels of Kennywood Memories? One is an outtake video of footage not included in the first and the other is a return to the video 10 years later. I am a fan.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'll have to look those up.

[@noahkessler5500]

That double down would’ve been unreal, probably stronger than jack rabbit with how much bigger the drop is

[@CanobieCoaster]

I suspect it could have.

[@Paolo8772]

It had the biggest drop of 90' when it opened as Pippen (which I didn't know it was called back then) in 1924, only beaten by a coaster with a 95' drop in 1928 which closed in the 60's, letting the refurbished Thunderbolt regain the record until Screamin' Eagle opened in 1976 with a 92' drop. Thanks for posting a review of this historic and record breaking coaster.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Didn't realize it had the drop record for a while.

[@Paolo8772]

@@CanobieCoaster Jackrabbit at both Kennywood AND Seabreeze both opened with record breaking drops of 70' each when they opened in 1920 and Steel Phantom was the 1st coaster to beat a 200' DROP (not height, Magnum) with a 225' drop. Kennywood is the "other Cedar Point" with three record breaking drops from 1920-1991.

[@urbex_coasters]

Call it the story of a child who was seeing things, potentially meshing a dream and a day at the park. But I believe Thunderbolt to be a haunted roller coaster. 2009-the year I met the height requirement for Thunderbolt. My parents took me on the ride once, I enjoyed it but they claimed to be too old to enjoy it. So when I wanted to go again I was naturally a single rider. I was paired up with a boy who appeared to be a mid-teenager (since you've seen that Kennywood documentary you probably have some idea where this is going). I could feel myself slamming into him on the lateral helix moment, but when the train returned to the station, he wasn't there! For several months it was just this strange story I had, then I was shown that Kennywood documentary in school. I looked more into those newspaper articles featured in the documentary about the boy who died on Thunderbolt, the boy I was paired up with was a perfect match to the boy thrown from Thunderbolt in the 1960s. Very surreal, that's for sure. That's something straight out of Closed For the Season: Carnival of Fear, a fictional film about the abandoned Chippewa Lake Park in Ohio (weird to think all 3 of Kennywood's woodies are older than Chippewa's Big Dipper).

[@CanobieCoaster]

I heard the old hill in the helix was removed partly because of that incident.

[@domesticDingo]

Great video! 👍

[@CanobieCoaster]

Thanks!

[@supt5992]

Very excited for opening day tomorrow, I am a season pass holder this year and this is by far the best woodie in the park

[@CanobieCoaster]

Have fun!

[@LilDiabloRob]

As mentioned, Kennywood is my hometown/local park. Would love to see a modded or reimagined version. The Jack Rabbit I’d love to see it refreshed.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I like Jack Rabbit as is.

[@NuggetsAndCharlie]

I'm going to Busch Gardens Tampa today

[@CanobieCoaster]

Have fun!

[@danielmkubacki]

Cool!

[@CanobieCoaster]

It is cool.

[@mateoalvira3514]

Canobie Coaster said: The ride still rates highly in annual coaster polls and it's beloved by locals. The ride has been modified three additional times over the years. First, there was an unbanked airtime hill at the start of the helix section in the ride's opening year. This hill was deemed too extreme and it was removed after just one year. I'm laughing, but imagine saying: pretty extreme very extreme super extreme too extreme "Extreme" usually means high thrills. These four terms each have an adverb, "pretty", "very", "super", and "too", followed by "extreme". While the four terms all mean they are extreme, I think there are differences between them. What are? What do you think?

[@CanobieCoaster]

Too crosses the threshold of comfort/intensity.

[@arturobianco848]

Good to know about the single rider i fortunatly founf a party of 3 after 15 minutes so it wasn't to bad next time i just will go in. Didn't find it intensive done "worse" ones without a divider you do slight a lot though. I do love classic woody's they have at the park well the entire park is pretty charming.

[@CanobieCoaster]

They stopped pairing people during covid, but pre-pandmeic and 2022 onwards they have paired people.

[@clairefunnell8481]

It looks great. Fun looking. I love woodies. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@CanobieCoaster]

It is very fun.

[@calamitycoasters2591]

similar thing happened to me on wicker man at alton towers just without the second lap

[@CanobieCoaster]

Ouch!

[@overbanked]

The other John Miller coaster with a great ravine dipping finale was the old Cyclone at Puritas Springs in Cleveland

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'll have to look that one up.

[@overbanked]

@@CanobieCoaster Raptor Alex has a good re-creation of it

[@theodoreperkoski1951]

I miss the tunnel. if you ride in the front seat, you will get a puff of air time when you go up the last hill into the station.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I didn't get that.

[@Thrill_Report]

Quick Question, do you have any older footage of Kumba or BGT? I am trying to create a video about the history of Kumba and it would be really cool if I had some older footage in it. That would be a huge help, but I understand if you don't have any.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I have an offride video with all my Kumba footage. It's from 2021 and 2022.

[@oriolat2]

Has that straight section before the third drop ever been used as a MCBR? It is just too well placed and it would guarantee 3-train ops for an even better capacity...

[@CanobieCoaster]

I couldn't find information if it did.

[@zbfuller]

I swear I’ve gotten airtime on that helix on my last visit couple of years ago…

[@CanobieCoaster]

I get a little entering.

[@zbfuller]

@@CanobieCoasterI felt something the other year. Maybe it was going from crazy laterals to minimal laterals so abruptly.

[@RorylikesPRT]

Ey Kennywood, add da tunnel back

[@RorylikesPRT]

Also run three trains

[@CanobieCoaster]

I've seen 3 trains before, but not since covid.

[@johnroman6511]

Did the steel curtain closure inspire you to make some review videos?

[@CanobieCoaster]

I actually had these scheduled with the park opening (hence why I released Racer offride footage the day before Steel Curtain's announcement). I had to postpone them a day.

[@Stagnant_Gravy]

Your story is why chaperone policies exist now 💀 Jokes aside, they’ve been doing a great job over the last few years giving it more extensive track work in the lateral bowl section and a new control system with magnetic brakes. They adjust based on how fast the train is going, so it absolutely hauls over the mid course if you have an empty train.

[@CanobieCoaster]

That makes sense why the empty trains aren't stopped.

[@lkeshow86]

52in??? Wtf.. jack rabbit should be 52in for the double down alone lol

[@CanobieCoaster]

It's pretty surprising how low Jack Rabbit's height limit is.

[@ThrillsofColdplay]

I would be so pissed if I saw kids like that on your story

[@CanobieCoaster]

I was in shock.

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

Sounds like they were asking for that heat fr.

[@jtwoolley]

f

[@CanobieCoaster]

What about it?

[@bluewaveproductions4017]

You need to speak way louder

[@CanobieCoaster]

Thanks for the feedback. Was it this video compared to my others or all videos in general?

[@bluewaveproductions4017]

@@CanobieCoaster Some others, it sounds like someone in your house is trying to sleep

[@zackh420]

Imagine what RMC could do with this

[@Sau1-g00dman]

What is wrong with you

[@rollercoasterlover45]

Yeah Kennywood takes care of its woodies unlike quite a few parks I could name.

[@Stagnant_Gravy]

Imagine the riot that would ensue with that

[@AggroCEC]

What the hell? This is a 100 year old woodie still taken care of years later lmao

[@skodwardee]

They have nothing to offer💀