Thunderhawk (Dorney Park)

For other uses, see Thunderhawk (disambiguation).

Thunderhawk
Thunderhawk's lift hill and station
Location	Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Coordinates	40.5798°N 75.5355°W / 40.5798; -75.5355
Status	Operating
Opened	1923 (as "The Coaster", retracked 1930) 1985 (as "Thunderhawk")
Type	Wood - Intermediate
Manufacturer	Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Designer	Herbert Paul Schmeck
Track layout	Out and Back / Twister
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	80 ft (24 m)
Drop	65 ft (20 m)
Length	2,767 ft (843 m)
Max speed	45 mph (72 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	1:18
Max vertical angle	45°
Height restriction	4 ft 0 in (122 cm)
Thunderhawk at RCDB
Pictures of Thunderhawk at RCDB
Amusement Parks Portal

Thunderhawk (formerly known as The Coaster) is a wooden out and back roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom near Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The coaster was built in 1923 and is one of the oldest operating roller coasters in the northeast.

History

Thunderhawk was designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck and built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. When Thunderhawk opened in 1923 and for many years after the ride was known simply as the Coaster. The Coaster was renamed Thunderhawk with the addition of the Hercules roller coaster to the park in 1989.

Originally, the Coaster was built as an out-and-back coaster, meaning it went straight out from the first drop, turned around and came straight back. The ride was reconfigured in 1930 to its present design with a figure-eight twister section in the middle of the ride. Over the years, the ride has seen many cosmetic changes. At one point the ride featured a bright yellow paint job, which has since been painted over with an off-white color.

The original station pavilion featured a separate bumper car ride, around which wrapped the line for the Coaster, providing some entertainment to those waiting in line. Originally, the ride began with a tunneled section, and ended with another tunneled section, as the train went under the portion of the pavilion devoted to the bumper cars. However, the bumper cars were removed following Cedar Fair's purchase of the park in 1993, leaving the tunnel that began the ride as an open concrete trench. In addition, a set of brakes was placed in the middle of the return bunny hills causing the train to slow down and lose much of its trademark airtime.

The Thunderhawk structure was maintained by carpenter Paul Hottenstein, nicknamed "Shorty" from 1961 until his sudden death in the winter of 2001. A plaque in the ride's station honors him and his work on the ride.

Thunderhawk continues to be one of the park's most popular and beloved rides. The coaster is fairly smooth no matter where one is seated, and provides thrilling pops of out-of-your-seat airtime. To this day, it remains a classic example of an early American wooden roller coaster.