Tennessee Tornado
History
On June 30, 1998, Dollywood announced that Tennessee Tornado would be coming to the park. Arrow Dynamics was hired to build a newer Custom Looping Coaster. Vertical construction of the ride started in the fall of 1998 and was completed in early 1999. The Thunder Express station was also reused for the new ride. Tennessee Tornado would open to the public on April 17, 1999.
Ride elements
Tennessee Tornado has several unique features not found on other Arrow Dynamics looping coasters. At the time of the coaster's construction it had been several years since the company had last built a sit-down looping coaster, so the designers created new elements and track designs for the ride, including two overbanked curves and a 110-foot-tall (34 m) "Spiro loop", the largest inversion on any Arrow Dynamics coaster.
Tennessee Tornado is also unique in that it uses a tubular steel beam support structure similar to that of Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters, rather than the more typical Arrow Dynamics scaffolding-style supports found on rides such as Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds and Vortex at Kings Island. This kind of support structure was first used on the defunct Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which opened in 1992 and closed in 1998.
The "story" behind the coaster is set In the late 1800's when a strong tornado sweeps through Tennessee, pulling all of the minecarts out of a local mineshaft and throwing them about.
Gallery
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From loading platform.
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Dolly's "Iron Butterfly" element from the platform.
References
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Pinkston, Will (July 1, 1998). "Dollywood rolls out plans for Tennessee Tornado". The Tennessean. Staff Writer. Retrieved September 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Stevenson, John (October 21, 2019). "Rare Tennessee Tornado Construction Photos". Coaster101. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ Marden, Duane. "Tennessee Tornado (Dollywood)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
External links
- Dollywood-Tennessee Tornado (Official Website)
- a souverier video sold by Dollywood