Tennessee Tornado

The Tennessee Tornado is a roller coaster at Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, United States. It debuted April 17, 1999, and was Dollywood's first major coaster expansion as well as one of Arrow Dynamics' last major coasters. The ride opened in a valley location previously occupied by Thunder Express, an Arrow Dynamics Runaway Mine Train roller coaster relocated from Six Flags St. Louis in 1989 and opened in 2002 at Magic Springs and Crystal Falls.

Tennessee Tornado
Tennessee Tornado's logo
Dollywood
LocationDollywood
Park sectionCraftsmen's Valley
Coordinates35.793°N 83.5279°W / 35.793; -83.5279
StatusOperating
Opening dateApril 17, 1999 (1999-04-17)
Cost$8,000,000 USD
($12.3 million in 2019 dollars[1])
ReplacedThunder Express
General statistics
TypeSteel
ManufacturerArrow Dynamics
DesignerAlan Schilke
ModelCustom Looping
Track layoutTerrain
Lift/launch systemChain lift hill
Height163 ft (50 m)
Drop128 ft (39 m)
Length2,682 ft (817 m)
Speed70 mph (110 km/h)
Inversions3
Duration1:48
Capacity1,360 riders per hour
G-force3.7
Height restriction48 in (122 cm)
Trains2 trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train.
Must transfer from wheelchair
Tennessee Tornado at RCDB
Pictures of Tennessee Tornado at RCDB

During the 2008 operating season, Dollywood added video cameras to the first three seats of the trains. During the ride, cameras record the riders. At the ride's exit, riders are able to view their video and upload it to YouTube.

History

On June 30, 1998, Dollywood announced that Tennessee Tornado would be coming to the park.[2] Arrow Dynamics was hired to build a newer Custom Looping Coaster. Construction on 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.[3] Tennessee Tornado would open to the public on April 17, 1999.

Ride elements
  • 110' tall loop
  • Loop
  • Sidewinder

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.

  • From loading platform.
  • Dolly's "Iron Butterfly" element from the platform.
gollark: The people in the past *were actually quite smart*.
gollark: Well, DRAM wasn't used for most of computing history.
gollark: Unfortunately for you, they would be too bad for you to do interesting stuff with for several decades.
gollark: Anyway, electronic computers were invented around 1930.
gollark: Or discrete logic chips.

References
  1. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  2. "Dollywood's Tennessee Tornado Press Release - NewsPlusNotes".
  3. "Rare Tennessee Tornado Construction Photos".
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