American Thunder at Mid America Adventure
Airtime popsriders rate it 6.4 of 10

Mid America Adventure, Eureka, Missouri

American Thunder

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POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
Back row
Back row
What riders love
  • This one also includes small pops of airtime from bunny hills that were quite thrilling.
  • This ride has great pacing, and Steel Vengeance like bunny hop hills at the end producing great ejector.
  • Pops of airtime dot around a twisty GCI layout, and the night ride is excellent.
  • The pace, twists, turns, and air pops keep you hopping all around in the wonderfully comfortable trains.
  • Otherwise I love the layout, the pacing, track contouring was great and the angles were basically perfect on every drop.
  • It is single handedly the best ride i've ever rode in my whole life and honestly I wish that if I were to have a final request, it would be to ride the roller coaster.
  • The coolest ride operator I can remember gave us the last rides of the night on this one, and I couldn't have been happier.
  • Still, make sure you check out this ride because it's quite fun.
American Thunder Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

American Thunder Front Row (HD POV) Six Flags St. Louis

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

American Thunder - Six Flags St. Louis - Back Row (4K HD POV) - August 2023

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

American Thunder POV 5K Fast Paced Wooden Coaster Six Flags St. Louis, MO

youtube.com › East Coasters

American Thunder Off-Ride Footage, Six Flags St. Louis GCI Wooden Coaster | Non-Copyright

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

American Thunder Review, Six Flags St. Louis GCI Wooden Coaster

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

American Thunder POV Six Flags St Louis Roller Coaster Ride & Review T5 The Traveler & Becky

youtube.com › T5 The Traveler

American Thunder - Review (Six Flags St. Louis)

youtube.com › Coasters N’ Things

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Mid America Adventure

Very fun coaster with good airtime. It feels surprisingly fast and relentless when riding it for most of the ride despite its small size.

Clayton

The first drop has no laterals but sustained floater which is weird. The layout contains many sustained airtime moments and quick pops, with the drop off the 2nd turnaround really standing out.

Carter Eckhart

isn’t as ejector heavy compared to some other GCIs, but the airtime on it is really dang strong. also one of the smoothest GCIs out there, imo.

Jamie Óchi

While this one lacks the height and speed compared to the more elite wooden ones, this one still has great airtime and is very smooth. I really enjoyed the first drop since you get both a pop of...

Max S.

While the ride does give several airtime hills, they are not very intense/low quality when compared to other CGIs. This is easily the best wooden coaster of the three at STL, and it’s easy to see why.

Ethan Finn

This is a good gci with solid airtime it ran way better this year than last, the trains are good, laterals decent and pretty smooth the boot, definitely a must do in the state

Danny Miller

The pace, twists, turns, and air pops keep you hopping all around in the wonderfully comfortable trains. This little coaster may not have the crazy speed, height, or inversion angle stats that many...

Brian Sheldon

It’s got great pacing, not overly rattley, and like most coasters, it’s too short. There was no line on opening day today, but for some reason we decided to leave and go ride other things instead.

Richard Buman

The ride is also very smooth and has a good duration.

Carter Eckhart

It’s a pretty bumpy moment and quite shocking considering just how smooth the rest of the coaster is.

Canobie Coaster

Seems to be rougher than in previous years, but still a blast with plenty of airtime throughout! Usually has short lines too!

Jason C.

But I found it to be very tame compared to the other GCIs I’ve ridden and the airtime was very minimal.

@RayBcv1030

reminds me a lot of thunderheads but it flies through its layout but I don’t really remember this coaster much for some reason which means I probably meant it lacked intensity.

Evan S

It feels surprisingly fast and relentless when riding it for most of the ride despite its small size. The only thing holding it back is that it can be a little rough and isn’t super intense or tall.

Clayton

The layout still has that GCI flair that I appreciate and the pacing is great as expected with a GCI, not world class pacing or anything but it feels pretty fast and holds that speed well.

Carter Eckhart

The ride felt like it was traversing the layout 5mph too slow, and it was glass smooth, which isn’t usually a problem, but most GCIs are smooth but aggressive at the same time, this one was just...

@hoosiercoasterfan2655

Usually has short lines too! Don’t sleep on this coaster!

Jason C.

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

82 ftHeight
218 Mr. FreezeReverseBlast 122 Boss 116 Boomerang 110 Screamin'Eagle 108 Ninja 82 AmericanThunder
80 ftFirst drop
194 Mr. FreezeReverseBlast 150 Boss 108 Boomerang 92 Screamin'Eagle 85 Batman TheRide 80 AmericanThunder
48 mphTop speed
Mr. FreezeReverse Blast70 Boss66 Screamin'Eagle62 Ninja55 Batman TheRide50 AmericanThunder48 070 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Strong airtimeFeels fastSmooth rideGreat layoutFloaty airtime

Very fun coaster with good airtime. It feels surprisingly fast and relentless when riding it for most of the ride despite its small size.

Clayton, Captain Coaster review

this might be the most underrated GCI of all time people call this boring but it’s got a great action packed layout in my opinion yeah it may run rough and slow from time to time but honestly it isn’t too much of a downside

David F., Captain Coaster review

American Thunder is my favorite coaster at this park. Pops of airtime dot around a twisty GCI layout, and the night ride is excellent.

Eric Esty, Captain Coaster review

Very nice wooden coaster and probably my favorite wooden one at the park. While this one lacks the height and speed compared to the more elite wooden ones, this one still has great airtime and is very smooth.

Max S., Captain Coaster review

Easily the best coaster in the park and perhaps the best wooden coaster in the Midwest. The little coaster truly delivers thrills like few coasters can.

Brian Sheldon, Captain Coaster review

Seems to be rougher than in previous years, but still a blast with plenty of airtime throughout! Usually has short lines too!

Jason C., Captain Coaster review

Planning your ride

History and awards

June 20, 2008Opened

A wooden coasters, built by Great Coasters International, designed by Jeff Pike.

$7 millionTo build

Golden Ticket Awards, top wood coaster: ranked in 15 polls, 2008 to 2024

44th2008, its first poll
13th2009, its best placing
45th2024, most recent

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. From the park and maker: Mid America Adventure guide. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Lindsey T (CC BY 2.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Carter Eckhart, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The layout contains many sustained airtime moments and quick…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “This one also includes small pops of airtime from…”; Silas M., rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride has great pacing, and Steel Vengeance like…”; Eric Esty, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Pops of airtime dot around a twisty GCI layout,…”; Clayton, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It feels surprisingly fast and relentless when riding it…”; Brian Sheldon, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The pace, twists, turns, and air pops keep you…”; Alexander Sims, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Otherwise I love the layout, the pacing, track contouring…”; Silas M., rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride is really fun to ride over and…”; Christian Agnew, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It is single handedly the best ride i've ever…”; Eric Esty, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The coolest ride operator I can remember gave us…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Still, make sure you check out this ride because…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: ThemeParkMark's back row POV, American Thunder - Six Flags St. Louis - Back Row (4K HD POV) - August 2023 (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.