Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
First hill: floatersecond hill is trimmed hard 65 ft first drop

Dorney Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Thunderhawk

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1900192519501975200020251924older than 440 of theother 445 coasters we cover
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
this historic landmark
hyper and energetic
What riders love
  • really funny ride and i enjoy it a lot.
  • A fun little PTC.
  • up front you get 3 of the funniest ejector pops out there.
  • I’ll admit it runs a little rough but the airtime you get in the front is surprisingly solid.
  • One hill (I forgot) gave crazy surprise ejector.
  • Thunderhawk runs pretty well for being a hundred years old.
  • I'm glad a coaster with this much history is still up and running. And I think the refurb they gave it for its 100th last year is beautiful!
Thunderhawk Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Thunderhawk Front Row POV [4K] | Dorney Park 2022

youtube.com › Coliwood Studios

99 YEAR OLD Wooden Roller Coaster! Thunderhawk POV 5K Back Row Dorney Park Allentown, PA

youtube.com › East Coasters

Thunderhawk POV 5K 100 Year Old Wooden Coaster Dorney Park Allentown, PA

youtube.com › East Coasters

Thunderhawk off-ride Dorney Park

youtube.com › PANJ Thrills

Thunderhawk Review, Dorney Park PTC Wood Coaster | 100 Years Old & Still Going Strong

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Until Next Year, Thunderhawk 🧡

youtube.com › Dorney Park

Thunderhawk Roller Coaster at Dorney Park

youtube.com › Adventures with John

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Dorney Park

While this classic woodie has some decent airtime it’s also rough and forgettable, I literally forgot it exists when I was right next to it.

Nate C.

The first hill gives some floater airtime, but the second hill is trimmed hard, preventing almost all airtime you’ll get on this ride.

Ethan

A janky mess of track that tries to have big ejectors and incredible speed and it does those things well but it’s undermined by a persistent rattle and a boring layout.

roller rider

It’s far from the smoothest ride in the world, which is expected for something that’s 100 years old, but it more than makes up for that with its crazy aggressive airtime moments.

TheTalbotHound

The third bunny hill has never offered airtime for me.

Canobie Coaster

There isn’t a whole lot to this layout; if there was airtime anywhere other than the first drop I couldn’t tell due to how hard the lap bar came down during the ride.

MapleFlakes

It was tolerable because the trains are pretty comfy, but not one I’m rushing to re-ride.

Ryan Armstrong

So this is a bit rough, and I got a headache after riding this 3 times because my little brother loves this coaster, and I like the first drop.

Ethan

I did really enjoy the ride it was amazing good for being around or over 100 years old it was rattle and there was some headbanging but other wise it was a really nice ride

Dillon S.

I recommend riding in it when the sun is out in the back row because it is intense and very fun for its size.

Alexander Marko

It’s not the smoothest, but it is hyper and energetic with its pacing and intensity.

Silver Thunderbolt

The things that made it fun was it was shaky fast a high perfect speed❤

@BellaGao-ck1mh

The final run of airtime hills had a trim that robbed the train of its speed.

thomas stanley

And (probably to compensate for the roughness) it’s trimmed to death.

Em McMahon

I know it’s one of the oldest continually operating coasters in the world but even then, it’s pretty bad, not to mention exceptionally slow loading.

roller rider

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

80 ftHeight
200 SteelForce 160 IronMenace 135 Talon 95 Hydra theRevenge 80 Thunderhawk 49 Wild Mouse
65 ftFirst drop
205 SteelForce 165 Possessed 152 IronMenace 120 Talon 105 Hydra theRevenge 65 Thunderhawk
45 mphTop speed
Steel Force75 Possessed70 Iron Menace64 Talon58 Hydra theRevenge53 Thunderhawk45 075 mph
45°Drop angle
95°Iron Menace90°Possessed68°Hydra theRevenge61°Steel Force50°Talon46°Wild Mouse45°Thunderhawkdashed line: straight down, 90°
0Inversions

What riders say

Criticised for

Rough or rattlyPainful or bruisingOverratedSlowed by trimsWeak layout

While this classic woodie has some decent airtime it’s also rough and forgettable, I literally forgot it exists when I was right next to it.

Nate C., Captain Coaster review

But the rest of the ride was just painful airtime hills so please Dorney call RMC.

Caiden Brauchler, Captain Coaster review

I feel like this ride is honestly just taking up space at this point just so they could have another coaster on there list.

Isaiah White, Captain Coaster review

I did really enjoy the ride it was amazing good for being around or over 100 years old it was rattle and there was some headbanging but other wise it was a really nice ride

Dillon S., Captain Coaster review

It was decent ride, with a cool layout, but it’s showing signs of age.

SirKingBobly, Captain Coaster review

With that being said, it definitely shows its age, as there is major rattling on quite a few of the banked turns.

Clayton Latone, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Anonymous Postcard Photographer, Public domain
Thunderhawk is Dorney Park's classic (aka old) wooden roller coaster, known for most of its life as the Roller Coaster
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Arsonwinter at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Self Scanned, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Self Scanned, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
self scanned, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Self Scanned, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
self scanned, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Unknown photographer, Public domain
Thunderhawk at Dorney Park
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

March 30, 1924Opened

Built by Philadelphia Toboggan, designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck.

Past incidents

  1. July 1990On July 21, 1990, two trains on Thunderhawk collided at the bottom of the lift hill.
0incidents blamed on the ride

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: Dorney Park. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. 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: unknown postcard printer, allentown PA (Public domain), Anonymous Postcard Photographer (Public domain), Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California (CC BY 2.0), Unknown authorUnknown author (Public domain), Arsonwinter at English Wikipedia (Public domain), Self Scanned (Public domain), self scanned (Public domain), Unknown photographer (Public domain). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

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What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Alexander Marko, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I recommend riding in it when the sun is…”; SnowyShores, rider review on Captain Coaster: “really funny ride and i enjoy it a lot.”; Brendan Keller, rider review on Captain Coaster: “A fun little PTC.”; TheTalbotHound, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Shockingly great airtime machine. With a bit of room…”; SnowyShores, rider review on Captain Coaster: “up front you get 3 of the funniest ejector…”; symical coaster, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I’ll admit it runs a little rough but the…”; Spencer S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “One hill (I forgot) gave crazy surprise ejector.”; Alexander Marko, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I got multiple rides on this 100-year-old woodie, and…”; MapleFlakes, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Thunderhawk runs pretty well for being a hundred years…”; Em McMahon, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I'm glad a coaster with this much history is…”; Lauren Kelly, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Still, I’m proud that Dorney keeps this historic landmark.”; Silver Thunderbolt, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It’s not the smoothest, but it is hyper and…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: East Coasters's back row POV, 99 YEAR OLD Wooden Roller Coaster! Thunderhawk POV 5K Back Row Dorney Park Allentown, PA (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.