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The Thunderhead roller coaster in Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn. was twice voted the world's No. 1 wooden coaster by Amusement Today magazine.
The 130-acre theme park Dollywood now also boasts the Mystery Mine, a $17.5 million steel coaster. The one-of-a-kind coaster involves the latest technology and some unbelievable twists and turns.
The family fun adventure features a 2.5-minute journey that travels along a 1,811-foot track. Passengers encounter a hair-raising 95-degree, 85-foot vertical drop as the car plunges into an abandoned tunnel.
A near miss with a gigantic mill grinder is only a minor distraction as passengers enjoy a weightless inversion known as a "heart-line roll" and a "rollover loop," or double inversion, which consists of an upward half-loop and a half-roll.
The mine also features an Immelmann maneuver, named for German World War I pilot Max Immelmann.
It begins much like the first half of a traditional vertical loop. As the coaster car approaches the loop's apex, it is inverted and travels back in the direction in which the car first entered the loop.
Rather than completing the loop, the coaster car rolls on its axis, becoming right-side-up while simultaneously turning away from the loop. The coaster car exits the Immelmann maneuver almost in the same direction in which it initially approached the loop.
Dollywood is open March 31-Dec. 31. For more information about Dollywood,
call (800) DOLLYWOOD. To learn more about all that Pigeon Forge offers, call
(800) 251-9100. A new family fun adventure travels along a 1,811-foot track.
Passengers encounter a hair-raising 95-degree, 85-foot vertical drop.
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