The Tennessee Tornado is a

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

Dollywood Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 ...

amusement park in

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Par ...

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. 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 Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

, an Arrow Dynamics Mine Train roller coaster relocated from

Six Flags St. Louis Six Flags St. Louis, originally known as Six Flags Over Mid-America, is an amusement park featuring characters and rides from many Warner Bros. films and tv shows such as, Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and formerly Scooby-Doo. It is located in Eureka ...

in 1989 and opened in 2002 at

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History

On June 30, 1998, Dollywood announced that Tennessee Tornado would be coming to the park.

Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (194 ...

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

*110' tall

loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

*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 "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 Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...

roller coasters, rather than the more typical Arrow Dynamics scaffolding-style supports found on rides such as

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and

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. This kind of support structure was first used on the defunct

Drachen Fire Drachen Fire was a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public in 1992. Drachen Fire featured a lift hill, six inversions, and a zero-gravit ...

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, 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

Image:tennesseetornado1.jpg, From loading platform. Image:tennesseetornado2.jpg, Dolly's "Iron Butterfly" element from the platform.

References

External links

Dollywood-Tennessee Tornado
(Official Website)
a souverier video sold by Dollywood
{{Dollywood Roller coasters in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Sevier County, Tennessee Dollywood Roller coasters introduced in 1999 Roller coasters operated by Herschend Family Entertainment Western (genre) amusement rides 1999 establishments in Tennessee