Thunderbolt — Attraction in Agawam

This is Six Flags New England's oldest roller coaster, built in 1941.

It's often described as a relocation of a coaster from the amusement area of the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. I've been looking into that, and, interestingly, there were two coasters built with this layout in 1939: one for the New York World's Fair in Flushing-Corona Park, and one for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, both named Cyclone. They were mirror images of each other, but it's the San Francisco one that was flipped the same way as the Thunderbolt. So it might be more accurate to describe this as a reconstruction of the Golden Gate Exposition's Cyclone. It was, however, originally running the actual trains from the New York World's Fair ride, and some sources say that it incorporated the track.

Regardless, it's still a good ride, with a basic figure-8 layout; my favorite moments are a double-down about a third of the way in, and a bunny hill hidden in back that delivers a powerful pop of airtime on the last lap. There's a little rattle in a couple of the valleys, as you'd expect from an 80-year-old wooden coaster, but it is not too rough.

You cannot pick your row on this ride, at least not from the standby line; the ride ops are pretty strict and lay down the law. I believe the last row is reserved for Flash...

This coaster is much more thrilling than it looks. The airtime is fabulous. However, the ride is very rough (lots of vibration) and you will probably have a looooong wait. I find that it also terrifies younger people who did not grow up with wooden coasters. They say it looks "rickety."

Speaking of weight (see what I did there?), if you are carrying some extra, you may find it challenging to wedge yourself into the seat and fasten the lap belt. The average person was a lot slimmer in the 1940s. I probably won't be able to do it again.

While you're waiting in the very long line, notice the tree in the middle. Is that a...

I remember this being one of my favorite roller coasters especially when I was young child. I think a lot of that is because of the cool name that it has but experiencing it again last year solidified its existence in my mind. Because it's not too scary the line isn't long and it's just a relaxing roller coaster that you aren't scared to ride or anything like that. It will always hold a special place in my heart. Recommended to anybody from Child middle-aged it's just an all-around great roller coaster. And it has that vintage aura feeling of the classic roller coaster obviously because...