American Thunder is a wooden roller coaster in 1904 World's Fair at Six Flags St. Louis. It opened on June 20, 2008, and was designed and manufactured by Great Coasters International. The coaster is themed after a classic American coaster at the beginning of the 20th century. The ride was named Evel Knievel Coaster from 2008 to 2011.
History[]
Sometime in 2007, Six Flags began working with Great Coasters International to design a new wooden roller coaster for Six Flags America. However, because of issues with permits, the project switched parks during the late planning phases. Six Flags St. Louis, who had concurrently been developing a new "hyper coaster" for the 2008 season, was chosen as the new location for the project.
On September 27, Evel Knievel Coaster was officially announced for Six Flags St. Louis via a press release.[1]
On July 3, 2008, Robbie Knievel, Evel Knievel's son, jumped a Honda CR-500 motorcycle a length of 200 feet over 25 Dodge Chargers to help promote the opening of the coaster.[2]
During the 2010 off-season, Six Flags terminated their license with the Knievel Estate to use Evel Knievel's name and likeness in favor of a more contemporary and fitting theme for 1904 World's Fair. On opening day of the 2011 season, Evel Knievel re-opened as American Thunder, with a new entrance sign as well as a history of roller coasters by the American Coaster Enthusiasts in the queue to replace the life story of Evel Knievel.
As a result of the St. Louis Cardinals losing to the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 National League Division Series, Six Flags St. Louis lost a friendly wager with Six Flags Great America, resulting in the temporary name change of American Thunder to "Cubs Thunder" through the rest of Fright Fest 2014.[3]
Ride experience[]
To be added
American Thunder Infested[]
For Six Flags St. Louis' annual Fright Fest event, American Thunder becomes "American Thunder Infested" as part of the Spider Alley area. Hundreds of spiders fill the coaster's queue, station, and surrounding area, and human victims hang in cocoons. For Fright Fest 2017, a human-spider hybrid character would hide in the area near the coaster and scare guests. While not designated as a scare zone, Spider Alley is a tradition of the event, having first debuted in the mid-2000s and making its annual return every year since Fright Fest 2011.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Images[]
References[]
- ↑ Six Flags St. Louis takes a ride with Evel Knievel. COASTER-net (September 27, 2007).
- ↑ Held, Kevin (July 3, 2008). Daredevil Robbie Knievel Clears Six Flags Jump. KSDK.
- ↑ Jones, Andrew (October 15, 2015). Six Flags St. Louis renames ride 'Cubs Thunder' to pay off bet with Chicago's Six Flags. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015.
External links[]
- American Thunder | Six Flags St. Louis
American Thunder (roller coaster) at Wikipedia- American Thunder at the Roller Coaster DataBase
