Holiday World’s new Thunderbird roller coaster will help launch a new Travel Channel show this week.
Thrill Factor premieres Wednesday evening with former MythBusters stars Kari Byron and Tory Belleci each gathering a team of “lab rats” to test Thunderbird’s forces with them. Thunderbird is America’s first launched wing roller coaster, which takes riders from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds.
Holiday World president Matt Eckert was one of the lab rats. “I have to admit we were all star struck to ride Thunderbird with Kari and Tory,” he says. “We ‘lab rats’ wore monitors to test which gender best handles Thunderbird’s ‘thrill factor.’ We’ll learn the results with everyone else on Wednesday.”
Holiday World will live tweet during the show with behind-the-scenes Thunderbird facts and commentary about working with the Thrill Factor cast and crew. The “Battle of the Sexes” episode premieres on the Travel Channel at 7:30pm CDT (8:30pm EDT) this Wednesday, with re-runs throughout the rest of the week.
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari are open daily through Wednesday and select weekends through September 19, with Happy Halloween Weekends beginning September 26. For more information, visit HolidayWorld.com or call 1-877-463-2645.
