Thunderhead wait times
Thunderhead at Dollywood averages 12 minutes. It is shortest at 5pm and worst at 3pm. It has run 92% of the park's opening hours recently.
Thunderhead queue times, day by day
Thunderhead over recent weeks
Typical waits from this ride's own recorded readings
Thunderhead has averaged about 12 minutes of queue across its recorded readings, peaking around 20 minutes, with the longest queues near 3pm, and the shortest near 5pm. Pick a date below to see that day minute by minute.
Thunderhead queue times by hour
Average wait by hour
Across the last 28 days · minutes
Thunderhead peaks at noon with 16 minutes, and is at its shortest at 8pm with 1. Riding it at the right hour saves 15 minutes on a single ride.
Best time to ride Thunderhead
Best time to ride
Thunderhead averages 1 minutes at 8pm against 16 at the noon peak - 15 minutes for turning up at the right hour. The longest queue it has ever held is 55 minutes.
Thunderhead by day of the week
Average wait by day
14 days with a recorded queue
- Mon14m
- Tue8m
- Wed6m
- Thu11m
- Fri13m
- Sat19m
- Sun6m
Wednesday is the quietest day for Thunderhead, at 6 minutes against 19 on Saturday.
Does Thunderhead break down?
Uptime and closures
92% of opening hours · 14 days recorded
↑ improvingRunning 92% of the minutes Dollywood was open, across the last 14 recorded days.
Last 14 days uptime
- 65%
- 97%
- 97%
- 100%
- 99%
- 88%
- 100%
- 90%
- 73%
- 100%
- 100%
- 100%
- 96%
- 90%
Thunderhead ran 92% of Dollywood's opening hours across 14 recorded days, and is improving. It ran without a recorded stop on Friday 2 Oct.
Longest Thunderhead queues on record
Peaks in the last 14 days
Every one a real date · tap through to that day
- 1Saturday 26 Sept55m
- 2Thursday 24 Sept45m
- 3Friday 25 Sept45m
- 4Saturday 19 Sept40m
- 5Monday 21 Sept40m
- 6Monday 28 Sept30m
- 7Tuesday 29 Sept25m
- 8Wednesday 30 Sept20m
The worst queue recorded for Thunderhead was 55 minutes on Saturday 26 Sept.
Thunderhead through the year
All-time average by month
From this ride's own recorded readings · minutes
Queue times are the figures Dollywood publishes for this ride, recorded every few minutes through the park's own opening hours. The hourly pattern is this ride's own last 28 days; the day-by-day rail is its last 14 days. Uptime is the share of the park's operating minutes the ride was running.
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About Thunderhead
Thunderhead is one of 32 rides tracked at Dollywood, 13th longest of 32 by usual wait. It queues about 12 minutes on a typical day, about the same as the 13-minute park average.
Thunderhead has averaged about 12 minutes of wait over recent weeks, and is typically busiest around 3pm and quietest around 5pm. Over the last two weeks it has been open around 92% of the park's operating hours. It's typically quietest on Sundays and busiest on Saturdays.
Frequently asked
What's the current wait time for Thunderhead?
The live wait time for Thunderhead at Dollywood is shown at the top of this page and refreshed directly from the park's own ride system. Check live Thunderhead wait times.
Is Thunderhead open right now?
The live status badge at the top of this page shows whether Thunderhead is open or closed right now - it updates automatically from Dollywood's own ride system. Over the last couple of weeks, Thunderhead has been open around 92% of Dollywood's operating hours. You can also see the live status of every ride at Dollywood.
What's the best time of day to ride Thunderhead?
Based on historical wait time data, Thunderhead is typically quietest around 5pm. For most rides the queue is shortest in the first hour after the park opens and the last hour before it closes, with midday through mid-afternoon the busiest window.
What is the best day to ride Thunderhead?
Thunderhead is usually quietest on Sundays, and busiest on Saturdays based on recent weeks - visit on a Sunday for shorter waits.
How long is the line for Thunderhead usually?
Over recent weeks, Thunderhead has averaged about 12 minutes, with lines usually longest around 3pm. Wait times usually build through the morning, peak from midday to mid-afternoon, then ease off before close. Weekends and school holidays run noticeably longer than quiet weekdays. This page shows today's live wait time, the day's average, hourly breakdowns and the full history of peak lines for Thunderhead at Dollywood.
Is Thunderhead often closed or broken down?
Over the last two weeks, Thunderhead has been running about 92% of the time. We track Thunderhead's uptime and downtime automatically - see the "Reliability" and "Downtime History" panels on this page for its full record over the last 30 days, including any current closures and how long they've lasted.
Where can I find Thunderhead at Dollywood?
Thunderhead is at Dollywood - see the park map and full ride list for its exact location. The Dollywood page also shows which rides nearby have the shortest lines right now.
Can I get wait time alerts for Thunderhead?
Yes - create a free alert and we'll notify you when Thunderhead's wait time drops below your chosen threshold (for example, "tell me when Thunderhead is under 20 minutes"). Great for timing your sprint from across the park.