Theme Park Wait Times / Dollywood / Thunderhead
Thunderhead Wait Times
Live wait, plus a model forecast by day and hour for Thunderhead at Dollywood, built on 12,518 measured readings.
Park hours today: 10am–9pm
Best time to ride Thunderhead
On a typical Thursday, Thunderhead runs about 12 min at rope drop, peaks near 21 min around 11 AM, and eases to 3 min by close. Across the week, Friday is the worst day (about 26 min at its midday peak) and Wednesday the calmest (about 2 min). Use the day and time controls above to check any day of the week.
Averaging 4 min, this is the #26 longest line of 56 tracked rides at Dollywood (park average 6 min). The longest is RiverRush at 36 min.
Typical Thunderhead wait by day
| Day | Rope Drop | Midday Peak | Late Night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 6 min | 16 min 11 AM | 3 min |
| Monday | 8 min | 18 min 11 AM | 3 min |
| Tuesday | 7 min | 17 min 11 AM | 3 min |
| Wednesday | 1 min | 2 min 12 PM | 0 min |
| Thursday | 12 min | 21 min 11 AM | 3 min |
| Friday · busiest | 8 min | 26 min 11 AM | 3 min |
| Saturday | 8 min | 18 min 11 AM | 3 min |
Thunderhead average wait by month
| Month | Avg Wait | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 19.1 min | 6,159 |
| July 2026 | 16.4 min | 10,623 |
| August 2026 | 7.6 min | 18,182 |
| September 2026 | 2.3 min | 12,518 |
Thunderhead wait time FAQ
▾When is Thunderhead shortest?
Thunderhead is shortest at rope drop (about 12 min) and in the final hour of the night (about 3 min). Midday is the worst window, peaking near 21 min around 11 AM.
▾Which day is Thunderhead busiest?
Friday runs the longest lines, peaking around 26 min midday, while Wednesday is the calmest at about 2 min. Use the day and time slider above to check any day.
▾What is the wait for Thunderhead right now?
Thunderhead isn't reporting a live wait right now. The park may be closed. This page updates automatically when lines go live.
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Reliability, measured
How often this ride was actually running, not how long the line was.
Across 1,399 hours that Dollywood was open, Thunderhead was running 95.73% of the time, with 72 separate interruptions. That ranks #17 for availability out of 37 tracked rides at Dollywood, where the typical ride runs 96.17% of operating hours.
Measured 2026-05-23 to 2026-09-30 from ride status polled about every minute. Scheduled refurbishment is recorded separately and is not counted as an outage. How we measure
Based on 12,518 measured readings, updated continuously · How we measure
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