Thunderbolt is a steel roller coaster at Luna Park in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. It is located near Surf Avenue and West 15th Street, on the Riegelmann Boardwalk next to the B&B Carousell.
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History
A wooden roller coaster named the Thunderbolt was originally operated by George Moran on Coney Island from 1925 to 1982. It was demolished in 2000 due to neglect.
In June 2013, it was announced that the operators of Luna Park at Coney Island, Zamperla, would construct a new steel roller coaster which would use the Thunderbolt name. Due to the small footprint required for the coaster, the original plans called for the coaster to use an elevator instead of a lift hill. The ride's manufacturer Zamperla announced further details in November 2013, which showed that the ride would have a vertical lift hill.
Published reports stated that Thunderbolt was expected to be completed and opened by Memorial Day 2014, but construction delays pushed the opening date back. During Memorial Day weekend, on May 25, 2014, the opening was delayed to early June and revised to open by June 6. Just before the scheduled opening on June 6, the opening date was once again delayed. Thunderbolt finally opened on June 14, 2014.