After months of anticipation, Dollywood theme park in Tennessee, US, has cut the ribbon on Lightning Rod, the world’s fastest wooden coaster and the world’s first wooden launch coaster.

The ride, which is located in Dollywood’s Jukebox Junction, provides guests with nearly 20 seconds of airtime. The coaster train includes 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.

Once launched to the top of the lift hill, riders encounter the attraction’s twin summit airtime hills before racing down the 165ft first drop.

Lightning Rod reaches a world record-breaking 73mph at the base of the drop, and from there the coaster races along its 3,800ft track through the hills and valleys surrounding Dollywood.

“I knew we really had something truly special when we started talking about building Lightning Rod,” said the park’s celebrity owner and namesake, Dolly Parton. “It’s going to bring people from all over the world to Dollywood so they can experience all that speed and excitement.”