Great Coasters International

Great Coasters International

Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1994 (1994)
Headquarters	Sunbury, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Wooden roller coasters
Website	greatcoasters.com

Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI or GCII) is a Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based roller coaster manufacturer which has created several award-winning rides since its formation in 1994. Starting in 2006 with Thunderbird in Finland, the company expanded beyond the United States and began building coasters in Europe and Asia. Günter Engelhardt GmbH handles the company's marketing rights in Europe. In addition to designing and building new roller coasters, GCI also refurbishes and re-tracks existing roller coasters, regardless of manufacturer.

GCI designed roller coasters are known for their often curved drops, twisted layouts, and perception of high speed. Exciting elements such as the station fly-by and station fly-through have been incorporated in many of their layouts.

Many GCI designed roller coasters also contain an on-ride camera midway through or towards the end of the ride.

History

GCI was founded in 1994 by Mike Boodley and Clair Hain, Jr. Boodley was a coaster designer previously with Custom Coasters International and Hain had gained a reputation throughout the industry as a master coaster builder. In 1996, the firm opened Wildcat at Hershey Park which contained many of the signature elements the firm would soon become known for: tight sweeping curves, reminiscent of designs from the turn of the century by such noted coaster designers as Fred Church and Harry Traver. In 2005, Boodley retired and assigned Jeff Pike with the responsibility as lead designer for the firm. The first coaster that Pike is credited with is the Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend Park near Bowling Green, Kentucky. Though GCI is capable of re-tracking roller coasters, they haven't re-tracked many. One of their most notable re-tracking was in 2016, for the GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm. The roller coaster was in need of a refurb (due to its aging and roughness). Originally planned to be retracked by Rocky Mountain Construction, Cedar Fair ultimately decided to work with GCI instead.

Millennium Flyer trains

Troy at Toverland is one of GCI's roller coasters that runs Millennium Flyer trains

Most GCI-designed roller coasters run with in-house-designed articulated Millennium Flyer trains. The only exception is Roar at Six Flags America, which runs with Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters-designed trains. Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and GCI's first roller coaster, Wildcat at Hersheypark, also operated with PTC trains when they first opened, but both coasters have since been modified to run with the Millennium Flyer trains. In 2017, Wildcat at Lake Compounce also received Millennium Flyer trains even though the coaster was made by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters or PTC.

These trains are known for their cushioned seats, allowing riders to be comfortable during rides. These trains also contain individual lap bars which automatically lower and lock into a position to accommodate the rider, allowing quicker dispatch times. With their easily identified open, gate-like fronts, usually customized with the logo for the respective ride on which they are running, Millennium Flyer trains are styled similarly to trains seen during the golden age of rollercoasters.

List of roller coasters

As of 2018, Great Coasters International has built 28 roller coasters around the world.^[1]

Name	Model	Park	Country	Opened	Status	Ref
Wildcat	Wood Support Structure	Hersheypark	United States	1996	Operating	[2]
Roar	Wood Support Structure	Six Flags America	United States	1998	Operating	[3]
Roar	Wood Support Structure	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom	United States	1999	Converted Now known as The Joker	[4]
Gwazi	Wood Support Structure	Busch Gardens Tampa	United States	1999	Closed	[5]
Lightning Racer	Wood Support Structure	Hersheypark	United States	2000	Operating	[6]
Ozark Wildcat	Wood Support Structure	Celebration City	United States	2003	Removed	[7]
Thunderhead	Wood Support Structure	Dollywood	United States	2004	Operating	[8]
Thunderbird	Wood Support Structure	PowerLand	Finland	2006	Operating	[9]
Kentucky Rumbler	Wood Support Structure	Beech Bend Park	United States	2006	Operating	[10]
Renegade	Wood Support Structure	Valleyfair	United States	2007	Operating	[11]
Troy	Wood Support Structure	Toverland	Netherlands	2007	Operating	[12]
American Thunder Formerly Evel Knievel	Wood Support Structure	Six Flags St. Louis	United States	2008	Operating	[13]
El Toro	Wood Support Structure	Freizeitpark Plohn	Germany	2009	Operating	[14]
Prowler	Wood Support Structure	Worlds of Fun	United States	2009	Operating	[15]
Apocalypse The Ride Formerly Terminator Salvation: The Ride	Wood Support Structure	Six Flags Magic Mountain	United States	2009	Operating	[16]
Joris en de Draak	Wood Support Structure	Efteling	Netherlands	2010	Operating	[17]
Wood Coaster	Wood Support Structure	Knight Valley	China	2011	Operating	[18]
Wodan Timbur Coaster	Wood Support Structure	Europa Park	Germany	2012	Operating	[19]
White Lightning	Steel Support Structure	Fun Spot America Orlando	United States	2013	Operating	[20]
Gold Striker	Wood Support Structure	California's Great America	United States	2013	Operating	[21]
Python in Bamboo Forest	Wood Support Structure	Nanchang Wanda Park	China	2016	Operating	[22]
Jungle Dragon	Wood Support Structure	Happy Valley Chongqing	China	2017	Operating	[23]
Heidi: The Ride	Wood Support Structure	Plopsaland De Panne	Belgium	2017	Operating	[24]
InvadR	Steel Support Structure	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	United States	2017	Operating	[25]
Mystic Timbers	Wood Support Structure	Kings Island	United States	2017	Operating	[26]
Great Desert-Rally	Wood Support Structure	Happy Valley Chengdu	China	2017	Operating	[27]
Wicker Man	Wood Support Structure	Alton Towers	United Kingdom	2018	Operating	[28]
Unknown	Wood Support Structure	Holiday Park Kownaty	Poland	2019	Under Construction	[29]

References

External links

• GCI's official website
• Great Coasters International at the Roller Coaster DataBase