Well, CoasterForce just posted this video on Youtube, and apparently GCI is building their largest wooden coaster ever...

The ride will be 164 feet tall, and is going to be 4,921 feet long. I'm interested to see how well this holds up, because nearly all past traditional (no prefab track, no topper track, etc) wooden coasters from other companies (Dinn Corp., CCI, Gravity Group, RCCA, etc etc.) that were on this scale or larger have failed or become very rough... but GCI has done very well with their coasters so far, and this one is being designed with Millennium Flyer trains and seems to be mostly very low to the ground and all...save one big turn...if this one works, I could see Cedar Fair hooking up with GCI for giant wooden coasters at some of their parks...

GCI also showed off this interesting concept "Switchback" wooden coasters, though no park has ordered one yet...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGGRn7wurdE

So...what do you think of these 2 wooden coasters? Has GCI gone mad, or could these actually work?

GCI.

Lion.

Tiger.

It's largely how a wood coaster is maintained, not just how it's built.

I see no reason why the first option will not be successful.

The second option just seems like a gimmick.

That switchback coaster seems cool; it sort of reminds me of a tilt coaster or a pipeline coaster like UltraTwister

They have gone mad but they have competition now from RMC.

GCI.

Lion.

Tiger.

It's largely how a wood coaster is maintained, not just how it's built.

True...and poor Gwazi. From what I've heard, rumors are it's on life support and BGT is just waiting to finalize plans for a new ride so they can demolish it and build something else.

Though, looking at the list of rides they have made on rcdb.com (which has been seemingly revamped, BTW) everything they made since 2000 (post-Lightning Racer) has been high quality. And GCI's woodies have slowly been getting bigger and bigger, and yet they continue to be rated well...I'm wondering now if GCI can keep this up, will we one day once again see a "traditional" wooden coaster that breaks the 200' mark...only the second time, it works? EDIT: Just imagined a GCI the size of Son of Beast, but knowing GCI, it'd have a curved drop...oh boy, that would be crazy. Especially if it had a tunnel, like Gold Striker...

I like both designs. The switchback one looks like it could be pretty fun, and I'm glad that the company's building a new large woodie. I really hope Cedar Fair hops on the wooden coaster bandwagon like so many other parks have been lately. I don't care whether it's RMC, GG, GCI, or even Intamin (unlikely but I'm hopefuly), I want a wooden or hybrid soon.

The switchback seems so much more suited for themed rides, that I don't really see as being very exciting on a wooden coaster.

Viper, on the other hand, looks spectacular. Looks like it will have lots of airtime and be a great fast paced ride(Thunderhead anyone?).

I like the designs. They both could have their strengths given the correct usage. I would have to agree that the switchback would need to be used in heavily themed rides for major parks. It could also be used for parks that have a limited amount of space, or small footprint park's.

I think I remember seeing the Viper concept a few years ago. It never got built.

The switchback just looks like a good way to kill the pacing of the ride.

I like the designs. They both could have their strengths given the correct usage. I would have to agree that the switchback would need to be used in heavily themed rides for major parks. It could also be used for parks that have a limited amount of space, or small footprint park's.

I agree, I think the switchback design would be better suited for a smaller park. I don't see Cedar Fair or Six Flags installing one (well, maybe Six Flags would try to cram it in somewhere at Magic Mountain ) but definitely at parks not as large. I think it could be deceiving. It may not look like much, but I feel that it could end up providing a good family thrill.

Has there been an indoor wooden coaster yet? Like in a mall not a single ride enclosure. If not I could see one of the switchbacks ending up in that type environment. There's a mall building an Intamin creation that's part Blitz part Mega-lite which looks quite amazing. So why not throw a GCI inside.

As long as it's shorter than The Beast, also is there a revival of wooden coasters? That didn't work for us too well.

Yawn.

Yawn.

I don't see this coaster lasting long in China. With so many parks opening and closing it might be closed not to long after this is built.

I don't see this coaster lasting long in China. With so many parks opening and closing it might be closed not to long after this is built.

What causes this phenomena to occur?