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Rank the GCIs

Jarrett

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
Of all of the GCIs you've been on, which is your favorite? Least favorite? Post your GCI rankings and maybe a bit about each one if you wish! For me...

Renegade- The fact that it has the strongest airtime of any of their coasters I've ridden combined with a beautiful mix of the speed of an out and back coaster and the aggression of a twister layout made this easily my favorite ride of theirs. Literally my only complaint about it is that it's a smidge too short.
Mystic Timbers- Another good GCI with great airtime mixed with twister layout influence. It's in a great location and has some cool theming on it (yes I know we all hate the shed but let's be honest, the theming inside of it is kind of cool).
American Thunder- This little coaster really packs a punch for something that could possibly fit in my backyard. The tight twisting around that tiny little truss structure is mixed with some moderate to strong airtime throughout, my favorite part is the double down out of the first turnaround.
Lightning Racer- The solid airtime combined with some of the coolest visuals ever on a wooden coaster make this a solid second favorite at Hersheypark for me. It also has some sentimental value to me from when I rode it 133 times in a day earlier this summer.
Thunderhead- This was the first GCI I ever rode, it used to be my favorite one, and was my #1 wood from 2010 (techincally 2008 when I first rode it pre-enthusiast) all the way until 2014. It used to be a really awesome twisted mess of aggression with random, unpredictable spots of airtime thrown in but since it's lost its airtime and the ride only delivers positive force and a bit of aggression. But 2012 Thunderhead would have stayed above American Thunder in this list, I'm pretty sure.
Roar (SFA)- This felt like a weaker version of 2012-2014 Thunderhead. This GCI is more about violent maneuvers than airtime which I don't mind, but I don't think the PTC trains do as good a job conveying the proper GCI experience.
Wildcat- I actually don't hate this coaster like so many do and I don't see any reason to find it rough. There are actually a few really good spots of airtime on this, but otherwise the layout is kind of boring.
Kentucky Rumbler- This felt like an attempt to do the same thing that Thunderhead used to do, but an unsuccessful one. The layout is okay but it just kind of navigates those airtime hills without properly exerting force like it's supposed to. I didn't ride it on a full train, though, so I bet it handles way better with more weight.
Apocalypse- Again, another one I didn't ride on a full train. Felt like this was their most boring coaster yet but some more weight might make me like it better. I like the theme, though!
Gwazi- As of this post, this is the worst wooden coaster I have ever been on. My dad described it as having been "retracked with gravel" and I think that sums it up perfectly. This coaster just wasn't maintained in the Florida climate nearly as much as it needed to be, which is sad because had it delivered a smoother ride I bet it could have easily been one of their better jobs.

Post away! Anxious to see some more of these because it seems people have very varied opinions on these coasters!
 
I must admit, I don't really rate GCIs too highly. They are good, but I often find them to be more "good fun" than anything amazing or particularly memorable. They tend to blend together into one coaster for me, which is a bad sign.

1. Prowler- Great onslaught of airtime with a tight layout and smooth ride. I like it more than American Thunder because of the out and back layout and the superior environment.
2. American Thunder- This is pretty much tied with Prowler for the same reasons Prowler is number one. Airtime, tight layout, smooth ride. Had some amazing rides on this one I must say. Great fun.
3. White Lightning- I forgot I did this. It's actually great though. Just a ton of fun.
4. Thunderhead- At one point this was number one, but I rerode it in 2016. I thought it was meh. Good layout still with memorable airtime moments, but it's just too rough overall. With a ride like Voyage or Boulder Dash, the roughness is forgivable since the layout is so incredible. With this, the layout is fine. Just, eh. Forgot it existed until rcdb honestly.
5. Wildcat- I quite liked this actually. It had some decent airtime and just had that good wooden coaster feel to its rougher areas. It's not special, but it's really quite fun.
6. Lightning Racer (Thunder over Lightning)- This was really fun mainly because of the great interactions between the trains. I find dueling coasters with interactions cool, so I liked that. The actual rides are just not very good. Airtime is really weak and the laterals don't really make up for that. Still, it's fun and inoffensive.
7. Gwazi- What a turd. Unpleasant and unmemorable. No airtime either. GCI got better with time, for sure.

Ya, only 5, but I'm going to Hersheypark Saturday. Should have 2 more.
 
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1. Joris en de Draak. The most fun GCI I've ridden, and certainly the most reridable. It has a great pacing from start to finish, more airtime than the other GCIs and I love the racing element. This coaster will never get boring. Brilliant at night.

2. Troy. It has a great layout and is intense to the point of exhaustion, but the day rides don't do THAT much for me anymore. However, the night rides are WORLD CLASS <3

3. Wodan. It seems to get better every time I ride it. I don't think the layout is that great and it's short, but it's crazy fast and wild. Has some good pops of airtime too. Again, great at night.

4. Heidi. Took a while before it warmed up, but then it was a solid family coaster with a very good pace and some snappy twists and air pops.

5. Thunderbird. The layout looked quite good but it just didn't deliver. It felt weak and lacked any kind of oompf. It was still very enjoyable but a step down from other GCIs. It's like the Nemesis Inferno of the GCIs
 
1 - Thunderhead - I love this ride. Speed - Check, Airtime - Check, Lats - Check, Direction changes - Check. Brilliant ride that delivered on every single run.
(2-4 could swap, very close in overall ranking)
2 - Joris en de Draak - Plenty of airtime, lats and good pacing with the racing aspect thrown in, very good ride.
3 - Lightning Racer - Little less airtime but the extra height adds a bit more speed. Night rides on this are pretty fab but does have a couple of dead spots.
4 - White Lightning - Loved this ride, but I've heard it's not as quick as it once was, need a re-ride.
5 - Troy - Good drop and station flythough with a couple of airtime moments but the big hill which starts floating but stops then starts again annoyed me slightly.
6 - Wodan - Queue and station are great, some decent parts to the ride like the tunnel dive but I dislike the little airtime bumps into the turns.
7 - Wildcat - Bit rough, not much airtime, but not as awful as some people make out.
 
I seem to come up with a different order for these every time but whatever.

1 - Wodan: It's got a properly out-of-control feeling to it. I love how the first drop keeps feeling like it gets steeper and steeper as the ride structure envelopes the train
2 - Troy (TROY): Fast, fast, fast. Lots of airtime and fun right until the end
3 - Thunderbird: The middle section of this is what sells it. The fast, bumpy downhill section with a million headchoppers
4 - Joris en de Draak: Still in top-tier rankings here - lots of interaction, lots of speed. Probably my favourite duelling coaster.

Yeah, so I actually really love GCI.
 
I've ridden more of these than I expected - ranking them might be tricky! I think at best I can put them in three heaps - good, eh, bad*.

Good
Wodan - This one is a no brainer. It's brilliant. Out of control, fast, good forces, good layout, it's great. It's the GCI every other GCI should be.
Troy - Again, a good one. Very fast and fun.
Prowler - I remember really liking the small pops of airtime throughout on this one.
Lightning Racer(s) - Good layouts with great interactions.

Eh
American Thunder - I remember quite liking it as Evel Knievel, but a few years later when I went back I wasn't as impressed.
Apocalypse - I also remember enjoying this one, in particular some of the fly-bys and tunnels.
Renegade - I quite liked the longer airtime moments on this one, but seem to recall the ride fizzling out a bit.

Bad
Gold Striker - So forgettable.
Gwazi (both) - Rough and ****.
Roar (SFDK) - Don't really remember this, but I do remember it being quite slow?
Roar (SFA) - See Roar (SFDK) above.
Thunderhead - I actually thought this was pretty turd. It felt... lumpy? It didn't even have much airtime to make up for it.
Wildcat - Rubbish. Especially as it's so close to the Lightning Racers.

*Relative to the others, of course. They're not really bad coasters.
 
Somehow I've only been on 3 of 'em... I think.
1. Terminator Salvation (Apocalypse). I really liked it, but it was almost new at the time so it rode really well. Nowadays? Dunno.
2. Heidi. Excellent coaster, but a bit on the small side.
3. Gwazi. Only rode one side, can't remember which. Horrible piece of sh*t.
 
Only ridden
One.
Mystic Timbers. I'd say that's an AMAZING ride for being my only GCI. I really want to get on more GCI's!
 
1) Thunderhead

2) White Lightning

3) American Thunder

4) Roar SFA

Tbh they just get more forgettable as the list goes down.
 
1. Thunderhead - Dollywood - I'm a sucker for my first GCI love. I remember this one blowing me away when I first rode it back in 2008; the swift layout, aggressive transitions, station fly-through were all foreign versus the Dinn Corp./CCI/PTC I had ridden to that point. And the roller coaster has held up over the years, giving a slightly rougher, but same aggressive ride experience. Beyond the ride, it's setting (along with the rest of Dollywood) in the heart of the Smokies has always made it one of the most gorgeous roller coaster settings out there.
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2. Mystic Timbers - Kings Island - I have been eating crow throughout 2017 on this remarkably good GCI. I will admit; I was jaded by a middle-of-the-road experience on Prowler and doubts over the hype train Kings Island was rolling for this opening (not to mention, being right next door to one of the most prolific wooden coasters in existence). But hey! It turned out to be a really good ride! Day or night, front or back, Mystic Timbers offers an airtime-filled layout that (gratefully) focused on a more out-and-back design versus the side-to-side twister layout of Prowler. Airtime moments are frequent and full, and there's even some trick track peppered in. And let's be honest: did you actually expect the Shed to be good?

3. Apocalypse the Ride - Six Flags Magic Mountain - This is the most underrated GCI in my estimation. A layout that harkens in many ways to Thunderhead, Apocalypse features great twister elements and aggressive pace-change. The under-structure moments, tunnels, and station fly-through gives some great close call moments as well. I have really enjoyed getting to ride this not-so-talked about number.

4. American Thunder - Six Flags St. Louis - Similar to Apocalypse, American Thunder does not get nearly enough praise that it deserves. I really enjoyed this compact layout for packing in both large sweeping turns and smaller bunny hills.

5. Lightning Racer - Hersheypark - Undoubtedly my favorite dueler to date - how can you not enjoy the layout on this one? Very fun, large layout with cool train fly-bys.

6. Prowler - Worlds of Fun - I think I hyped myself up too much for this one, and was left wanting more. Riding Mystic Timbers has helped me better frame it's older, smaller brother. The airtime moments and transitions are good... but are just not as much as Mystic Timbers.

This is the general line I would draw between the good and the Meh of GCI. Seriously, they make a lot of good design, and even their lackluster coasters are still fun to ride.

7. Roar - Six Flags America - I was pleasantly surprised by the front row ride on this one. I can see the slow/meandering pace criticism it gets. But riding in the front, you do get bouts of airtime throughout it's larger, drawn out layout. The Roars are what put GCI more on the map, but they are nowhere near as aggressive as their subsequent design.

8. Wildcat - Hersheypark - the coaster that sparked it all, but still is a slower, meandering design versus the rest. Glad they updated it with the Millennium Flyer trains though.
 
For me, I guess it would go something like this...

Troy Toverland
Ozark Wildcat Celebration City
Renegade Valleyfair!
Thunderhead Dollywood
White Lightning Fun Spot America
Apocalypse the Ride Six Flags Magic Mountain
Kentucky Rumbler Beech Bend
American Thunder Six Flags St. Louis
Prowler Worlds of Fun
Mystic Timbers Kings Island
InvadR Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Roar Six Flags America
Lightning Racer Hersheypark
Wildcat Hersheypark
Gwazi Busch Gardens Tampa
 
CanobieFan said:
For me, I guess it would go something like this...

Troy Toverland
Ozark Wildcat Celebration City
Renegade Valleyfair!
Thunderhead Dollywood
White Lightning Fun Spot America
Apocalypse the Ride Six Flags Magic Mountain
Kentucky Rumbler Beech Bend
American Thunder Six Flags St. Louis
Prowler Worlds of Fun
Mystic Timbers Kings Island
InvadR Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Roar Six Flags America
Lightning Racer Hersheypark
Wildcat Hersheypark
Gwazi Busch Gardens Tampa
Click to expand...
Yeah, just rub it in.
 
Hyde said:
Yeah, just rub it in.
Click to expand...
Haha, Ozark was the first GCI I rode that I really liked. Also the first I ever got off and wanted to get right back on. Got to ride it back in 2005 and at that point I had been on like... Roar, Gwazi, Wildcat, and Lightning Racer and none of those ever wow'd me. I'm not trying to be one of those elitists or "I've been on it and you haven't" people. I've even got the T Shirt for it.... And it's amazingly hideous. But at a time I guess it was kind of cool. I stopped wearing it soon after although a bit ago I busted it out for laughs.
 
1: Wodan - Out of control amazing!
2: Troy - TROY! Really good coaster!
3: Joris en de Draak - Not much between these and Troy (TROY!) Shame stupid Efteling closed their coasters early, so didn't get a warmed up ride.
4: White Lightning - Great little coaster!
5: Gwazi - Both were poor.
 
I've only been on one side of Gwazi (the side that remained open until it closed). I can't remember how it was, so I can't really rank it. No doubt the wicker man will be better though.
 
1.) Lightning Racer
2.) Kentucky Rumbler
3.) Thunderhead
4.) Renegade
5.) American Thunder
6.) Roar - SFA
7.) Wildcat
 
1 - Renegade - I've had a bit of time to comprehend what happened this weekend and for the first time in a long time(since 2013), I have a GCI in my top 10, and even now I think I'm ranking it too low. Night rides on this beast are absolutely mind blowing. Managed 4 rides, front, 2nd, back and 2nd back and they were all amazing (back was my fave tho). So much airtime and most of it unexpected, including sideways airtime (which I had no idea GCI could do) and a funky first drop. Great lighting package, good restraints allowing ample airtime space. It's just soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far away :emoji_cry:
2 - Thunderhead - I love this ride. Speed - Check, Airtime - Check, Lats - Check, Direction changes - Check. Brilliant ride that delivered on every single run.
(3-5 could swap, very close in overall ranking)
3 - Joris en de Draak - Plenty of airtime, lats and good pacing with the racing aspect thrown in, very good ride.
4 - Lightning Racer - Little less airtime but the extra height adds a bit more speed. Night rides on this are pretty fab but does have a couple of dead spots.
5 - White Lightning - Loved this ride, but I've heard it's not as quick as it once was, need a re-ride.
6 - Troy - Good drop and station fly through with a couple of airtime moments but the big hill which starts floating but stops then starts again annoyed me slightly.
7 - Wodan - Queue and station are great, some decent parts to the ride like the tunnel dive but I dislike the little airtime bumps into the turns.
8 - Wildcat - Bit rough, not much airtime, but not as awful as some people make out.

New in Bold.
 
Interesting to see Renegade get so much praise recently. GCIs at night are just ****ing incredible. I can't wait to ride Troy at night during Halloween next week!
 
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