This may have slipped by most of us coaster fans in the US because it’s mostly happened over seas but The Gravity Group are on a roll right now! They’re scheduled to open an amazing SEVEN coasters this year, not to mention they now have three looping wooden coasters in operation with more on the way. It’s getting difficult to keep track of all these incredible new rides, especially the ones in China considering the coaster and park names are pretty much the same, so I put together a comprehensive guide to the Gravity Group coasters opening this year:
1. Cú Chulainn – Tayto Park in Ireland
Opened in June, this 101.8 ft wood coaster is Ireland’s first and one of the largest in Europe. The ride features a 115 degree over-banked turn and will plunge the 12-car Timberliner trains through two tunnels. Watch the POV below.
2. Jungle Trailblazer II – Fantawild Cultural Heritage Park in Wuhu, China
Features a corkscrew inversion where the supports look to be made almost entirely out of wood. Also uses Timberliner trains.
3. Jungle Trailblazer – Fantawild Cultural Heritage Park in Jinan, China
Opened to the public in June of 2015, this low, fast coaster features a 90 degree banked turn, and numerous airtime filled straightaways. The 106 foot tall, 3,218 feet of track includes a corkscrew inversion. I think this one looks really good!
4. Jungle Trailblazer – Fantawild Dreamland in Zhengzhou, China
The third Jungle Trailblazer coaster has no inversions but features a very cool element I’ll call the “back to back.” It’s basically the opposite of the “high five” element first used on the Dauling Dragon. This coaster will also use 12-car Timberliner trains.
See more construction pictures from VHCoasters.
5. Unnamed – Fantawild Dreamland in Zhuzhou, China
Of the five Gravity Group wood coasters opening in China in 2015, this is the only clone. This unnamed ride is a copy of the Fjord Flying Dragon at Happy Valley. It’ll be 111 feet tall with 3,992 of track and will probably use six-car PTC trains. Below is a video of the Happy Valley ride.
6. Unnamed – Fantawild Oriental Heritage Park in Ningbo, China
The final wood coaster going up in China this year will have a custom layout with an inversion and a 90 degree banked turn.
7. Switchback – ZDT’s Amusement Park in Seguin, Texas
This twisted family coaster will take a 64 foot drop, provide multiple airtime moments, a 104 degree over-banked turn, fly through a building, and travel up a 65 ft spire, only to descend and run the whole track again in reverse. This will not only be the first modern wooden shuttle coaster, but also the first shuttle coaster that doesn’t sacrifice the traditional lift hill and drop by employing a track-switch at the bottom of the first hill to take you back to the train station when the ride has been completed! Switchback will use two, four-car Timberliner trains.
Pretty crazy to think in 2012 there were no inverting wooden coasters. At the end of 2015 there should be SIX with two (or three?) more under construction. 2015 really may be the best year for new coasters ever. Supposedly, Gravity Group will be designing even more wood coasters for China next year too. I’m really glad to see them continue to do well. Check out our interviews from 2011 and 2005.
If you had to pick one and only one of these seven coasters to ride, which one would it be? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Definitely a few roller coasters i would like to go on there.