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GCI vs Gravity Group: which wooden coaster company do you like more?

GCI or Gravity Group?


  • Total voters
    23

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. I’m in a poll kind of mood today, so today I ask; of the two main traditional wooden coaster manufacturers (GCI and Gravity Group), which one do you personally like more? The reason I’m not including other companies like RMC and Intamin in this is because they build very different types of wooden coasters to your more traditional ride; the main two that tend to build more traditional wooden coasters are GCI and Gravity Group.

As for my answer, I’ve ridden one coaster from each company; from GCI, I have ridden Wicker Man, while from Gravity Group, I have ridden Mine Blower. Now, I personally rank Wicker Man more highly than Mine Blower, so I’m controversially going to go for GCI here. Now don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy both, but my enjoyment of Wicker Man when I last rode felt like it was a tier above my enjoyment of Mine Blower; Wicker Man is a 10/10 coaster for me, while Mine Blower is a 9/10, and I think there are numerous reasons why this is:
  1. I think I personally find Wicker Man’s trains/restraints nicer than Mine Blower’s from a comfort perspective. Those GCI Millennium Flyers are very comfortable and nicely cushioned, and the lap bar is comfortable and offers plenty of room. On the other hand, even though I’m not particularly big in any way, I seem to remember the Gravitykraft Timberliners on Mine Blower weren’t as cushioned, and I remember the restraint being quite tight/restrictive around my lap.
  2. Even though neither coaster seemed rough by any means, and they are both pretty smooth compared to the other wooden coasters I’ve done, I think Wicker Man is a bit smoother than Mine Blower, or at least, the trains seem to track with a little more ease. I sat on the front row of Mine Blower, and while I wouldn’t call it a rough coaster, it seemed to have a little more of a rattle than Wicker Man when negotiating the elements. While this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the ride, I’d say it was definitely noticeable, and something that would maybe have made me enjoy it slightly more if it wasn’t there.
  3. Even though both coasters are two of the most fast-paced woodies I’ve ridden (pacing is definitely a strong point of both coasters, in my opinion), I’d personally say that Wicker Man seemed to have slightly faster pacing throughout, and seemed just that little bit faster than Mine Blower, but that is literally just me being pedantic, and to be fair, Mine Blower’s train was practically empty bar my family, so maybe that made it feel slower?
This is not to criticise Mine Blower in any way, as I still think it’s a fantastic woodie, and Gravity Group did a great job with it, in my opinion, but I think from what I’ve done, I personally prefer what GCI pulled off with Wicker Man. The fact that Mine Blower is one of Gravity’s highest rated coasters on average, while Wicker Man is one of GCI’s lowest rated coasters on average, definitely suggests to me that I would prefer GCI’s coasters overall if I was to ride more.

But which do you prefer?
 

Benenen

Hyper Poster
I've been on six GCIs and zero Gravity Groups but my vote would go to GG. GCI coasters are solid but very safe and middle of the road. GG layouts seem more adventurous and beefy.
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
The two "big" Gravity Groups I've ridden are better than all the other GCIs I've done: Ravine Flyer II and Voyage, both in my Top 10. From there, I have Mystic Timbers in my Top 20, but it's the only GCI I've done that's really blown me away.

The other rides I have are a handful of family GGs, Thunderhead, White Lightning, and Lightning Racer. I'd actually put Roar-O-Saurus above the rest, even above Thunderhead. It has RMC levels of airtime, and it's quite smooth as well. After that I'd probably rank the three other GCIs, then the other two family GG woodies at the bottom.

But yeah, just by judging the three best coasters of the whole lot, GG easily wins.

EDIT: Forgot about Wildcat at Hershey. **** that thing.
 
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FistedColossus

Hyper Poster
GG are more adventurous but GCI have perfected the traditional woodie.

Not a huge fan of the GG restraints whilst GCI have some of the best out there - so GCI gets my vote.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
I've done 6 GCIs and 1 Gravity Group, so it's hard to judge. But the one GG I've done (Wood Express) was incredible rattly for a ride that was only a couple of years old, and the restraints weren't great.

Whilst many GCIs are 'safe' options layout wise, I'd rather have their consistent quality over Gravity Group's poor ride experience.
 

Niles

Giga Poster
I have done two Gravity group coasters and nine GCI, the Gravity group coasters ( voyage and ravine flyer II ) are in my top 20 while none of the GCI are. My favourite GCI is mystic timbers but it was just a good coaster, like all the GCI i have done they are just fun but nothing outstanding.

I would love to try some GCI like Wodan, Troy and Python in bamboo forest as they look great and might sway me. However one thing is what's Ghostrider, CCI or now GCI? i count it as a CCI as they did the layout but GCI re-tracked it and re-profiled parts of it, In my top 20 it is above both GG coasters i have done sooooooooooooo ? i dunno.
 

HeartlineCoaster

Theme Park Superhero
Numbers talk first.

13 Gravitys - average rating 17/20

19 GCIs - average rating 14.59/20


Absolutely love Gravity, they're probably my favourite manufacturer, wood or otherwise. Consistently amazing.
GCI have bested them, once or twice, but it would appear they need a ton of space and other contributing factors to do this. The consistency is way down in comparison, there's a fair few that underwhelm and they're more likely to play it safe.
 

caffeine_demon

Strata Poster
It's quite a tricky one to decide - I've ridden 5 GGs and 11 GCIs (3 racers)

Roar o Saurus and wood express are my fave 2 - consistency and airtime puts them a good notch above GCIs best.

then there's GCIs best (Troy, Joris, Wodan, Heidi), on a similar level to wooden warrior

An average GCI (wicker man, el toro, thunderbird) is similar to twister

My least fave GG (Cu Chullain) is better than my least fave gcis (gwazi, roar at SFA) - but then again, a frying pan to the face is probably better than roar!

So - GG have it!
 
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