# The Gravity Group

The Gravity Group is a wooden roller coaster design firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The firm was founded in July 2002 by several members of the engineering team of the defunct Custom Coasters International following the latter's bankruptcy. The core group of designers and engineers at The Gravity Group have backgrounds in civil, structural, and mechanical engineering. Their experience comes from work on over 40 different wooden roller coasters around the world.
Many of the Gravity Group's projects have been well-received by the amusement industry, including The Voyage, Hades 360, and Ravine Flyer II.

## Roller coaster projects

The first coaster designed by The Gravity Group opened in 2005 as Hades at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It won Best New Ride of 2005 in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards. The Gravity Group also designed The Voyage at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, which opened in May 2006 and is the second-longest wooden roller coaster in the world. It won Best New Ride of 2006 and has been acclaimed as one of the world's best wooden coasters every year since.
In 2007, The Gravity Group designed Boardwalk Bullet at Kemah Boardwalk, which opened as the only wooden coaster in the Greater Houston area. The Gravity Group designed Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer & Water World in Erie, Pennsylvania, which opened in May 2008 and won Best New Ride of 2008, and has been acclaimed in years since as one of the world's best wooden coasters. In 2009, Wooden Coaster - Fireball opened at Happy Valley in China, becoming China's first wooden roller coaster. In 2011, Quassy Amusement Park opened Wooden Warrior, the company's sixth wooden roller coaster. Also in 2011, The Gravity Group was involved in the recreation of Libertyland's Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as well as Twister at Gröna Lund. In 2012, The Gravity Group designed Dauling Dragon in Happy Valley Wuhan, China's racing coaster. They designed Fjord Flying Dragon at Happy Valley Tianjin in 2013. In 2014, they designed Roar-O-Saurus at Story Land and Time Travel at Hot Go Park.
Five Gravity Group coasters opened in 2015, most notably The Cú Chulainn Coaster at Emerald Park, and Switchback at ZDT's Amusement Park, the latter of which is the only wooden shuttle coaster in existence. Three coasters named Jungle Trailblazer opened in 2015 as well at various Fantawild parks in China, two of which contain inversions, a rarity on wooden coasters. In 2016, three Gravity Group coasters opened, including two more under the name Jungle Trailblazer (one of which has an inversion) at Fantawild parks, and one called Timber at Walibi Rhône-Alpes. In 2017, The Gravity Group designed another coaster named Jungle Trailblazer in China, and Mine Blower at Fun Spot America – Kissimmee, the latter of which has a unique inversion.
In 2018, The Gravity Group worked with Sesame Place Philadelphia to install Oscar's Wacky Taxi. Also in 2018, their most recent Jungle Trailblazer opened, as well as a coaster called Wood Express at Parc Saint Paul in France. In 2019, Kentucky Flyer opened at Kentucky Kingdom as a celebration of the park's 30th anniversary. Wooden Dragons Roller Coaster, designed by The Gravity Group, opened in 2021 at Sunac Jinan in China. In 2022, Leviathan opened at Sea World Gold Coast Australia as Australia's first new wooden coaster in 35 years. Their most recent roller coaster, The Bobcat, opened at Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor in 2024.

## Timberliner trains

In 2008, The Gravity Group announced the development of their own wooden coaster trains called Timberliners. They are produced by Gravitykraft Corporation, a sister company to The Gravity Group. The Gravity Group promotes their trains as wooden coaster trains capable of steering smoothly through curves, resulting in a more comfortable and maintenance-friendly ride. Timberliners were planned to debut on The Voyage at Holiday World for the 2010 season, but after three years of delays, Holiday World officially cancelled the project on August 16, 2013. However, in 2011, Timberliners appeared on Wooden Warrior, and on Twister at Gröna Lund in Sweden. In 2013, Timberliners were installed on Hades as part of its transformation to Hades 360.
The Gravity Group's Timberliner trains have since appeared on Roar-O-Saurus and Time Travel in 2014, Cú Chulainn, Jungle Trailblazer (Oriental Heritage Jinan), Jungle Trailblazer (Fantawild Dreamland), Jungle Trailblazer (Oriential Heritage Wuhu), and Switchback in 2015, Timber and Jungle Trailblazer (Oriental Heritage Ningbo) in 2016, Jungle Trailblazer (Oriental Heritage Xiamen) and Mine Blower in 2017, Oscar's Wacky Taxi, Wood Express, and Jungle Trailblazer (Fantawild Asian Legend) in 2018, Kentucky Flyer in 2019, Wooden Dragons Roller Coaster in 2021, Leviathan and Tonnerre 2 Zeus in 2022, and The Bobcat in 2024.

## Precut track and retracking projects

The Gravity Group often retracks wooden roller coasters with their engineered precut track, sometimes on rides they did not initially design. They received the award for Innovation of the Year at the 2021 Golden Ticket Awards for their precut track.
| Name | Park | Country | Year of retrack |
| Tonnerre 2 Zeus | Parc Asterix | France | 2019-22 |
| The Racer | Kings Island | United States | 2021 |
| The Beast | Kings Island | United States | 2021-22 |
| Grizzly | Kings Dominion | United States | 2022-23 |
| Wildcat | Lake Compounce | United States | 2023 |
| Megafobia | Oakwood Theme Park | United Kingdom | 2023 |
| Mighty Canadian Minebuster | Canada's Wonderland | Canada | 2025 |
| Raven | Holiday World & Splashin' Safari | United States | 2025 |

## List of roller coasters

As of 2025, The Gravity Group has designed 29 roller coasters around the world.
| Name | Model | Park | Country | Opened | Status |
| Hades 360 Formerly Hades | Steel Support Structure | Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park Resort | United States | 2005 | Operating |
| The Voyage | Steel Support Structure | Holiday World & Splashin' Safari | United States | 2006 | Operating |
| Boardwalk Bullet | Wood Support Structure | Kemah Boardwalk | United States | 2007 | Operating |
| Ravine Flyer II | Steel Support Structure | Waldameer & Water World | United States | 2008 | Operating |
| Wooden Coaster - Fireball | Wood Support Structure | Happy Valley Shanghai | China | 2009 | Operating |
| Wooden Warrior | Wood Support Structure | Quassy Amusement Park | United States | 2011 | Operating |
| Twister | Steel Support Structure | Gröna Lund | Sweden | 2011 | Operating |
| Zippin Pippin | Wood Support Structure | Bay Beach Amusement Park | United States | 2011 | Operating |
| Dauling Dragon | Wood Support Structure | Happy Valley Wuhan | China | 2012 | Operating |
| Fjord Flying Dragon | Wood Support Structure | Happy Valley Tianjin | China | 2013 | Operating |
| Roar-O-Saurus | Wood Support Structure | Story Land | United States | 2014 | Operating |
| Time Travel | Wood Support Structure | Hot Go Park | China | 2014 | Operating |
| The Cú Chulainn Coaster | Wood Support Structure | Emerald Park | Ireland | 2015 | Operating |
| Switchback | Steel Support Structure | ZDT's Amusement Park | United States | 2015 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Oriental Heritage Jinan | China | 2015 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Fantawild Dreamland Zhengzhou | China | 2015 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Oriental Heritage Wuhu | China | 2015 | Operating |
| Timber | Wood Support Structure | Walibi Rhône-Alpes | France | 2016 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Oriental Heritage Ningbo | China | 2016 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Fantawild Dreamland Zhuzhou | China | 2016 | Operating |
| Mine Blower | Steel Support Structure | Fun Spot America – Kissimmee | United States | 2017 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Oriental Heritage Xiamen | China | 2017 | Operating |
| Oscar's Wacky Taxi | Steel Support Structure | Sesame Place Philadelphia | United States | 2018 | Operating |
| Wood Express | Steel Support Structure | Parc Saint Paul | France | 2018 | Operating |
| Jungle Trailblazer | Wood Support Structure | Fantawild Asian Legend | China | 2018 | Operating |
| Kentucky Flyer | Steel Support Structure | Kentucky Kingdom | United States | 2019 | Operating |
| Wooden Dragons Roller Coaster | Wood Support Structure | Sunac Jinan | China | 2021 | Operating |
| Leviathan | Wood Support Structure | Sea World Gold Coast Australia | Australia | 2022 | Operating |
| The Bobcat | Wood Support Structure | Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor | United States | 2024 | Operating |